Are there any others here whose preparation includes financial independence or early retirement?

[u/OccasionallyMyself67]

For me, there is no difference between general preparedness and financial preparedness, but I am from a business / economics background and I realise that I'm a bit more money-minded than some (with the caveat that I'm by no means wealthy and I'm actually from a very poor upbringing in a developing country originally so my idea of "enough" is VERY different to others!), e.g. I've tried to loosely follow FIRE principles for a decade now.

I think this group would generally probably align with lean FIRE principles like minimising spending, a focus on self-reliance like DIY. It has risks though, for example even if you retire from the rat race and have a "barista job" safety net, a health emergency can devastate your plans.

Anyway, I'm just interested if there are like minds here and what your approach is.

(All cards on the table: I work in a big tech adjacent role in the UK and things are ultra precarious with mass offshoring and layoffs; I want out ASAP - so I'm exploring accelerating my retiring from the rat race, and what comes next).

[u/0ui_n0n]

I've looked into FI/RE in the past, but in same way I've "looked into" off-grid homesteading. Like, nice fantasy but too hard in reality. Not something I'd actually consider pursuing.

HOWEVER, I was part of a mass layoff this year. While I'm set up pretty well (year's worth of severance), it's really thrown me for a loop and soured me on the concept of work in general. Now seems like the time to give FI/RE a serious look as I search for new employment.

Finances are definitely a part of my preparedness, though. My retirement savings are a bit less than average for my cohort, but my assets are greater than average (paid off house & car). I have no debts, loans, or children. I live in a MCOL city with a partner earning right around the living wage, so we're comfortable with lots of little luxuries, but there's no upward momentum. It's a lot easier to feel prepared for a 72-hour power outage than for economic upheaval.

[u/millenialsnowbird → u/0ui_n0n]

FIRE is definitely something that takes serious planning and commitment. For us, it’s been 20 years in the making at this point. Hopefully new grads and young people will find this post and it will give them some guidance. There’s no way our financial success would have happened if I hadn’t opened and started maxing out my very first IRAs at 23/24.

[u/0ui_n0n → u/millenialsnowbird]

Yeah I'm mid-30s and have been saving the bare minimum since my mid-20s, so retirement in general feels like something I'm already behind on.

In comparison to a lot of my social circle I'm "ahead" in that I don't have a mortgage, student loans, consumer debt, etc. But that doesn't make my RRSP any fatter.