We Reached FIRE and So Can You

We Did It!!! About eight years ago, our family of four first started pursuing FIRE. Since then, we finally achieved what we set out to do - we reached financial independence and retired at 39 years old!

That’s right - we closed up shop! Well, technically it wasn’t a shop - it was a cubicle. Amon quit his job as an urban planner/engineer for the federal government and I quit my job as an attorney (for that same federal government!). We removed all of our prized-ly possessions from our cubicles, bid farewell to our colleagues, retired, and moved to Lisbon, Portugal!

You Can Reach FIRE, too!

That’s a lot to take in, so I want to focus on a couple of salient points: 1) We achieved FIRE in eight years; 2) we were federal government employees earning average salaries; 3) we achieved FIRE with kids; and 4) we retired in Portugal! We’re basically the most average family you could ever know . . . and that’s important! Because if we’re average and you’re average - can’t you do the same thing we did?

Let’s go one step further. Perhaps you’re above average - maybe you make more than we did? Perhaps you make a less-than-average salary - maybe you don’t know where to start? The point is, we’re a family who achieved FIRE by starting from the beginning - and so can you!

You Don’t Have To Make Six Figures to Reach FIRE!

You don’t come from a family with money? Great - neither did we! You weren’t born with a silver spoon in your mouth. Great - neither were we! *As a side note, anyone born with a silver spoon in his mouth should definitely get that checked out. I mean, is being born with a spoon in your mouth ever really a good thing? I digress . . .

Amon and I had no clue about FIRE when we first graduated from college. In fact, we had no real clue about investing. We started off with the general knowledge that we should save, which was a good start. But saving, alone, won’t get you to FIRE. You must invest - and everything we learned about investing, we had to teach ourselves.

Join Us On Our Journey!

We’re going to share blog entries with you that focus specifically on saving money, making money, and investing money so that you can reach FIRE.

But, we also wanted to share this specific blog entry with you to hopefully inspire you - for you to realize that it doesn’t take a huge inheritance, family riches, and a (dreadful) silver spoon to reach FIRE. Instead, it just takes discipline, specific goals, saving, a proper mindset, and proper investing. If you’re reading this blog and watching our Youtube channel, you’re already on your way. Perhaps some day soon, we’ll meet each other at 10:00 a.m. on a Monday and marvel at how, while the rest of the world works, we get to enjoy the FIRE life!

HOW WE RETIRED AT 39 | Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE)