This blog began with a simple question. If money were no object, what would you do for the rest of your life? Financial independence realizes the answer to this question.

This blog will cover the tactics for attaining financial independence. Posts will focus on side hustles, reducing debt, and adopting frugal spending habits to pursue a life on terms other than a salaried day job. It will also cover the shifting nature of work brought about by technological disruption. Financial defense now is critical to prepare for a future of disparate employment, declining pensions, and deterioration of the traditional concept of career.   

What is FIRE

“FIRE” stands for Financial Independence Retire Early. I find the first half of that equation more appealing than the second. As opposed to working progressively bigger jobs with a progressively larger salary, financial independence means having enough saved to liberate the need to pursue salaried work. That in turn changes the calculus for work, allowing a focus on meaning over pay. 
 
FIRE means reducing debt to zero, saving 50 percent or more of post-tax earnings, and limiting expenses. Adjusting to this lifestyle is a significant physiological change and takes enormous discipline. However, investing sensibly will slowly evolve a lifestyle of idiosyncratic and imminently satisfying frugality. 

FIRE is a lifestyle where thrift and discipline offer a rout to financial liberation.

My FIRE journey

My exposure to FIRE began with my father, a career military officer, who saved aggressively throughout my childhood.

To my dismay, when other kids dads were driving brand new BMWs and purchasing big screen TVs, we were driving a decades old Nissan and stuck watching a 20 year old JVC television.

I thought this meant my family couldn’t afford nice things. The reality was different. While those families were living a lifestyle well beyond their means, my parents were saving. This keeping up with the Joneses mentality kept me from understanding that in lieu of fancy things, my parents put their money toward a future self sufficiency and comfortable retirement.  

Fast forward to sometime in 2016 when I read an article in the New Yorker profiling blogger Mr. Money Mustache (MMM). The article led me to reevaluate my own spending habits and and dabble with the idea of saving more. At the time, I was still carrying more than eight thousand dollars credit card debt from a disastrous business decision. At the time, I was living like having a high interest loan was just a normal fact of life. 
 
Over the next three years I paid off the debt. I bought an investment property. I started saving 60% of my salary and loaded my free time with side hustles. I’m now in a place where my finances are finally under control. My concerted savings have put me on a trajectory to financial independence.
 
Going forward, you can expect a weekly email on side hustles, investing strategies, and general perspectives on the FIRE lifestyle. I promise not to bombard you with a bunch of nonsense and will keep the content quality. 
 
Thanks again for joining. Reach out anytime at info@mrfirepower.com
 
Yours,
 
Mr. FIRE Power