The Complete List of Ways to F.I.R.E. – Video

Changes in the FIRE movement

The FIRE community has grown a lot since I started blogging. It has evolved to become more accessible to a broader audience. You don’t even need a million dollar portfolio. 🙂

I’ve created a video describing the different ways to achieve F.I.R.E. (Financial independence, retire early) You can click here to watch it, or see below.

If you prefer to listen to the audio version only, you can download the mp3 or use the media player below.

The complete list of FIRE that you need to know

FIRE is not an exact science so view these more as guidelines than rules.

Lean FIRE

You spend less than $40,000 a year in retirement. For the frugal minded. Lean FIRE is attractive to a lot of minimalists.

Regular FIRE

You have a middle class lifestyle and spend between $40,000 to $80,000 in retirement. I would put myself into this category. You’ll typically have an investment portfolio in the $1 to $2 million range.

Chubby FIRE

You spend around $100,000 per year in retirement. This puts in the upper middle class of the FIRE spectrum. You can choose to have pretty much anything you want, but not everything you want.

Fat FIRE

You typically spend $150,000 to $250,000 a year. You can afford to buy many things that most people cannot. Your retirement portfolio is in the mid 7 figures. Capital preservation is generally more important than higher investment returns.

Obese FIRE

You are the 1% wealthiest in the country. Money is usually not an issue for you. Your monthly expense is over $25,000. Your main concern is protecting your wealth from inflation.

Barista FIRE

You supplement your retirement income with a part time job, or have your spouse continue working. Working a part time job gives you social interactions and a purpose to get up in the morning. You prefer having an extended period of semi-retirement than going directly from working to not working entirely.

Trust fund FIRE

You don’t need a retirement portfolio because your source of income comes from your parents. As as long as they don’t cut you off, you can spend your time doing anything you want.

Royalty FIRE

You collect enough royalties from your creations to retire early. Royalty checks can be from book sales, music licenses or anything else you’ve created.

Coast FIRE

You have enough investments so that, without any further contributions, your portfolio will grow large enough to cover your expenses when you retire.

Paleo FIRE

You live out in the wilderness like your ancestors and go without the financial burdens of living in a society in exchange for the ultimate freedom. Alternatives include: Monk FIRE, Hermit FIRE.

Prison FIRE

You serve a life sentence in a penitentiary. Shelter, food, and clothing are provided to you. If you are offered parole you can kindly reject it. This way, all of your living expenses will be paid for indefinitely.

Fast FIRE

You reach financial independence in as a little as 5 years through hard work, determination, grit, and a bit of luck. A common path to Fast FIRE is building a business or investing with leverage. The opposite of this is Slow FIRE, which is just a standard career path to a traditional retirement.

Instant FIRE

You have a lot of luck. You win the lottery, or win big at the casino and become FIRE in an instant. You can also mary someone who’s already reached FI.

Welfare FIRE

You have gotten use to government assistant programs and depend on free handouts. This is similar to Lean FIRE, except you rely solely on government support instead of drawing down from my own nest egg.

Stealth FIRE

You are independently wealthy but you don’t show it and nobody knows. This keeps you safe from unwanted attention. 

Celebrity FIRE

You may or may not be FIRE, but you like to give people the impression that you are already successful.

GYOW FIRE

This stands for Go Your Own Way F.I.R.E., which is for anyone who wants to pursue financial freedom but doesn’t fit neatly into any of the other F.I.R.E. categories.

The original idea of Financial Independence, Retire early was born from a personal finance book in 1992. But today FIRE is no longer defined by frugality and extreme savings and investment. FIRE now offers more flexibility than ever before.  It’s possible to retire early and still have a healthy work/life balance.

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Random Useless Fact:

There are between 2 and 5 solar eclipses every year.