Here’s Why I Rejected the FIRE Movement — and How I’m Approaching Retirement Planning Instead

I’ve never really been the type of person to embrace fads or trends. When my childhood friends were doing everything humanly possible to poof up their hair back in the ’80s, I was pulling mine into a ponytail and calling it a day. And when the grunge movement took over in the ’90s, I refused to spend my after-school hours listening to depressing music or limit my wardrobe to ripped jeans and oversized flannels.

Similarly, in the context of financial matters, I’ve never been inclined to jump on the latest trend. When meme stocks were all the rage, I stuck with the companies I knew and trusted. And when everyone I knew was buying crypto, I stayed away because it wasn’t in my comfort zone.

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Along these lines, I’ve done my fair share of reading about the FIRE movement in the context of retirement planning. Short for Financial Independence, Retire Early, the FIRE movement encourages people to live well below their means, save the bulk of their income, and attain financial security at a young enough age to stop working well ahead of their peers.

While I can see why the FIRE movement appeals to some people, it’s something I rejected from the start. Here’s why — and what I’m doing to prepare for retirement instead.

I believe in saving money, but only to a point

I’ve always been a pretty aggressive saver, even back when my only source of income was the $5 per hour I earned as a babysitter during my high school years. At the same time, I’m a big proponent of enjoying life. And I feel that the FIRE movement would impede my ability to do that.

I won’t say how much of my income I save for retirement now, but I’ll acknowledge that it’s above the 15% to 20% many financial experts recommend. But some FIRE movement folks will tell you that you should be saving 50% of your income, 70%, or even more. Frankly, I can’t see how that would be possible without making myself miserable.

Maybe it’s also the fact that I have three kids, and that’s an expense right there. But even if that weren’t the case, I can’t see how spending just 30% of my paycheck would make for an enjoyable existence. It would probably mean living in cramped quarters, never taking vacations, and driving a car with taped-on windows (after driving the same car for 17 years, I almost got to that point, but I upgraded just in time). I just don’t see that as a healthy or reasonable way to live.

I’m striking a balance that works for me

A big part of the reason I’ve never been into the FIRE movement is that I don’t want to retire early. Part of me, in fact, never really wants to retire at all.

Now the part of the movement I am a fan of is the financial independence aspect. The idea of not having to rely on a job for income sounds nice in theory. But I’m not willing to sacrifice my family’s happiness to get to that point in my 40s.

None of us have a crystal ball, and I unfortunately know too many people who have passed away at younger ages than what’s the norm. I take comfort in the fact that some of those people enjoyed life to the fullest while they were still on this planet. And I’m not going to sacrifice near-term joy when I have no idea what the future holds.

Of course, I’m not going to avoid saving for retirement because there’s no guarantee of living to a certain age, either. There needs to be a balance. To me, it’s somewhere in between saving more than 15% to 20% of my income, but definitely not 50%.

It’s also worth noting that it’s more than possible to pull off early retirement without setting aside 50% of your income or more each year. If you start early and invest well, you may find that you can retire in your 50s on relatively modest monthly retirement plan contributions.

But that strategy won’t work if you want to retire in your 30s or 40s. To do that, you probably need to take frugal living to a pretty big extreme.

I respect people who have the dedication to do that. I’m just not one of them.

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