How Can I Achieve Financial Independence and Retire Early? (FIRE)
TLDR: Use this Powerful Free Tool to Create a Plan
The Layman's Guide to Getting Rich
There are only a few sure-fire, guaranteed ways to get rich:
- Become a social media megastar on TikTok and Instagram
- Hit the lottery
- Create electric cars and spaceships
- Be Taylor Swift
None of these have worked for me, yet. But I'm not a quitter.
I also have a few ideas you should avoid, all of which I can attest to first-hand as financial dead ends:
- Create apps that teach Jazz improvisation on the App Stores
- Play music in bar bands
- Write applications and give them away for free
- Write stories on Medium
Oh, one more thing to try — be a regular person with a regular job, family and so on and plan and save carefully, and also write on Medium. This latter approach has worked somewhat better for me.
How Do I Know How Much I Need to Save?
This is the hard part. And the answer is that you don't really know and can't really know. Because you can't predict the future. Which is frustrating, especially when you really want a Tesla.
To quote Mark Twain:
"Prediction is difficult- particularly when it involves the future."
On the other hand, as our second choice, perhaps we can just create the best plan possible and follow that, and hope for the best. To quote Dwight Eisenhower:
"In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."
As history shows, planning worked out pretty well for Dwight.
When All Else Fails, Write an App
As I approach retirement, I can't help but wonder, do I have enough? What's my plan? And how much can I safely spend after I pull the trigger on retirement, or get fired, or face some other unexpected calamity? There's the "4 percent rule", whatever that really means (4% now, 4% forever, 4% even after I finally hit the lottery?). Can I trust that simple rule?
When you are a software engineer, the best course of action is always to write another app. So that's what I did. I created the Gizmo Life Planner, which includes, among other things, a retirement planner and "life simulator". It's completely free, nothing to install, doesn't require a login, no advertisements, and doesn't share your data, and there are no hidden "catches". Who says there Ain't No Free? My Mom taught me to share.
In testing various scenarios, I've learned a few things, the most important of which I'll leave you with:
Inflation is a Bitch
If you are not careful with your investments, inflation will eat your savings alive. The bottom line is that you need to come up with an investment plan that earns more that inflation eats up. Get your financial advisor to help you out.
In the meantime, give Gizmo a try and let me know what you think. If you discover a bug or would like to see something new added please reach out (it’s new, don’t just criticize, help me make it better!). You can find my contact information in the app.
Happy Planning!