FIRE Is A Useful Career Planning Tool Whether It Is A Fad, Paradox, Or Here To Stay

In a recent post, Mr. Free @ 33 blogged that FIRE is a paradox, pointing out that the people most well-positioned to achieve are the people least likely to need it – Warren Buffett is the example cited.

In the post, Mr. Free @ 33 was inspired by Retire By 40, another blogger who had posted that FIRE is a fad due to its anti-establishment appeal which by definition then limits its spread.

That Retire By 40 post was inspired by Physician On FIRE, yet another blogger (are you following me down the rabbit hole?), who posited that FIRE is here to stay. Physician On FIRE was addressing how the recession might dampen the appeal of FIRE, if the upcoming recession that everyone seems to expect (including me) diminishes the various portfolios and livelihoods relied upon by the FIRE community.

The FIRE movement is definitely more mainstream – an upcoming documentary, Playing With FIRE, and a takedown by Suze Orman on the Afford Anything Podcast being recent examples. I personally don’t think it’s at its peak.

I live in New York City amidst a very, type-A workaholic crowd, so many of my immediate connections have never heard of it or considered it. That tells me FIRE has plenty of room yet to spread among the traditional, 9-5 crowd.

I actually think all the blogs I mentioned above have valid points. I just don’t think it matters whether or not FIRE as a movement stays or goes. The FIRE movement includes the notion that you never have to rely on a job (Financial Independence is the FI part). This is a useful career planning tool, especially in today’s market, whether the movement remains known as FIRE or ultimately something else.

FIRE helps me rethink my career possibilities

I already had the financial freedom seed planted from reading Robert Kiyosaki books exhorting how you should leave the rat race. In addition, I had read Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Workweek, which popularized the related notion of lifestyle design. But while those books got me thinking about financial independence out there in the somehow, someday, it was the catchy acronym FIRE that gave me a clear goal to aim for.

I was already in business for myself when I heard of FIRE, and I still am in business for myself (with my husband), so FIRE didn’t change my career initially. However, it gives me ongoing inspiration and ideas as I select my projects

• Can I make any of my active earnings more passive endeavors?
• What projects still feel like work because I want to, not because I have to?

Both of these questions pointed us to invest in real estate, a career pivot we made well after I had started my first business.

Aiming for FIRE expands options in today’s volatile job market

Scott and I are so much better off since prioritizing FIRE and building income streams that are less dependent on 9-to-5 jobs. We are in our forties, which is far from traditional retirement age, but still old enough where the job market can be challenging. We happen to work in industries that trend young – Scott in technology, me in media and financial services. It’s nice to know that we don’t have to worry about age discrimination working against us.

It’s also nice to know we don’t have to buck the trend of AI shrinking the pool of jobs – an estimated 40% within the next 15 years! Our businesses will need to adapt to AI’s impact on the economy, but our diversified income streams, separate from our immediate work, give us runway to adapt. This year, for example, I am prioritizing building up our online coaching products over recruiting, which is lucrative but ripe for disruption.

People in traditional, 9-to-5 jobs currently don’t have to panic that their jobs will be gone tomorrow, and therefore don’t need to rush into FIRE. However, it would be great to get started while you have your job. Real estate plays a critical part in our FIRE strategy, and had Scott and I started that path when we still had traditional jobs, we’d be that much further along.

Aiming for FIRE ensures that you get started on a plan B well before you’re forced into it.

Aiming for FIRE can help the multi-passionate professional who feels boxed into just one career

Another big career benefit that FIRE has given us is the flexibility to pursue multiple interests. Scott loves to run and has plans to run marathons in all 50 states. With a traditional job and limited vacation time, that pursuit would eat into too many other family obligations.

Similarly, I love to get involved in creative pursuits – comedy, cabaret, film production. A traditional job schedule doesn’t fit well with the ebb and flow of rehearsals, performances, or even just taking things slow to let a new creative project germinate.

We are not the only ones who have active professional and personal pursuits. A lot of job seekers feel stymied about how to choose just one job search target. FIRE allows you to look at part-time jobs or taking sabbaticals in-between jobs.

Even if you haven’t reached FIRE, aiming for it and therefore having some savings and some other income streams, gives you some foundation to take chances.

Aiming for FIRE is something we can pass onto our kids

In New York City, competitive parenting is an Olympic sport. You have the helicopter parents who are closely involved with everything the kids do (hovering nearby, hence the term helicopter parent). You have the snowplow parents who swoop in to solve problems for the kids (plowing aside all obstacles, hence the term snowplow parent). Our kids are 23 and 17, and we have managed to avoid both of these scenes.

However, being so plugged into the career scene, I do worry about both of them entering this era of disruption unsupported. Investing in a good education is the first line of defense. Teaching them good money habits is another layer. I haven’t spoken to either of them about FIRE specifically, but we do share our reasoning behind all the real estate that we do and why we both moved from the 9-to-5 to work for ourselves.

Maybe one day there will be FIREwalking parents, or some other buzzword for raising your kids to appreciate the tenets of FIRE. Raising children to be aware of FIRE is also a career planning tool for them. I feel like our kids have a head start on thinking creatively about their career choices.

Whether FIRE as a movement is fleeting or long-term, its tenets are firmly planted

I think FIRE has plenty of runway to become even more mainstream. However, even if the movement diminishes, the lessons from FIRE will certainly live on.

Maybe there will be some other catch-phrase, similar to the way side hustle is really just the updated word for moonlighting.

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I can’t think of a catchier nickname than FIRE. Brainstorming others might be a fun cocktail party game!