I like daydreaming about having a billion dollars. I love thinking about quitting my job, giving money to my family, and donating huge chunks of money to whatever I choose. Reddit, my last strand of social media I cling to on a daily basis, has picked up on this, and regularly serves me job and money-related posts. Some of this is FIRE (Financial Independence / Retiring Early), which is pretty self explanatory. Scrimp and save, invest your assets, and retire before you hit 65.
It makes me pretty mad.
Not because I'm bitter - although I am extremely bitter - but because FIRE and its adherents make it sound like reaching FIRE status is achievable for the majority of people. What 'FIRE status' actually is varies between people, making it hard to really pin down - for some it's not needing a job when they're 30, for others it's knowing they could quit any time and be fine financially. Since to FIRE requires putting away a healthy percentage (half, according to personality Pete Adney / Mr Money Mustache) of your income and investing it, FIREing is impossible for many people. Despite this, websites claim "methods like saving the majority of your salary, living on a reduced budget and making wise financial investments – allows people to achieve financial independence, whether you've got an income of $40,000 or $200,000."
Save the majority of your salary
A quick look on the FIRE reddit shows a few key demographic tendencies: straight, able-bodied, usually married Americans or Brits working in high-paying sectors such as engineering, computer science, government and healthcare. An American in California earning 100k could easily put away half they earn and not feel it. I earn about $32,000 NZD before tax. If I put away half I earned, I wouldn't be able to eat. Most FIRE posts I've seen acknowledge that a high income is necessary to properly reach financial independence, but few to none acknowledge that high income is a privilege given to very few.
Live on a reduced budget
Living on a reduced budget is cute when you're rich, and pathetic when you're poor. Biking to work is fun when you choose to, and dismal when you can't afford a car. I decided recently that I can't afford butter now that it's sitting at $10 for 500g. I'm not content to not eat butter, I just can't afford it.
Make wise financial investments
This mealy-mouthed suggestion really gets me. There's no real suggestion here - what is a wise financial investment? Is it higher education? Is it stocks? Is it ETFs? What if I buy a house to live in, and it decreases in value? What if my investment portfolio loses half its value? FIRE depends on masses of luck masquerading as wisdom. FIRE also depends on taking money out of local economies and putting them into investments, which means big companies. Yay!
FIRE reminds me of Akira Kurosawa's the lower depths. The priest spinning tales to the impoverished locals means well, but he only reinforces how impossible any alternative really is.
Telling poor people that if they scrimp and save they have a chance to retire early is cruel and malicious, even if you backtrack and argue that being financially smart is good advice for everyone (water is also wet). If my computer exploded tomorrow and my car popped a tire, I would have to shell out the money I've carefully saved week by week. Every muffin I chose not to buy, stick of butter I didn't purchase, and game I didn't play would turn into a mandatory cost that brings me no joy but the avoidance of misery.
I don't think people who want to FIRE or do FIRE are bad people. I just think they're massively privileged and lucky. What worked for them is not going to work for me because I'm a minority with a mental illness living through a recession (again). A better approach may be to acknowledge that people living in poverty is a choice made by the people in power. Universal Basic Income, free healthcare (and dental care), higher minimum wage and pay equity would do far more for my wallet than my careful penny pinching ever will.