{"id":183039,"date":"2025-05-28T13:44:42","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T19:44:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/?p=183039"},"modified":"2025-05-28T13:44:45","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T19:44:45","slug":"four-tips-to-avoid-fire-burnout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/four-tips-to-avoid-fire-burnout","title":{"rendered":"Four Tips to Avoid FIRE Burnout"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Becoming a FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) fanatic <\/span>comes with<\/span> a few key stages\u2014and I want to offer some advice for the most grueling one of all: the slow<\/span>, <\/span>slow<\/span> stage <\/span>of accumulation<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re doing things right, you probably discovered FIRE and dove in headfirst. You adjusted your accounts, started aggressively investing, devoured all the FIRE blogs and podcasts, and maybe even ended up at one of the events (hello, FIRE cruise!). You probably check your accounts way too often\u2014and hopefully, you’ve put most things on autopilot.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now what?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re in the long slog of steadily accumulating assets.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I often see posts in forums and Facebook groups from people in the accumulation phase who are <\/span>having a hard time sticking<\/span> with it.<\/span> The goal of FIRE feels far away, and the temptation to give up is real.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are four things you can do to pass the time and get back to being excited about FIRE.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Make Smaller Goals<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind that $1 million\u2014or even $2 million\u2014is a lot of money. It\u2019s a lofty goal that takes time. I\u2019ve heard from many people that the first $100,000 is the hardest. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So start small. Get to $25,000 invested. Celebrate\u2014go out to dinner or <\/span>to<\/span> a coffee shop and order whatever you want. Then <\/span>do it again<\/span> at $50,000, $75,000, and $100,000.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We often forget to celebrate the milestones along the way to our big goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Do a Future Value Calculation<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nothing gets me fired up like seeing what my net worth could become if I <\/span>just<\/span> stay the course.<\/span> I recently <\/span>saw<\/span> a post from a 36-year-old with $650,000 invested who felt like quitting FIRE.<\/span> But let\u2019s look at what those assets could grow to by age 59.5: $3,081,344.41! And that\u2019s without adding another dollar.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That amount could support a $120,000 annual withdrawal starting at 59.5 without stress. Of course, if <\/span>he<\/span> wants to retire early, there\u2019s more to consider\u2014but still, what an incredible start!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go online, use a future value calculator, and play around. You might be surprised by your numbers.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Find Hobbies and Interests Outside of Spreadsheets<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Blasphemy, I know! But it\u2019s OK to spend money now to build the kind of life you want to retire to. If you don\u2019t find joy now, you probably won\u2019t later. Most things in life are like muscles\u2014you have to keep using them to know how they work.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So <\/span>go<\/span> buy that pickleball racket and start playing. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Take the Pressure Off<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s easy to feel like you\u2019re failing at FIRE if you ease up on saving and investing. I\u2019m here to tell you: It\u2019s OK. FIRE has many flavors. If you have a year when you need to slow down, do it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m a proud member of the \u201cFIRE failures\u201d club, and I\u2019m still doing <\/span>really<\/span> well!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many reasons you might be struggling on your FIRE journey. It\u2019s OK to take a step back, reevaluate your goals, and try one of these strategies to get excited again. Remember: It\u2019s a marathon, not a sprint. Build a life around FIRE\u2014but don\u2019t make FIRE your whole life.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheers to your journey\u2014see you at the finish line!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Becoming a FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) fanatic comes with a few key stages\u2014and I want to offer some advice for the most grueling one of all: the slow, slow […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":613772,"featured_media":183041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7398],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-183039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retirement"],"acf":[],"comment_count":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/613772"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}