Wealth, Not FIRE

FIRE (“Financial Independence Retire Early) — “retiring early” is a strange goal. But the ability to “Work On (your) Own Terms — WOOT!… that’s a worthy goal.

WOOT! or Retirement?

The idea of saving for retirement can be boring. If you’re 50 or older and haven’t saved, saving for retirement can feel like life-or-death, but when you’re in your 20’s, 30’s, and early 40’s, retirement is the last thing on your mind. I’m hoping to help change your mind by not making saving about retirement, but about building wealth.

When you think about saving for retirement, you think about not dying broke. Not being dependent on government support. Those are valid concerns, but building wealth is so much more than that.

The sooner you build wealth, the sooner you have more peace of mind of your future. You have choices about where you want to live. You have choices about where you want to travel. You have choice about your kids college and future. You have choices period. Other than stuff you imagine buying or experiencing, you also have the choice to GIVE, to help others. Broke people can’t afford to help others, and there is no bigger reward in life than to be able to help someone out financially that’s down on their luck.

Wealth or FIRE?

Building wealth is SO much more than growing old and retiring. Some folks who are into building wealth refer to it as “financial independence” (FI). FI is more of a term related to saving enough money (building enough wealth) that you can, in theory, never run out of money. “FI” is also referred to as “FIRE” or “financial independence retire early”. I’m not much for retiring early, but I am for working on what you want to work. We’ll talk more about FI and FIRE in an upcoming article.

The main goal of this initial article is singular. Don’t think about saving as money for retirement and old age. Think about saving money as building wealth (and the freedom it gives you at ANY age).

What do you think? What is financial independence to you? Please comment below.