The FIRE Podcast with Fexingo: Financial Independence, Early Retirement, and Frugal Living

Lucas and Luna drill into a specific tax problem that derails early-retirement plans: the self-employment tax surprise. Using a concrete case — a freelance graphic designer earning $48,000 annually — they walk through the 15.3 percent self-employment tax, the Qualified Business Income deduction, and the solo 401(k) strategy that can save thousands per year. They compare it to the W-2 alternative a...

In this episode of The FIRE Podcast, Lucas and Luna challenge the sacred 4 percent rule — the classic retirement withdrawal guideline from the 1994 Trinity Study. Lucas explains why the rule works for a 30-year retirement but fails for early retirees who face 40, 50, or 60-year time horizons. He walks through sequence-of-returns risk using the example of someone who retired at 40 in 2000 and ran o...

Lucas and Luna break down the Coast FI concept — the point where your existing savings will grow to full retirement by traditional age without additional contributions. Using a real 32-year-old earning $68,000 with $47,000 saved, they show how hitting $88,000 by 35 lets you stop saving for retirement entirely and still reach $1.1 million by 67. They walk through the math, the assumptions around a...

In the premiere episode of The FIRE Podcast, Lucas and Luna take a fresh look at 'The Millionaire Next Door' — the 1996 classic that defined the frugal-wealth archetype — and ask whether its playbook still works in May 2026. They contrast the original 'under-spender' profile with today's software-engineer-turned-FIRE-influencer and dig into a specific number: how a hypothetical 30-year-old earning...