Category Archives: FIRE

4 Blogs That Jumpstarted My FIRE Journey

Note: I am not an affiliate with any of these blogs…I’m just a huge fan and want to share with you all how much I love their blogs!

When I was working full time in an outpatient ortho clinic in 2020-2021, I would read blog posts during my breaks and my lunch hour. I was never much of a blog reader, but my husband would send me these articles that he found interesting. I would then go down a rabbit hole of all the great information that these bloggers were writing about, which led me to subscribing to their blog, and the rest is history.

I want to share four of my favorite blogs that I started reading when I was at the beginning of my FIRE journey. These bloggers inspired and helped me to spend less, earn more, and invest the rest.

*note: I am not an affiliate with any of these blogs…I’m just a huge fan and want to share with you all how much I love their blogs!*

Mr. Money Mustache

The man, the myth, the legend. The OG FIRE movement blogger. Mr. Money Mustache’s moto “Financial Freedom Through Badassity” already caught my eye when I first got to his home page. He writes about how we can “live a frugal yet Badass life of leisure,” and he was able to achieve FIRE through living a frugal lifestyle that was ~50% less expensive than his peers, invested what he saved in Vanguard index funds, and a couple rental properties. When I found Mr. Money Mustache, we were all about investing in Vanguard index funds, but we were still struggling with saving more. Now that we’re able to prove to ourselves we can achieve >50% savings rate, and we invest primarily in Vanguard index funds, we are starting to learn more about rental property investing. Mr. Money Mustache’s blog posts are a great place to start for those who want to learn more about how to change their lifestyle to achieve financial independence.

I will warn, his writing is not for the easily offended. His matter-of-factual style of writing conveys his opinions very clearly, and his take on living frugally can be quite shocking for the average consumer.

Here are my personal favorite posts from Mr. Money Mustache to help you get started:

Making Sense of Cents

Once I started learning about the FIRE movement, I needed to learn more about HOW to achieve it. This is how I found Making Sense of Cents. Michelle has a TON of posts that talk about how to earn money from various side hustles, rewards credit cards, how to pay off debt, and many more great tips on how to enhance your personal finance life. Her post, What Is A Blog, How Do Blogs Make Money, & More, is what helped me to get started on my own blog. I also started getting into doing online surveys for some extra cash during the pandemic when I read her post, 13 Paid Survey Sites To Make $50+ Per Month.

It may seem intimidating at first when you go to Making Sense of Cents, because she has so many posts on so many different topics. I would recommend subscribing to her email list, as she will email you her latest posts, along with a list of posts she recommends that go along with the current topic. I found this strategy to be most effective for me when sifting through her amazing content.

Here are my personal favorite posts from Making Sense of Cents to help you get started:

Millenial Revolution

If you’re a Millennial like my husband and I, you will find this blog very relatable and helpful. FIRECracker & Wanderer are a FIRE couple who retired at 31 to travel the world. They went against the norm and instead of buying a home, decided to invest instead, and because of that they built a 7 figure portfolio that has given them the freedom to retire from their full time jobs and travel.

I like their writing style because it sounds like they’re sitting right across from me, having a normal discussion as friends. Their posts are easy to read and make seemingly complicated things less intimidating and easier to understand. I also love that they do Reader Cases, where they interview and look at a specific person’s situation and go through what they’re doing to reach FIRE, which makes it more relatable.

Here are my personal favorite posts from Millennial Revolution to help you get started:

Trip Of A Lifestyle

Another FIRE couple, Lauren and Steven, were able to retire from their full time jobs before the age of 30 through some lifestyle tweaks, growing their savings and investments, and focusing more on long-term traveling

What I like about Lauren and Steven is that they are very candid with the fact that it isn’t a one size fits all lifestyle. Like I always say as well, everyone’s situation and personality is different, so find what works best for your. Trip Of A Lifestyle does a great job of challenging their readers to think differently, which was definitely eye opening for me when I started my FIRE journey.

Here are my personal favorite posts from Trip Of A Lifestyle to help you get started:

I hope you find these blogs as awesome and helpful as I have. Happy reading!

If you want one-on-one mentoring in your finances, let’s work together to help you on your personal finance journey! Click here to sign up for your FREE 20 minute consult.

Note: I am not a certified financial advisor/planner or a certified financial analyst or a CPA or an accountant or a lawyer. Remember, I am an allied health professional, just like you! This website/blog is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Please consult with your financial advisor(s) regarding your personal finance, investment, and tax matters. 

Thanks for reading my blog! I use affiliate links to keep this blog and its content free for you, so I would be so grateful for your support by clicking below!

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4 Podcasts That Changed My Financial Life

When my husband started commuting part time to LA from San Diego in September of 2019, he got into listening to podcasts. I couldn’t understand it – I found them to be incredibly dull, and I much preferred to jam out to music while I drove. But he would come home from his 2 hour drive, he would talk to me about what he learned from whatever podcast he was listening to at the time. At the time, it went in one ear and out the other. I would hear “index funds” or “investing” or “financial independence” and I could care less. I was happy for him that he found entertainment in podcasts, but I just stuck with my 2000’s throwback playlist on Spotify.

We moved to LA so he could work full time without the awful commute March 1, 2020. As you all recall, this was less than 2 weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown commenced. We found ourselves with a ton of free time for a few months, as our employers tried to figure out how to keep us working via telehealth. So during these times, we would take our dogs for very long walks. And during this time, I finally decided to listen to one of these FIRE podcasts that my husband raved about.

And let me tell you… I was HOOKED.

I didn’t think I could learn so much from people talking into my ear while I walked the dogs, or while out on a long run, or while commuting once we started going back into work. I found myself diving deep into these podcasts, and basically catching up to my husband so that we could plan our financial future together and, to his relief, finally be on the same page.

So here are my top 4 personal favorite podcasts that helped me learn more about personal finance, financial independence, frugal living, and so much more (note: I am not financially affiliated with any of these podcasts – I’m just a huge fan, and I am promoting them purely because they changed my life, and I hope that they can change yours too):

  1. ChooseFI – Brad Barrett and Jonathan Mendonsa

Brad and Jonathan are the reason that my husband and I found out about the Financial Independence (FI) community. They lay out the steps to reaching FI in a simple manner so that it doesn’t seem as complicated as you think. In fact, I do a recap of my favorite blog post of their Baby Steps to FI in my earlier blog posts “How do I get to FIRE? Part 1” and “How do I get to FIRE? Part 2.” If that doesn’t show you how much of a fan I am, I don’t know what will!

I highly recommend some of their earlier podcasts, especially if you are starting out and learning more about FI. These are the episodes that I found to be the most helpful when I started my journey:

They even have an Essential Listening Guide you can follow as you continue your path to FI, which I have used to go back and relisten to some of the more intermediate-advanced level FI podcasts.

2. Afford Anything – Paula Pant

I started listening to Paula Pant after I heard her interview on the ChooseFI podcast. Paula Pant’s approach to financial independence, with her mantra “You can afford anything, but not everything,” resonated with me, and found myself really enjoying her podcast as she interviews not only people in the financial realm, but in other realms of life that make you dig deeper and optimize your way of living.

Paula Pant is also a big fan of real estate investing, which was something I had decided to give up on after a terrible experience with a crappy tenant. But after listening to some of her podcasts, I realize that I went about it all the wrong way! I am learning from those mistakes, and in the future I plan to get back into real estate investing, all because of Afford Anything.

So, here are some of my favorite Afford Anything podcasts:

3. Frugal Friends – Jen Smith and Jill Sirianni

I look forward to my Friday Frugal Friend Fill (gotta love alliteration, amirite?), because every Friday, Jen and Jill release their weekly podcast, where they talk about what it means to live a frugal, values based, meaningful life. Their passion for teaching others about living a frugal lifestyle, and breaking down the stereotype of frugality being synonymous with deprivation, is so eye opening and has changed the way I look at spending and saving money.

I actually had the pleasure of meeting Jen at FinCon 2021 in Austin, and she is an amazing human being. I was so nervous to approach her to introduce myself, because she really is one of my heroes! But when I finally got the courage to say hi to her, she was so nice and friendly, and we ended up chatting for hours. And fun fact: Jen used to be an acupuncturist – allied health professionals for the win! As if I couldn’t love Frugal Friends any more than I did, meeting her was definitely the highlight of FinCon 2021 for me.

Here are some of my favorite Frugal Friends podcasts:

4. Marriage Kids and Money – Andy Hill

Andy Hill is one of the most enthusiastic, bubbly, and energetic podcasters that I have every listened to! Every time he speaks, you can feel his energy and his excitement behind whatever he is choosing to talk about. Whether it’s about achieving financial independence, strengthening your marriage, or raising money-smart kids, every episode leaves you wanting to learn more from Andy!

My personal favorite are Fridays, when him and his wife, Nicole, get together and enjoy some wine and have candid discussions on a variety of topics. Each Friday is different, and I enjoy listening to them have an open dialogue as a married couple navigating their own finances, marriage, and children as a team.

I also got a chance to meet Andy at FinCon 2021, and yes, he is as enthusiastic and friendly in person as he is on his podcast! We got a chance to chat over some afternoon beers before he flew back home, and when I told him about my idea about starting FIREd Up for Allied Health, he was genuinely stoked about it and he encouraged me to go for it. Thanks, Andy!

Here are my favorite MKM podcasts:

There you have it, the podcasters that changed my life! I hope you decide to listen to a couple of the podcasts I suggested, and I hope you find as much benefit in them as I did.

If you are ready to take the next step in your journey towards financial independence, and want some one-on-one mentoring in your finances, let’s work together to help you on your personal finance journey! Click here to sign up for your FREE 20 minute consult.

Note: I am not a certified financial advisor/planner or a certified financial analyst or a CPA or an accountant or a lawyer. Remember, I am an allied health professional, just like you! This website/blog is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Please consult with your financial advisor(s) regarding your personal finance, investment, and tax matters. 

Thanks for reading my blog! I use affiliate links to keep this blog and its content free for you, so I would be so grateful for your support by clicking below!

  • StudentLoanAdvice.com was created to help ease your anxiety and take charge of your future by providing answers for optimal student loan management. Click here to reach out today!
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How do I get to F.I.R.E? The 10 Pillars of Financial Independence

updated November 7, 2022

Ok, so we discussed Choose FI’s “Baby” Steps to FI, which is a great place to start. But what does it take to reach financial independence?

This article from Choose FI talks about the 10 Pillers of FI, which gives more specific and advanced ways to help you reach financial independence. So once you’ve gone through the “baby” steps of financial independence, these are the more concrete ways to put it into action. And I’ll share how I have done each of these categories as well!

Low Cost Index Fund Investing

Now as allied health professionals, we are BUSY. We don’t have time to sit at a desk all day and day trade! And let’s be real, if you’re not in that realm, it’s a HUGE gamble. And most professional investors tend to not even keep up with the market in the long term. So since we can’t control the market, let’s focus on what we can control, which are the fees.

Index funds track the performance of a specific market as closely as possible. Instead of hand-selecting the stocks you hold, the fund’s manager buys all (or a representative sample) of the stocks or bonds in the index it tracks.1 My personal favorite, Vanguard, have significantly lower fees compared to other investing platforms. The most popular fund that JL collins in his book, “A Simple Plan to Wealth,” advocates for is the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSAX). It is designed to provide investors with exposure to the entire U.S. equity market, including small-, mid-, and large-cap growth and value stocks.2 Because of this broad diversification, it is a great way to diversify your portfolio in one easy fund. And you can automate putting money into it monthly, so you never have to think about it!

Low Cost Housing

According to the article, the average person spends half of their budget on housing costs. That’s wild! And if you live in an expensive city, I bet that ratio is even higher. I would know – I’ve lived in Southern California for over 5 years. Some things that I’ve done to help keep housing costs down include:

  • Live outside of your desired neighborhood – a bike ride away instead of walking distance – instead of right in the heart of the neighborhood
  • Downsize to a smaller space
  • Found an apartment that had a flat rate for pets that was part of the application fees, instead of a place that upped the monthly rent for pets
  • Found an apartment where utilities were included

But there are so many other things you can do to keep your housing costs down! Change the thermostat by a couple degrees to save on utilities. Maybe invest in a duplex/triplex and rent out the other unit(s) to cover some of the mortgage. Move to a less expensive city. Heck, maybe even live with your family for a bit to help pay off your debt. You’re never stuck where you are at – you always have options.

Buy Used Cars

A car is not an investment. I don’t care if you drive the newest Tesla, or a fancy Range Rover. Once it’s driven off the lot, it’s value goes down rapidly, and you still have to pay for that depreciating expense for the same cost every month, despite it’s value going down. A used car still in good condition with good gas mileage, however, is a much better expense.

My husband drives a 2008 Honda Civic. He has no car payments on it whatsoever. He’s been living that “no car payment” life for quite some time now. Me, on the other hand, bought my car new back in 2016. But with a 0% APR, it’s a better deal than most, so I still have a few more months to go before it’s fully paid off. But we are both committed to driving these cars to the ground. Sure, a new car would be nice. But our cars work well, so why replace something that’s already working?

If I went back in time, I wish I bought a gently used car! It would be one less payment every month for me to consider.

Crush Your Grocery Bill

This one is my personal favorite! Then again, I find joy in budgeting and finding good deals. But so many families in the US overspend on groceries and end up wasting much of it, especially perishable items. This is because they go to the store and mindlessly pick up what they see and throw it into their cart. Meal planning plays a big role on your path to financial independence, because this allows you to make sure you’re not overspending on groceries and wasting food. Good for your wallet, and the environment!

This bullet point also includes eating out for meals. Whenever you eat out, you are definitely overpaying. Cooking at home can average $1-3 per meal per person, while going out is typically much more. Plus, eating at home is more nutritional, so better for your health as well.

Tax Optimization

Before you go running for the hills after hearing those two scary words, hear me out. This is a more intermediate level pillar to learn, but it can be incredibly helpful down the road. From Roth IRA’s, to Health Savings Accounts, to capital gains harvesting, these tactics can save you a ton of money if you do the research and do it right. Lucky for you, you found my blog! I will be talking about these areas more in depth in the future. But for now, focus on what you can do today. We can deal with the other stuff later.

College Hacking

I’m a childless adult, so I haven’t had to worry too much about planning for the future of my children yet. But as someone who attended college, I know a thing or two about college hacking. For us allied health professionals, I’m also going to include graduate school and certification program hacking too!

Now we all know that student debt is a real crisis here in the US. Here are some hacks that I did to help pay my way through college and PT school:

  • Scholarships – there are SO many scholarships out there, you just have to do the grunt work to find them! I had a scholarship for being a Filipina-American; a scholarship for being mixed race; a scholarship for being in a sorority; and I even competed in the Hawaii Junior Miss pageant my senior year, and as 3rd runner up and medaling in a variety of categories, I earned a couple grand from that. Yes, it takes time to apply, but it can be worth it in the end.
  • Resident Advisor – I did this for my junior and senior year of college, which fully funded my room/board and my meal plan, along with a small stipend as well that I put towards, you guessed it…my debt!
  • Work Study – I was fortunate enough to be eligible for work study positions on campus, which paid me to work and I could put that money towards my tuition. I did a variety of work study jobs – athletic department, first year experience office, orientation leader, personal trainer, teaching assistant – all which gave me valuable work experience and money.
  • Side Hustle – this was my “under the table” cash money I earned which I budgeted for fun things to do! I’ll talk more about this later in this post.

Travel Hacking

This is my second favorite! I want to warn you, this is only for the responsible folk who can pay off their credit card(s) in full every month. Otherwise, travel hacking is not for you!

But if you do pay your credits cards in full every month, kudos to you, and look into credit cards with travel rewards and bonus points to help fund your travels! My two personal favorite cards are the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Capital One Visa. I’ll be doing another post in the near future about the specifics of these cards, but I can tell you that my husband and I haven’t paid for a flight in over a year due to all the points we’ve racked up…and we’ve flown to Hawaii, Washington, Texas, and New York, so it has saved us a ton!

Cut The Cord

My husband and I don’t value television and cable, which is why we don’t have a cable bill every month. We bought a $15 antenna from Amazon and we are very happy with the basic channels that it gets us.

We use a cheap phone plan as well to cut our bill. Don’t feel like you have to stick to the big dogs, like AT&T and T-Mobile. We went from being with Verizon and paying $150 a month, to switching to Mint Mobile and paying $65 a month. And the service is just as good!

We also pay minimal for subscriptions. We have a Netflix account, but that’s it! But like I said, we don’t value television as much as others might. Remember that personal finance is personal, so make sure that what you are doing aligns with your values.

Side Hustles

I’m a full time PT. I have the blog and this website and this coaching as a SIDE HUSTLE. This side hustle is something I enjoy, and also gets me some money on the side. Who knows, maybe one day this could be my full time gig, but I’m happy being a full time PT for now.

But I also have other side hustles as well: I’m an UberEats delivery person, I created digital downloads on Etsy, I do amateur vintage pin up modeling, and I have even gotten paid to, I’m not kidding…stretch someone. Not do PT with them, not do soft tissue work with them, but stretch them. But there are literally hundreds of side hustles out there! And I say literally, because author Chris Guillebeau wrote a book on it: 100 Side Hustles: Unexpected Ideas for Making Extra Money Without Quitting Your Day Job, so if you feel like you don’t have any skills for a side hustle, I bet you’ll find at least one thing in this book.

Savings Rate/The 4% Rule

My last post discussed your savings rate – click here to reference back to it for your review.

If your goal is to retire early, then the 4% rule is crucial for you to understand. The 4% rule presumes that this is the the maximum percentage that retirees could withdraw annually from their portfolio3 without running out of money for a 30 year retirement. Another way people look at this is that you should save up 25x your annual expenses in investments to be able to retire.

While I like this general idea, as it focuses on spending and not your income, there is more recent pushback on this rule, and there is more research coming out to update this rule. I plan on posting about this in the near future, so stay tuned!

Conclusion

So before you X out of this blog post and freak out about how many life changes you may have to make to get you on the path to financial independence, think of it from this perspective – financial independence puts the focus on what you value and what makes you happy.

Financial independence isn’t about deprivation. It’s about figuring out what you truly value spending money on, cutting back on the unnecessary expenses that cost you too much and don’t add value to your life. And once you reach financial independence, you will have the one thing that most people can agree on we all value – our time.

To read ChooseFI’s full article, click here.

  1. https://investor.vanguard.com/index-funds/what-is-an-index-fund
  2. https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/profile/vtsax
  3. “Fuel for the F.I.R.E.: Updating the 4% rule for early retirees” – https://personal.vanguard.com/pdf/ISGFIRE.pdf

Like what you read? Check out some of my other most clicked blog posts!

If you want one-on-one mentoring in your finances, let’s work together to help you on your personal finance journey! Click here to sign up for your FREE 20 minute consult.

Note: I am not a certified financial advisor/planner or a certified financial analyst or a CPA or an accountant or a lawyer. Remember, I am an allied health professional, just like you! This website/blog is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Please consult with your financial advisor(s) regarding your personal finance, investment, and tax matters. 

Thanks for reading my blog! I use affiliate links to keep this blog and its content free for you, so I would be so grateful for your support by clicking below!

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How do I get to F.I.R.E.? – Part 1

So you read my last blog post. And now you’re hooked. You’re ready to begin your journey to financial independence!

ChooseFI did a great job in their article, The “Baby Steps of FI” , to outline some ways to get started on your journey. Here’s a basic synopsis and how it relates to you as an allied health practitioner

1.Track Your Money

You need to know the who/what/when/where/why/how you’re spending your money to get started. You can create your own spreadsheet, but also you can use budget apps like Mint and Personal Capital, to track your transactions. See what you’re spending the most money on, what are true “necessities” versus “discretionary spending.” I typically tell my clients to look over the course of 3 months to see how they typically spend their money, and go from there.

2. Calculate Your Savings Rate

This is my favorite thing to do at the end of every month! This is the formula I use as a way to calculate basic savings rate:

For a more accurate savings rate, go to ChooseFI’s Savings Rate Calculator by clicking here.

This makes sense, right? Your income minus your spending what you’re left with at the end of the month. Divide it by your income and multiply by 100 to get a percentage of how much you end up with at the end of the month after all your spending.

If you’re on the path to financial independence, the goal would be to have a 50% savings rate. If you’re not close to this number yet, don’t worry! Remember that financial independence is also about the journey, and I’m here to help get you there.

3. Check Your Fees and Subscriptions

Look at the 3 month spending that you tracked already (see what I did there?). What monthly fees are you paying for? Are these necessary? If you find that you have multiple streaming service fees for Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Disney+, Apple TV+, and ESPN all at the same time, but are struggling to reach that 50% savings rate, maybe this is an area that you can save money on.

You also should keep track of pricing for work related items, such as your licensure, CPR certification, etc.

4. Develop Your Skills

The term “talent stacking” is a concept created by Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic. With talent stacking, you combine multiple normal skills until you create one extraordinary person…and that can be you!

This may be career based – for example, I am a PT, and I have experience in the realms of pediatrics, orthopedics, pelvic floor/women’s health. I also have PT experience in the outpatient, inpatient, home, school, and virtual settings. These multiple PT skills allow me to be more diversified in my skillset and allow me more opportunities to PT jobs.

But I also have another talents that make me side hustle money – I am a financial mentor (duh), I dance hula professionally, and I have delivered for UberEats in the past. While none of these are allied health profession related, you can bet that it helps me to earn extra income to help me reach my savings rate goal! And it also helped me find success in happiness in areas that I did not expect.

5. Stay Motivated

It’s hard to stay motivated, especially when we work such long hours and get burned out so quickly compared to other professions. Which is why I created the FIREd Up For Allied Health Facebook group – to allow allied health professionals from all over to find community in their financial independence journeys.

We are a unique subset of people. We all work hard, care for people, have a good education, and yet we still struggle with finances. My goal is to get allied health professionals to a point in their lives where financial independence is not just a goal, but a reality, where we can focus more on our careers and less on the financial burdens we carry with us.

For the link to ChooseFI’s full article on The “Baby” Steps of FI, click here.

Note: I am not a certified financial advisor/planner or a certified financial analyst or a CPA or an accountant or a lawyer. Remember, I am an allied health professional, just like you! I am a self proclaimed amateur investor, and personal finance enthusiast. I am not affiliated with ChooseFI, and I am not being reimbursed by ChooseFI to promote their website. I am merely a fan of their work, and I want to share it with you all in hopes to help you reach your financial goals.

Thanks for reading my blog! I use affiliate links to keep this blog and its content free for you, so I would be so grateful for your support by clicking below!

  • StudentLoanAdvice.com was created to help ease your anxiety and take charge of your future by providing answers for optimal student loan management. Click here to reach out today!

What is F.I.R.E.?

updated October 16, 2022
An acronym, or something to make s’mores on?

There’s a buzz about the FIRE movement in the personal finance world. As an allied health professional, you probably have no idea what this is. And I wouldn’t expect you to know!

So, what is the FIRE movement, anyways? 

The F.I.R.E. Community

The FIRE community is not known as a group of pyromaniacs (although the acronym can be incredibly misleading). FIRE is an acronym that stands for “Financial Independence, Retire Early.” It’s a lifestyle movement that my husband and I have been a part of together since 2020.

According to good ol’ Wikipedia, people in the FIRE community: 

  1. Maximize their savings rate by either increasing income and/or decreasing expenses.
  2. Accumulate assets of at least 25x one’s estimated annual living expenses, with the thought being that the resulting passive income provides enough money for living expenses throughout one’s retirement years
  3. Once retired, using the 4% rule as a rough withdrawal guideline to live their lives.

These three basic steps means that paid work now becomes optional. This allows for retirement from traditional work much earlier than the standard retirement age. The end result sounded awesome, but I had some serious doubts about the steps to reach FI (financial independence).

How Did I Hear About the FIRE Community?

It started with reading blogs! I started reading the blogs of people living the FI life to the fullest: Mr. Money Mustache, Mad Fientist, to name a few.

From these blogs, it lead me to some of my favorite podcasts: ChooseFI, Afford Anything, and the list goes on. 

And these people made me realize – it’s not just to retire to sit on my ass all day doing nothing. Retirement is in the eyes of the beholder. The time you can gain by quitting your full time job can open doors to other opportunities! There are other intermediate steps in between that it’ll take to get to there. But the journey can be just as fun, if not more, than the destination.

Retire Early? That’s a thing?!

When I started telling my friends and family about this, I got a little more backlash than expected.

“You can’t retire when you’re that young!” – from an aunt who worked for the government for 30+ years

“What are you going to do for the rest of your life then?” – from a family friend who just retired at 70 years old and is attempting to cram all the travels he wished he’d done in the past into his 70’s

“Sounds like extremely frugality to me.” – from my dear friend who spends her paycheck on excessive amounts of clothes, skin care, and dining out

“So no fun now, but fun later on?” – from a Weekend Warrior who is 6 figures in student debt and yet makes sure to “live life to the fullest” on his days off

And I hear ya. My mantra used to be the complete opposite of FIRE… it was more like ICE – “Independence Can’t Exist” after initially learning about the FIRE movement (pun intended). If you just read the first two paragraphs of the blog post, it’s easy to have doubts. But I challenge you to think about this concept of “retiring” from a different perspective.

Thoughts on “Retirement”

No longer being forced to work until you’re in your 60’s or 70’s. Not sitting at a stagnant job because of the employer 401(k) match or for the pension. No longer using the excuse “I don’t have time” to work on a passion project that hasn’t gotten any farther than the dream board you created months ago that’s hanging behind your bedroom door. Not missing your children’s soccer games or saying “No” to going out for drinks with a friend after work on Friday because you’re “too tired from work.” No longer stressing about your financial situation and if you’re even able to make your next mortgage payment if an emergency arises. No more feeling like you have no control over your current life situation.

By accumulating enough wealth and streams of passive income to get you to retire early, you can quit that job you hated in the first place. As Paula Pant from Afford Anything puts it, FIRE is “freedom to work on Purpose-Driven projects, instead of relying on a paycheck for groceries and gas.”

I hope I have convinced you to at least open your eyes to this concept of FIRE and see what it’s about. Listen to those podcasts. Read those blogs. Get more information. And get excited for what’s to come!

Note: I am not a certified financial advisor/planner or a certified financial analyst or a CPA or an accountant or a lawyer. Remember, I am an allied health professional, just like you! This website/blog is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Please consult with your financial advisor(s) regarding your personal finance, investment, and tax matters. 

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