Alan and Katie are part of a small but growing global movement called Fire, which stands for “Financially Independent, Retire Early”.
From a little-known concept 15 years ago, there are now almost a million members of the main Fire discussion board on social media site Reddit, and mainstream financial institutions now publish numerous guides on the topic.
The central tenet is that you live extremely frugally during your working life, so that you can retire as soon as possible.
For most of us, being able to quit working life early is just a dream. From the current high cost of living, to elevated property prices and student debt, we will be working longer not less. The statistics back this up.
Last year, average retirement ages in the UK hit record highs of 65.8 years for men and 64.7 for women, official data showed., external
It is a similar situation in the US, where the average retirement age for men and women has increased steadily since the 1990s, to 64.8 and 63.3 respectively in 2025, according to one long-term study., external
Yet Fire devotees such as 49-year-old Amy Minkley are committed to their goal. The American middle-school teacher was able to retire when she was just 44.
To help achieve this she worked abroad at international, private schools in Japan, Singapore, India and Thailand, where Minkley says she was able to earn more money and enjoy much lower living expenses than back home in Texas.
She also spent as little as possible. “I wasn’t interested in keeping up with a certain expat lifestyle,” says Minkley.
“I rarely bought expensive clothing, kept electronics until they gave out, cooked most of my meals at home, and paused before any significant purchase.
“Having a housemate while living in Singapore and India allowed me to save even more, and in several countries I didn’t need a car, which kept my expenses low,” she says.
Minkley now lives in Bali where her retirement income goes further than if she had moved back to the US.
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