The New FIRE- Financial Independence Recreational Employment

The FIRE movement , which stands for "Financial Independence, Retire Early", has been around for quite some time.  As the movement grew, various forms of FIRE appear, including Lean FIRE, Fat FIRE, Coast FIRE, Barista FIRE etc, which I had introduced in an earlier post, and in another post, discussing the challenges these strategies may face in high inflationary times like today.  Blogger Valuechampion also has a picture that illustrate the various FIRE.

As FIRE movement became more well known to the public, it garnered much controversies.  There are little naysayers of the "FI" of FIRE, as attaining financial independence is an aim of many people, because achieving financial freedom allows individuals to have more choices in life.  However, the "RE" of FIRE has rather split opinions.  

Proponents of "Retire Early" believe that retiring early will free up more time for individuals to pursue more important matters to them, such as, being able to spend more time with their family, being able to pursue their hobbies that they were unable to pursue previously due to job commitments, being able to travel the world while they are still healthy and able to walk freely, able to enjoy a more healthy and relaxed mentality has there are no more deadlines to meet and no difficult people to deal with, etc.  

On the other hand, opponents of "Retire Early" believe that retiring early will cause one to disconnect from the world which leads to lack of structure and stimulation, experience a sense of loss of status, purpose and drive attached to the previous job, individuals could become bored and less socially active, having more free time may mean increased expenses, and with longer retirement duration, uncertainties may deplete retirement funds quicker than expected and reemployment at an older age may be much harder, etc.  

Personally, as a pursuer of Barista FIRE, and to many pursuers of FIRE, "retiring early" is not the end, instead, it is the start of a new beginning.  "Retiring Early" do not necessary mean that individuals completely leave the work force, but instead have the option to choose something that individuals like to do rather than a job that put food on the table.  In my personal opinion, I choose to pursue Barista FIRE because I would love to have the freedom of choice.  I do not want to be tied down by financial constrains, and I want the freedom of choice to do what I want.  As mentioned above, I myself do not intend to stop working totally upon attaining FIRE, but instead, do a job where the money is not the main concern, instead able to do what I want, whenever I want.  

This brings me to the topic for today.  Recently, I was introduced to a new meaning of FIRE from a YouTube video by GenExDividendInvestor, which stands for "Financial Independence, Recreational Employment".  I think to all pursuers of the various form of FIRE, this is definitely a more apt description of the life after attaining financial independence.  This truly illustrates the phrase "do what you want, when you want" in my opinion.  Furthermore, this is very close to my heart because from what I see, it is simply what Barista FIRE is all about.

I will not go into the pros and cons of Barista FIRE again, but I do cherish and value recreational work after "retiring" from the full time employment.  This is especially so when a recent report claims that 'Bad News: An Early Retirement Could Rot Your Brain'.  With recreational employment, individuals remain active physically, socially interactive, etc.  It also enable individuals to earn some form of income that can cover part of their expenses, and hence allow their portfolio to last even longer or buffer against any unexpected events.  That is definitely great for a wonderful, fruitful and interactive retirement.  As usual, Barista FIRE, here I come...!