• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • COACHING
  • ABOUT
    • Let’s Connect
  • Courses
It's ADHD Friendly
  • BLOG
    • Money Mindset
    • Time + Energy
    • Organizing + Decluttering
    • Spend Smart
    • Financial Independence Retire Early
    • Personal Growth
    • Minimalism
    • ADHD
  • Resources
    • Notion Vision to Action Template
  • Sunday Set Up
  • COACHING
  • ABOUT
    • Let’s Connect
  • Courses
it's adhd friendly logo

It's ADHD Friendly

ADHD Coaching For Aspiring Entrepreneurs

  • BLOG
    • Money Mindset
    • Time + Energy
    • Organizing + Decluttering
    • Spend Smart
    • Financial Independence Retire Early
    • Personal Growth
    • Minimalism
    • ADHD
  • Resources
    • Notion Vision to Action Template
  • Sunday Set Up
FIRE financial independence retire early

Blog    Organizing + Decluttering

Light Yourself On F.I.R.E. This Year (Financial Independence + Retire Early)

Caren Magill, MA, CPT, RYT & ADHD Life Coach, MA, ACC, AACC, RYT
January 7, 2018

Head's up, there could be affiliate links ahead!


Nope, not talking about pyromania. I’m referring to F.I.R.E., which is an acronym for, you guessed it… financial independence + retire early.

Now clearly these are two different things, but they tend to get lumped together.  Since I see them as very separate and unique goals, I’ll define them that way.

financial independence early retirement FIRE

Financial Independence (otherwise known as “FI”) is simply having enough money that you no longer have to work to earn a living. Your money does that for you, whether it’s dividends from investments, income from real estate, or having a really sweet Sugar Daddy/Mama paying all your bills (not sure this one qualifies as “independence”, but you get the idea).

Retire Early needs no explanation, only what you might not realize is that there are many people with average incomes retiring in their 30’s instead of waiting until their 60’s.

While these are simple definitions and there’s nothing new about either idea, I think most people in the Western world don’t consider this an option because they assume it’s meant for those lucky few in the 1%.

I thought that too.

But somewhere in the middle of 2017, I stumbled upon this amazing subculture of regular, normal people like you and I who are focused on building wealth so that they can retire from their day jobs and just live off the proceeds of their investments.

Now, you might be thinking, “okay, that’s great but I don’t want to live on kibble and buy my underwear at the local Goodwill”.

Neither do I.
But if you’re willing to minimize unnecessary spending as much as possible and optimize your savings so that you never have to work another day in your life (if you don’t want to) those second-hand undies may start to sound more appealing. (Okay, kidding here, second-hand undies are gross.)

The point is that the road to financial independence is paved with many personal trade-offs, but the commute is not as long as you think. It’s totally possible and the more creative and flexible you are, the faster you’re going to get there.

[bctt tweet=”The road to financial independence is paved with many personal trade-offs, but the commute is not as long as you think.” username=”fundinghappy”]

But what if you don’t want to retire early?

Some people can’t imagine not working because it gives their lives structure and purpose. Some people LOVE their jobs and can’t imagine giving them up. If that’s you, I say – rock on, unicorn! But the reality is that most of us don’t feel that way about our primary jobs. More to the point, financial independence can make any job way less suck-worthy because you have the choice to walk away at any point. Financial independence provides the freedom of having absolute control over your time, energy and choices and that’s a very VERY happy-inducing place to be.

[bctt tweet=”Financial independence makes any job way less suck-worthy because you have the choice to walk away at any point.” username=”Fundinghappy”]

The best part about FIRE (or even just FI) is the quality of life it affords and the ability to say “no” to doing things you don’t want to do. Consider how that would change your life! Perhaps it would alleviate unnecessary stress, open doors to more appealing opportunities or just allow you and your family to enjoy your lives in a much more meaningful way.

The idea feels pretty amazing, right?

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to write this post because it’s the #1 reason I started Funding Happy. The entire message behind this website is to fund what makes you happy – your time, your freedom and your creative energy.

Retiring Early(ish)?

This is a phrase I’ve coined for my own situation based on my age and level of financial independence. I’ll write more about this in a future post, but the point is that retiring early is relative based on how old you are when you first set that goal. I know several 20 and 30-somethings that view early retirement as something you do in your 40’s. As someone who is well into their 40’s already, I may have skipped the boat on the millennial version of early retirement, but that’s not really my goal, anyway.

Financially, I am at a place in life where I don’t have to do work I hate. I’m not entirely financially independent (I still need some income), so I call myself semi-retired in the sense that I can be picky about the work I do. I call this the “pants-optional” phase of my career because I hate commuting so I will only accept work I can do from home.

Okay, I just realized I should be careful about using the term “pants-optional” when talking about my career.

So while I’m not fully retired, I consider myself retired(ish) as I want to write for a living until the day my fingers can no longer translate my thoughts.

How to get started on your road to FIRE.

There is SO much to write about here, and while I’m not a guru at investing money (by a long shot), I am pretty savvy when it comes side hustles and saving, which are two key areas of accelerating financial independence.

My recommendation is to start where most of the FIRE community starts – Mr. Money Mustache.  His ideas are often considered radical, but his philosophy about money will change your life as it has for so many.  From there, head to Rockstar Finance to find a ton of personal finance bloggers who have already retired (or who are well on their way) and start following their journeys for inspiration.

Now I’d like to hear from you!  Does this sound like nonsense or is it something that appeals to you?  

Financial independence and retire early

 

« Previous Post
Overcoming Your Emotional Attachment to Stuff.
Next Post »
Marriage & Money: How to Set Your Spouse on FIRE

About the Author

Caren Magill, MA, CPT, RYT & ADHD Life Coach

Caren is a Certified ADHD Life Coach. She teaches women with ADHD how to harness the best parts of their brain to create a life they love.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comments

  1. fin$avvypanda @ finsavvypanda.com says

    January 16, 2018 at 12:04 am

    Hi Caren!

    Awesome write up here. I don’t think this is nonsense at all. It’s definitely possible…… as long as you have a really sweet sugar daddy or mama (haha JK!). I cracked up reading that part, but hey… the result is still the same (again, JK)! LOL

    But yes, I really do think FI is possible, and even more so for the middle to upper middle class group! They just need to prioritize their spending and live well below their means. Finding ways to increase the income helps A LOT as well!

    My fiance and I started saving and investing after we graduated from University but we spent a bit more than we should’ve. We were just thinking about fun at that time lol.

    Thinking back, we could’ve been better with our money. It wasn’t until I read blogs and books that I got even more serious and addicted to money topics. I’m glad I discovered them sooner rather than later >.<

    Btw, I'm from Toronto as well! 😀

    Reply
    • caren says

      January 16, 2018 at 5:06 pm

      Hi FinsavvyPanda!

      I agree with you – it’s totally doable, and the path is simple, but it’s not easy in practice. As you say, it’s easier for middle/upper class. Those who struggle on minimum wage are going to have a harder time achieving this.

      It sounds like you’re well on your way to FI! I wish I had discovered this years ago. I have always saved, but not as aggressively as I do now.

      Live and learn 🙂

      Yay! Always good to meet other peeps from the motherland 🙂

      Reply
  2. Oyibo says

    January 17, 2018 at 2:40 am

    Hi…
    I really do love your post,it’s very insightful,educative and windblown, the truth is that everybody want to be financially independent even those that love their job so much because you never can tell what will happen tomorrow. I have invested in few things in my quest to be financially independent but they are not going the way I was told it will go, I don’t know if am investigating in the wrong place or there are things am not doing well.

    Reply
    • caren says

      January 17, 2018 at 5:43 pm

      Wow, it’s hard not to be doing well with investments in this market. Low fee index funds are what I focus on and I’ve seen an 11% return on my investment in the last year alone. You might want to look at where you’re putting your money!

      Reply
  3. Shell says

    January 17, 2018 at 3:26 am

    This is absolutely awesome information! I would love to be able to retire early!

    Reply
    • caren says

      January 17, 2018 at 5:42 pm

      Anything is possible!

      Reply
  4. Amanda D | The Glorious Grape says

    January 17, 2018 at 3:34 am

    I love this article! It made me laugh throughout, but you make so many excellent points – FIRE isn’t only just for the “select few”, but it takes a lot of discipline and commitment.

    I won’t lie, I struggle with financial discipline. I love going out, eating at fancy restaurants, drinking away my cash, instead of squirreling it away. I have come very far in cutting out a lot of this, but I still believe you gotta treat yo’self every once in a while for making those sacrifices.

    Cheers to being on FIRE!

    Reply
    • caren says

      January 17, 2018 at 5:41 pm

      I agree with you amanda. Going out for dinner/drinks is my guilty pleasure as well. That’s one of the things I’ll never give up because it brings me so much pleasure.

      Reply
  5. Justin says

    January 17, 2018 at 5:59 am

    Funny article. I admire that you can be semi-retired(ish). I had never heard of the acronym, “f.i.r.e” before, but I think it’s quite clever. Thanks for also recommending Mr. Money Mustache and Rockstar Finance. I’ll try to follow your articles and other financial blogs when I can. I’ve read a lot about retiring early and so on, but I guess it’s like 100X easier said than done. That being said, I hope 2018 can be a year I start on a path towards financial independence. Thanks for the article!

    Reply
    • caren says

      January 17, 2018 at 5:40 pm

      You’re welcome! hope it inspires you to start thinking about it in 2018!

      Reply
  6. Sarah Camille says

    January 17, 2018 at 3:24 pm

    My fiance has been listening to a lot of podcasts about becoming financially independent so I loved reading your thoughts! Trying to figure out how to acheive it can be a little hard and overwhelming but it’s also exciting to feel like your future is truly in your hands and you’re not just in a corporate rat race.

    Cheers!
    Sarah Camille // SCsScoop.com

    Reply
    • caren says

      January 17, 2018 at 5:39 pm

      It can feel overwhelming, but it’s actually doable. It’s just a mindset shift to holding onto a goal for a long period of time. Like losing 50lbs over the course of 30 years?? lol.. But the end result is worth it.

      Reply
  7. Evelyn, Path of Presence says

    January 17, 2018 at 7:21 pm

    Thanks for this point of awareness and resource! Will definitely look at the links you shared and get going. Fabulous post!

    Reply
    • caren says

      January 18, 2018 at 5:26 pm

      Good luck, Evelyn!

      Reply

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I’m Caren

I'm a fellow ADHDer with a mind that works faster than a quick-dry nail polish. I have figured out how to master my ADHD brain through self-care, intentional productivity and simple lifestyle adjustments and I'm here to help you do the same.

Notion Nerds! Set Goals With Clarity + Follow Through on Them

ADHD Notion Template

Distraction to Action – Productivity Mastery for ADHDers

adhd productivity and planning

The Organized Business Notion Template

ADHD organized business

ADHD Coaching – Is it for you?

ADHD Coach on zoom

Proudly Certified through the International Coaching Federation

Footer

  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosure Statement
  • Meet Caren
  • Courses

ADHD friendly coaching

  • BLOG
  • Disclosure Statement

© 2023 · Coaching Plus Theme · Genesis Framework · Disclosure · Website Design by Anchored Design