Aussie FIRE | Financial Independence Retire Early

Send us a text You don’t need us to tell you that Covid disrupted a LOT. From the lockdowns, to the obvious health-related dangers, there weren’t many people who were unaffected by its spread. But what has it done for our Financial Independence prospects? For people working towards FIRE before 2020, in what ways did it disrupt their plans? And for those who started after 2021, did Covid change the...

Send us a text Knowledge is a lot like compound interest: the more you accrue, the faster it grows. How, then, can we ensure that others around us, and future generations, are growing their knowledge the right way? And, more importantly, how can we help them to avoid the mistakes we’ve made? In this session, Dave ( Strong Money Australia ) and Hayden (co-founder of Pearler ) cover some crucial mon...

Send us a text One of the greatest joys of FIRE are these two hyphenated words: “work-optional”. The freedom to choose whether to work, and what to work on, is a key motivator for many FIRE-seekers. In the meantime, though, there’s little that’s work-optional about the journey towards FIRE. For anyone who aims to reach Financial Independence, paid employment is a fairly non-negotiable part of the...

Send us a text “I’m saving for a home deposit right now, but my friends just invited me to a bottomless brunch. I know that every dollar counts, but I don’t want to miss a morning with my friends. What should I do?” For many everyday Aussies, tradeoffs like this are not uncommon. But for anyone on a journey towards FIRE, they’re a regular part of life. While it may be less glamorous than investing...

Send us a text In the realm of money psychology, different mindsets can affect the way we spend, save, and invest. Two of the most relevant mindsets for FIRE are scarcity and abundance. To strip them down to their scaffolding: a scarcity mindset can help you save, but make you worry. An abundance mindset leads you to look at the biggest expenses, and not worry so much about the rest. In this episo...

Send us a text The road to FIRE is seldom a straight line. Between job losses, home repairs, medical issues, and other unwelcome surprises, our best laid FIRE plans can easily come derailed. Fortunately, as with most aspects of FIRE, it’s possible to prepare for financial hardship. In doing so, you can mitigate its impact on your FIRE progress. In this session, Dave Gow ( Strong Money Australia )...

Send us a text The quest for FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) requires planning, discipline, and structured money management. It’s no surprise, then, that most FIRE-craving people focus on these topics (or aspects of them). Even so, a sound FIRE strategy doesn’t begin and end with saving, budgeting and investing. Our goals once FIRE’d, and our sense of purpose beyond our careers, play j...

Send us a text Welcome to Aussie FIRE, the podcast designed to educate and inspire you towards a better future! This podcast evolved from an audiobook of the same name, and explores the path to FIRE – Financial Independence, Retire Early. If you want to level up your FIRE game without being overwhelmed by jargon, this is the show for you. In our introductory episode, you’ll meet the dynamic duo of...

Send us a text Congratulations! You've made it to the final chapter of our original Aussie FIRE audiobook. In each chapter, we've covered a different step in the journey towards Financial Independence. Now that we've reached the end of the book, we wanted to reflect on everything we've covered. That way, you can extract the key points from Aussie FIRE in one easy, eight-minute...

Send us a text From budgeting to ETFs , this audiobook has covered a range of routes to reach FIRE. However, beyond earning, saving, and investing, there are non-monetary tools that can propel you closer to your goal. And in this chapter, we're going to explore what they are, and how they can help you. Join Michelle from Frugality & Freedom as she details the non-monetary forms of capital...

Send us a text For many, reaching FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) is a best case scenario. However, it's even more important to prepare for WORST case scenarios. Investments can crash, interest rates can change, disaster can strike – and without a capacity to adapt, your FIRE could be extinguished. Luckily, that's what this chapter is all about. Join Serina Bird from the Joyfu...

Send us a text In the last chapter, we covered how to choose your FIREstyle . By "FIREstyle", we mean the type of life you'd like to live once you've retired early. This time, we're forging further into our FIRE futures to assess what life will look like on a day-to-day basis. In this chapter, Dave Gow from Strong Money Australia gives you a glimpse into your life once FIR...

Send us a text Much of this audiobook has focused on the path to FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early). So far, though, there's a crucial question we haven't asked: "What will you do once you reach it?" To many listeners, this might seem like a textbook definition of a champagne problem. But by asking yourself this question now, you'll arm yourself with a plan for yo...

Send us a text There's an old joke that's been kicking around for the past decade or so: "If you're struggling to make conversation with an adult Aussie, ask them for their thoughts on the housing market." Real estate can be a fraught topic in Australia - not least of all because it's so expensive. In fact, there's been a growing assumption that the only people w...

Send us a text First off, we want to make something clear: debt and leverage can be a slippery slope. Many people in our community either avoid debt like the plague, or see it as a demon to slay. In fact, badly managed debt can scuttle even the surest of FIRE plans. However, as we've said before, not all debt is created equal . While debt and leverage can sap our resources, they can, in some...

Send us a text We Aussies love to travel abroad. More than half of us have passports, which makes us one of the world's more globe-trotting nations. If you're investing, though, you shouldn't confine that global outlook to the airport. Your portfolio could also benefit from some international love. In this chapter, Ms. FieryIce from Two to FIRE delves into the benefits of internatio...

Send us a text Often, the FIRE community focuses on the more eye-catching routes to early retirement - shares, ETFs, real estate, budgeting. However, superannuation can also play a pivotal role in lighting your FIRE. Sure, it may not factor much into the "Early" part of "Financial Independence Retire Early". But as part of nuanced strategy, it can serve as a bulwark against dis...

Send us a text At Aussie FIRE, we believe that investing regularly in low-cost ETFs will trump endless research. Forget an encyclopaedic market knowledge, or a deep grasp of macroeconomics; the secret ingredient is consistency. Even so, there are some investors who may want to ensure their assets run as a well-oiled machine. This is where portfolio optimisation comes into play.  In this chapter, K...

Send us a text Have you read many early retirement success stories lately? Chances are, most of them featured investors who were too young to have used a cassette tape non-ironically. And don't get us wrong –  anyone who can retire before their joints start to creak has our undying respect. However, given the tenor of these case studies, you'd be forgiven for thinking that FIRE is a youn...

Send us a text If you search online for FIRE resources, you'll likely find a slew of articles targeted at singles or couples. In contrast, the idea of reaching FIRE with children seldom rates a mention. Is it because kids simply cost too much to fit into a FIRE framework?  In this chapter, we hear from Ms. FireMum on that very question. If her name hasn't already given it away, she'...

Send us a text The Financial Independence Retire Early movement benefits from a long-term mindset. For many investors, this equates to concepts like time in the market, dollar-cost averaging, and militant budgeting. And, yes, there's a time and place for all three of these strategies. However, by only focusing on the numbers, we skip a crucial truth: we're only human.  In this chapter, S...

Send us a text In our last chapter , we detailed why shares and index-tracking funds have historically been so popular with the FIRE community. However, there's more than one way to start  FIRE. By learning about the full spectrum of assets, you can make the right FIRE choices for your goals.  That's why Captain FI spends this chapter diving into the variety of wealth-building options av...

Send us a text There are a slew of different ways to reach Financial Independence and Retire Early. However, there's one method that stands tall above the others in terms of FIRE popularity. And that method is shares investing. While other assets classes have always enjoyed FI representation, FIREbugs have historically clustered around shares like moths around a, er, flame.  In this chapter,...

Send us a text Within the long-term investing community, the phrase "time in the market beats timing the market" is something of a motto. In this chapter, you'll find out why. Join Kate Campbell from Rask as she explores the benefits of getting started early with investing. These include the magic of compound interest, the power of making mistakes (sooner rather than later), and the...

Send us a text Sometimes, despite our best efforts, life can get in the way of our FIRE plans. Unwelcome surprises can place demands on our finances, and if we aren't prepared, our investments can take a hit. That's why, in any Financial Independence journey, it pays to be ready for emergencies. In this chapter, Latestarterfire helps you determine the amount you'll need for an emerg...