Achieving Financial Independence, Faster

A successful retirement is not limited to when you've reached a particular age (e.g. 65) - it can happen whenever you do not need to work to satisfy your financial obligations. Our guide explains everything you need to know about reaching a life of financial freedom, faster.

Updated 1 April 2023

Summary

To most people, the thought of retiring at 40 looks impossible. However, if you start early enough and are disciplined, retiring significantly before the standard age is achievable.
There are a few things you can do immediately to get "FIRE’d faster". And while reaching your magic number doesn't happen overnight, there are definitely things you will do to speed things up (and often with minimal effort).

Know This First: Three ways to get FIRE’d faster.
In principle, there are only three ways (within your control) to get FIRE’d faster (without reducing your FIRE target and changing your lifestyle). These are:

Increase your income
Increase your savings rate and/or decrease your expenses
Generate a higher return on the money you do have (i.e. improve the returns on your assets)

A great starting point to calibrate where you are right now in terms of early retirement is this FIRE calculator. Please note, the ROI is preset at 5% which can be edited under "show more options". Assuming fixed levels of salary, savings rate and investment return, you’re able to calculate the number of years you need to work for each given savings rate. As an example – you can find the number of years you will need to work for each savings rate here.

To help you understand what's important, our guide breaks down what you need to know in five key sections. We cover:

1. The top mental tips and tricks to help you get FIRE’d faster

The first step before trying to get FIRE'd faster is to get in the right mental state. Even if you were earning a considerable income with 0 expenses, it would still take many years for you to reach your FIRE target. However, this is a long term goal for many FIRE followers, and sticking with it thick and thin is one of the best ways to get FIRE’d faster. With that said – here are a few mental habits to follow that will help you get FIRE’d faster:

Try not to check your investing and brokerage accounts.

In a world increasingly geared towards instant gratification, it can help to take a longer-term view. Checking your investment accounts can feel like a thrill – you get a hit of dopamine each time you open your sharesies or hatch account and see green as your portfolio has “earned money”. However, a lot of this checking is time wasted and doesn’t materially help your financial situation. If anything, it can incentivise you to trade more often (if it's red/down, you feel like selling – and if it's green/up, you feel like buying more). The less often you check your investment accounts, the more likely you are to let it compound over time (and the fewer fees you'll be paying by not trading).

Practise gratitude.

The road to financial independence has become much faster than traditional retirement (where most people would retire at 65 and still may not have had enough to retire on). That said, it will still take a lot of time, effort and willpower to continuously live frugally, save and invest for years on end. However, people who pursue FIRE are generally people that live in a first-world country with the foresight to plan ahead and save additional income they don't otherwise need right now. So by nature, these people are in a privileged position. It can help to recognise this every so often to stay grounded and ensure you're sufficiently motivated to continue on your FIRE journey.

Get into the mindset of being frugal.

Living well below your means is a tried and true way to get FIRE'd faster. But, unfortunately, one of the biggest traps that FIRE followers can get into is the "hedonic treadmill" – where you effectively move the goalposts of your retirement number as lifestyle inflation takes hold.

If you plan to live the remainder of your life on savings earned by the age of 40, your lifestyle in retirement (e.g. your monthly cash burn) is going to make a significant difference when it comes to how long your savings will last. Once habits are formed, they generally take a lot of effort to break – so if you try to get into the habit of being frugal before you retire, you’ll increase the chances of your money lasting your lifetime.

Live well below your means.

Adopting a frugal lifestyle by having a mindset of living life to the fullest with less is one of the key ways to get FIRE’d faster. Unfortunately, many people considered "wealthy” do not develop a habit of living well below their means and are stricken with lifestyle creep/inflation. Making minor adjustments by distinguishing between the items you absolutely need versus things you would like to have is the first step to saving more and leading a healthier financial life.

Be prepared to make sacrifices.

Pursuing FIRE isn’t easy. Getting FIRE’d even faster than most will definitely challenge you. How prepared you are to sacrifice for your FIRE goals will influence how devoted you are to increasing your income, reducing your expenses or improving your investment returns.
This can lead to you asking whether some of the things you spend money on are worth it. Over time, many things that were hard to give up are things you may be able to leave behind. It may be worth striving for a simple, less expensive lifestyle that prioritises experiences over things, especially when it helps you get FIRE'd faster.

Get educated and continuously learn.

When reading and learning about finance / investing, you’re effectively training your mind to think strategically about growing your money. Reading books, blogs, and listening to podcasts can all be great ways to improve your understanding of personal finance and get better at investing. Knowledge compounds and adds up over time, so minor improvements here and there make a big difference in the long term.

Understanding the relevant income and tax laws from IRD can help you optimise your income-generating and investment activities. For example, the 2021 investment property tax changes significantly impacted the attractiveness of investing in property. Therefore, it is essential to understand when these laws come into effect, how they affect the amount of tax you pay, and how this overall return relates to other asset classes.

Get advice from a Financial Advisor.

It can be great to get advice from guides and blogs about personal finance, but it's crucial to get a sense-check from the professionals every once in a while to ensure you're on the right track (especially when you start to accumulate many assets). Chatting to a financial advisor can be a great way to get impartial, independent financial advice. They draw the majority of their experience from the various different clients they’ve advised. However – quality information doesn’t come cheap. Financial advisors typically charge a fixed fee or take a percentage of the assets each year to manage your money (around 0.5% - 1% a year). If you want high-quality advice for your situation without paying a financial advisor, check out our directory of trusted financial advisors.

Look out of Your Health.

Many FIRE followers focus on grinding as much as possible and earning/saving as much as you can, but getting FIRE’d early makes no difference if you aren’t around to enjoy it. Investing in your health by making regular visits to the doctors and dentists, watching your diet and following health advice about any problems you encounter are all essential things to do. The healthier you are, the less likely you will run into expensive problems (e.g. surgery).

Master Self Control.

Self-control is one of the most challenging aspects to master, but it's also crucial for achieving financial independence. However, delaying gratification isn’t easy given the environment we live in. We as humans are all struggling to adjust to the technological and social changes driven by technology – our brains weren’t meant to deal with this much external stimuli. Without self-control, you'll find your spending and consumer debt can start to grow. You might also make incorrect investment decisions when the economy goes into a recession or your portfolio is in the red, which can lead you to sell at a loss – costing you money.

Know this: Mastering self-control is often very challenging, but if you can continue to build good habits and self-discipline despite this, you can get FIRE'd faster.

Set overarching life goals.

Without a goal, you can’t know what you’re working towards. Detailing the short, medium, and longer-term goals you’re looking for (both financial and lifestyle) can help you stay focused and motivated on your FIRE goals. FIRE followers understand that small, consistent actions play a significant role in ultimately hitting their magic number.

Figuring out what financial independence looks like to you, what your ideal lifestyle looks like and how you can get there are essential details to include. Try to get specific with some targets, as a goal with metrics is much easier to track than a vague goal. The more focused your goals are, the higher the likelihood you’ll achieve them.

2. The best way to increase your income

Increasing your income is typically more complicated to do than reducing your expenses (cutting something visible is more accessible than trying to create something out of thin air). For most people – reducing your spending on food or cutting down on subscriptions is certain and straightforward – but trying to understand how you can get a second job, create passive income or monetise a blog is not. That said, there is only so much you can do to cut down on your expenses. There is a lower threshold you can no longer cut down on (e.g. you still need a place to live and food to eat) – at a certain point, your best way to get FIRE’d faster is to increase your income.

Ask your boss for a raise.

While salary conversations are typically quite opaque, most New Zealanders will get small salary increases that will barely keep up with inflation. Most employees feel awkward asking for a raise, but it can’t hurt to ask (you don’t get what you don’t ask for). Most of the time – it will prompt your manager to reassess your performance and get those conversations going, which can be a benefit to you. Other tactics that can work include applying to other jobs, getting an offer and using this as a yardstick for a salary increase.

Find or pivot to a career that pays a large salary.

If you're currently a student or considering going back to school and getting retrained, it can help understand the average salary you're likely to get in the industry you choose. While you shouldn’t pick a career purely for the salary alone, it can help to recognise that the industry you enter will significantly impact your ability to retire early.

For example, most software engineers are paid $100,000 versus hospitality and retail workers that get paid closer to the New Zealand median salary (around $50,000). This isn't to say that you should pursue software engineering – but recognising these systemic differences are important. Retraining can be a great way to reorient yourself and find a career path that you enjoy doing and allow you to reach financial independence faster.

Find a side hustle.

The principles of the FIRE movement are predominantly focused on aggressive saving and cost-cutting. However, most FIRE followers try to pursue a side hustle, whether it’s a second job or a stream of passive income. Side hustles are one of the fastest ways to increase your income – as most of the time, the income from your first job will be limited (e.g. if you're contracted to earn $50,000 a year, it's unlikely you can make much more than that each year, even if you worked longer hours). As such – a side hustle allows you to increase your income (in some instances – the side hustle will end up making more money than your original job).

Many FIRE followers follow the "80/20" or "minimum effort" rule. The rule states that you put in as little time and effort as possible into your first job, but just enough to do an "okay job" and meet your employer's expectations (e.g. putting in 20% of the effort and getting 80% of the output). As you get better at your job, it's possible to do less than 40 hour weeks in your primary job if you are efficient or tracked based on results rather than on an hourly basis. In addition, some jobs are fully remote – and if you're able to get a project done in two days when your employer expects you to do it in a week, you have an extra three days to dedicate to your side hustle.

Working for gig economy startups like Upwork, Fiverr and Uber are great ways to make a few hundred dollars a week and increase your yearly income. Any additional time you can carve out can go towards your side hustle. The top side hustles in New Zealand can be found here.

Negotiate big-ticket purchases.

Many New Zealanders are hesitant to negotiate when buying things, worrying that it makes them seem cheap. However, you’re potentially leaving thousands of dollars on the table annually by not doing this. Many retailers have rules that allow staff to mark down the price of goods (significantly larger ticket items such as electronics, whiteware or cars) if you provide them with evidence that a competitor is selling the product for the same or lower prices. Most of the time – they will reduce the cost by a further 5% to ensure you shop with them rather than with their competitor. Small businesses especially tend to be hospitable when it comes to negotiation, and buying in bulk or repeat business with these stores can lead to significant discounts on the products.

3. The easiest ways to reduce expenses

The average savings rate in New Zealand is robust, sitting at around 23%. The majority of FIRE followers target a savings rate of 40% – 80%. The more you save, the more you have to invest and the faster you will retire.

Increasing your savings rate can substantially reduce the amount of time you need to work before retiring. Without changing your income or your retirement budget, you can effectively reduce the amount of time you need to work just by increasing your savings rate – as the additional money you save at the end of each year can be invested and compounded to grow, getting you even closer to your FIRE targets. However, most of the expenses you incur monthly may seem essential to your life – and this is why reducing your costs can be more complex than it looks. This section will look at a few tips and tricks for lowering unnecessary expenses while maintaining a high quality of living.

Understand your monthly burn.

The first step to reducing your expenses (increasing your savings rate) is to know where your money goes and how much you burn each month. Knowing your monthly burn rate is the most important step in reducing your expenses. So the next time you get a credit card statement from your bank, print it out and see if you can bucket certain items together. The most common expenses for New Zealanders are housing/rent, food and transportation (other typical costs include subscriptions). See what you're comfortable spending and what you can and can’t live without.

Make a Budget.

Making a monthly household budget—and sticking to it — is one of the simplest ways to guarantee that your bills are paid each month, and your savings goals are on track. It’s also a good blueprint that reinforces your goals and bolsters your resilience against the temptation to spend on the unnecessary. Of course, you do not necessarily need to spend hundreds of hours building a giant excel spreadsheet – but understanding the various costs you pay and what you want to limit each expense to is essential for you to know where your money goes at the end of each month keeping it under control.

Consider living in a lower cost of living area (LCOL).

While the convenience of living in the CBD or outer CBD suburbs are great, the cost to live in these areas can be a massive drain on your savings. Living closer to a city centre can be 30 – 50% more expensive than living further out. One of the main ways FIRE followers reduce their expenses is to move further out. For example, if you work in CBD, it can make more sense to stay central, but post COVID-19, many people adopt a hybrid work from home model where they will only go into the office 1 -3 days a week (and some are lucky enough to be fully remote). Suddenly – the benefit of working close to the city is diminished – and this presents an opportunity for those looking to arbitrage their living situations.

Many tech workers offshore are now moving to lower cost of living areas whilst still maintaining their high tier-1 city salaries. This means you're able to still keep your job but pay up to 80% less rent. While this may not be suitable for everyone, it is definitely one option to consider given how fast the world of work is changing.

Move into a smaller living space.

If moving locations are on the cards, the other alternative for living situations could be to downsize. Most of the time – people use far less space than they think they will need. FIRE followers have swapped out large houses for smaller apartments or just downsized from large to small houses. The key reason behind this is that each square metre of space you occupy costs you money (in the form of rent). If you aren’t using that much space, you’re effectively paying for more land than you use – which the savings could be used to invest and grow your money.

Downsizing is common for empty nesters and those entering retirement age but can also be an excellent strategy for those looking to reduce their expenses. Housing remains one of the most expensive line items for many New Zealanders today.

Take advantage of free subscription periods before signing up.

Whether it's Netflix, Audible or Spotify – if you're thinking of signing up for a new subscription service – ask yourself if you really need this. If you do, then be sure to sign up for the trial period (typically from one to three months free), so you can test whether you're actively using it or you can get real value out of it. Our guide to free streaming services has ideas on how to save money.

Cut down on subscriptions.

Know this: With many different tech companies coming out with new subscription services (e.g. Disney+, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Discovery, Youtube Red, Neon, Paramount Plus), it can become overwhelming (and expensive) to keep up with each one. It can be tough to go without some of these services, but try to identify which ones you use the most (maybe you find that Netflix and Disney + account for 90% of all the time you spend on streaming services) and cut the rest.

If you don’t – you could easily be spending hundreds of dollars on streaming services you never use. On the other hand, if there are some subscriptions you absolutely can't live without – it's okay to pay for them.

Cancel your gym membership and exercise outside.

Going for a run, doing callisthenics in a park or playing sports with your friends is a great way to stay healthy, connect with others and save money. However, gyms often cost upwards of $1,000 a year, and most of the time, people don't make the most of them. Over time, this can rack up to a lot of money spent.

Spend less on clothing.

Sticking to a consistent "uniform" each day can help to reduce spending money on clothing. Not only that, but it may also save a lot of mental energy as you do not have to make a decision every morning about what you want to wear. Having a fixed uniform takes the stress off thinking about changing up outfits, looking for new trends and generally reduces the need for you to spend money on clothes.

Get Cashback or Rewards Credit Cards.

Most banks in New Zealand offer credit cards that provide rewards each time you spend (typically 0.5% - 2% of the purchase price). As long as you're paying off the credit card within one month of receiving the statement, you'll get the cash or points back for free. This can seem insignificant, but the sums can accumulate to significant amounts over time. If you're generating points (e.g. the American Express Airpoints Platinum card generates Air New Zealand Airpoints), then you can use these on your next holiday/trip without spending actual cash.

While rewards points don't directly reduce expenses, generating points from normal activities you would otherwise do allows you to "spend" these points for goods or services you would typically have to spend your hard-earned cash on – effectively reducing your expenses in that month (as no money is paid from your account for those services). These are effectively freebies that you can take advantage of. Our guide to the best rewards credit cards has more details.

Pay off expensive debt as soon as possible / avoid debt altogether.

While compounding works in your favour when investing money, it will also work against you if you have debt. The one thing that will weigh down your financial independence goals is consumer debt. Between interest on the debt and trying to catch up with payments, it can significantly slow down your wealth accumulation and will be a significant drag on your path to getting FIRE’d faster.

We live in a world where businesses are designed to get us to consume more, spend more and feel like what we currently have isn’t enough (so we spend more). While it’s okay to treat yourself every once in a while, you shouldn’t enter debt just to satisfy instant gratification. Breaking the buyer mentality and ignoring what others have will keep your debt down. Some of the top types of debt that are typically high interest and should be paid down include:

Car loans
Credit cards
Short term overdraft
student loans (while these are typically interest-free, they will start incurring interest if you leave the country)
Mortgages (current rates are low, but as rates rise, mortgages can be significantly harder to pay off)
Business loans

Be smart with transportation.

One of the most overlooked expense lines is transportation. While most transportation is necessary for one’s job, rising fuel prices have made it significantly more expensive. Some of the top tips to reduce transportation costs include:

Reducing the number of cars you own or picking cars that are more fuel-efficient
Buy a second-hand car and keep it as long as possible rather than choosing a replacement car every few years.
Ride a motorcycle or use other low-cost transportation like taking public transport to further cut travel expenses.

Try not to window shop, or only shop when something is on sale.

Window shopping (browsing stores with no initial intention to buy anything) is one of the biggest distractions to FIRE followers. Most of the time, window shoppers succumb to impulse purchasing and only realise later that they didn't really need whatever they had just bought. One strategy can be to avoid shopping in physical stores and purchase only what you need online or through the weekly trip to the supermarket. Doing this saves valuable time and money – and don't need to use your willpower to not purchase things by putting yourself in those situations.

Meal prep the majority of your food in advance.

Of all the expenses New Zealanders have, eating out is one of the most overpriced. Buying groceries and preparing food in advance can cost up to 90% less than buying the exact same item at lunchtime in a CBD shop.

For the most part – people don’t meal prep because they may lack time on the weekends and want the convenience of purchasing something when they want it. While this is okay every now and then – the premiums you're paying for these products is significant (e.g. a salad you can make with supermarket ingredients costs $3, but stores will charge you $15 in the city). Prepping the majority of your meals in advance not only allows you to control what you eat and stick to a meal plan, but it’s also significantly cheaper. Our guide to saving money on food has more details.

Watch Your Credit.

Your credit score determines what interest rate you're offered when getting a mortgage or applying for a new credit card. It also impacts seemingly unrelated things, like insurance premiums or applications for citizenship overseas. The reasoning for most of these places is that somebody with reckless financial habits is more likely to have issues in other aspects of life. New Zealand applies less weight to credit scores than places like the United States, but it is still important to try and maintain a strong credit score and use debt wisely. Many credit rating agencies in New Zealand provide quick and easy access to your credit score.

Try to maintain your hardware/consumer durables as best you can.

Maintenance is cheaper than replacement (e.g. spending $100 to fix an iPhone screen is more affordable than spending $1,200 to buy a new iPhone). This means that taking care of your belongings and using them as long as possible can result in less money being spent on replacing these electronics when they break. Taking care of your personal property will make it last longer. This applies to things like cars and lawnmowers as well as gadgets and clothing.

Separate your savings accounts from your checking/transaction accounts.

Having a separate checking account and saving/investment account allows you to mentally prevent yourself from touching money you have set aside to invest and grow. This can also help with budgets and general money management.

Learn to DIY household repairs rather than buying a replacement appliance or paying an electrician.

Things break – and it can be a valuable skill to know what to do when something unexpected happens. For example, if your washing machine stops turning on, your car doesn't start, or your TV is a bit fuzzy – it can cost a lot to get someone to diagnose and repair it (and even more expensive to have to replace it). In addition, learning how to deal with problems that are likely to occur again can be a valuable skill (e.g. knowing how to change the oil in your car or replace a spark plug can save you thousands in mechanic fees).

4. Increasing investment returns

grow your money. Investing in your savings is a simple way to ensure you make your money work for you, even while you're sleeping. Unfortunately, many New Zealanders make mistakes when investing – whether that's due to not maximising retirement accounts, not investing enough of their savings, or choosing suitable asset classes.

Poor historical performance in the stock markets can significantly impact people, but stocks have produced the highest returns relative to other asset classes (e.g. cash, bonds). Further, with developments in technology, it’s never been easier or more accessible to open an investing account through the many different brokerage apps in New Zealand. Our list of the most popular New Zealand investing apps has more details.

Start Investing Now.

The earlier you start your investing journey – the more time you give it to compound. Regardless of your age, investing now is the best way to grow your savings and wealth for the longer term.

Fully invest in your KiwiSaver to get matching contributions.

Fully investing in your KiwiSaver can be a great way to take advantage of the government-mandated handouts available to all New Zealanders. By putting up the minimum Kiwisaver amounts (usually 3% of annual salary), you’re able to get a 100% return on this money thanks to your employer, and the government will provide around a $500 tax credit as an additional incentive.

The sooner you start this, the more extended amount of time you'll give your retirement account to compound and can make all the difference in having the ability to retire early. Having freedom and options once you get older is extremely valuable. While you won't be able to access your retirement savings until 65, this can effectively allow you to live a higher quality of retirement between when you retire early (e.g. 40) and when you hit 65. From 65, your retirement will get paid out, and this will provide an extra buffer for you to live off.

Automatically transfer money into your investment account when you get paid.

For many New Zealanders – it can be a significant burden to consistently transfer money to your brokerage account each time you get paid. The process isn't smooth, and often you may forget to do so. This means you're not investing money you could otherwise be getting a return off. One of the features of many banks and brokerage platforms like sharesies or stake is that they allow you to organise automatic transfers at certain times (e.g. monthly or weekly) that enable you to transfer money to your brokerage account without doing anything. Further, some brokerage platforms can be set up to automatically invest a certain amount of money into index funds.

Your savings will effectively be put on autopilot and automatically invested into the stock markets – saving you precious willpower and preventing you from spending money that you may otherwise have spent if it sat in your checking account.

Invest your excess cash into higher quality assets (e.g. index funds or commercial property).

In general, investing in low-cost index funds is the right investment approach for most New Zealanders. However, this isn’t the only investing option. There are many other asset classes beyond stocks that you can consider investing in. You could invest in assets like:

Commercial real estate or residential property that can generate predictable income for you (for more information, visit our REITs guide and Jasper guide here)
Bonds that provide a steady source of dividend to you
Term deposits or other interest-earning accounts
Alternative assets such as gold, cryptocurrency or art

5. Frequently Asked Questions

Wouldn’t it be easier to reduce your FIRE number to get FIRE’d faster?

Technically, yes. But – with a reduced magic number, you’re reducing the amount of money you're able to spend each month in retirement. While some may be okay with this, many FIRE followers will have identified their ideal lifestyle (and the associated costs that come with that). In addition, if you reduce your FIRE number, your retirement pool may run out quickly, given it will be smaller in size. Finally, most FIRE followers who managed to retire early saved a large portion of their incomes and had to reduce their retirement budget to match their income.

How do people save so much of their income? I feel like I have no money left after each payday

It definitely isn't easy – and some people have it easier than others. If you live at home or live with a partner, housing will be substantially cheaper. If you work in a remote job and live in a low-cost living area, your housing costs will be lower, and you won't be paying anything for transportation. If you don’t have kids, your expenses will be lower. If you have a second income stream from a second job, your savings rate will likely be higher.

Everyone is in a different situation, and what works for some may not work for others. However, the core principle of earning more money, spending less, and investing the rest is central to every FIRE follower. Hopefully, the tips above will help you to do this a little bit better.

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