Almost There: My FIRE Number is Within Reach!

A different perspective to the thing called FIRE!

Okay, when I say, almost there, I am still 7 to 9 years away from achieving my FIRE number. I have been working hard towards achieving the FIRE number before 45 at maximum and 42 in the best-case scenario (if this decade turns out to be India’s story as many are predicting/saying).

For those new to the term…

What is FIRE?

FIRE: Financial Independence, Retire Early

FIRE is a financial strategy that aims to achieve financial independence and early retirement. This involves significantly increasing your savings rate and investing wisely to reach a point where your passive income exceeds your expenses, allowing you to retire early.

Understanding FIRE

There are two reasons why most of us are running after FIRE:

• Financial Independence: This means having enough saved and invested to cover your living expenses without relying on earned income.

• Early Retirement: This refers to retiring earlier than the traditional retirement age, often in your 40s or 50s.

If you are also working to retire early - you need to ask yourself an important question - why do you want to do it?

The most common answer to this question is - Once I will retire I will do what I love doing. I won’t have to work for money or anyone.

One thing is for sure, you will have to work - you cannot sit at home at 45 and do nothing.

Tell me in the comments your reason to retire early.

I will be honest - my reason was the same. I planned to retire before 45 so I could do what I love- writing. I plan to write books on finance and spirituality.

I am no longer chasing FIRE

Yes, you read it right. I am not chasing my FIRE number now. It will happen eventually but I am not running after it. Why? Because I don’t want to retire early to do things I love doing.

Recently, I was rewatching, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobaara, and even though I might have seen the scene multiple times before, the reality hit me hard this time.

One of the best scenes from the movie is Laila (Katrina) asking Arjun (Hrithik), why he is working so hard. He tells her to retire at 40 so he can enjoy his life after that.

And then she asks him, "How do you know you will live till 40?"

Wow, what brilliant lines and a well-performed scene. It hit me hard. How do I know I am going to live till 45? Why should I wait to live my dream life (writing) after 45 when I am not even 100% sure I will hit that age?

What am I doing now?

I am writing…

I am writing NOW. Yes, I cannot completely switch to writing as it may not give me enough money but who cares? We adjust to things in life, right? I have decided to write NOW and if all goes well…I will take it full-time later. But till then, you will continue to receive at least one newsletter 😄

What should you do?

Don’t chase FIRE

The realization made me revisit what I had learned from the books I had read on Buddhism (and I have read many). Here’s why you might want to reconsider focusing solely on FIRE:

1. The Illusion of Future Happiness: By focusing too much on the idea of "retiring early," you might delay your happiness, thinking it will come once you hit that magic number. But life is happening now, and joy can be found in the present.

The future is a concept, it doesn't exist. There is no such thing as tomorrow. There never will be, because time is always now. That's one of the things we discover when we stop talking to ourselves and stop thinking. We find there is only present, only an eternal now.

2. The Journey is the Destination: FIRE can make it feel like life is a race to the finish line, but believe me, every step of the journey has value. Your growth, experiences, and wisdom come from embracing the present moment. Focusing too much on the end goal might cause you to miss the richness of your daily experiences.

And, so I stay motivated to continue to write, please share the article. If every reader shares it with a few, I can reach more readers and stay motivated.

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