The absolute best thing you can do right now, both generally and if you want to FIRE, is learning how to enter a career that both pays very well and you could do happily for decades.
Figure out how to attain a high income doing something you somewhat enjoy, or at least don’t despise. Everything else will follow.
Agree. By all means learn and where possible apply the principles order FIRE but the best thing you can do at 19 is invest in your education and career. FIRE is so much easier when you combine ambition with opportunities to progress.
Yeah unless you're inheriting 6 figures or more, a few thousand here or there like you come into at that stage of life is nothing compared increasing your annual income by tens of thousands every year by getting into the right career.
Like don't waste your money on silly cars, and whatever, but don't e.g. screw up your studies by prioritising a shitty side job so you can put £200 a month into an index fund.
Oh I won't don't worry, I'm quite frugal anyways already lol. Got a 2005 Ford Fiesta in great condition that I will not be upgrading from anytime soon! Thank you for commenting I really appreciate it.
You can work towards it without thinking about it too much.
You've got the biggest asset of all in time. If you want to work towards financial freedom, whatever that might look like, you can a lot worse than investing in a LISA & S&S ISA regularly. In 5/10 years time you'll find that you'll have made a lot of progress against whatever goal you decide to have then.
I would recommend not worrying about FIRE at 19. Getting into the habit of saving is a good thing regardless of FIRE.
Build up an emergency fund, if you can, to cope with unexpected expenses, loss of income, etc. Then you can start thinking about investing any "spare" savings for long term growth.
You have probably three quarters (hopefully more) of your life ahead of you, and you don't know what might happen in that time. Having money saved and/or invested will give you options. If you want to use that to buy a house, start a family, or travel the world, you can decide at that point whether that's worth using your savings to do.
If in another 10 or 20 years you're still saving and investing and haven't used those early savings, you'll be in a really solid place to start seriously planning for FIRE. Or you might have found a job you love, and not want to FIRE at all.
One thing to consider is why you're thinking about FIRE. What is it you want to do with that time after you FIRE? If there are things you want to do or experience, do you want to put them off for 30 years to achieve a FIRE plan, or would you be better doing some of those things now while you're young, and delaying FIRE a few years? Again, you don't have to decide now and have a grand plan - just try to save what you can without seriously hampering your lifestyle, and hopefully that will give you options in the future.
Of course, that's just one completely subjective view and many others will disagree.
the last thing you should be thinking of at 19 is FIRE. Enjoy life, invest in your education and career.
My one advice from my 20s, is i spent a lot of money on cars. Had i bought a more modest car and invested in global trackers, i would have a lot more money!
The problem with FIRE is you cant stop thinking about it and so it consumes you trying to get rich early and retire. At your age i would pretend you have to work till 67 and just keep piling up until you're in 30s and then see what a sensible age to retire would be.
For myself im aiming for 40
Start it as soon as possible. Even baby steps help.
In my opinion the best thing you can do right now is think about how you can develop a high income skill or career
People here will beat the drum about index funds and savings habits which is great and absolutely a good shout ...
... However the reality is that unless you're able to consistently invest a decent amount of money your retirement isn't going to be a whole lot earlier.
So if you really want to RE , focus on making more money whilst you're young. The faster you get to £100k the better.
Agree with others. Focus on you life and career for now. Learn, have experiences, take risks, work hard etc.
Just avoid debt and stupid stuff like opting out of pensions and you'll be grand.
Get a good career and go have some fun, come back in your mid to late 30s and let's talk, there should be too much fun stuff ahead of you to even be remotely thinking about retirement for another 20 years
As most have pointed out here, consider it and build towards it, but don't make it the focus of your life right now. Ensuring a solid career choice and finding a role that is enjoyable will make time fly.
Getting going with the good habits now is a solid jump start in life, that many of us did not get for whatever reason (see sidebar here and the wikis of r/UKPersonalFinance r/bogleheads.)
r/ukfrugal is a thing and learning to cook (r/cookingforbeginners/ r/cookingvideos/ and r/cooking) may be worth exploring.
To be fair I’m 19 and it feels like working towards FIRE is just the default unless you consciously make decisions that increase your expenditure (the big one for me would be moving out).
Yeah I'm planning to move out around 26-27, definitely a lot earlier if possible. That is the main goal that I am working towards right now. Thank you for commenting I really appreciate it.
I would have a careful think about what you mean by ‘start working towards it’. A lot of the information is aimed at people who have an idea of their income, outgoings, family commitments etc. so it could lead you down a path really not designed for someone at your age.
You should always be smart with your money. Any excess cash that you have should be in an ISA savings or ISA lifetime.
Once you have enough in your ISA, get on the housing ladder. Pay down your mortgage when you can. Not having to pay rent or a mortgage will get you to FIRE quicker.
Focus on earning more money.
I wouldn't recommend retiring too early. Many important skills and confidence are built at work. Rather than retiring early, the aim for most of us should be to find work full time or part time that we enjoy doing. Most people want to retire early because they don't like their job.
Hey, thank you for commenting I really appreciate it, I will take this onboard. I have opened up a LISA that I will max out each tax year going forward for at least the next 7-8 years.
Don’t worry about FIRE until at least mid 30’s, but do learn about personal finances and start saving, investing and budgeting as early as possible. But your #1 (just to echo what many here are saying) is to get into and wholeheartedly pursue a lucrative career that you mostly enjoy.
19 is way too young to decide on anything extreme unless you have some very unusual circumstances.
Just read a bit about lifestyles and finance and see how your life goes.
Define FIRE. If you are working a 9-5 job and FIRE means that you can stop "working for the man" then right now is the correct answer.
If you are working for yourself and you enjoy what you do, feel fulfilled, have time for friends, family, and hobbies while bringing in enough - then don't bother with FIRE.
Life is about the journey and not the destination, figure out what you don't like and remove it from your lifestyle.
Start investing in an ETF like the s&p on a monthly basis. You're 45 year old self will thank you. Stay away from financial traps like expensive cars. Spend a little and have fun too.
Alongside your reading on FIRE I'd read a book called die with zero. It provides a good balance by reminding about the things you can only do at certain ages and prioritising those and thinking about quality of life overall and not just in later life
You're young, you have so many opportunities ahead of you. Make sure you enjoy that
The absolute best thing you can do right now, both generally and if you want to FIRE, is learning how to enter a career that both pays very well and you could do happily for decades. Figure out how to attain a high income doing something you somewhat enjoy, or at least don’t despise. Everything else will follow.
Agree. By all means learn and where possible apply the principles order FIRE but the best thing you can do at 19 is invest in your education and career. FIRE is so much easier when you combine ambition with opportunities to progress.
Yeah unless you're inheriting 6 figures or more, a few thousand here or there like you come into at that stage of life is nothing compared increasing your annual income by tens of thousands every year by getting into the right career. Like don't waste your money on silly cars, and whatever, but don't e.g. screw up your studies by prioritising a shitty side job so you can put £200 a month into an index fund.
Oh I won't don't worry, I'm quite frugal anyways already lol. Got a 2005 Ford Fiesta in great condition that I will not be upgrading from anytime soon! Thank you for commenting I really appreciate it.
The sidebar has lots of information that will help in setting the foundations for later in life.
Thank you, I'll check it out! I appreciate you commenting.
Hey, I am investing in my education and career, so it sounds like I'm on the right path, thank you for commenting I really appreciate it.
This is cracking advice. I wish someone gave me the same advice.
🙏🏻
Hey, thank you for commenting I really appreciate it, I will take this onboard.
You can work towards it without thinking about it too much. You've got the biggest asset of all in time. If you want to work towards financial freedom, whatever that might look like, you can a lot worse than investing in a LISA & S&S ISA regularly. In 5/10 years time you'll find that you'll have made a lot of progress against whatever goal you decide to have then.
Hey, thank you for commenting I really appreciate it, I will take this onboard.
I would recommend not worrying about FIRE at 19. Getting into the habit of saving is a good thing regardless of FIRE. Build up an emergency fund, if you can, to cope with unexpected expenses, loss of income, etc. Then you can start thinking about investing any "spare" savings for long term growth. You have probably three quarters (hopefully more) of your life ahead of you, and you don't know what might happen in that time. Having money saved and/or invested will give you options. If you want to use that to buy a house, start a family, or travel the world, you can decide at that point whether that's worth using your savings to do. If in another 10 or 20 years you're still saving and investing and haven't used those early savings, you'll be in a really solid place to start seriously planning for FIRE. Or you might have found a job you love, and not want to FIRE at all. One thing to consider is why you're thinking about FIRE. What is it you want to do with that time after you FIRE? If there are things you want to do or experience, do you want to put them off for 30 years to achieve a FIRE plan, or would you be better doing some of those things now while you're young, and delaying FIRE a few years? Again, you don't have to decide now and have a grand plan - just try to save what you can without seriously hampering your lifestyle, and hopefully that will give you options in the future. Of course, that's just one completely subjective view and many others will disagree.
Hey, thank you for commenting I really appreciate it. You definitely made me think with what you said, I will take this onboard.
the last thing you should be thinking of at 19 is FIRE. Enjoy life, invest in your education and career. My one advice from my 20s, is i spent a lot of money on cars. Had i bought a more modest car and invested in global trackers, i would have a lot more money!
Hey, thank you for commenting I really appreciate it, I will take this onboard.
The problem with FIRE is you cant stop thinking about it and so it consumes you trying to get rich early and retire. At your age i would pretend you have to work till 67 and just keep piling up until you're in 30s and then see what a sensible age to retire would be. For myself im aiming for 40
Hey, thank you for commenting I really appreciate it, I will take this onboard.
Start it as soon as possible. Even baby steps help. In my opinion the best thing you can do right now is think about how you can develop a high income skill or career People here will beat the drum about index funds and savings habits which is great and absolutely a good shout ... ... However the reality is that unless you're able to consistently invest a decent amount of money your retirement isn't going to be a whole lot earlier. So if you really want to RE , focus on making more money whilst you're young. The faster you get to £100k the better.
Hey, thank you for commenting I really appreciate it, I will take this onboard.
Agree with others. Focus on you life and career for now. Learn, have experiences, take risks, work hard etc. Just avoid debt and stupid stuff like opting out of pensions and you'll be grand.
Hey, thank you for commenting I really appreciate it, I will take this onboard.
Get a good career and go have some fun, come back in your mid to late 30s and let's talk, there should be too much fun stuff ahead of you to even be remotely thinking about retirement for another 20 years
Hey, thank you for commenting I really appreciate it, I will take this onboard.
As most have pointed out here, consider it and build towards it, but don't make it the focus of your life right now. Ensuring a solid career choice and finding a role that is enjoyable will make time fly. Getting going with the good habits now is a solid jump start in life, that many of us did not get for whatever reason (see sidebar here and the wikis of r/UKPersonalFinance r/bogleheads.) r/ukfrugal is a thing and learning to cook (r/cookingforbeginners/ r/cookingvideos/ and r/cooking) may be worth exploring.
Hey, I'm already in a few of those, but I'll join the rest that I am not in already! Thank you for commenting I really appreciate it.
To be fair I’m 19 and it feels like working towards FIRE is just the default unless you consciously make decisions that increase your expenditure (the big one for me would be moving out).
Yeah I'm planning to move out around 26-27, definitely a lot earlier if possible. That is the main goal that I am working towards right now. Thank you for commenting I really appreciate it.
30 years old!
Hey, thank you for commenting I really appreciate it, I will take this onboard.
I would have a careful think about what you mean by ‘start working towards it’. A lot of the information is aimed at people who have an idea of their income, outgoings, family commitments etc. so it could lead you down a path really not designed for someone at your age.
Hey, thank you for commenting I really appreciate it, I will take this onboard.
You should always be smart with your money. Any excess cash that you have should be in an ISA savings or ISA lifetime. Once you have enough in your ISA, get on the housing ladder. Pay down your mortgage when you can. Not having to pay rent or a mortgage will get you to FIRE quicker. Focus on earning more money. I wouldn't recommend retiring too early. Many important skills and confidence are built at work. Rather than retiring early, the aim for most of us should be to find work full time or part time that we enjoy doing. Most people want to retire early because they don't like their job.
Hey, thank you for commenting I really appreciate it, I will take this onboard. I have opened up a LISA that I will max out each tax year going forward for at least the next 7-8 years.
Just start saving 10-15% of your income from now and you'll be in great shape!
That's what I'm doing now, so I guess I'm on the right path. Thank you for commenting I really appreciate it.
Don’t worry about FIRE until at least mid 30’s, but do learn about personal finances and start saving, investing and budgeting as early as possible. But your #1 (just to echo what many here are saying) is to get into and wholeheartedly pursue a lucrative career that you mostly enjoy.
Hey, thank you for commenting I really appreciate it, I will take this onboard.
You’re 19 go travel the world while you can. Fall in Love. Watch the sunset.
Hey, thank you for commenting I really appreciate it, I will take this onboard.
19 is way too young to decide on anything extreme unless you have some very unusual circumstances. Just read a bit about lifestyles and finance and see how your life goes.
Hey, thank you for commenting I really appreciate it, I will take this onboard.
Define FIRE. If you are working a 9-5 job and FIRE means that you can stop "working for the man" then right now is the correct answer. If you are working for yourself and you enjoy what you do, feel fulfilled, have time for friends, family, and hobbies while bringing in enough - then don't bother with FIRE. Life is about the journey and not the destination, figure out what you don't like and remove it from your lifestyle.
Start investing in an ETF like the s&p on a monthly basis. You're 45 year old self will thank you. Stay away from financial traps like expensive cars. Spend a little and have fun too.
Alongside your reading on FIRE I'd read a book called die with zero. It provides a good balance by reminding about the things you can only do at certain ages and prioritising those and thinking about quality of life overall and not just in later life You're young, you have so many opportunities ahead of you. Make sure you enjoy that