🔥 Ten Shades of FIRE 🔥

Exploring the Paths to Financial Independence

We hope you’re having a wonderful weekend!

Let’s talk about the FIRE movement! For those of you who might not have heard, those letters stand for Financial Independence, Retire Early. It’s a financial lifestyle movement that strives for financial independence and early retirement through disciplined saving and investing. The movement is especially popular among Gen Z and Millennial generations.

How it began

During the 2008 financial crisis, millions of young workers across the nation became disillusioned with the state of the economy, the labor market, and politics in general. The crisis pushed many to rethink the whole nature and relationship between money, work, and life. It made them realize that by aggressively saving and investing early, they stood a chance to retire young and escape the unpredictability of the cyclical economy and job market.

At its core, the FIRE movement is about finding refuge from the “9–5 rat race” and heading off into the sunset to pursue non-work-related dreams and aspirations. 

How it works

The key pillars of the movement are to maximize your savings rate by widening the gap between living expenses and income, and then investing the difference. As FIRE folks like to say: “Spend less than you earn — invest the surplus — avoid debt.”

The goal is to build enough assets so that the earnings from those assets generate enough passive income to cover what I call a minimum desirable lifestyle (“MDL”). Ha! Yes, I’m taking full credit for coining that term. By MDL, I mean the smallest lifestyle you’d still find genuinely enjoyable and satisfying, not bare bones survival but not extravagant either. For the purposes of this discussion, I’ll use simple round numbers as examples, but your MDL will be unique to your own lifestyle and priorities.

The next major metric to figure out is how many years of MDL you need to save for FIRE to work. This metric differs from person to person, but a common rule of thumb is 25 times the MDL. The “25×” figure does not literally mean 25 years of expenses. It comes from the idea that if you withdraw 4% of your portfolio each year, your savings should last about 30 years. This concept is based on the famous Trinity Study, which found that a 4% withdrawal rate would have historically allowed most retirees with a balanced stock and bond portfolio to make their money last about 30 years without running out. In FIRE terms, if your MDL is $60,000, you would aim for a portfolio of about $1.5 million to comfortably fund that lifestyle.

There are several different ways to pursue the FIRE movement, and the path you choose depends on your personal MDL and how many multiples of it you aim to save. Some people target the classic 25×, while others aiming for a longer retirement may plan for 30× or more. These aren’t rigid categories, but rather widely recognized and generalized approaches to reaching FIRE. In the rest of this article, we’ll examine and discuss some of the most common FIRE categories.

💡 Widely Recognized FIRE Models 

LeanFIRE – Minimalist lifestyle with intentionally low expenses

LeanFIRE is about reaching financial independence with a lifestyle set at or just above your MDL, often well below the average household spending level. People pursuing LeanFIRE prioritize frugality and minimalism, focusing on the essentials while cutting out most discretionary expenses. Using the 25× rule, if your MDL is $40,000 a year, your LeanFIRE number would be $1 million. The trade-off is that you can retire sooner, but you will have less room for luxuries or unexpected big-ticket costs.

FIRE (Standard) – Balanced lifestyle using the classic 25× rule

Standard FIRE aims to reach financial independence while maintaining a lifestyle that is close to the national average for spending. It assumes a comfortable balance between essentials and discretionary expenses, without extreme frugality or excessive luxury. Using the classic 25× rule, if your MDL is $60,000 a year, your FIRE number would be $1.5 million. This approach provides a solid safety margin for unexpected costs while still allowing for early retirement at a reasonable age.

ChubbyFIRE – Comfortable living slightly above the average

ChubbyFIRE sits between Standard FIRE and FatFIRE. It allows for a slightly more comfortable lifestyle than the national average, with more discretionary spending for travel, dining out, hobbies, or other personal indulgences. Using the 25× rule, if your MDL is $80,000 a year, your ChubbyFIRE number would be $2 million. Many people see ChubbyFIRE as a sweet spot that balances financial security with a richer day-to-day experience.

FatFIRE – High-income approach for a luxury lifestyle

FatFIRE is about achieving financial independence while enjoying a high-end lifestyle well above the average standard of living. It is often pursued by high earners who want early retirement without sacrificing premium travel, luxury housing, or other big-ticket comforts. Using the 25× rule, if your MDL is $120,000 a year, your FatFIRE number would be $3 million. FatFIRE offers the most comfort and flexibility but usually requires a longer career or much higher income to reach.

🌱 Recognized but More Niche Models

CoastFIRE – Investments on track, work only for current needs

CoastFIRE means you have saved and invested enough early on that, without adding more to your portfolio, compounding growth alone will fund your MDL by the time you want to fully retire. After hitting your CoastFIRE number, you only need to earn enough to cover current living expenses, freeing you from the pressure of aggressive saving. This approach offers a lighter, more relaxed work life while still keeping your long-term retirement plan on track.

BaristaFIRE – Semi-retirement supported by part-time or flexible work

BaristaFIRE blends partial financial independence with part-time or lower-stress work to cover the gap until full retirement. The idea is that you have saved and invested enough to cover most of your MDL from passive income, but you still work a bit, often in a job with good benefits like health insurance, to make up the shortfall. This model gives you more freedom and flexibility while still enjoying the security of a steady (but smaller) paycheck.

SlowFIRE – Gradual savings path toward later financial independence

SlowFIRE is the gradual approach to financial independence. Instead of extreme saving and aggressive lifestyle cuts, you save at a more moderate rate over a longer period of time. This slower pace means you keep more of your current lifestyle while still working toward the goal of covering your MDL through passive income, just on a later timeline.

GeoFIRE – Lower living costs through geographic relocation

GeoFIRE focuses on achieving financial independence by taking advantage of geographic arbitrage. You earn in a higher-cost, higher-income area but choose to live, either temporarily or permanently, in a location where your MDL costs much less. This allows your savings and investment returns to stretch further, making it possible to reach FIRE faster or enjoy a higher quality of life for the same amount of money.

FalmingoFIRE – Save halfway, then let investments compound

FlamingoFIRE is a hybrid approach where you save aggressively for a set period, often aiming to reach about halfway to full FIRE, and then let compounding growth carry you the rest of the way while you scale back work. The name comes from the idea that, like a flamingo standing on one leg, you are balanced but not fully “off your feet” yet. This method offers more freedom earlier while still keeping your long-term MDL goal in sight.

CashflowFIRE – Ongoing passive income fully funds lifestyle

CashflowFIRE focuses on building enough passive income from ongoing sources, such as rental properties, dividends, royalties, or small businesses, to fully cover your MDL without needing to draw down investment principal. Instead of relying on the 25× rule, you live off the steady cash flow these assets produce. This approach can provide more flexibility and resilience, since the income continues as long as the assets remain productive.

How MDL Shapes Your FIRE Number

Now that we’ve looked at each FIRE category, let’s put some numbers to them.

For each model, the “MDL” is the minimum desirable lifestyle you want to sustain in retirement, not bare bones survival but the smallest lifestyle you’d still find enjoyable long term. Once you know your MDL, you can estimate your FIRE target using the 25× rule from the Trinity Study. This assumes a 4% annual withdrawal rate will last about 30 years for a balanced portfolio.

Some models, like CoastFIRE or BaristaFIRE, don’t require the full 25× immediately because part of your income still comes from work or other sources. Others, like CashflowFIRE, don’t rely on a lump sum at all, but instead focus on building assets that produce steady income.

Below is a table showing example MDLs and corresponding portfolio targets for each type of FIRE:

The chart below puts the portfolio targets side by side so you can see at a glance how the numbers compare. Some models require far less upfront because they combine investments with ongoing income, while others aim for larger portfolios to support more comfortable lifestyles.

At a glance, it is clear how different FIRE paths require very different savings targets. LeanFIRE’s low-MDL lifestyle needs only about a third of FatFIRE’s portfolio, while CoastFIRE and FlamingoFIRE require even less upfront because much of their income comes later or from ongoing work.

Final Thoughts

The FIRE movement isn’t a one-size-fits-all formula. It’s a flexible framework that lets you design a path to financial independence around your values, your lifestyle, and your minimum desirable lifestyle. Whether you prefer the simplicity of LeanFIRE, the comfort of ChubbyFIRE, or the freedom of CoastFIRE, the core idea is the same: spend less than you earn, invest the surplus, and let time work for you.

Your “shade” of FIRE depends on how you want to live, not just how much you want to save. Start by defining your own MDL, the smallest version of life you would still find deeply satisfying, and then reverse-engineer the numbers from there.

FIRE is not about retiring for the sake of retiring. It’s about building the freedom to choose how you spend your time. The earlier you start, the sooner that choice is yours.

More Weekend Reads

If you enjoyed diving into retirement savings data, you might find these recent Weekend Read articles helpful for your financial planning journey:

What’s It Like Getting Laid Off After 50? (July 27, 2025) - Based on a recent WSJ article, this post explores the toll of midlife layoffs and why early planning in your 30s and 40s is essential.

How America Saves (July 13, 2025) - A quick look at how people are actually saving money in the US and why most of them are getting it wrong.

Never Bet Against America (July 4, 2025) - Why long-term investing in American markets has historically rewarded patient investors, despite short-term volatility and economic uncertainty.

5 Reasons Not to Convert to a Roth (June 30, 2025) - Before jumping on the Roth conversion trend, consider these scenarios where traditional retirement accounts might serve you better.

401(k) Loans: When They Help and When They Hurt (June 13, 2025) - The strategic uses and hidden costs of borrowing from your retirement account, plus alternatives to consider first.

Rent vs. Buy: Which Makes Financial Sense for You? (June 6, 2025) - Beyond the emotional factors, here's how to run the numbers on one of the biggest financial decisions you'll make.

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