What is Financial Independence Retire Early?
FIRE or Financial Independence Retire Early is a financial movement that has been gaining momentum across the globe. Born from the US book Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, FIRE is a way to retire before the traditional age of 65. The basic principle of FIRE is to save a high percentage of your income (typically 50-70%) and invest in low cost index funds. Once you hit a certain number (your FIRE number), you can live off the income from your savings and retire.
Which Are the Best FIRE Videos?
The FIRE community tend to be open about their journeys and the internet is full of blogs and videos about financial independence and retiring early. A lot of the content is US focused but their are people from the UK and Europe talking about FIRE. I’ve picked out 3 of my favourite Financial Independence Retire Early videos and 2 out of these 3 are by UK content creators. I hope they will give you an insight into FIRE and the people perusing it.
Our Rich Journey – See How You Can Retire Early – Simple Math of Early Retirement
Amon and Christina from Our Rich Journey achieved financial independence and retired early in 2019, at the age of 39. In 2018 they made this fantastic video that introduces the key concepts of FIRE. It gives an easy to understand explanation of the 4% rule and provides comparisons between a ‘normal’ family budget and a FIRE family budget. It also introduces the concepts of house hacking alongside budgeting, minimalism and choosing second hand cars.
View Our Rich Journey’s YouTube channel.
The Humble Penny – Why Your Savings Rate is Critical for Financial Independence UK
The Humble Penny is the UK blog I’ve seen talk about financial independence the most. Ken and Mary also run the Financial Joy Academy with a mission to help you remove your money stress and achieve financial independence. Ken’s video on why your savings rate is critical for financial independence lays out exactly why you should be tracking this metric. It also highlights the importance of increasing your savings rate vs earning a higher income.
View The Humble Penny’s YouTube channel.
MamaFurFur – How to Calculate Your Financial Freedom Exact Number
Jen from MamaFurFur has a fantastic YouTube channel filled with advice. Her aim is to help you master your money and learn how to become financially successful. Jen’s videos cover a range of topics on everything from budgeting to investing, with several videos about financial independence. Her video on how to calculate your financial independence number is especially useful. In it Jen gives you the step by step process you need to follow to calculate your own FIRE number. When I first researched FIRE this video helped me understand compound interest.
View MamaFurFur’s YouTube channel.
Want to know more about FIRE?
If you’re looking for more European FIRE content the website FIREhub.eu collates blog posts, podcasts and even events. Otherwise simply search FIRE on YouTube or Google and you’ll find a wealth of content.
Want to learn how to supplement your income so you can achieve financial independence faster? Check out the money section of my blog for some ideas.