Most of us have dreamed about retiring early at one point or another.

Even if we love our work, the idea of not having to work — and having the freedom to travel, do the things we love, or even experiment with a new business idea — can be pretty appealing.

But how feasible is it?

This is what the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) movement is all about. The idea behind FIRE is to adopt a super frugal lifestyle — often saving 50% to 70% or more of your income — with the goal of achieving financial freedom far earlier than most. In other words, having the freedom to retire by your 40s or 50s (maybe even 30s,) rather than at 65 to 70.

The endgame, for instance, might be to have 25 times your anticipated annual expenses saved by the time you’re 50. So if you expect to spend $60,000 a year in your accelerated retirement, you’d aim for a “FIRE number” of $1.5 million.

Now, if you’re like many people, you love the optional work idea, but aren’t sure you’ll have enough saved by the regular retirement age, let alone any earlier. And admittedly the FIRE approach would be challenging for almost anyone. Followers often keep and invest three or four times as much of their paycheck as someone on a traditional retirement schedule. And they have to make that money last for a longer period of their life.

So what? If financial independence is the ultimate goal, it’s worth exploring the FIRE mindset no matter what your retirement timeline is. FIRE is a hot (and controversial) topic on social media, and you don’t have to practice it to learn from it. The subreddit devoted to it has reached ~750,000 savers.

“Most of us can learn something from the FIRE mindset, even if early retirement isn’t one of our goals,” said Brian Walsh, a Certified Financial Planner® and SoFi’s Head of Advice & Planning.

For starters, a retirement savings strategy doesn’t have to be all or nothing, as these variations on FIRE highlight: fat FIRE, lean FIRE, barista FIRE, and even coast FIRE. Lean FIRE is the most extreme form (picture living on less than $25,000/year) while fat FIRE, which usually requires a high income, aims to preserve your standard of living while you’re saving.

Second, FIRE followers are forced to closely examine their relationship with money — a worthwhile endeavor for any retirement savings strategy. The origin of FIRE is often associated with the 1992 best-selling book “Your Money or Your Life,” which focuses on aligning your earning and spending with your values.

Ask yourself: Can you shift your mindset so financial restraint isn’t about deprivation but setting priorities? Or, would cutting your spending dramatically (and/or working a lot more) lower your quality of life and add unnecessary stress? Any steps toward financial independence have to be worth the sacrifice.

And third, no matter when you end up retiring, the earlier you start saving and investing for it, the better. Because of the power of compound growth, delaying just a few years can cost you thousands of dollars — if not tens of thousands — depending on your contribution amounts and investment returns. (Check out this “Don’t Delay Your Savings” calculator.)

The bottom line: Few Americans actually retire early, and this data points to why: The median retirement savings balance is roughly $442,000 for people in their 50s, $214,000 for those in their 40s and $91,000 for folks in their 30s, according to June figures from Empower. But you don’t have to follow FIRE to a tee to be inspired by its core principles. You’ll never regret being proactive about your retirement plan.

Related Reading

How the FIRE Movement Is Inspiring Early Retirees (CBS News)

19 Top Side Hustles to Fund Your Early Retirement (SoFi)

What Does It Mean to Retire These Days? It's Not What You May Think (Investopedia)

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