uk

If you’ve been part of the UK FIRE community for any length of time, then you’ll probably have come across the Escape Artist blog. Barney Whiter is a breath of fresh air in a space that’s often dominated by American voices. He worked as a chartered accountant for 20 years before quitting his corporate job at age 43. He now works as a coach, helping others to develop their own escape plan and reach financial freedom. In this month’s meetup,…

Frugality is one of the fundamentals of the FIRE movement, but it seems that everyone you ask has a different view on what it really means, from pinching every penny, to living life to the full! To delve into this topic, we’re very happy to welcome frugal hero John Wilman to this month’s meetup. John is the founder of the Frugal and Freegan London group on Facebook, and is a true expert on the topic. John will explain his own…

Having a side hustle (or 3) is often seen as fundamental for achieving FIRE. For most of us, however, being an employee forms the bulk of our income during the wealth accumulation phase. With that in mind, the March meetup looks at the importance of your ‘main’ career, and how to keep growing your income steadily on your way to FI. We’ll share some of the lessons we learned (and mistakes we made) on our own career paths, and talk…

We’ve avoided the topic of relationships until now because, well, it’s complicated. But it’s a topic that comes up regularly in meetups, and so with Valentine’s Day lurking, it’s time to dive in! As usual, we’ll be sharing some of our own experiences (the good, the bad and the ugly), but also hearing stories and advice from our members. We’ll tackle questions like: * Is it easier to reach FI as a single or a couple? * How do I…

It seems like just yesterday we were gathered at the Duke of Sussex pub for the Frugal January Challenge, completely oblivious to what lay ahead… Fast forward 12 months, and it seems appropriate for us to wrap up 2020 and look ahead to 2021: * What did we set out to achieve last year? * How did we do? * Highlights and lowlights of the year * What are our goals for 2021? We’ll be sharing our own experiences, but…

The FIRE movement is sometimes accused of not being representative of a large part of the world’s population. In fact if you browse a selection of personal finance blogs, you might come away thinking that FIRE is only achievable for millennial software developers, usually white, male and single. Yet our own FIRE community is very diverse, with members of all ages, nationalities, backgrounds and personal circumstances. And if you look around, you’ll find many examples of excellent blogs and podcasts…

In this month’s meetup, we’ll help you along your FI journey by demystifying the world of finance. The session will be co-hosted by one of our members who has a great deal of experience in this field, and is passionate about helping others reach financial independence. Indy Lidder is a qualified financial planner and RFA (regulated financial adviser) who has worked in wealth management since 2013. He specialises in investment advice, tax, estate and inheritance tax planning, and pension and…

I came across a blog article today which claimed that “Personal finance is 1% knowledge, 1% numbers and 98% psychology”. Was Napoleon Hill right? Can we really build wealth through positive thinking alone? In this month’s meetup we’ll discuss the psychology of Financial Independence. We’ll talk about… * is there a ‘FI mindset’ (and how can you get one)? * why do we spend without thinking? * can you really ‘think yourself rich’? * how to achieve your FI goals…

One of the side-effects of lockdown has been the freedom for many of us to work, not just from home, but wherever we want to – sometimes anywhere in the world. Bermuda and Barbados are just 2 of the destinations that recently launched special visa programs for remote workers, while countries like Portugal have been offering these incentives for years. Since we hosted our last meetup from Italy, we’re staying on the topic of travel, and in particular, how you…

In our last meetup we touched on the strategy of property as a side-hustle, and this month we’re going deeper into the topic. Property investment is a popular route towards Financial Independence, but it often leads to some lively debate, for example: * Is your home an asset? * Should you pay off your mortgage or invest the money? * Is property investment ‘passive income’? * Do you need to own a home to be considered FI? As usual in…