Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE)

throwaway4372

throwaway4372

throwaway4372

Soldato
Joined
24 Jun 2021
Posts
4,064
Location
Oxon
For anyone arriving via a search engine: this thread is specific to the UK

What is FIRE?
Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) is a movement of people devoted to a program of extreme savings and investment with the goal of retiring far earlier than traditional budgets and retirement plans would permit. Those seeking to attain FIRE intentionally maximize their savings rate by growing the gap between their living expenses and their income, and investing the difference.

Why a dedicated FIRE thread?
I've been dipping into related threads for a while Trading the stockmarket and Pension fund performance but my interest is in early retirement. FIRE talk doesn't belong in trading because we invest rather than trade (and don't want to get tempted into trading) and it feels a bit mean to talk about early retirement in pensions because most people are trying to get the basics right and we don't want to distract them with this.

FIRE learning resources
Good introductory book: Save Half, Retire Fast by Frankie Calkins (minor US to UK translation required)
This subreddit is pretty good also /r/FIREUK and has some handy links in the sidebar.
Help choosing an investment platform: S&S ISA and SIPP
 
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My current situation
Trying to find a new job (don't get me started, hopefully I find one soon).
Keeping an eye out for ISA+SIPP transfer cashback deals in the new year (I want to move to ii for the flat monthly fee structure so I can choose investments without platform fee constraints).
I have used VHVG so far, and was considering VUAG or VWRP. I decided the US is overweight, so going all-world is best ("vt and chill"), but VAFTA and VWRP have ripoff fees (as does vanguard the platform), so once on ii I'll have HSBC FTSE All-World Index instead.
 
dowie said:
To get that sort of regular middle-class boomer, living in a nice area with a reasonable retirement income plus some savings for emergencies or big purchases could require something like:

Paying off a home worth £800k+ and a pension worth over a million + say a good six-figure amount across your ISA, savings and regular stock portfolio.
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For me part of the plan is to retire up north. There's a lot of room to choose between having a better house or having money left over. My house is worth £400k and I won't ever be owning a house worth more than that. Everyone's expectation is different, but having modest expectations makes FIRE a lot easier.
 
I read my first book about investing in 2006 ish, at university, one of my friends had invested his student loan which he didn't need and pocketed the profit, seemed worth learning. After uni though, I never had any money, garbage income due to 2008 financial crisis (I made a loss in my first year of work as a graduate), paying extortionate rent for mouldy bedsit (oxford prices), having to buy old cars and having to fix them, trying to get a house deposit together then emptying my bank account to buy a house, then spending half my income on the mortgage, then getting a bit lucky and being able to overpay the mortgage and clear it, and that was about 2 years ago. In FIRE books they talk about starting to invest in your 20s, but that's the curse of the UK, you just don't have any spare money in your 20s (or even 30s now).
 
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Zefan said:
Agreed that lifestyle expectations are a massive part of it but ugh not sure if giving up the QoL piece of not having to live up north is worth it :(:p
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I'm from the north, I don't really belong in the south, people walking past each other without saying hello is grim :)

It also ties in with looking after my mum as she gets old and needs it. She might already be getting a bit iffy, seems to unlearn things, couldn't text message the other day but has done it for 20 years. It just required a little thinking to figure it out and she couldn't even begin trying. Tested her with a few games of chess at xmas, she taught me to play but can't think ahead even 1 move now. It's weird coz she seems fine generally, most people wouldn't notice any difference. Not really sure whether it's a problem or not tbh, she wouldn't be open to hearing it if it was. So for now it's just on my radar as something to keep an eye on and have a plan to move if needed.
 
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