Most People āDoing FIREā Arenāt
Most people saying theyāre ādoing FIREā arenāt. Hereās why.
Unpopular opinion: most people who say they want FIRE donāt actually know which FIRE theyāre chasing. And thatās exactly why they stall out.
FIRE isnāt one goal. Itās four different games, and they require completely different moves:
š¹ Lean FIRE, smallest number, bare-bones budget. Freedom, but tight.
š¹ Fat FIRE, biggest number, full lifestyle intact. Freedom, but expensive.
š¹ Coast FIRE, front-load your savings young, then let compounding finish the job while you work less.
š¹ Traditional FIRE, the āquit and donāt look backā version most people picture.
Hereās the part nobody says out loud: you canāt build a plan for a number you havenāt picked. Chasing āfinancial independenceā without picking a lane is justā¦ saving aggressively with no destination.
I retired at 45. Not because I hit some giant number, because I got honest about which version of āfreeā I actually wanted, and built toward that.
š The real first step in FIRE isnāt the math. Itās deciding what kind of retired you want to be.
So be honest, which one are you actually building toward: Lean, Fat, Coast, or Traditional? And if youāre not sure, say that too š
