How FIRE Has Changed the Way We See Retirement
What if retirement wasn’t about reaching 65 but about achieving financial freedom decades earlier?
What if retirement wasn’t about reaching 65 but about achieving financial freedom decades earlier?
The FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early) has upended traditional retirement planning by shifting the focus from age to financial security.
Instead of waiting until their senior years to stop working, FIRE followers save aggressively, invest strategically, and design lifestyles that allow them to step away from traditional employment much sooner.
This approach has fundamentally changed how the younger generation thinks about work, money, and the concept of retirement itself.
At its core, FIRE is about achieving financial independence by accumulating enough assets to cover living expenses without needing a traditional job.
Unlike conventional retirement planning, which assumes people will work for 40 years and then rely on pensions or social security, FIRE advocates focus on aggressive savings rates, often exceeding 50% of their income.
They tend to invest in assets like ETFs and income producing assets to generate passive income that can sustain their lifestyles indefinitely.
Many in the movement also practice frugality, cutting unnecessary expenses to maximize savings and reach their financial goals faster.
This shift in retirement thinking has led to a new way of planning for financial security.
Instead of prioritizing employer-sponsored plans like 401(k)s and IRAs with decades-long time horizons, FIRE followers seek diversified investments that provide liquidity and flexibility.
Tax-advantaged accounts still play a role, but many build additional wealth through taxable brokerage accounts, rental properties, and side businesses.
Rather than assuming they’ll stop working altogether, many FIRE advocates continue earning income in ways that align with their passions, whether through consulting, freelancing, or entrepreneurial ventures.
This redefines retirement as financial freedom to choose how and where to spend time, rather than simply stopping work.
Beyond individual financial strategies, the FIRE movement is influencing broader economic trends.
More young people are learning about investing, budgeting, and the powers of compounding interest early in their lives, leading to a greater emphasis on financial literacy.
The movement also challenges consumerism, encouraging people to live below their means and resist lifestyle inflation.
Employers are taking notice, too, as workers seek more flexible schedules and remote opportunities, recognizing that many employees no longer plan to stay in traditional jobs for decades.
FIRE is not about quitting work early for everyone.
FIRE is about rethinking financial priorities, building independence, and designing a life free from financial stress.
Whether someone retires at 40, 50, or 65, the movement has sparked a shift in how people define financial security, proving that retirement isn’t about age, it’s about choice.
As the FIRE movement evolves, so does the need for investing tools that reflect this new vision of financial independence.
That’s why we launched two ETFs, the first ETFs designed specifically to help support the FIRE community.
The FIRE Funds™ Wealth Builder ETF (FIRS) seeks long-term capital appreciation across four economic conditions, while the FIRE Funds™ Income Target ETF (FIRI) seeks current income with a minimum targeted 4% annual yield
Whether you’re focused on building wealth or generating income for early financial freedom, these funds aim to align with the FIRE philosophy: investing with intention, living with purpose, and creating space for what matters most.
Risks
Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of the ETF carefully before investing. For copies of our prospectus or summary prospectus, which contain this and other information, visit us online at www.fire-etfs.com or call (855) 514-2777. Please read the prospectus and/or summary prospectus carefully before investing. Investing in securities involves risk and there is no guarantee of principal.
The FIRE ETFs do not invest directly in bitcoin or gold.
ETFs: ETFs that the Fund may invest in are subject to market, economic and business risks that may cause their prices to fluctuate. Shareholders will pay higher expenses than would be the case if making direct investments in the underlying ETFs. Because the Fund invests in ETFs, it is subject to additional risks that do not apply to conventional mutual funds, including the risks that the market price of an ETF’s shares may trade at a discount to its net asset value (“NAV”), an active secondary trading market may not develop or be maintained, or trading may be halted by the exchange in which they trade, which may impact a Fund’s ability to sell its shares.
Asset Allocation Fund of Funds Risk: Asset allocation decisions, techniques, analyses, or models implemented by the Adviser may not produce the expected returns, may cause the Fund’s shares to lose value or may cause the Fund to underperform other funds with similar investment goals. Although the theory behind asset allocation is that diversification among asset classes can help reduce volatility over the long term, the Adviser’s assumptions about asset classes and the Underlying ETFs may diverge from historical performance and assumptions used to develop allocations in light of actual market conditions. There is a risk that you could achieve better returns by investing in an individual fund or funds representing a single broad asset class rather than investing in a fund of funds. The Fund’s performance is also closely related to the Underlying ETFs’ performance and ability to meet their investment goals. Fund shareholders bear indirectly the expenses of the Underlying ETFs in which the Fund invests in addition to the Fund’s management fee so there is a risk of an additional layer or layers of fees. The Fund’s actual asset class allocations may deviate from the intended allocation because an Underlying ETF’s investments can change due to market movements, the Underlying ETF’s investment adviser’s investment decisions or other factors, which could result in the fund’s risk/return target not being met. As a fund of funds, the Fund is exposed to the same risks as the Underlying ETFs in proportion to the Fund’s allocation to those Underlying ETFs.
Aggregated Underlying ETF Risks: The following risks associated with the Underlying ETFs, when combined, are expected to become principal risks at the Fund level due to their significant impact on the Fund’s overall performance, volatility, and ability to achieve its investment objective.
These opinions are not intended to be a forecast of future events, a guarantee of results, or investment advice.
* As of 11/30/2024, Mike Venuto manages a total of 236 accounts, including 60 registered investment companies and 176 other accounts. The AUM for the 60 registered investment companies is $8.2 billion, and the AUM for the Other accounts is $43 million.
** As of 11/30/2024, Dan Weiskopf manages a total of 33 accounts, including 5 registered investment companies and 28 other accounts. The AUM for the 5 registered investment companies is $1.2 billion, and the AUM for the Other accounts is $14 million.
Distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC. Foreside is not related to Investment Adviser, Tidal Investments, LLC.
