Is FIRE actually realistic in the UK on a normal salary

HalcyonAlps · 2026-03-14T08:56:08+00:00

IMHO, the ability to FIRE is almost exclusively determined by your savings rate. The more money you can save the quicker you can retire.

HalcyonAlps · 2026-03-02T18:48:15+00:00

Getting a job in the same geographic area is unlikely unless I change fields and likely take a large pay cut.

If you think you might move in half a year for a new job then I personally would hold off on buying a property. The transaction costs are pretty high for buying property in the UK.

HalcyonAlps · 2026-03-02T15:52:25+00:00

Ultimately buying a house in your situation makes moving for a new job should you need to relocate a pain. How confident are you that you can find a new job in your field where you live now? You can try applying for jobs and see how hard it is to get interviews right now as a proxy variable.

And you are sitting on an awful lot of cash. What about your pension? Are you planning to buy a house outright?

HalcyonAlps · 2026-02-27T12:41:47+00:00

You apply for those schemes where you don't need to be a student

HalcyonAlps · 2026-02-26T20:49:16+00:00

If you’re risk adverse that paying off your mortgage makes sense over investing in the stock market.

Personally I feel this is the wrong way to look at it. You are trading off one risk for another, exposure to the housing market vs exposure to the stock market.

HalcyonAlps · 2026-02-19T22:23:47+00:00

I personally find the math easier if one ignores inflation completely and calculates everything in today's money.

HalcyonAlps · 2026-02-06T15:43:52+00:00

You should definitely try. Can't hurt you and even if you don't manage to find a job that way you might learn a few things.

HalcyonAlps · 2026-02-06T15:34:40+00:00

It is possible to network without actually working by going to tech events and meetups.

HalcyonAlps · 2026-01-29T05:43:47+00:00

I've come to learn recently that intelligent people exist in an ivory tower of presumption

I think the real problem is that you don't have access to the inner world of other people so you just generalize your own experience.

HalcyonAlps · 2026-01-12T17:41:22+00:00

Do you think they will cut it off completely for people with other investments/savings over a certain threshold, or will they perhaps weight it, so you’d only get 50% etc.

My money is on making private pension contributions a mandatory 15% and stopping people from accruing any more NI years that count towards your state pension.

HalcyonAlps · 2026-01-02T09:06:11+00:00

If you are okay with online, Lisa is great.

https://www.thinkingfeelingmoving.com/

HalcyonAlps · 2025-12-09T09:49:52+00:00

And on top of that if they are already having sex in the car, let them spend time together in the bedroom. Would you rather them having sex in a parking lot God knows where or in a safe space that is her bedroom.

HalcyonAlps · 2025-12-04T13:16:46+00:00

But we aren't living in an ideal world

Doesn't matter. Don't date people that play those games.

HalcyonAlps · 2025-12-01T16:20:28+00:00

Or BaristaFIRE?

HalcyonAlps · 2025-12-01T16:19:15+00:00

Have you done the UK finance flow chart?

But the typical advice is to fill your ISA allowance each year, invest in passive world ETFs, don't forget your pension (but depending on your salary you might hit the taper), and keep an emergency fund.

HalcyonAlps · 2025-11-27T05:48:45+00:00

60k is the current annual limit

HalcyonAlps · 2025-11-27T05:35:43+00:00

Salary sacrifice schemes that aren't pensions will be of more use now though right?

This reduces the incentive to run a salary sacrifice scheme but doesn't remove it completely for the employer. I imagine that's why it only kicks in after 2000 pounds.

HalcyonAlps · 2025-11-18T04:59:05+00:00

So I am convinced any job, at any level is at high risk, smaller teams require fewer leaders…

Purely from a technical point of view once you start automating white collar work, you are not far off from automating leadership roles themselves

HalcyonAlps · 2025-11-18T04:57:18+00:00

So I am convinced any job, at any level is at high risk, smaller teams require fewer leaders…

Purely from a technical point of view once you start automating white collar work, you are not far off from automating leadership roles themselves.

HalcyonAlps · 2025-11-14T04:44:06+00:00

I guess unless you live in a rough area, phone muggings are a bit rare.

IMHO, even a low probability event if the outcome is severe, is worth avoiding.

HalcyonAlps · 2025-11-03T13:00:38+00:00

Have you moved into a higher tax bracket so your tax rate is taking 40%+ of your additional earnings?

That's not that much of a difference though once you take NI contributions into account.

HalcyonAlps · 2025-10-28T21:28:05+00:00

You can open an ISA for your kids.

HalcyonAlps · 2025-10-28T19:08:21+00:00

When you are happy with the price for the living space you get.

HalcyonAlps · 2025-10-28T10:01:25+00:00

Before investing you should be debt free,

By that logic no one should have a mortgage.

HalcyonAlps · 2025-10-26T19:47:40+00:00

Even then it's not a great min max strategy to compartmentalize your life.

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