FIRE movement: Who wants to become financially free should pay attention to these six points

Many people want to be financially free, but few succeed. Two who have achieved this are Romanian Rob and Scot Emma. Since 2015, the couple has been completely financially independent. They started small, meeting while studying in Stuttgart. Rob worked as a freelance software developer, and Emma worked in a large IT company. Together, they earned around €6,000 gross - not a lot, even in 2006.

In 2009, shortly after the global financial crisis, the couple bought their first small apartment in Stuttgart, initially for their own use. Over time, they acquired five more. "An absolute no-brainer," Rob says today. "At the time, two-room apartments in the city center cost only around €100,000." Since then, the value of their properties has at least doubled, and rental income has also increased.

The couple became financially free in their early 30s, moved to Romania, and have been living in Temeswar with two children ever since.

They are part of the FIRE movement ("Financial Independence, Retire Early"). This movement brings together people who want to retire as early as possible and save a lot of money, live frugally, and invest specifically in rental apartments and ETFs. If the income from assets - dividends, interest, rental income, or investments - is high enough to live on permanently, one is considered financially free. However, the path to financial freedom is becoming increasingly difficult due to inflation and stock market downturns.

Many FIRE followers are already giving up on the goal of retiring by 40, like Oliver Noelting, a well-known blogger from frugalisten.de, who has postponed his retirement indefinitely after starting a family. Other widespread pitfalls are also overlooked by many frugalists.

The newspaper Handelsblatt has checked: what really matters if you want to be financially free? How do you avoid the six biggest hurdles? And what do people like Rob and Emma, who have succeeded, teach us?

FIRE mistake 1: planning too little money

What can go wrong: financial freedom needs to be well prepared, especially when it comes to savings. Many FIRE followers rely on the four percent rule, based on the so-called Trinity study: in 1998, US researchers investigated which withdrawal rates from a portfolio are sufficient for a lifelong pension. The result: if you withdraw four percent annually over 30 years, the money will last in almost all cases.

Conversely, this means that you need 25 times your annual expenses as assets. If you need €40,000 per year, you need around €1 million for financial independence.

How to do it better: private person Rob advises a larger buffer. He says: "The four percent rule would be too narrowly calculated for me. I couldn't sleep calmly with that." What if things go worse on the stock market? He wants to remain flexible and not have to check his stock portfolio every day to see if it's still enough. Therefore, he keeps more reserves than necessary.

The gain in calmness is worth it to him, says Rob: "If the prices were to drop by 50 percent, I wouldn't have to tremble but would buy more." However, this is an individual decision, and other FIRE followers feel comfortable with less buffer.

FIRE mistake 2: miscalculating living costs

What can go wrong: not only the assets side should be realistic, but also one's own expenses. Many FIRE followers calculate too narrowly and underestimate unforeseen costs. Rob and Emma also had to learn this the hard way. In 2019, they bought a 100-year-old property in Temeswar, Romania: their dream home, 200 square meters, small garden, good location for only €180,000. The children could now walk to school. "This greatly increases our quality of life," Rob says.

However, the dream of homeownership turned out to be more expensive than expected: the house was poorly insulated and hardly energy-efficient, the walls were too unstable. Rob and Emma installed solar panels on the roof, expanded the basement, and had to do a lot of repairs. All these costs were not on the couple's radar: "A house is an endless project and a money eater," Rob says today.

He doesn't regret the purchase despite the additional costs. The family feels very comfortable there, and that is also worth a lot. Moreover, the value of the property has increased by 50 percent in the past five years.

How to do it better: projects like house construction usually cause additional costs. According to a comprehensive survey by the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, 70 percent of private construction projects in Germany are more expensive than planned. Every fifth owner exceeds their budget by more than 20 percent, and every tenth project costs even 30 percent more. Often, underestimated renovation costs are the cost driver. One should therefore always realistically calculate one's own expenses and living costs in advance.

FIRE mistake 3: underestimating inflation

What can go wrong: in Romania, it's no different than in Germany and the entire euro zone: in recent years, inflation has risen sharply - and with it, the prices for food, energy, and everyday life. Despite the government's price cap, Rob now pays significantly more than before. If €35,000 per year used to be enough for the family of four, it's now almost €50,000. "Without our standard of living changing," Rob says. These phases of high inflation occur regularly and can significantly affect financial freedom.