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Financial Independence, Retiring Early (FIRE) and Me – From Frustration to Freedom

  • Post last modified:September 26, 2025
  • Post category:Fundamentals

 Hands typing the dark - late at night. The stress of this is opposite to FIREIt’s 1AM and being financially independent, retiring early is the furthest thing from my mind. I am staring at my screen, I have four console terminals up on my monitor. The grey font with its black background is burning into my brain. My programmers are in the thick of a software deployment process. This is the best time to do it, when no user is on the system. Every few minutes, I am checking the log files to see if everything is going to plan. It is silent, except for the clickety-clack of my keyboard and the occasional Slackchat message notification. Need to keep awake, need to keep awake.

Just another hour to go, so long as nothing unexpected happens along the way. Another half a year to go and I can take my annual leave. Just a few days of leave, but I do get a few days each year. Now that I am a technical lead, I usually work 50 to 60 hour weeks. Some say that life is to be experienced, but I do wonder if this is what they meant.

If only I had discovered the FIRE movement earlier…!Me starting out of a window, wondering if I would ever be to accomplish FIRE

In this Financial Independence, Retire Early blog, I’ll share what drew me to FIRE and how you can start your own journey toward financial freedom. FIRE means different things to different people. It can give you back things that cannot be bought; it can give you back your sanity; it can give you back your health and it can give you back the most precious thing of all: your time!

A year ago, I quit my job. Just like that. There were multiple reasons but I think it came to a head when a certain project, that I had spent weeks and weeks on, had just finished and an all staff email went out thanking everyone involved. It felt good to be thanked until I read the email more closely – who exactly got thanked? Well, obviously the sales people who set it up and got their commissions; and the upper managers who spent all of maybe five minutes on it! The thought of me working all those late nights came flooding back into my brain. From that moment on, I said that that was it: I quit! – I am over the corporate world with the politics and organisation charts – and I am going to do my own thing for a while. I am not going to be employed ever again.

It was then I realised that I probably didn’t need to work if I could get “the equation” and the process right. This is what this blog is about.

It turned out “not working” was just the beginning and a lot of amazing things did flow on from there.

So, What is FIRE? (Financial independence, Retire Early)

At its heart, FIRE is a powerful, compelling finance philosophy centered on two main goals:

  1. Financial Independence (FI): This means having enough savings and investments such that the passive income generated from these can cover all your living expenses. It doesn’t mean that your life will be spent obsessing over saving, investing and expenses. It is more around being in control of your financial destiny. I thought this part was nigh on impossible until someone explained to me that it is based around two simple rules.
  2. Retire Early (RE): Once you’ve reached FI, the “Retire Early” part becomes an option. For some like myself, it means leaving traditional full-time work completely. For others, it might just mean transitioning to part-time work they love, pursuing a passion project, or just simply having the freedom to work because they want to, not because they need to. And you wouldn’t believe how empowering this is!
What does this mean for me? I don’t need to work because I have the investments that pay for my expenses. I no longer need to worry about money. I only do things because I want to, not because my job compels me to. I live where I want to, so long as it is logistically viable. The world is my oyster!

Why Pursue FIRE? My Personal “Aha!” Moment

As I’ve said, the real kicker for me was the thankless email at work, which exposed the fact I wasn’t actually getting what I wanted out of my work. However, this incident also allowed me to reassess my life more fundamentally and what I truly wanted to be doing… where I wanted to be.

For you, the draw to FIRE may not necessarily be a dislike of work but rather a desire for more control, more flexibility, more meaning in your life.

Some of these may include:

  • Reclaiming your time

    • This is often the number one driver. Everything you do is because you want to do it. Not because a boss is telling you to, nor because of some artificial deadline – but because you feel it is the right thing to do, the right place to be and the right time to do it.

    • When I quit work, I realised I had freed up 40 to 50 hours a week, 48 weeks a year, to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. It was scary at first and I am still getting used to being a master of my own time. Be it health, investment or plain relaxation, for the first time, I am actually truly free.

FIRE can reduce stress - A tea cup rand book esting on a table in front of a park

  • Reducing stress and focusing on your wellbeing

      Financial anxiety is a huge source of stress for many. This is especially so during the present cost of living crisis which is being felt in many countries around the world at the moment. Building a solid financial foundation can significantly alleviate this burden, leading to better overall mental and physical health.

    • When I took control of my finances, reduced my expenses and planned carefully how I could survive without the need to work, I felt lighter, especially knowing that I had left corporate life and all its associated stresses behind. I felt a huge weight lifted from my shoulders.
  • Living with purpose and mindfulness
    • The FIRE journey often involves re-evaluating your spending habits and realising that true happiness often comes from experiences, relationships, and personal growth, not from accumulating more stuff. Everything you elect to do in your life, you do it with meaning and purpose

Is FIRE for Everyone? And Is It Achievable?

I guess it really depends on where you are in life and what you believe is most important. This will determine if FIRE is a goal suitable for your stage in life. Some people may not see it as a priority, living life as it comes. And yes, it’s absolutely achievable for many people, regardless of their starting point, by focusing on:

  • Aggressive Saving: Boosting your savings rate significantly

  • Smart Investing: Putting your money to work for you

  • Intentional Spending: Yes, you can spend, but with purpose and awareness of what you are getting out of it.

This blog is dedicated to exploring these concepts and helping you navigate your own journey towards financial independence. Whether you aim for full early retirement or simply want the financial freedom to give you flexibility in life, hopefully, I can give you some tips and tricks to start you on your journey.