FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. The idea is simple: save and invest enough that the returns from your investments can cover your living expenses — so working becomes a choice, not a must. It's catching on in Singapore. Here's the plain version. 👇
🎯 The magic number
A common rule of thumb is the "4% rule": you need roughly 25 times your yearly expensesinvested. Spend $40,000 a year? You'd aim for about $1,000,000. The lower your expenses, the smaller the number — which is why spending matters as much as earning. Work out yours with the FIRE calculator.
💪 The two levers
Only two things really move the needle: your savings rate (how much of your pay you keep) and letting it compound(investing the difference). A high savings rate gets you there faster than a high salary that's all spent.
🇸🇬 FIRE the Singapore way
CPF is a big advantage here. From your payout age, CPF LIFE gives you a baseline income for life — so your own investments only need to bridge the years until then, not fund your entire old age. Project your CPF with the retirement projection. The flip side: housing is the biggest expense most Singaporeans take on, so keep an eye on it.
🔥 Flavours of FIRE
- LeanFIRE — retire on a frugal, low-cost lifestyle.
- FatFIRE — a bigger number for a comfortable lifestyle.
- CoastFIRE — invest hard early, then "coast" and let compounding finish the job.
🧮 Find your number
Pop your expenses, savings and expected return into the FIRE calculator to see your target and how many years it might take. Then grow the plan with the compound interest calculator.