Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

I used to think early retirement was the only way to live my ideal life, but I've found a better approach

I used to think early retirement was the only way to live my ideal life, but I've found a better approach

The FIRE movement seemed so appealing at first, until she realized she'd have to sacrifice to the point of deprivation to reach the end goal.

There was something so enticing to me about the financial independence/retire early movement (FIRE) when I learned about it a few years back. The idea that if you understood your numbers, you could aggressively invest, save, and reach retirement over a short period of time and begin living your best life when you hit your ideal retirement number.

FIRE folks are those people we read about retiring at the age of 32 with over $1 million saved. Or, the 27-year-old who never had debt and worked a high-paying job and optimized every financial decision in order to hit their FIRE number before 30. In retrospect, I'm surprised I felt so strongly about the FIRE movement, because nothing about my financial life would indicate that FIRE would ever be right for me.

As time went on, I started asking myself some questions about FIRE, and I realized that FIRE connects deeply with the imagined life that most people want to live and plays on that hopeful future. But it just wasn't for me.

What changed for me


I really disliked the idea that I would have to sacrifice to the point of financial deprivation for the next 10 to 12 years in order to hit my FIRE number. Part of why I disliked this is that I'd already sacrificed for years to pay off more than $60,000 in unsecured debt. I'd side-hustled, lived in a small home, and said "no" more often than not to purchases that I felt would negatively impact my debt-repayment goals.

These were great financial moves at the time, but I kept thinking about my life in the future. I started to dream about what my ideal FIRE life would look like.

* Waking up naturally without using an alarm clock

* Traveling around on road trips in my state of Colorado, visiting my relatives, or going abroad whenever I felt like it

* Pursuing intellectual interests to my heart's content

* Helping others financially or through volunteering when possible

* Going to brunch and having that bottomless mimosa

What I found problematic about FIRE was that I didn't want to wait years to live my best life. Especially because I was older than 32 when I stumbled upon this financial pursuit. In fact, I was in debt, professionally burnt out, and tired — not exactly prime for FIRE.

Also, the more I thought about the financial independence/retire early movement, the more I found myself questioning why certain very important conversations about access and finances weren't being had in the FIRE community.

The truth about FIRE


Here's the thing: The money — the FIRE math — it works. If you invest at a much higher rate than most people, have no debt, and earn a great salary, you can easily hit your FIRE goals.

But what if you're a person like me facing a ton of financial headwinds? My access to FIRE wasn't the same as the 27-year-old with no debt and a high-paying job.

FIRE relies on being debt-free. There's no way that you can invest at over 50% if you're also actively paying down debt like I was.

Plus, the more complicated your finances are, the more challenging it is to work towards FIRE. In my case, I had a very complicated debt situation. It hasn't been until recently that my finances have simplified enough that I can focus on traditional FIRE. If you're dealing with a large number of creditors, etc., this impacts your ability to focus on FIRE.

On top of that, working towards FIRE requires a financial skillset similar to paying off a large amount of debt, learning how to negotiate your wage, etc. It takes a while to get into a rhythm that is comfortable and moves you toward your goals.

There also seems to be a lot of conflict within the FIRE community about working after you hit your FIRE number, which honestly makes no sense to me. Why not work if you're enjoying it?

Things changed for me when I learned about Slow FIRE


Fortunately, there are a number of ways to approach FIRE depending on your financial philosophy and the reality of your finances. Eventually, I learned about Slow FIRE, which was incredibly attractive as a financial philosophy.

With Slow FIRE, you are investing, saving, and working towards your ultimate FIRE number, but you are likely doing this at a slower rate than regular FIRE folks who tend to approach the financial steps to obtain FIRE more aggressively. Basically, Slow FIRE practitioners are aware that it will take awhile to reach their final FIRE number. Slow FIRE adherents may still be cleaning up their financial foundation. This may look like finishing up debt repayment, lowering overall expenses, and looking to grow income. These are key steps in the FIRE journey.

Basically, Slow FIRE is similar to the regular FIRE movement with a couple of major exceptions.

* Slow FIRE practitioners focus on designing and achieving their FIRE lifestyle now. This may include working remotely in order to create more flexibility in their lives. It's also a nod to the fact they will work longer in order to hit their FIRE number. There's no work-shaming because work factors heavily into Slow FIRE.

* Work is a large part of Slow FIRE, but the emphasis is on working in a way that works best for you right now. In fact, COVID has created a huge opportunity for professionals to design their best lives now while earning an income and focusing on their future.

I appreciate that Slow FIRE is a more approachable way to begin the financial independence process.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×