Part 6/8:
A common misconception is that one must save exclusively to achieve financial independence. Instead, individuals can adopt multiple strategies—reducing expenses, increasing income, or employing a hybrid method. Here’s a breakdown:
Cutting Monthly Expenses: If your household income is $80,000 with monthly expenses of $6,000, you could achieve FIRE in roughly 38 years by saving 10%. However, should you reduce your expenses in half, the timeline shrinks to just over 12 years.
Increasing Income: Alternatively, focusing on securing a significant raise—around 30%—and investing that additional income could yield a crossover point in about 22 years.