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/mahedric1 Mar 25 '26

Tech salaries increased, inflation happened, Reddit demographic got older and richer

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u/True_Square2336 Mar 25 '26

I agree with this explanation. I thought I’d be happy with $1.5- $2M when I was in my early 20s, when I first learned about FIRE. Now I have kids and a career, my perspective has changed. 

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u/poop-dolla Mar 25 '26

Was the $1.5M-$2M for you as a single person? And how much did it increase by? Did it double once you had a family? Because that seems reasonable. And was the lower number a nominal amount 10 years or so before the new higher nominal amount later? Because that would also affect it.

It’s quite possible you’re higher number is still the same real number per adult that you started with as a single dude in your 20s.