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Retire in your 30s, 40s or 50s

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You don't have win the lottery or receive a big inheritance. Money magazine interviewed seven people who are getting financial independence on fairly average salaries.


"They are followers of the popular personal finance FIRE movement (financial independence retire early)" who are saving rigorously, investing sensibly and enjoying a modest lifestyle.

The article describes the FIRE movement as "the opposite of working flat-out through-out your life, piling on debt, living beyond your means and consuming voraciously."

"While most Australians rely on drip-feeding their ... retirement account FIREs are aggressively saving much more outside super."

So who are these people doing it so well?

Kate is 22, aiming to retire at 40.

Pat (32) is on track to retire at 35.

Dave retired at 28 having left school in year 11

Leo (34) and Alisha (32) will retire this year on 90k/year

Serina (48) retired at 46 with a family on 60-70k/year

Jason (48) is nearly at his 90k/year goal

Joanna retired at 51 and lives on 18k/year. She can afford more but hasn't needed to - so her savings have even grown 20% in retirement.

What do they all have in common?

Saving. While they each invest differently the common factor is simply that it's very achievable to live on way less than your earn.

By investing the savings these people are getting (or have gotten) to the point where their money is generating more than enough to live on.

Related reading

What is Financial Independence anyway?

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