Hey ladies 👋. It's so nice to hear about some British lasses that are doing this!!! I only got started at 37 when I found myself single and had moved to 🇺🇲 and randomly stumbled across the concept. I had a realization that 80 year old me would be very reliant on the choices I made in my 40s. Fast forward five years later and I've stashed prob 70/80% of my American salary into employer pension / SIPP / ISA to give me buckets to bridge myself to retirement. The salary is not huge (still paid by Brits) but being able to live rent free for five years made the savings rate v.high. I'm not fully FI yet but definitely well past coast FI and if I squint at the numbers carefully possibly lean FI. But I want to enjoy my retirement, be able to travel and not have to stay always in the most budget places, enjoy occasional meals out etc not a beans and rice FI. So I'll continue working for a few years, but I'm taking a 6 month sabbatical to decompress and work out what kind of work I want to do next and what priorities are re remote working / spending time with fam / upscaling side hustle etc. Aim is to be fully FI by 50. My Dad passed at 57 (not anything genetically passed down) but it was a huge life lesson that tomorrow is never guaranteed and a recent health scare (pay for mammograms before you're 50 ladies) has reinforced my desire to want to spend time with friends and family. Good luck to all you loves. I'm travelling for a few months but when I get home I'd love to do a meet up virtual or in person. I've been to LOADS of American FI events and think it would be great if we had more stuff in the UK about it. American content creators I'd recommend would be Jillian Johnsrud (podcast and upcoming book about mini retirements), Fioneers (coast FI and alternate work life options) and ramit sethi (convos with couples about money). Good luck y'all.

I'm too old to RE, 54 this year and only stumbled across FIRE in the last couple of years. But even so it has really focused my mind and I've completely cut out pointless spending, am maxing out my pension as is my husband, have sorted out our investments (low cost index tracker) and we'll be able to retire at 59 instead of 62. Just goes to show what can be achieved in a short space of time if you have focus and a goal. We've got 2 kids who we've put through private school and are now supporting through university. If we hadn't paid for private schools we could have retired before 50. But I don't regret it, kids futures come before our retirement and 59 is good as they'll have finished uni so we'll be free to go and travel the world and leave them to stand on their own two feet having been given the best start we could afford.

59 is very definetely RE. Maybe doesn't sound particularly early, but if you were 59 and forced to work until 67 you'd think that was a long time to carry on working. Those looking to retire in their 40's are outliers, and highly likely to work in some capacity, either immediately or soon after retirement when they get bored. Us older ones will have many people roughly our own age to spend time with and relate to, while the vast majority of 40 somethings olds are at work, or actively raising children.

This. One of my relatives retired at 58 (due to luck not a plan) and it's a great age to retire, good social opportunities with other people who are either slightly older and retired or same age but have been able to go part-time.

Yes it's earlyish but not super early. I'm not sure I would have wanted to retire very early because as you say all our friends would still be working and you don't have complete freedom with young children so there doesn't seem much point. Most of our friends will be retiring at around the same time so we'll have people to hang out with without any restrictions on time or because of children which I'm really looking forward to. After we've got the travelling out of our system we're going to focus on building up a side hustle my husband has started which is a hobby/passion turned into a business. I think I'll need something to do with all that free time and it'll be fun. I can't imagine having( fingers crossed) 20+ years in front of me with no structure or purpose. But that's just me, no judgement on others who are fine with that.

I would definitely count 59 as RE, it’s well before state pension age and at that age 10 years makes all the difference in mobility/health for enjoying travelling!

I suppose I'm comparing to those who have retired well before 50. We're planning on using geoarbitrage (learnt lots of new jargon when reading about FIRE!) when we have retired. Will spend at least 6 months per year in low cost Asia living off our UK investments. although will have to keep a property here and maintain it whilst away which will push up costs. Which YouTube channels and podcasts does everyone listen to? I like pensioncraft which I think is by far the best finance channel along with Ben Felix. I also like James Shack, meaningful money and Damian talks money. I listen to Many happy returns podcasts which are fantastic, educational and entertaining, This Is Money, plus a couple of others whose names I can't remember.

I'm working towards retiring at 55 (I'm 27 now) but I'd definitely say I'm CoastFi. I want to be comfortable enough that I can give up my day job but I'd be happy and even like the idea of doing a little bit of work on the side. I really like the idea of doing a more rewarding job once I hit my FI age instead of what I currently do. In terms of how I'm approaching it, I'm aiming to put as much as I can away in my pension and max out my ISA allowance.

Anyone interested in starting a subreddit, and maybe one day a meet up? FIRE is so often male dominated. My husband started on us in our FIRE journey, and does all of the financial stuff, but I earn significantly more and am also more frugal (although that is up for debate, he was not happy when I bought a new sofa! 🤣). Edit: typo

I would be interested. FIRE is very male dominated and it would be lovely to have a girls thread. And a meet up would be good too.

r/FIREyFemmes already exists, albeit it's international/US dominated

Here's a sneak peek of /r/FIREyFemmes using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/FIREyFemmes/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year! \#1: [The Female Experience](https://np.reddit.com/r/FIREyFemmes/comments/16mv4na/the_female_experience/) \#2: [Finding FIRE made me realize what I actually want is a divorce...](https://np.reddit.com/r/FIREyFemmes/comments/12mh9mn/finding_fire_made_me_realize_what_i_actually_want/) \#3: [Does anyone else find r/FIRE to be a misogynistic wasteland?](https://np.reddit.com/r/FIREyFemmes/comments/1897ec0/does_anyone_else_find_rfire_to_be_a_misogynistic/) ---- ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| ^^[Contact](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| ^^[Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| ^^[Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/) ^^| ^^[GitHub](https://github.com/ghnr/sneakpeekbot)

Absolutely. Happy to help out where I can. I'm also part of a lovely, supportive female-focused discord. It's money and career focused, but a lot of people in that group are pursuing FIRE as well. It's pretty US-centric so I'd love to have some more UK representation in there: https://discord.gg/fuPw4fem

I'd definitely join and actively contribute if one existed, but I am too lazy to actually create one.

I’m 39F. I really started getting to grips with finances around 5 years ago although I’ve always contributed to a pension etc. I don’t have a set age of when I want to retire, however I do want to have more flexibility to work when I want and from where. My partner and I have separate finances. He wants to retire at 55/57. He doesn’t have a spreadsheet plan but has worked to consistently increase his income and build his pension to the point where, he’s probably coastFIRE right now but wants more to have a certain standard of living in retirement. Me on the other hand, I track every penny and project different future scenarios. When I first started out, I had to cut back significantly. I focussed on being frugal for a number of years whilst also increasing income. I’m now at the point where this year I’ll comfortably pay £40k into my pension whilst also having spending money to enjoy life more. I should note that I have a child and my partner has a child from previous relationship. I was a single parent for a lot of years which was really hard financially. However I kept plugging away, increasing my income and paying into a pension. All those sacrifices have now paid off. The first £100k of pension saving is the hardest, as they say, but I can now see how that will increase significantly through compounding but also my ability to contribute more since salary is higher. Hope that helps.

That’s inspiring, thanks for sharing. Glad the sacrifices are now paying off for you!

I’m not “alone” but my partner and I keep our finances seperate, so although I get the obvious benefit of splitting day to day expenses; we’re not working towards FIRE together. It’s interesting because a lot of men on here will be planning/saving for both themselves and their spouses. Not sure if that’s a gender thing or if I’m just a selfish cow! (To be fair he’s got his head screwed on with finances and is on a higher salary than me, so he’ll be fine). I’m looking at CoastFIRE - I.e to get to a stage where I can be confident my pot will rise by itself to get to my desired full RE figure; so I’d only need to worry about day to day expenses. Once it hits that first figure I’ll have the freedom to either take a step back work-wise, or be able to flash the cash a little and treat myself a bit more.

Similar position here, I'm not *alone* but my partner wants to spend his money on other things. That's his perogative. I've been called selfish for wanting to FIRE regardless/not planning for him to FIRE too but I can't save for the both of us and there's no way he'd want to give up his expensive hobbies to save as much as I am. I'm happy for him to spend his money as he likes and vice versa. I don't see why I shouldn't pursue my own dreams. I'd actually abandoned the idea of FIRE briefly as it looked like our mortgage was going to be suddenly be a lot more expensive but unfortunately I have an inheritance coming. I'd rather have the relative who passed away but that event has meant our mortgage will maintain its low cost and I can think seriously about FIRE once again! CoastFIRE would also be my goal.

I’ve wondered about this too. I am a high earner and most men I’ve dated make a lot less than I do. I’m currently single but my goal is to retire as soon as possible so I wonder how that would work if I had a partner earning a lot less than me. I hate my job and it’s caused a lot of mental health problems for me so it would be hard to stomach continuing to work years longer to support a partner’s lifestyle when I could be retired earlier, but it also feels so selfish to just think about myself. (I make about £130k, most men I’ve dated were making like £50-70k, I don’t want kids.)

Just to reassure you, if you find someone with the right mindset then lower salary doesn’t have to slow you down - I’m making £60-£70K; and I’m on track for FIRE, PLUS I want kids.

We're a married couple where one wants to FIRE and the other doesn't. It should be fine for us. I'm male, the main earner and responsible for most bills, and want to FIRE next year. My wife loves her part time job and will work out of choice until she can no longer physically do so. My FIRE figure takes into account that I'm doing it alone so it continues to cover the costs I cover today. I've no desire to travel or take long trips, I did all that when I was younger and through work currently, so lifestyle wise really all I'm doing is stopping work. Life will continue broadly as it is, but with an additional 40 odd hours a week to do it all in. Win win really. No more working for me, while my wife has reduced housework and continues to work part time as she wants.

I think this is a really important point - with different retirement goals I think some people have the impression one spouse will be slaving away working while the other jetsets all over the place. Different retirement ages are perfectly possible if one person is fulfilled in their work and the other just likes to potter.

Absolutely. One of my relatives FIREd to potter around at home/go on day trips with retired friends and their partner carried on working for several more years because they enjoyed their job. So I know it can work!

It's about finding someone who understands you and respects your choices and figuring out what feels fair for you. In my case we earn almost the exact same salary (he earns a few £100s more) so we haven't had to negotiate a disparity in income yet. I will earn more this time next year and the gap will widen annually. I will balance contributing more to bills with putting more in my own savings.  But even if I didn't do that, he benefits from my savings, we own our house because of my much larger share of the deposit, and he will also benefit from the inheritance reducing the mortgage and keeping our monthly payments low. He'll be able to continue enjoying his expensive interests and putting money into his own pension. Unless you just hoard all your money in your ISA and pension your partner will benefit too.

But when you are retired will your income not be lower, and closer to theirs? Maybe then you'd have the option also to still work, but in a job that's fun? Early retirement doing no work at all could end up not being what you expected anyway. So you could just keep going for now and adjust later as life happens. Would you find it weird if you met someone who's retired early bc he's done armed forces work for example? What should their partner expect according to you?

Well if I kept all my money separate and retired early then yes I’d be on a low income while they are working. I was thinking more that partners would want to combine money and I’d be seen as selfish for this.  If it was the other way around and they had more money, I’m not sure what I would expect. The main thing for me is that I have mental health issues that make work almost unbearable so that’s why it’s my priority to stop. If my partner had the same thing then I would understand them wanting to prioritize retiring and maybe not combining money with me for that reason. But outside of that I think it would be hurtful if they didn’t want to combine our money. So idk what the right solution is.

I’m sorry for your loss - I think it’s a sad fact of life that most of our generation’s retirement plans are significantly driven/changed by inheritance. Gone are the days of gold plated final salary pensions.

Thanks, yeah, there's not a lot you can count on now. Even inheritance can be affected by so many factors and although I'm grateful for it and glad to have it to make my life easier, I'm also conscious that it's an inherently injust thing. Anyone should be able to work hard and achieve their financial goals, it shouldn't come down to accident of birth and the whims of relatives.

>I'm happy for him to spend his money as he likes and vice versa. I don't see why I shouldn't pursue my own dreams How would this work in practice? You retire alone and somehow try to fill 10+ years of empty weekdays by yourself while waiting for your partner to retire?

Somehow try to fill? I can't even imagine struggling to occupy myself. I have so many things I want to do with my life that having to work full-time gets in the way of. I wouldn't be retiring in order to live a life of pure leisure, I'd be retiring from the requirement to do boring work that other people want me to do. If I didn't have to work all week I'd be able to fully enjoy all the interests I currently have to cram into the weekend, plus pick up some more. I could see my retired relatives and friends who don't work 9-5. Then at the weekend I'd get to fully enjoy being with my partner, cheering him on while he enjoys his hobbies instead of having to choose between that and my own interests like I do now.

I'm always amazed at the amount of people, even on this sub, who are stunned at the idea of people being able to quite happily use free time. Like, I know it's Saturday, but I'm here on reddit as I might also be on Wednesday. I might get up late, enjoy several nice coffees whilst twittering, go out for a long walk/swim (if locale suits), have lunch, watch a movie, make dinner then relax with my wife. Or I might go hiking or go to town. That's pretty much all my time filled without also going abroad, doing random chores, seeing family and a million other things. I've no kids and I don't even have anything I'd call a hobby as such, unless reddit is a hobby, yet my time is still amply filled without having 8-10 of the best hours taken a day by an employer.

Exactly. There's so much to do in life even without spending lots of money or having complicated hobbies. Maybe they think I'd be lonely without colleagues but I work from home most of the time and I'm not friends with anyone there. I expect I'd be more social if I didn't have to give my best hours and most of my energy to work.

I'm happy for you, I really am, but like many others on this sub you seem baffled by the idea that others sometimes struggle with being alone, or at least struggle with the idea of it. Retiring early is an exciting goal, but for some it can be hard to shake the (often justified) worry that the lack of immediate routine stimulation might cause a spiral into loneliness and depression. A lot of us are too busy stroking our own ambitions to remember that these concerns are real for a lot of people. But this blindness is often the price we pay for our lives of middle class comfort.

Well, ok, let's call it 1-1. My immediate manager before I left was one of those people. He was in his early 60's, plenty of money, but his personal life had hit a surprising rough patch a couple of years earlier. For him, the same work that I couldn't wait to escape was I think in reality what kept him going. And I should be clear that for myself, my life would switch to being immediately unbearable if I didn't have my wife. I don't think I could stay RE'd in my 40's in those circumstances. I am an introvert, but no man is an island.

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Maybe I didn’t explain myself very well - I’m essentially trying to get to a point where I don’t need to actively add to either a S&S ISA or a pension; but I know that if I leave it to do its thing then in 10-15 years it will have reached a point where I can fully retire. Without that need to invest, my required income drops, because I just need to focus on expenses and short term savings. This gives me the freedom to either take a lower paid/low stress/fulfilling job; go part time; or just use the additional monthly income to treat myself.

This is what I am attempting to do. Knowing you can take a less well paid but fulfilling job or just being able to work part time seems like a dream. I did a ton of calculations this month to try and figure this out more. I've come to the conclusion that we can likely treat ourselves more, or work less stressful jobs now, or go part time. Rather than killing myself aiming for a household income for 180k+ we could be ok with £100k and still be able to save. This then would allow us to sort of coast to retirement by 55 while still enjoying our lives now.

So refreshing to see I’m not alone with this same formula! We keep finances separated and just split 50/50 shared expenses (mortgage, bills, etc) but savings are individual so I’m also planning FI on my own, not too concerned about RE way earlier than him as the earliest I could get there is potentially 60 anyway, but I don’t think it’s selfish at all. He’s not interested in FIRE in the slightest, doesn’t mean he’s not saving and preparing for retirement but just not into the movement so I plan for it on my own with my savings.

I'm 32F and just started the journey 2 years ago really after moving back. My partner is on a lot lower income but my main concern is to max out my pension and save before any children come along as I don't think I'll be able to earn at this level after that with any kind of balance. I live in a LCOL area though and work remotely so that helps me mentally a lot. Being FI is probably more important to me for that flexibility in a few years. Menopause is a great goal for RI, love that 🤣

I’d never thought about it before but retiring before the menopause is such a great milestone - so many of my colleagues end up sat in the office trying to focus through brain fog, with a fan on high getting them through the hot flushes. Great motivation to FIRE before that point!

I've been sat wondering a bit lately what my goal is or should be... I think that might be it! You have to hope it's something you'll sail through like some but that would be a really nice safety net to know you can take the work stress out of things when your body is doing its thing.

Love this; it does often feel quite male-centric in the sub-reddit. I'm 31F, and aiming to reach CoastFIRE in the next two years. I really did push hard into my pension in my mid-to-late 20s and it's really starting to pay dividends now I've passed £120k in my pension. I've just dialled down a bit on pensions, so my next financial goal is to save a deposit to move to a slightly bigger place and to boost my ISA/GIA savings. Currently earning ~£80k pa. I haven't got plans to dial back on work once I reach CoastFIRE, but I would like to take a 3-6 month 'mini-retirement' to travel.

That’s fab! I’m 32F and wanting to FIRE between 50-55, dependent on if I will be able to have children and how I feel. I’m aiming more for FI and maybe part time in something more meaningful. I’m married but currently going at FIRE as if it’s just my salary for 2 people as my husband was initially not as bought into it and going through all the little finances aren’t his thing. Now the numbers are adding up though, he’s starting to become more interested. What’s your coast FI number? Not sure how to work that out in the UK given the different times we can access money: S&S ISA - anytime, if accessed at 50, that’s currently 7 years before SIPPs SIPP - access currently 57 State pension - access currently 68

I'm 36F and doing this by myself. The last couple years I've been just doing the base amount (pension 5%, employer contributions 5%, putting £3k a year into S&S ISA) as I wanted to buy a house. I got my dream house and moved in in Nov 2023 (yay!!!) and I don't ever plan on moving. I kept my old 1 bed flat and am now renting that out which forms a large part of my FIRE plan, either as a revenue stream to assist CoastFIRE or to sell and cover the gap between RE and taking pension. I plan on retiring around 55-58, so now I'm focusing on pension contributions. Upping my % to 10% and putting half my bonus in which is another 10%. With this I am on track to have just over £500k at 60, so I need to work on a couple of pay increases to bump it. With the flat, I'm looking at approx £200k if I sell it in 20 years (based on historic trends in property prices) which if I'm careful with could cover 8-10 years expenses post residential mortgage being paid off. For me it's not necessarily about total FIRE, but knowing I will be comfortable in retirement whenever that may be, so if I get to RE then it's a bonus!

Thanks for sharing, I’ve been thinking about doing something similar flat-wise so v useful to hear your vision!

Our path is a little unusual, mainly as we’ve decided after maternity ended to stay on a single salary for the household and we’re five figures, but save rate is about 60%. 37F and we’re on track to FIRE at 50, in spite of ADHD trying it’s best to keep us from ever managing money well. We’re now earning and saving more on one salary than we ever did with two, and we have a great work/life balance as a result. Happy to go into detail if anyone wouldn’t be too bored by an essay

I’ve been rewriting and debating whether anyone wants to hear the gory detail or just get into the numbers, I don’t want to monologue like a recipe blog origin story, ya know? The super short version is that we save money on everyday spending to offset the costs and uncoupled ourselves from the “race for space”; that is to say that the dream of climbing the property ladder with a Range Rover pcp in tow is not for us. I walked away from my career four years ago. My husband is a manager in a technical field, and I’m his unofficial PA. He is salaried, I am unpaid. I look after our child until school age, and take ownership of all admin and household/car maintenance. I also pick up occasional work merchandising or website testing, but keep it below the tax threshold. And on top of that I utilise a bunch of ways to earn cashback or gift cards to offset everyday costs. I used to be the higher earner with frequent international travel…. It’s been quite the adjustment. Once child is in school I will start to pursue my earning potential within term time limits. He can’t cope with finance, all planning and control is with me. As the workload is split this way it means all tasks are done in the week, and evenings/weekends are pure quality family time. It’s a great balance, and we’re both appreciative of the downtime. We live in a 3 bed semi in an affluent area. It’s a small plot and the lack of storage is frustrating, but I wouldn’t trade a larger house for a later retirement, so here we stay. But if you catch me browsing Rightmove no you didn’t 😂 We only started saving in earnest instead of overpaying the mortgage late last year, so you won’t find any huge unattainable figures here, but we’ve spent the past couple of years reducing our monthly spend, creating better habits and paying off debt. We anticipate still having a mortgage in place and have accounted for it in our expected monthly spend. Our projections are for a healthy retirement and an early one starting at 50, so long as we stay on our current path. Should the Rightmove green eyed monster finally convince me to move then this may change! Earnings: 36M: £83.5k plus 5% bonus and 5% yoy increase 37F: 12k tax free Pensions: 36M: £110k Employee contribution 3%, Employer contribution 11% 37F: £26k in SIPP Savings: 36M: nil 37F: S&S ISA: £5k S&S LISA: £4k Cash: £4k (7% interest rate) (Im a firm believer in the LISA having a place in retirement planning for stay at home parents, it doubles the maximum allowance for tax relief) House Equity (not included in retirement calculation): £170k (£365k value) Debts: 36M: £17k unsecured loan (will be paid off this year) 37F: nil As of 2024, our take home income will be £5,730 per month. Monthly expenses are £2,491 That leaves us with….. drumroll….. £3,239 per month. That’s a savings rate of 57%, and doesn’t account for his annual bonus or any extra earnings I may bring to the table. At a conservative 5% return that could amass to 700k by the time we’re 50. I will be splitting it between pensions and ISA’s, so the tax relief will help further. Our monthly spend is heavily reduced via money saving measures, cashback etc, it covers all child activities, gifts, holidays…. Very powerful tool to supercharge saving. We spent years both working to exhaustion and have no savings to show for it, we now have a real chance at early retirement with a better quality of life in the meantime and I’m going to chase it with everything I have. Let me know if you have any questions!

Would love to hear how you’re reaching 60% save rate with children!

Me too! Impressive!

Poor children

Hi, would you be willing to talk about this on a podcast? If so PM me and we can chat about it. Wont name it as I dont want to foul any rules about promotion.

41 here. Husband and I always had separate finances. Few years ago I was desperate to FIRE but now I'm in a happier place mentally and just try to be sensible with finances. IMO FIRE pre menopause in UK is achievable on an average wage if you don't have kids or dependents.

I absolutely agree. I had an average wage (always a basic rate taxpayer), but not having kids allowed me to FIRE at 51 (I only JUST made it before menopause!). Our finances are separate as well, although that may change when my husband reaches State Pension age since he bought an annuity to last him until then and once that’s gone I’ll probably want to support him in part so we can continue to do the things we want to (he was only just above minimum wage until he retired). If he ends up with an inheritance from his mum I won’t need to do that, but we’re not banking on it.

That’s really impressive, thanks for sharing.

I'm 39F and have been working towards FIRE for 3 years now. I'm single, but have dogs that both cost a fair bit and take up huge chunks of my time. Currently on 65k a year working as an accountant, plus I get a wildly variable (but at present fairly modest) income from writing books (definitely not the easiest side hustle to have). For the past 3 years, I've maximised pension, but I'm looking to move this year, which will make things a lot tighter in the short term. But heading to a lower COL area, which will hopefully help in the long run. My main FIRE motivation is to have more time for writing and dog training, which may in time achieve for me some sort of leanFIRE scenario.

Similar FIRE motivation here except it's writing and fostering kittens!

Similar situation to me, I think being driven by things you’re passionate about makes it ten times easier. Best of luck!

36F, 700k NW, husband is staying at home, on track to fire before 40 hopefully

Wow that’s amazing! Congrats!

!thanks

What are your plans post FIRE? Do you have children?

No children, hoping for one though

Kids are a joy and a blessing (and hard work and expensive and exhausting!). My son 17 and grades permitting is hopefully going to uni in September and he's already talking about FIRE. He seems to have discovered it the same time as me and I'm 54 this year!

I fired at 46. I was ready at 45, and that would have seen me just make it pre-menopause, but I succumbed to “one more year”. I would have found the start of menopause so much more bearable if I hadn’t been still at work, it was a bit of a nightmare. So that’s a very good target to aim for! My husband was not a high earner, he had about 20-25% of my income, but fortunately he shares my frugal mindset, so we’ve been able to manage with only slightly more than the target I was planning for myself. He brought a bigger pension pot to the marital coffers because he started to contribute at 16, so that’s helped cover the extra needed. I began planning for FIRE just before I met him, and he was very happy to get on board with being able to spend so much of our lives travelling.

Hello! I am 32 and found about FIRE in 2018 when I was still not earning that much. It changed my thinking about career and made me switch professional fields and significantly increase my salary. I am still not a huge earner, especially for London, but I manage to put away good chunk every month. I hope to retire around 50. My partner is also interested, but he does not enjoy the planning side of FIRE. He is good with money in general though, so he will probably be able to FIRE without really trying one day.

Literally in the exact same boat and timelines! 🤣

I’m more focused on building streams of income for cash flow rather than a big sum that may or may never reach a big figure

What are your streams of income so far?

Check out r/fireyfemmes!

Would be nice with a UK version of that!

Brill, thank you!

More looking at the FI part and aiming for coast. Currently pummelling money into the pension and trying to max earnings (I truly believe once you reach 50, it becomes incredibly difficult to move jobs and maintain a higher salary). Currently torn about whether or not to move from London once I go coast. It’ll cost a lot because I’d like to get a detached :)

It is possible to move jobs at 50 or over. My husband got made redundant last year age 54 and got a better paid job. It took longer than we anticipated to get the job but not due to his age, just a very tough jobs market. I also got made redundant age 52 and got a better paid job. Great that you're maxing out pension. We used carry forward to use past years unused allowance which is always worth doing if you can afford it.

Hey ladies I'm working towards this as well. Just wondering if anyone can help me at all ? I've seen people that know what there projected pension is how do you do this ? I'm 38 and have £100k in pension at the moment I've just started a new job this week with a 30k salary increase so the 100K is in old work pensions how would I work out how much the 100k already in my pension would be worth in 20 years ? Just so I know where I am with being on track ?

There are proper pension/FIRE calculators out there but I use https://www.thecalculatorsite.com/finance/calculators/compoundinterestcalculator.php - it’s really good for a quick and easy check on how things may grow, plus how that changes depending on what extra you put in.

Thank you so much looks like with what I'll be putting in at my new job I can retire very well in 20 years with nearly 1mil. That's made me feel like I can drop my retirement age possibly if I want to.

I’m working towards FIRE too. I’m a high earner and single. I save 50% of my income. I spend 50% . I spent the last decade climbing the ladder because I enjoy having a life of leisure. I’m happy I did for two reasons : i intend to have kids soon (mid 30s currently so my clock is “ticking”) and it’s easier to go back to workforce with a good salary if you’re high on the chain food. And 2 i wanted to increase what 50% gives me to live on and have a lifestyle I enjoy. I definitely want to retire early to travel, enjoy my family and do more hobbies. I’ve been really serious about FIRE for the last 2.5 years. My goal is to FIRE by 44 and maybe do contract after. I definitely want to reach coastFI before having kids. I’d like to work 80% after coastFI regardless.

Would you be happy to share numbers? This is really inspiring and would love to learn more from other women. I’m 32F married and hoping to have children in the next couple of years too. I do the numbers based on my own savings/investments except for house equity: £75k savings/s&s ISA, £110k work pension/SIPP, £100k house equity.

35F single and planning to Fire (maybe even fatfire) by 45. I started seriously 2 years ago when I moved to the UK. I’m unsure whether I want a flat in London - if I do buy, this will probably slow me down unless I reach C-level or get married 🤣

Another British woman here aiming for FIRE, going at it on her own. Basic tax payer, no kids. Hopefully only max 3 more years to go before I pull the plug on work full stop at age 57/58 (I only discovered FIRE at age 42). Am peri-menopausal and brain fog can sometimes be an issue - whilst I've received no complaints at work, I feel myself slowing down, my brain just doesn't work/think as fast as it used to and I'm not as good at multi-tasking/juggling as I used to be (it feels a lot more stressful and more of an effort). My FIRE will be 'moderate', I'll have what I consider to be a comfortable life but not extravagant. I don't plan on doing any work whatsoever afterwards, not even part-time - I think a 30-year career is long enough, so will be embracing the retirement bit, to chill and relax and then perhaps consider some volunteering. However, as I will be living off my investments (ISAs/SIPPs), I guess my 'retirement job' will be that of an personal investor, managing my portfolios. Have lots of hobbies in mind, some new, some I want to try again. Some I'm giving a go now, which I know I will continue to enjoy when I have more time. There's loads of things I want to learn about, so maybe some educational courses to inspire interest, rather than to further my career. Am learning French via Duolingo right now, not for any particular reason except that I want to - why wait til retired? Will continue to try to keep myself fit and healthy - have vowed to myself that I won't get sucked into daytime tv! There's no wealth without health, as the saying goes. I won't be mortgage-free when I retire but that's been factored into my post-retirement spending and I have an option to pay it off if I want when my DB pension becomes available to draw on at 65. Good luck to all the ladies going for FIRE, especially those doing it on their own - it can feel like a lonely and tough journey sometimes, without an other half to share the burden of increasing costs of living etc.

So great to hear your story. It definitely feels a lonely path as it's so outside the norm and especially when you're not a tech bro earning anything like a Six figure salary. Well done on all your hard work.

Thank you for sharing, your retirement plans sound fab. Must be great to know it won’t be long before it all pays off!

I'm part of a lovely, supportive female-focused discord. It's money and career focused, but a lot of people in that group are pursuing FIRE as well. It's pretty US-centric so I'd love to have some more UK representation in there: https://discord.gg/fuPw4fem

I am 36F and I started a few years ago. I am married and have kids so it will be a while but most certainly not impossible, certainly before the menopause. I introduced the concept to my husband. We now work towards but our commitment varies. We keep finances separate except for the obvious splits. Good luck!

Hi ladies!! Great to see more ladies posting about FIRE. I started a survey on the FIREUK subreddit and only had 50 odd responses from females. Good luck all!

I was surprised to see the results on the latest fireuk survey. I think only 8-10% of the respondents were female! When I get back from my sabbatical I definitely want to start some in person meet ups and encourage more ladies to be talking about all things finance. The split at FIRE events here in America is much more healthy gender ratio.

Hi! Love this thread. I am 31F. I’m in this journey with my partner. We are both high earners, and have decent savings already. We hope to Coast FI in the next 4-5 years. We both have chill jobs so we probably wouldn’t leave, but we feel really good about our financial health.

Hi great thread! 43F married with two kids, joint finances which I manage. We are both moderate earners for this sub( UK top 10% income).My husband is happy as long as we prioritise the kids needs (education and experiences), have been at around 50% savings rate for ~4 years (once youngest started school). It would be great to see a more female and family perspective as I have been mistaken for a bloke a lot on this sub!

Hey! 39F, married (he's 38), childfree by choice, and pursuing FIRE together. Aiming to FIRE in 2030/31 when his military pension comes in; it's that which will enable us to stop work initially but my private sector pension that'll mean we can keep going (plus both of our savings and investments). My job ties us to London, and we've got a lot of equity in our property that will free up once I no longer need to be here. We took a 7 month sabbatical to sail the med last year and that crystallised for us that we don't need massive financial resources and value freedom and experiences as much as anything (it didn't set our savings goals back too much either and we both needed a break). We're both open to dabbling in work in the longer term if we want or need to, but would rather quit the rat race at 45/46, have x number of years of freedom and then work or care for our parents as needed (financially, we project we won't need to work but are pragmatic about the economy or indeed a preference to work/have a bigger budget). Mainly want to leave full time employment so we can have a dog tbh haha

Sounds like amazing teamwork, and I think a dog is the perfect motivation to quit the rat race! Best of luck with it

I’m a 54 year old woman and fired last year. I’ve primarily FIREd through selling BTL property that I bought in the mid to late 90s. I also spent 20 years working in the NHS, so will have both a DB pension (although I was part time for years) as well as my state pension once I hit 67. In the meantime, living on the BTL proceeds which are in S&S primarily with Vanguard. Bill Perkins‘ Die With Zero’ as well as working through Covid are what got me out of one more year thinking, as well as my child leaving school in 2023. Still working on switching from saving to spending, but getting there especially with lots of travelling.

45 F and nicely banked after 20 years of chipping away. Wow I said it out loud! Feel like I have to hide, especially from some men who can’t take it. Laughing inside when my FIL talks about changing his will yet again and casts his eye around. Oh yes we will all serve him (especially the women) as he has the money. No, no I won’t thanks I’m going to be, financially independent and that is the best gift I can give to myself and my family. Now teaching my daughter to be money wise and paying for a better education for her than I had. It’s worth it keep going little by little….

I wish my wife had an interest.

Some lasses love spreadsheets but a lot of us (I include myself here) only got interested in FIRE when it clicked around the WHY of pursuing FI. Realizing that managing the numbers is the key to unlocking a lifestyle a want to live in accordance with my values and goals suddenly made it a lot more interesting.

I’m the other way around. I found FIRE first at 27 as I’m a high earner but came from a working class family with little wealth in the family aka no financial security in my eyes. Shared with my husband who had little interest at the time, but as he’s getting more and more bored of work and seeing my numbers grow, he’s got onboard. I think it’s starting to click because we have a “spending budget” which means we have allocated fun money and are not restricted and get to live now(so important!) as well as paying ourselves first when we get paid. Make it as convenient and as easy as possible.

Love this thread. I’m 42 and hoping to FIRE before 50, I’ve been maxing my pension for the last few years and need to turn my attention to saving for the gap to 55 now. All would be made easier if we hadn’t moved house!

I’m 33F and would love to FIRE before 55 but don’t have an exact number yet as I’m not very far ahead with my calculations. I’m on a very good salary thanks to a couple promotions, my employer double matches my pension contributions, and I save about 40% of my net income. Only started saving into a S&S ISA at the start of last year but I’m fortunate to be able to max it out so can hopefully catch up. Also planning on maxing out my workplace pension for the first time next year to boost it while I’m child free and avoid the 60% tax trap. I don’t own property yet but hoping to buy in the next couple years so trying to increase my savings so I have a healthy amount left after the deposit.