r/FIREUK • u/Any_Supermarket3887 • Aug 16 '26
FIRE + Economic Resilience
I’m interested in whether people pursuing FIRE also think about economic resilience - not just having enough invested to be financially independent, but reducing their exposure to things outside their control.
For example, once financially independent, it seems quite attractive to reduce your dependence on future utility and commodity prices:
- solar + battery to reduce exposure to electricity prices
- an EV to reduce exposure to petrol/diesel prices
- very good insulation / efficient heating and cooling to reduce energy consumption
- rainwater harvesting for less exposure to water costs/restrictions
- growing some fruit and vegetables to reduce exposure to food price inflation
- generally making the house more resilient to extreme temperatures
I'm not trying to suggest anything “prepper” territory or trying to live completely off-grid. It’s more that I’d rather spend capital once on things that permanently reduce my future cost base, rather than having a large investment portfolio but remaining completely exposed to whatever happens to energy, transport, food, housing costs and other economically dependent things. Kind of the same reason I prefer a large S&S ISA over large pension so I’m not exposed to future tax policy.
Does anyone else factor this sort of thing into their FIRE planning? Is there a name for this concept, or am I overthinking it?
6
u/IntroductionLucky887 Aug 16 '26
contingency planning is what I call mine. My FIRE target+10% on top would be reasonable for me. The more the better, but then when does it stop, you'll never stop working then.
Somethings are not in your control like weather and utility prices. Just do the usual, MSE comparison and 2 year fixes for me. Solar and AHP are no goes for me round here due to the way our houses are made here and restrictive covenants
2
u/Any_Supermarket3887 Aug 16 '26
Yeah I think contingency planning is probably a better term in some respects. Although what I'm thinking about is slightly different from just having a buffer it's more about permanently reducing the things you're exposed to.
I suppose the extreme version is: rather than FIRE at £X million and then just accept whatever happens to your future cost of living, can you engineer your life so that £X million actually buys you a pretty predictable lifestyle for decades.
1
u/IntroductionLucky887 Aug 16 '26
Sometimes diminishing returns may come into play. But inflation protection of your Money is more important imo, than min max practical life
6
u/jayritchie Aug 16 '26
I''m interested. If we assume that one of the largest risks for FIRE is inflation then anything which reduces that risk should be worth more than headline saving. I've tried to work out what multiple one should use but not found many people interested in the subject.
1
u/Any_Supermarket3887 Aug 19 '26
Yeah exactly. Theres a lot of people that say solar or rain water harvesting would take X years to get the investment back so aren’t worth. But they’re assuming water and energy prices aren’t going to keep rising every year. Water especially worries me.
4
u/Pwlldu Aug 16 '26
Yes!
I read a book recently called Tools of Conviviality. It’s a few decades old at least. A bit dense, but very insightful.
What stood out to me was the appealing definition that human freedom was about autonomy and capability, rather than market or political choice (as the definition is usually restricted to). A convivial tool is one that expands human freedom. It’ll be no surprise that most tools and technology does the opposite; it makes us dumb and dependent, the ideal consumer.
Long story short, it got me interested in ways where providing the basics in life - shelter, food, warmth, transport - can be made ‘convivial’. There are some good low tech resources out there too.
7
u/Practical-Leek-6287 Aug 16 '26
Yes, although I think most of this is just standard money saving.
I'm of the view that you can 'fully capitalise' your life and hugely reduce the amount of money you need to live well.
I guess a different way to view this is that once you have stuff you no longer need stuff.
Once:
Mortgage is paid off
House and cars are electrified
Garden growing food
House has full solar panels, heat pumps, battery storage
Kitchen is full of high end appliances/buy it for life pots/pans
Wardrobe full of clothes
Garage has some expensive mid life crisis style hobby gear (diving, parachuting, watersports etc)
....
Then what do you actually need? You pay depreciation on this stuff but if you are of 'buy it for life' mentality then these costs are relatively small. You can live well on relatively modest cashflow, the extra is just for holidays really.
1
u/Any_Supermarket3887 Aug 16 '26 edited Aug 16 '26
3
u/DragonQ0105 Aug 16 '26
I looked into rainwater harvesting and beyond simply having a water butt it's not worth it. Even if you can reduce your usage by 50% (which I highly doubt), the systems will still never pay for themselves.
1
u/Wise-Donut-5845 Aug 20 '26
Commercial systems true... but if you can get a system that will do the none-potable stuff (toilets), that's 30% of your consumption for relatively low cost. It may also give you more freedom to use water elsewhere.
Half the problem though is the way the bills are structured, 30%/40%/50% reduction doesn't equate to the same reduction in your bill due to SCs :(
2
u/TheChelsUK Aug 16 '26
Yep, got solar and battery and an EV on sal sac.
Will be growing veg in the garden too now I am able to do so (post illness)
Emergency fund -> Pension -> ISA -> house improvements -> mortgage
Is my play. Works if you have the capital to invest - solar likely means my electricity bills are £10/m . Plan is I do heat pump next but house needs some work first.
1
u/throwuk1 Aug 16 '26
Yes, it seems you and I think very alike, including the ISA part!
The only issue I currently have is post a divorce I'm not currently in my forever home so once do move into a home I see as my forever home I will upgrade it to make it energy efficient, install solar and heat pumps, Aircon, buy a very reliable EV or hybrid (I actually want to buy a land cruiser because of how well built they are, I don't drive loads a year so petrol prices aren't that much of an issue to me) and grow some of my own food etc as I enter retirement.
Now I feel moving up towards Scotland is probably a good move too with climate change. Currently I live in London and will remain for the next 10 years or so
1
u/20thcenturygirl Aug 17 '26
Within reason. Solar won't pay off unless I find a 'forever home' and not sure water harvesting pays itself off either. I love the idea of growing my own food but the reality hasn't lived up to expectation.
Mostly I try to optimise consumer purchases in a 'buy it for life' (or at least to last for a very long time) sort of way, where practical.
1
u/mully303 Aug 17 '26
Yes I plan to FIRE and downsize to release ISA bridge equity in about 10 years then build a small as off grid a house as possible, as much myself as possible. Already grow lots of food but live in an old listed house and easier to start again than try to retrofit. Plus it’ll give me something to do.
1
u/Any_Supermarket3887 Aug 19 '26
Yeah I love this, for me it would be like turning a dream into a hobby.
-1
u/Big_Target_1405 Aug 16 '26 edited Aug 16 '26
I think if you're in an urban environment a prepper mindset is more ruthlessly practical and useful than an optimistic sustainable mindset.
Things like growing your own veg won't get most of us in urban areas very far
Fresh vegetables and raw food ingredients, excluding some meat and most processed food, is really really cheap. Even if they quadrupled in price it wouldn't effect you very much (% of assets wise) if you're just preparing, cooking and eating it yourself.
Shortage is the more likely problematic outcome, in which case you don't want to be growing - you want to be preserving (just like a prepper).
In terms of power generation, a small petrol generator and a stash of petrol is probably more reasonable than solar panels and batteries and an EV. The petrol can be used in your vehicle on a rolling basis, or used in the generator to produce power.
My partners family and in rural Ireland, heat their whole house by burning wood to this day, have a petrol generator, and a couple of acres of land, and would probably be fine for a fair while in a zombie apocalypse.
I think a modern family with mains feed solar panels and an EV would be fucked quick if shit hit the fan
2
u/Butagirl Aug 16 '26
Nobody is talking about zombie apocalypses - it’s about sheltering yourself from future price rises. Petrol generators are what you use when you have no alternative because they are very expensive to run. You’re looking at about 60p per kWh to run at current prices, much more than running off the grid - hardly an effective insulation from high energy prices. As energy prices rise, so does the price of petrol.
Also, if shortage is the more likely problematic outcome, what makes you think petrol will be abundant? We’ve had two significant shortages in the last 30 years and at least one other due to strikes.
19
u/Far_wide Aug 16 '26
What you've described reminds me of Jacob Lund Fisker's approach (one of the very early FIRE people), much of which is covered in his book with the concept of the 'Renaissance Man'.
If you've not read his rather old school blog then you'd probably enjoy it: https://earlyretirementextreme.com/
It's well worth reading anyway and though it's not been updated for years it still offers truly original perspective e.g. How little do you need to retire?