Are you planning to work until your 60s? — Tip #10

Find your F.I.R.E. number and break free 🕊️

Financial Independence Retire Early, in short FIRE, is the idea of generating enough passive income to cover your expenses for life. This movement began in the 1990s and early 2000s when many realized the corporate grind often felt like a prison.

The traditional path was clear: work hard until 65, then get a pension, travel, and enjoy life until you die. Your “reward” for surviving all those years? A few weeks of vacation each year from your generous employer. Ridiculous, isn’t it? You’re literally spending your best years working.

As we step into 2026, the situation is only getting worse. In the EU, only four countries (🇨🇿 , 🇵🇱 , 🇷🇴 , 🇪🇸 ) offer average pensions that cover the average retirement expenses. And yes, this excludes the dream of traveling the world you had in your 30s.

Most public pensions and social security systems are financially unsustainable across developed economies. Why? Falling birth rates mean fewer young workers are paying taxes to support retirees, and people are living much longer, so pension funds need to be distributed for a much longer time horizon than originally planned for.

Enough with the rant. So what can we do? Instead of relying on government pensions, take control of your financial future. This is where the FIRE movement comes in: invest your money so it works for you instead of sitting idle.

Based on the Trinity Study we have a base framework to start with:

• Invest your surplus money in the stock market

• Hold a mix of stocks and bonds depending on your age and risk tolerance

• Safely withdraw 3-4% of your portfolio annually

• Your portfolio should last at least 30 years

Now, how much do you need to invest? Divide your annual expenses by 4% (or 3% for a more conservative approach).

If your monthly expenses are $3,000, your annual expenses are $36,000. Dividing that by 4% (or 0.04) 👇

\(36,000$ / 4\% = 900,000$\)

That’s the amount you’d need invested to sustain your current lifestyle indefinitely. If you use another currency the system works the same just make sure you calculate the annual expenses in your own currency (e.g. EUR, INR, VND etc.).

Here’s a quick table with example costs of living and corresponding FIRE numbers for a single person enjoying a comfortable middle-class lifestyle (no dependants):

FIRE is a complex topic with many nuances, but I’ve simplified it here so anyone can follow along even without a finance background. Feel free to drop your questions in the comments! If you’re interested, I’ll share deeper dives soon: other investment options beyond stocks, whether you have to hit your FIRE number or can retire earlier, and more.

Your weekly tip: If you don’t want to work until you are 65, figure out your FIRE number. Divide your annual expenses by 4% and get a sense of how much you would need to invest to retire ✌️.

Don’t forget to share this with a friend: we’re all in this together. Don’t sell your life to your employer. You only get one. 🙏

See you next week, until then…

Don’t Panic 😱