FIRE: Financial Independence Retire Early

I guess this is something that has been important to me even when I did not know that this was a movement with an actual name.

I read a blog from @connecteconomy on this topic a few days ago and wanted to share my views and concerns

My aim for the moment is not to be able to retire early although that would be great. My biggest issue is that in Europa as a whole the governments will not be able to afford to pay pensions like my parents have and grandparents had. A population that is on average getting older that has to be sustained by a shrinking workforce in an economy that is not so amazing either coupled with an ever increasing public deficit have made it more and more difficult to sustain the level of pensions that seniors today enjoy.

Now there have been initiatives in most countries where you can do pension saving and that allows you a generous tax break. For me this is still one of the best investments out there, save a bit every month and at the end of the year you get 30ish% of that in tax returns. But that together with the raising of the pension age to 67 only goes to show that the governments know they are in trouble.

As for me, I really do not want to be 70 when I retire, how much quality of life will there still be left? So the goal is to keep my retirement age at max 65 and try to move it earlier every year by saving and investing smart.

Now since the article that Anja wrote I have been diving a little deeper in the topic and have put a thorough analysis of my finances on my to do list

2 ways to burn for FIRE

• earn more
• spend less

Now it is crucial to set a goal that would allow you the liberty to be able to do what you love without being financially dependant on that activity. Dependent on your age the average goal would be 25 times annual expenses. Or gaining interest/dividends that are more than what you currently need

• I guess the biggest thing is to be without debt and I can say that this is the case for me.
• I have also been saving the maximum allowed amount that gives tax cuts here in Switzerland called the 3rd pillar for the last few years.
• I also own part of an apartment together with my Parents that we rent out and that gives me a small monthly income from the rent as well.
• Lastly and I think this might be the important one in the near future is crypto. Looking at the market right now you might have doubts but if you dig a little deeper there is so much activity and building in blockchain based companies that the next bull market will come in the near future (next few years)

I see a lot of the FIRE themed websites talking about investing in funds and the like but for me this does not sound like the best idea. As far as I can tell from reading and listening to different experts we are overdue for another crash on the stock market and a major recession. Stocks have never been so high and neither has debt... This cannot be a good combination and that is why I think having a portion of your savings in a high risk element like cryptocurrencies is a very good idea. That is also part of why I keep blogging here on Steem. It's an additional source of income with promise of big future payoffs and it only costs time.

And that’s the whole point of FIRE! Not stressing about money. Some people actually want to achieve financial independence because they want to work in what they love, without having what they love being their only source of income.

So what is your opinion? Were you on FIRE as well but did not know it?
If not, are you Lit now?