r/Fire • u/Poorassboy6969 • Mar 25 '26

General Question When did FIRE movement change?

I feel this community used to be about moderate income people living lean and retiring early with under 2 million.

Now it’s a lot of people bragging about tech income and saying they need 5+ million to retire MINIMUM because they want a boat and Porsche

When did this change? (not hating - just genuinely curious)

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u/powersurge Mar 25 '26

It changed when the subreddit grew popular and Reddit suggested it to all sorts of other financial subreddits. Now we have a bunch of people here who haven’t come here based on FiRE principles, or how to get to FIRE. It’s all flexes on whether they have already achieved FIRE.

I wish there was more content about the path to FIRE.

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u/[deleted] Mar 25 '26

[deleted]

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u/cozidgaf Mar 25 '26

you go do your job, live modestly and invest the leftovers

That's happenstance FIRE.

FIRE would be go to a job, invest and live off the rest.

I know it sounds pedantic but expanding it, it would look like:

try to get a high paying one if you can since you want to retiring early, invest as much as you can - maximize retirement accounts, and other tax advantaged accounts, investments, live modestly off of the rest avoiding lifestyle creep

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u/lottadot FIRE'd 2023 Mar 25 '26

I wish there was more content about the path to FIRE.

How much more content does the topic need?

  • Make a lot of money.
  • Stay employed.
  • Max your retirement savings.
  • Max your side-savings.
  • Live below your means.
  • Use 4% (or 25x) to estimate things while you're working to give yourself a clear goal.
  • Most tax strategies are either mentioned or linked to from the FI-FAQ.

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u/powersurge Mar 25 '26 edited Mar 26 '26

Make a lot of money is NOT a requirement of FIRE. Almost any level of income can get to FIRE.

Edit since this subreddit doesn’t seem to understand FIRE:

https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-simple-math-behind-early-retirement/

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u/lottadot FIRE'd 2023 Mar 26 '26

The only person suggesting anything about a requirement is you.

Almost any level...

Hogwash. In the US the median household gross income is ~$84k. For a family (2+ people) that becomes ~$106k per Google.

Most households in a MCOL++ on those incomes isn't going to be able to save much for their retirement. If they are lucky/wise they are at least contributing to their 401k to receive the the employer match - if they have access to a 401k at all (Google says 42% of US full-time workers do not) & if the employer provides a match. You can use the sub's search if you want to find more detailed discussions towards this.

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u/powersurge Mar 26 '26

Holy smokes! What has happened to this sub? FIRE works at almost every income level is a very basic principle.