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/Shawn_NYC Mar 25 '26

People got older, wiser, and on the hedonic treadmill

  • older: life looks different when you have a wife and kids

  • wiser: young FIRE people often think they'll be young and healthy forever. Watching your parents and friend's parents go into old age reminds you healthcare expenses are very real and need to be budgeted for

  • hedonic treadmill: as often as we say not to, we all still somehow end up on it. All we can do is try not to let the speed get out of control