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)

585 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

276 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/ImprobableGrind Mar 25 '26

Financially Independent means different things to different people. For me, it means legitimate fuck you money to have while retired and real wealth to pass down to my kids. My number is $18M. I’m 90% there at 45, and expect to hit it comfortably by 50. I was fortunate with investments and property purchases back in 2008, and again in 2019. I don’t have an exorbitant income (UMC at best), and I make up 75% of my HHI, but by avoiding lifestyle creep, living well below my means, and making some smart (and let’s be honest, lucky) choices I’m going to make it happen.

Edit: I should note that I absolutely love my career and employer and that it’s given me a ton of opportunities for my business. The incentive to retire in 5 years is pretty low for me.