How to Achieve FIRE movement and Travel the World: A Guide for Young Couples
How to Achieve FIRE movement and Travel the World: A Guide for Young Couples
Definition and concept of FIRE movement: The time I heard this word the most was about five years ago. It was when there was a craze for bitcoin, stock, and real estate investment in Korea, and many young people were able to be called assets at a fast pace. After that, the word 'FIRE Movement' began to appear frequently in the media.
The FIRE Movement is a kind of 'lifestyle' movement that aims at economic independence and early retirement. Young Korean couples who practice this no longer work for companies but live by retiring at an early age and spending less than they earn on passive income.
Most FIRE Movement supporters eagerly save their income before quitting the company for this life, aim to make safe investments for asset preservation rather than risky investments, and find a way to live without working to "earn the assets they own."
About Rising Popularity of FIRE in Korea: Many Koreans have always lived in competition since they were young, taking hobby lessons for extracurricular activities, and liberal arts. This applies even after graduating from college and working. However, in this day and age, even if you enter a good company despite your efforts and investments in your childhood, the unstable employment and uncertainty of the future are also showing a low growth trend in the country, so it may be one of the reasons why many people want to live their full life after retirement independently from this. Even if a steady salary from the company does not come in as an income, this will also be a new form of life if you think you can save that much.
2. Preparing for Financial Independence
Preparing for financial independence is an important step for anyone who aims to achieve FIRE and live a life of freedom and adventure. Here, we will discuss some practical steps and strategies that young couples in Korea are using to financially prepare for early retirement and extensive travel. Please note that there may be many differences between people in 'goal setting' for financial independence.
(1) Setting financial goals for becoming a FIRE
In order to become financially independent, it is important to figure out for yourself where my usual standard of living and consumption is. This is because if you play golf as a hobby, you will need more money than someone who enjoys table tennis. Be aware that the FIRE movement requires "saving" to minimize the decline in assets, but you cannot practice your personality or behavior in an extreme way.
At this stage, you have to think about how long you're going to work for the company and make money, and make a thorough calculation for the rest of your life.
(2) Increasing savings rate
Once you've set specific financial goals, you need to find ways to get there quickly. The world we live in is faster and more organic than you might think. So variables can always come from places you didn't expect. So save as much money as you can and analyze your spending to reduce unnecessary consumption. You also need to plan ways to increase your income, which can include moving to an affordable house, and raising your salary by side jobs and changing jobs.
(3) Investment strategies
Choose the most stable way to invest. Here's my recommendation. When you work, you have a fixed income, so it's okay to make aggressive investments with stocks or investments. But if you retire quickly or have those goals, you'll have to keep the funds you have as much as you can. In those cases, you have to choose how to maintain and call assets with long-term investments, real estate investments, deposits and savings. (We'll talk about this in more detail later.)
(4) Managing and paying off debts
he once-busting real estate investment craze among young couples in Korea forced them to buy homes and owe a lot to banks. Unfortunately, because apartment prices are falling more now than at that time, these young people are forced to work longer hours to pay off their bank debts. There is a saying that goes "debt is also an asset," but it is more advantageous to pay it back quickly if you have a higher interest rate. To manage these debts, you should find the smallest interest rate possible and change it, saving money to repay your debts. It is also a good idea to start working on the side as we discussed earlier. It is advisable to reduce debt and fixed spending as much as possible.
3. Planning Your Early Retirement Life
Post-retirement life has many options. Although you won't have to do anything if the flow of money is maintained enough to support your livelihood, because most young couples are "retiring early," you must be prepared for the financial risks in their lives that may arise one day. That's why part-time jobs to earn extra money, or develop new career skills to take on the second challenge of your life. While it would be nice if we were retirees who didn't have to play and eat anything, most ordinary people can't retire early enough to be wealthy enough to require some retirement measures, such as when they get older, become sick, or sick.
(1) Designing lifestyle after retirement
For a while, many people have practiced the "life of traveling" they have not been able to do before after early retirement. You can spend a year or two living in many European cities, including Southeast Asian countries where you can live at a lower cost than Korea, which has a higher cost of living.
However, life continuing to move around the city under the theme of "travel" may not be the life you have dreamed of, and you can quickly become tired physically. In that case, you will have to plan anew. Most people leave their home in Korea with rent to live in another country and cover their travel expenses, so they may not have a place to stay if they return home in the middle. You must consider various cases.
(2) Creating a sustainable travel budget
If you keep using the money from your bank account in retirement, it will eventually lead to bankruptcy. So make sure you use the money you spend on travel as new income from investing in your retirement fund somewhere. That's the way to practice the true FIRE movement. If you keep using the money you've saved so far, you could definitely be in a situation where you have to re-enter the company. But Korea has a serious job shortage, and it's not easy for young retired couples in their 40s to get re-employed.
(3) Choosing living arrangements: cost-effective options
Saving money while traveling is very important. If you choose a cost-effective lifestyle, you can save your budget and stay comfortable, so I would like to recommend Airbnb and homestay rather than hotels. Reduce the cost of eating by cooking as if you were living in your own residence. Other than that, it's good to live in a shared house or consider corrieving spaces. However, the most important thing is to live the most comfortable life within your budget.
4. Preparing for Travel
(1) Planning travel routes and itereraries
Travel preparation at the FIRE movement is different from the one-dimensional travel goals of 'tourism' and 'attraction tour' that we have known so far. Since the premise is to stay and live in a city for a long time, you need to find a place where the cost of living is low and make a travel plan based on 'life' such as reducing the number of routes to travel in the middle as much as possible.
(2) Cost-saving tips for travel
There are a number of ways to reduce travel costs. Purchase a low-cost flight ticket and choose a flexible travel date that is independent of a specific date. Visit the city in the off-season rather than the peak season, and try to lower the cost of living with a long-term contract for an Airbnb or guesthouse. There is no need to find accommodation in the center of the tourist attraction, so it is a good idea to try better accommodation at a cheaper price in an area a little farther away. In the case of transportation costs, understand the local public transportation system, buy a transportation card, or choose a shared vehicle service such as Uber or Lyft. For food, there are ways to shop in the local market as much as possible, cook, or eat out. To reduce travel and tourism costs, there are ways to visit free tourist attractions, receive city passes, and local discounts (research online in advance).
(3) Generating income while traveling
In recent years, many Korean early retirement couples have shown their lives by creating YouTube channels. They also go to expensive restaurants to eat, replenishing their living expenses with YouTube profits. There are YouTube and blogs that show your life, but there is a high possibility that you will not be able to make money right away and you may not be able to earn enough money for your efforts, so you should consider freerancing and remote working in the field of expertise you originally worked for.
5. FIRE movement Success Stories in Young Korean Couples
The title is 'Successful Story', but their story is still 'in progress'. It is difficult to reveal all the names here, so I write down the stories of A, B, and C.
(1) A has about 1.64 thousand subscribers and 88 videos
At the age of 38, he retired from a large company and raised seed money by receiving a salary of dozens of months. He owned 520 pyeong of land in the province and invested in stocks for hundreds of millions of won. He is living back home and working as a farmer, YouTuber, and full-time investor. It is difficult to say that it is a perfect FIRE movement, but his cash flow is 17 to 20 million won (KRW) per year in his shopping mall rent. It does not invest long-term in Korean stocks, but makes long-term diversified investments in the United States, Japan, China, and emerging Southeast Asia. Although I am not a person who goes on a trip, I introduced it because I think it was one of a good example.
(2) Couple B uploaded 15.3 million YouTube subscribers and about 138 videos. They are a couple in their 30s, and after leaving the company, they invested most of their funds in stocks, and they are traveling by generating cash flows from dividends and profits from trading. That is why they are mainly living in countries where living costs are low, but they did not talk about detailed assets. However, after investing in a risky place, the market was not good, so they came back to Korea. YouTube continues to grow.
(3) Couple C is my favorite YouTuber. A couple who are about the same age as me sets 30 million won (KRW) for a year's world travel living expenses and solves everything as much as possible within the funds. They stick to their own investment and consumption principles, and their cash flow is generating a very conservative and stable income by using 'pre-payment lead' investment technology, which receives monthly rent from houses in Seoul and deposits at the same time in the era of high-interest rates. Sometimes, they go to delicious restaurants with YouTube income, eat, travel to Europe, and show them a romantic appearance. This is an example of an appropriate FIRE movement that I think is a good case.
6. My Conclusion
Early retirement and FIRE movement must be well planned so that we can live the rest of our lives without shortage. I am also very worried about the soaring cost of living and unstable life. I hope it will be an opportunity for you to think about what I can do in the future and what I can live to be happy. If there is anyone who actually practices the FIRE movement, I would appreciate it if you could leave a message here and communicate.
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