Should you set yourself on FIRE?

FIRE, or Financial Independence, Retire Early, is a growing movement where younger professionals save aggressively to call it quits on their day job. But is it worth it?

I was introduced to FIRE in 2019 through an article that talked about a lawyer in New York who lived off canned beans and rice so that he could stockpile his earnings and retire early. The Business Insider story quoted a New York Post article in which Daniel, the lawyer, claimed that by living in a shabby apartment in New Jersey, eating just rice and beans, turning off the heat during the winter, and holding on to just five patched-up suits for work, he was able to save 70% of his salary. By his calculation, the lawyer had saved $400,000 …