Pros and Cons of The FIRE movement

The FIRE movement caught fire in a short period, especially amongst millennials having a concept of simple living and high saving for early retirement and better future.

People started dreaming about this magic movement, and there was a substantial hush-hush amongst the finance circle, whether this concept is wrong or not.

Many youngsters were fascinated by this movement, started peeping their wallets thinking how much to cut to catch FIRE.

But this movement raised questions and doubts by finance experts.

In FIRE where everything seems to be bright had a dark side also.

Before discussing the cons, let’s first see the positive side of the FIRE movement.

1.Financial freedom at an early age: This means you need not have to wait till the end of the month for a pay check.

2. No more 9 to 5 job: you will be free from Monday blues; you are not dependent on the clock to do work.

3.No employer: That means no boss to command what to do and what not to do.

4.No targets: There are no targets to achieve hence no stress as long as you consider a job.

5.Enough time: You will get quality time to spend with your family.

6.Lots of time to enjoy life: You will live the way you want to live; you can travel, go on adventures and do everything you want to do when you are young.

The above points are tempting, isn’t it?

But what is the truth in reality!

Not everyone has a high salaried job, so how much one can chop from their salary to meet a target of FIRE is a challenge.

Coming to the other side, let’s analyze what could be the possible cons?

Well here are a few that we need to understand.

1.Sacrifice in lifestyle: At a very young age when you celebrate life, saving 70% will shut the doors of entertainment. It may lead to frustration.

2.Diminish your health: Squeezing money at such a pace may lead to unhappiness. Where others were spending on the relaxation of their mind, there you will be spending time alone.

2.Inflation: you are doing an estimation that may not be accurate in the near future. Inflation may eat away your money.

Who knows what will be the future inflation rate? The money you are saving today for fulfilling your craving for a future goal may not be sufficient at that time.

3.Job relation: When you are in a job, you have a disciplined life. You meet several people; it diverts your mind. But spending life after retirement is different, you feel lonely, unwanted sometimes. And loneliness encourages depression which is self-consuming. It’s like a slow poison shuts your mind.

4.Work engagement: A working environment forces you to learn new things, leaving it at such an early age may kill all your enthusiasm towards learning new techniques.

5.Brain function: It helps in exercising your mind in a challenging environment.

6.Difficult habits of spending; Once you fall into the habit of spending less for years, it will be challenging to spend more even if you successfully reach FIRE.

7.Mortality, loneliness: it’s dangerous, not every person enjoys being alone. If you are like one of them, then this movement is hazardous to your health.

A situation like this pandemic 2020, may give a massive tremor to your plans like FIRE, as uncertainty can chase you any time. No one can ever predict what disease can steal all your saving in a wink. Uncertainty is the reason you can plan your future, but you cannot take it as granted.

FIRE is an individual choice; it depends on how much you can stretch yourself and on what stage you want to enjoy your life.