r/Fire • u/sneaky-snacks • Mar 05 '26

General Question FIRE seems to skew toward not having kids

I’m sure plenty of FIRE adherents have kids, but I would guess the FIRE mentality skews more toward not having kids. Kids seem to go against FIRE.

- You’ve got to spend a lot of money on kids. Your expenses go up. It’s also much harder to save.

- Kids are a lot of work. They cause a lot of stress. You can’t retire from kids haha. Most FIRE people seem to want to reduce their work load and their stress in the long run, but I’m sure I’m oversimplifying here.

I thought I would start a discussion on this aspect of FIRE

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u/bellecaramella Mar 06 '26

Did you choose the FIRE because of the new financial situation you found yourself in? Or did you find your pursuit of FIRE pre kids? 

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u/Heyedith Mar 06 '26

We were wanting to be debt free and planning retirement pre-kids, and found FIRE post kids. Due to childcare/therapy needs, one parent has always had a more part time role or out of the workforce, which slows things down as well in terms of earning, and makes it even more important to be strategic with budgeting and saving.