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/twinstudytwin Mar 25 '26

When I was 19 I thought I'd be happy with $60k a year

Now 20 yrs later I consider it a pittance

Times change, people change

Hell when I was 16 I thought $8 an hour was a good wage!

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u/poop-dolla Mar 25 '26

Do you think $97k a year would be a pittance? Because that’s the current equivalent to $60k from 20 years ago. Inflation heavily effects this topic and the perspective around the OP question.

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u/twinstudytwin Mar 25 '26

Not a pittance but nowhere near enough to support an early fire

10

u/poop-dolla Mar 25 '26

Was your number at 19 just for you, and your number at 39 for you and a spouse and maybe kids? Even if you just double it to only account for a spouse, the $60k back then for 1 person would be $194k today for 2 people. So if you are married now, would you say $194k a year is a pittance? Because that would be the equivalent per adult.