Don’t Get Burned By FIRE

For those not familiar, there’s a corner of the internet for which FIRE is an acronym.

FIRE stands for “Financially Independent, Retire Early.”

There’s a thriving community around this idea of FIRE which you can find on Reddit here.

While most of my clients are in their 50s and 60s, many (not all) of them eagerly look forward to their retirement.

But here’s the thing . . . are you looking forward to retiring “from” something or retiring “to” something?

In other words, is your job a grind and you’re literally just going through the motions until you have accumulated enough savings or pension credits so you can escape the rat race?

Or do you have big plans for retirement?

Many of my clients plan to travel more in retirement. Or spend a lot more time with their children and grandchildren. Or get more involved in their church or community. Or volunteer. Or learn. Or work in a part-time role that provides some degree of fun or fulfillment.

Or, a seldom discussed third option is to find work you love, where you can make some kind of impact in the lives of a few or the lives of many while also earning some level of income.

You’ve probably heard the saying, “Choose a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”

Now please don’t confuse this concept with the “follow your passion” advice that is often thrown about. It’s typically the shortest path to starving artist status.

Sure there are those who fall into their dream career right out of college or grad school. But these are the exception and not the rule.

And I’m not discounting the hard work that many of you have put in over a decades-long career.

But maybe once you have achieved some degree of financial security and comfort, maybe even financial independence, it creates an opportunity to explore what’s possible.

Let’s say you’re 58 years old and have been working in a corporate position and are currently earning $180,000 a year. Perhaps your plan is to work until 60 or 62 or 65 and just grind it out until you limp across the career finish line.