It’s a seemingly harmless comment but it’s a comment that always throws me for a loop because it makes so many assumptions. While I will admit that we are very fortunate and super freakin’ lucky to have been born in this day and age, there was a lot of planning, hard work and sacrifice that went in to making our goal to FIRE a reality.
I love the FIRE (Financial Independence/Retire Early) acronym. Not only does it capture everything in just four letters, the imagery is stunning. The passion and flames of financial independence burn inside of us. This is not the movement for the bland, uninsightful, or cold.
We are hot-blooded individuals who bring the heat to everyday life. But if you take the metaphor a little farther, things start to break down. Fires can be quenched, flames die out. There is an insidious risk in the financial independence community. Many of us confuse our goal post with our post or even pre-goal plan. We confuse FIRE with fire.
Now that I’ve completely lost you, let’s dive in.