STUDmoney · Accounts
FIRE
Also known as
financial independence retire early · leanFIRE · coastFIRE · chubbyFIRE · fire number
Community talk may be wrong. Not financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. No return or outcome is promised.
In brief
FIRE means financial independence, retire early: saving and investing toward having enough that paid work becomes optional.
The common picture
A savings rate, not a guruThe engine is the percent that does not get spent.
Lean: lower spending; Chubby: higher spending; Coast: let savings growCoastFIRE describes reaching a point where retirement investments are expected to grow toward the later goal without further contributions.
The 4% rule sits next doorThis card is the identity; that card is the withdrawal story.
Index funds, not a stock-picking sportBogle-adjacent rooms dominate.
Lean-room savings-rate reports: often 40–70%This is the range in the discussion; it is separate from a retirement withdrawal rate.
People chase a savings rate and a withdrawal story, then argue about health insurance, sequence risk and whether 4% is a paycheck.
Good to know. Treating 4% as a paycheck. Quitting Tuesday after a good market year. This is not $STUD and not a ticker shop.
What people say
- The job: enough invested that a job is a choice.
- r/financialindependence, r/LeanFire, r/ChubbyFIRE are the rooms.
- CoastFIRE means the pile can grow without new contributions.
- Why skeptics groan: sequence risk, health insurance, kids, and a 50-year retirement.
- The 4% rule card owns Trinity-study arguments. This card owns the tribe name.
- Not a crypto identity and not STUDtoken.
How people do it
- Raise the savings rate, then pick a flavor.
- They do the match and tax-advantaged accounts first — those cards still exist.
- They do not quit on a green year without a healthcare plan.
Amounts people use
- Savings-rate talk: often 40–70% in Lean rooms, lower in Chubby.
- SWR arguments live on the 4% card.
How people keep it
- A boring portfolio and a written spend.
- It fades when: lifestyle creep eats the rate.
How it may feel
- Early years: tight. Later: optional.
How long
- Years of saving, then a one-income or no-job experiment.
The longer notes
- 4% rule, the match, Roth vs Traditional, taxable brokerage are the machinery.
Good to know
- 4% as a guaranteed paycheck.
- Ignoring health insurance.
Earlier wording (updated)
- Lean / Coast / Chubby Different spend, same letters.
- FIRE is the internet name for saving and investing until work is optional, including Lean, Coast and Chubby flavors.