'I followed the path to FIRE — and learned that early retirement is the wrong goal.'
The growing FIRE movement is frequently pursued with zeal under the assumption that retiring in order to escape unfulfilling jobs is the path to happiness. The sooner we get there, the better, the thinking goes.
Stories from the FIRE community can have the opposite effect. The most dramatic stories tend to draw the most attention. Some people report saving upward of 70% of their salaries and retiring as early as their 30s or even late 20s. These stories can be inspirational as well as illuminate lessons and principles that can be applied to your own finances. Creating a new “normal” can be incredibly powerful for those looking to change their financial future.
What I and others have discovered is that early retirement is often the wrong goal. Instead, we need to start with a completely different construct. Rather than focusing on the future goal of retirement, we should focus on financial independence. Rather than waiting until becoming fully financially independent, when your assets will support your spending indefinitely, you can progressively exercise your increased freedom to live a better life. Maybe you want to have a stay-at-home parent. Or have both parents cut back work when the kids are young.
A big piece of finding happiness on the path to financial independence is to set the right goal. Conventional wisdom is that retirement is the ultimate financial goal. The commonly accepted definition of retirement is that you stop working. It’s difficult to find a retirement planning commercial or brochure without a couple walking on a beach or a group playing golf.
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