Here’s Why the FIRE Movement Doesn’t Appeal to Me

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Many people embrace the idea of financial independence and early retirement. Read on to see why I’m only willing to make so many sacrifices to get there. 

There’s a reason I’ve aggressively funded a retirement plan, whether it’s been an IRA or a 401(k), since my mid-20s: I know that Social Security benefits alone won’t make for a comfortable retirement. And I don’t want to deal with the financial stress so many seniors today have to grapple with.

In recent years, I’ve done my best to max out my retirement plan contributions. I’ve even tried my best to save and invest on top of that by putting money into a regular brokerage account.

While a regular brokerage account doesn’t offer the same tax benefits as a traditional IRA or 401(k), like tax-free contributions and tax-deferred investment gains, it does offer the freedom to tap your assets when you want to. With an IRA or 401(k), you’re penalized for taking withdrawals before age 59½. And so if you want the option of early retirement, it’s a good idea to keep some of your assets in a regular brokerage account so you have penalty-free access at any time.

Meanwhile, a lot of people put a big emphasis on saving outside of an IRA or 401(k) so they can embrace the FIRE movement, which stands for “Financial Independence, Retire Early.” The FIRE movement has gained a lot of traction in recent years. But while it’s an okay idea in theory, it’s definitely not for me.

I’m only willing to make so many sacrifices

Year after year, I push myself to save money for the future, but that comes at the expense of different things. My husband and I, for example, just upgraded to a new car after driving a 2007 Prius around for over 16 years.

We also live in a home that’s below our means, and while it’s comfortable enough, more space would be nice. However, we don’t want to take on a larger mortgage because it’s important to us to be able to save.

But while I’m willing to make certain sacrifices to save for retirement, I’m not willing to go to the extreme of saving 70% or 80% of my income like some of those FIRE people do. For one thing, I have three kids, so that instantly makes it difficult. But also, I don’t want to give up every single luxury for myself or my kids just to be able to retire early.

I like taking trips with my family and making memories. I enjoy going to restaurants and ordering takeout meals. And while my kids’ extracurricular schedule is tough to keep up with, I want them to be able to explore different sports and activities without money getting in the way. To really do FIRE, I’d need to give some of these things up, and I’m not just not willing to.

Very early retirement doesn’t sound so great

Would I perhaps prefer to work fewer hours than I currently do? Sure. Seeing as how I have kids to take care of and a household to run, cutting back would be great. But since I’m nowhere close to a traditional retirement age, I have to say that the idea of retiring completely at this point in life would be terrible for me.

Even though I’m plenty busy at home, I don’t need that much downtime. I feel like I’d be bored if I were to stop working now since my kids are in school for 6½ hours a day. And I think I’d feel overwhelmingly unfulfilled.

I’m not the only one. Ongoing research shows that for many people, attaining financial freedom at a young age doesn’t automatically translate to a happy, fulfilled life. And many early retirees struggle with their own identity crises.

And also, while I’m not financially independent in the sense that I don’t have to work any longer, I do have savings to fall back on. That makes me feel financially secure, which is also important.

All told, I don’t have the desire to retire early, so it would be silly for me to make major sacrifices in order to attain something I don’t want. And if I’m willing to make changes to my spending, I can potentially cut back on work a bit to make my schedule more manageable and give myself more time to spend with my kids or pursuing hobbies.

Decide whether FIRE is right for you

The FIRE movement is a choice you may want to make, and that’s totally okay. More power to you! In fact, you may want to sit down with a financial advisor if you’re serious about ending your career in your 30s or 40s. They can help you devise a savings and investment strategy to get there. But the concept is just not for me.

Of course, if you’re not interested in FIRE like me, it’s still important to save some amount of money for retirement. But you can save in a manner that has you continuing to work well into your 60s or even beyond if that sounds fine to you.

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