FIRE (financial independence, retire early) is a lifestyle that gives authority to people to become financially independent. It also gives people the chance for financial independence and retiring early. Apart from liberty, this lifestyle evades the traditional plan for retirement and people have their opinions about it.

Thus, Real Research — the online survey app, launched a survey on Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) lifestyle. Specifically, the FIRE lifestyle survey aims to find out public opinion on retirement ages in the economy, savings, types of investments, etc. Here are the results.

Highlights:

  • 46.18% feel $500,000 is acceptable enough to retire
  • 59.45% feel investing is the best way to achieve retirement savings
  • 59.31% fall under Fat FIRE – save substantially more for retirement while maintaining the current standard of living

The Majority Have Heard of (FIRE) Financial Independence, Retire Early Lifestyle

The survey starts by asking if respondents are aware of the FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early Lifestyle). In reply, 82.10% have heard of FIRE while 17.90% have not heard of this term.

Respondents-on-the-awareness-of-FIRE
Figure 1: Respondents on the awareness of FIRE

Next, the survey asks respondents their age. In response, 44.62% are between 21-24, 19.42% are between 25-29, and 10.01% are between 30-34. Moreover, 6.52% are between 40-44 and whereas 5.99% are between 35-39.

Additionally, the survey asks respondents at what age they wish to retire. A majority of 41.35% suggest ‘below age 45’ while 14.13% chose ‘age 61 and above’, and 11.01% chose ‘age 45-47’. Furthermore, 8.06% chose ‘age 50-52’ while 5.38% chose ‘age 48-49’, and 5.28% chose ‘age 53-55’. Lastly, 4.56% chose ‘age 56-58’.

The Majority Feel $500,000 Is Acceptable To Retire

The financial independence, retire early lifestyle survey then questions respondents on how much money is sufficient to retire. In response, the majority (46.18%) chose $500,000 whereas 20% chose $1 million. Additionally, 16.62% say over $2.1 million while 9.83% say $2 million, and 7.38% say $1.5 million.

Respondents on how much is acceptable for retirement
Figure 2: Respondents on how much is acceptable for retirement

Furthermore, the survey asks respondents about the best way to achieve retirement savings. All 59.45% suggest investing and 22.31% suggest saving. A further 11.48% say ‘generate more income’ while 6.76% suggest cutting down on spending.

Then, respondents were asked what type of investment they have tried the most. In answer, 50.33% say ‘investment products like stocks, funds’ while 17.66% say ‘alternative assets like buying USD, gold, crypto’. Moreover, 17.44% chose low-risk investments like savings and 13.78% chose real estate investments.

The Majority Would Like To Live in a Big City After Retirement

Next, the financial independence, retire early lifestyle survey asks respondents where they wish to live after retirement. All 51.05% chose ‘a big city,’ while 22.94% would like to live in a small city after retirement. To add on, 15.43% chose ‘a rural area’ and 10.59% say ‘anywhere overseas’.

Where-respondents-would-like-to-live-after-retirement
Figure 3: Where respondents would like to live after retirement

Additionally, the survey asks respondents what kind of house they would like to live in post-retirement. The majority (59.91%) say a single-family home while 16.21% would like to live in an apartment/flat after retiring. Moreover, 7.75% say they want to live in a senior town and 7.58% say a traditional house. Lastly, 7.56% want a high-rise residential building and 7.42% want a cottage house.

To conclude, the financial independence, retire early lifestyle survey asks respondents which type of FIRE they would fall under. On this, 59.31% chose ‘Fat FIRE – save substantially more for retirement while maintaining the current standard of living’.

Likewise, 16.84% chose ‘Lean FIRE – stringent adherence to a far more restricted lifestyle’. Meanwhile, 12.73% chose ‘Side FIRE – take a side hustle to earn more and accumulate more savings’. Lastly, 11.12% chose ‘Barista FIRE – use a combination of part-time work and savings’.

Methodology

 
Survey TitleSurvey on Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) Lifestyle
DurationApril 09 – April 16, 2022
Number of Participants40,000
DemographicsMales and females, aged 21 to 99
Participating Countries Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, China (Hong Kong) China (Macao), China (Taiwan), Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Greanada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Maldives, Maluritania, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar [Burma], Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zimbabwe.