Get Rich Quickish had a fantastic idea to create a Financial Independence Awareness Day – although, as Principal FI writes, I think there are plenty of awareness days as it is already…

However, Financial Independence awareness really does mean a lot to me, because I was fairly financially illiterate before stumbling across FI. Of course, I knew I should save rather than spend, but I didn’t have any concrete goal to save towards. Other financial advice always seemed to be telling me to save up towards a bigger spending splurge.

So I thought, there must be more to this than just saving and spending. All I knew about investing was that compound interest was good for retirement. I thought you needed a fairly large amount to get any results – and this is true to a certain extent if you’re looking for large returns at the start. This didn’t seem like the right route for me until I discovered MMM’s blog.

The Day I Learnt About FI/RE

MMM taught me a framework with which to look at saving, spending and investing, and how to integrate that into his lifestyle – I began thinking how I would be able to implement that into my life. And thus, this blog was born.

I was fairly optimistic about my future to begin with, but reading about FI/RE has made me even more hopeful. I also felt relieved, as FIRE has taken the pressure off of finding my ‘dream career’.

Of course, I’d like to make my working career days as pleasant as possible, so finding a good job will make the journey to FI/RE enjoyable – but I know that I am not confined to one job or career just because I will need the money. I will be able to do whatever interests me once I’m financially independent, which is a lot closer than I realised!

What FI/RE Means to Me

To me, Financial Independence is by far the more important half – I would like to be able to earn enough passive income to be able to cover my living costs plus a few indulgences for friends and family (who might not be on board with the whole FIRE lifestyle).

When it comes to investing, I aim to get 25x my annual expenses saved up, so that I can withdraw 4% of it every year – this is the 4% rule (also known as the Safe Withdrawal Rate or SWR), hence 4/25 being chosen as Financial Awareness Day!

However, I am currently unable to put a definite number on how long it will take me to reach FIRE, as I am still a student so I have no income. But I will definitely let you know what the plan is as soon as I start earning!

How Has FIRE Changed My Life?

I’ve become more mindful about my spending habits and started to look hard at what will benefit me in the future. FIRE is about exercising gratitude, finding pleasure in the small things, living simply so that you diminish your impact on your finances as well as your environment.

The goal of FIRE is not to always think about money (although watching the numbers grow can be satisfying in and of itself; but if you’re not careful, it could become an obsession) – the goal of FIRE is to be able to reach a point where you don’t have to think about money. Living simply comes naturally to you.

You Can Join 425 Day Too!

Of course, I myself am a bit late to the party but I think spreading awareness about financial independence is a generally excellent idea. So here is what you do:

• Write about what FI (or FIRE) means to you
• Write about the day you learned about the concept & how you felt
• Write about how the idea has changed your life for the better

Or you can write one and save it for next year 😉