3 ms·
FIRE is financial independence. It implies you worked hard, scrimped, and lived frugally to earn an early retirement. Getting free everything is not FIRE. It’s
by seibelj 5y ago
FIRE is financial independence. It implies you worked hard, scrimped, and lived frugally to earn an early retirement.
Getting free everything is not FIRE. It’s reliance on the welfare to eliminate any requirement of productivity.
I’m not even saying that’s a bad thing, I’m just stating what it is.
- giantg2 5y agoBut people who FIRE today do depend on things that are publically funded. If you read blogs about it, people talk of free library programs, subsidized public transit, tax credits where you get more back than you paid in - net profit, etc. I didn't include Social Security or Medicare since they are supposed to be single payer systems, yet the way they are funded today doesn't exactly jive with that. All I'm saying is that they would FIRE sooner with the extra income.
- seibelj 5y agoYou are right but IMO the difference is that the government is enabling people to “retire” without ever working a day in their life. If you have enough money for food, shelter, and free healthcare from cradle to grave with zero requirement of ever working a single day in your life, I think society will change.