FIRE in India. Your thoughts?

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red-devil

red-devil

Forerunner
I recently came across something called FIRE (Financial Independence and Retiring Early) on Reddit and seems like a lot of the people there were considering "wealth targets" like around 1-2cr rupees as the point where they can retire early.

So in terms of achieving this mythical "Financial Independence", what are your goals? How far along are you in terms of meeting them?
What about Retiring Early? I personally don't think I will be "retiring early" - I'd probably want to work a less hectic job in future for sure but just don't see myself completely retiring.

Thoughts?
 
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While i wouldn't want to "retire" completely, i would like to be in a space where i don't need to work for sustenance.

Honestly, if i can get about 1.5lpm income, its more than enough to lead a very luxurious life, even in mumbai (not accounting for inflation and other factors)
 
1-2 cr rupees is not enough to retire early unless you want to live the rest of your life in penury especially looking at the way prices are going up.

What matters in the long term is having a good work life balance with work from home options and an understanding with your manager and team about limits of what is acceptable and what is not.

I am willing to give up some monetary benefits for a better work environment. In the end money will not buy one peace of mind.
 
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3&1/2 crores is my target for FI.
As for retiring early, I plan to retire from current line of work and move to teaching.
It is a passion of mine and I want to pursue that full-time once i get my FI.
 
This made me think... interesting post OP.

I started working and building my business establishments from an early age. I guess it had to do with where I came from and what I needed to achieve. To think back and to say if I had a monetary goal at that time, I would say "Yes, I did". I surpassed that goal a long time back and now it's more of getting to work and watching my business grow. To renovate, to redesign and to employ more people. With the added responsibilities and managing more than a handful of showrooms across a metro city takes a lot of my time, daily. It does get tedious once in a while but that's the precise reason I take vacations away from work. But even then when I'm away I do have to keep track of things on a pretty consistent basis. There is no complete getting away and getting completely away is not something I truly desire. A part of me just refuses to warm up to isolation from work in totality. My business has given me everything and staying away from it for long periods isn't something my mind gives me the privilege of. Maybe when I'm older... but not yet.
 
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Retiring early in India is not really an option for most. Truth be told retiring in India is not really an option for most.

I have seen some who have retired start working again due to financial shortages. The worse affected is/will be the millennial generation. With pensions becoming a thing of the past, volatile market, uncontrolled inflation, reduced interests, increased automation putting jobs at risk etc., Add to that the ever increasing attitude of - live today like there's no tomorrow has resulted in increased expenditures but of course that is subjective.

The days ahead are bleak irrespective of where you stand today. The only thing one can do now is work hard and amass as much as you can.
 
I think some of the opinions posted here point towards the general direction that I was looking at things as well - that is is not really practical to stop working/earning money.

To me, I think all the talk about Financial Independence and Early Retirement is about taking the foot off the accelerator - in the sense that until some point I would want to work towards a "safe" bank balance (which differs for everyone of course).

Once that number is achieved, then I would think it is wise to be selective in the kind of jobs or the kind of work assignments that I take up. As an IT coolie myself, I can probably stop taking up jobs where there will be a much better work life balance. As a freelancer or a guy who owns/runs a business, it is probably the time when you know it's "ok" to take a step back and say "no" to some assignments etc etc.
 
krugur said:
3&1/2 crores is my target for FI.
As for retiring early, I plan to retire from current line of work and move to teaching.
It is a passion of mine and I want to pursue that full-time once i get my FI.
Click to expand...

Yes put that 3Cr in FD and live off the interest ? Also doing NGO teaching
 
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While I am not sure that FIRE is a possibility in India but I would still strongly recommend everyone to read about it.

There are a lot of habits and thinkings to pick from it which would tremendously help shape one's life in the long run. Being financially independent, thinking twice before spending, not keeping up with the joneses and focusing on things that make you happy are some which have put me in a much better financial condition in just 6 months of following it.
 
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My father was a stock trader. Retired in his mid 50s. Self made guy. Always tells me to think about my retirement.

In my 20s, I was like... lets seize the day. burned through my money. In my 30s, married, retiring is ALL I think of now. Not sure why. I wont be retiring in India though. No longer an option.

I know Comp Sci Engineers my age making 250K~400K+, planning to retire in their late 40's. Portfolios, RSUs, Startup stocks and what not's. And me here.... :banghead::banghead::banghead:. These guys are on a different level.

All I need here is a small house, my wife and my dog. There, I will turn in a old bitter man filled with regret. :):)
 
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I've worked with many senior people who rejoined my company after retiring from their pervious job. Main reason they had for coming back to work is that the felt too idle sitting around at home all the time. I think that most people who make lots of money are workaholics and would feel very testy without having something to be engaged in on a daily basis.
 
m-jeri said:
I know Comp Sci Engineers my age making 250K~400K+, planning to retire in their late 40's. Portfolios, RSUs, Startup stocks and what not's. And me here.... :banghead::banghead::banghead:. These guys are on a different level.

All I need here is a small house, my wife and my dog. There, I will turn in a old bitter man filled with regret. :):)
Click to expand...

Those guys earning 250k are in extreme minority Don't feel bad. Don't compare themselves to you.
 
chiron said:
I've worked with many senior people who rejoined my company after retiring from their pervious job. Main reason they had for coming back to work is that the felt too idle sitting around at home all the time. I think that most people who make lots of money are workaholics and would feel very testy without having something to be engaged in on a daily basis.
Click to expand...
This.

My dad retired two years back, shifted to village to take care of his mom and took up farming because he was idle whole day and our lands were sitting useless. Now we have plantain and coconut farms. Most of his day is not spent on arranging labor, getting fertilisers, transport etc.[DOUBLEPOST=1510290301][/DOUBLEPOST]
m-jeri said:
All I need here is a small house, my wife and my dog. There, I will turn in a old bitter man filled with regret. :):)
Click to expand...
lmao. No kids?
 
Shubham1401 said:
While I am not sure that FIRE is a possibility in India but I would still strongly recommend everyone to read about it.

There are a lot of habits and thinkings to pick from it which would tremendously help shape one's life in the long run. Being financially independent, thinking twice before spending, not keeping up with the joneses and focusing on things that make you happy are some which have put me in a much better financial condition in just 6 months of following it.
Click to expand...
My friend who joined a 3.5lakh job bought an 10 lakh car on loan because according to him " whats the use of a job when I dont even have a car" Wtf. Financial planning is nil in our country. And, atleast in most middle class, trading in stock means throwing away money
 
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adventureguy said:
My friend who joined a 3.5lakh job bought an 10 lakh car on loan because according to him " whats the use of a job when I dont even have a car" Wtf. Financial planning is nil in our country. And, atleast in most middle class, trading in stock means throwing away money
Click to expand...

Exactly my thoughts.

Another issue is lack of awareness on the subject. The information regarding financial planning/financial independence in Indian context is sparse! When I browse through FIRE blogs I see words like 401K, Roth IRA, Index funds (specific names of good funds) very frequently used with examples of blogger's own experiences with them.

When I look for comparable investment mediums in India I don't get much information easily. For example, I don't know what % of my monthly savings should I allocate to govt retirement funds, in stock markets, in mutual/index funds. Most of the content on the topic is from paid media which caters to their own benefit rather than the individuals.
 
I'm already feeling pissed off and always think of retiring early. But practically it's not possible esp in India as many pointed out our so called economy is very fluctuating and even savings of 5cr not gonna guarantee to hold life safely.

Being in IT and constantly burning up to upgrade skills + work stress and pressure makes someone already feel old-age type.
Sometimes i feel i already hit 50s in my 30s and now want piece of mind. But again m the one who doesn't like to sit idle for too long.

Another biggest factor is savings.
I would happily retire even if i get monthly 50k for rest of my life with my own house and family. Thats very much sufficient for me. I'm not sort of those lavish lifestyle and brand concious person. I believe you can do wonders even in 10k or waste in shit even 90k. Depends on ones control & presence of thinking & proper planning.

I always desired to do business but everything stucks by coming to capital and currently not in that strong capacity to take such risk. Else managing is something i enjoy throughly and is in my roots.

Currently i just got single digit savings to be honest and not working-- took break for few months to rejuvenate, upgrade skills and kick back.

When back in job will quickly invest in some good retirement plans.
 
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Bro, don't take lifestyle posts on reddit so seriously. They are from developed countries. We're not.
 
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