{"id":256563,"date":"2025-12-29T18:09:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T18:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/256563\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T18:09:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T18:09:14","slug":"no-early-retirement-is-not-worth-more-than-your-family-and-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/256563\/","title":{"rendered":"No, early retirement is not worth more than your family and health"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

FIRE is a personal finance movement which stands for ‘financial independence, retire early.’brizmaker\/iStockPhoto \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Kristy Shen retired in her 30s and is an author of the bestselling book Quit Like a Millionaire<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A reader wrote to us recently asking whether to delay her early retirement to spend money on her family and health. She wants IVF fertility treatments to have children, and would like to spend some money on coaching as an endurance athlete.<\/p>\n

Neither of those things are cheap. Would it be a good idea to forgo those things to achieve her early retirement FIRE (financial independence, retire early) goal at age 45? After all, she wants to stop working while she\u2019s still young. <\/p>\n

As someone who retired in their 30s after working a stressful job and investing for nine years, I understand the allure of having infinite time to pursue your passions, travel the world and spend time doing whatever you want, whenever you want. <\/p>\n

It might seem quite logical to pursue this dream by accumulating money as quickly as possible, even at the detriment of everything else. <\/p>\n

Ten years ago, as a bright-eyed 32-year-old, I would\u2019ve thought this a noble pursuit. After all, I\u2019d been taught by my mom that \u201cmoney is the most important thing in the world.\u201d When you grow up living on 44 cents a day, you focus constantly on making more money. <\/p>\n

A summer camp for grown-ups trying to escape the work force forever with FIRE<\/a><\/p>\n

While I still think FIRE is one of the best things I\u2019ve pursued, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s worth sacrificing your relationships and health. <\/p>\n

Money is a tool to help you buy back your time. But what good is free time if you spend it sad, sick or alone?<\/p>\n

Even Warren Buffett, one the world\u2019s most celebrated investors said in his biography<\/a>, that the highest measure of success in life comes by how many of the people you want to have love you actually do love you.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people die filthy rich and get buildings named after them, but the truth is that nobody in the world loves them.\u201d<\/p>\n

I understand what he is saying. I feel it whenever my husband laces his fingers through mine as we walk down the street. Whenever my son wraps his sticky fingers around my neck and plants wet kisses on my cheek. Whenever my friends \u2013 my chosen family \u2013 bring me homemade soup after another harrowing week of household illnesses. <\/p>\n

Instead of thinking of FIRE as a yardstick that measures your life\u2019s success, think of it as a well. It gives you a steady source of options. <\/p>\n

You can \u201cdraw\u201d on it for financial security when you need to step back from work to spend time with family. Or for when work gets overwhelming, and you need to downshift or pivot to another career for your health. <\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t a \u201cone-and-done\u201d goal, but a resource you can continue replenishing and draw from as your life evolves. <\/p>\n

Since water is fluid and adaptable, so are your FIRE plans. You can continue your dreams of building a family, supporting loved ones, or occasionally go back to participating in the working world to earn money rather than closing off the well once you\u2019ve hit a specific financial target. <\/p>\n

The Decibel: Meet the people who save aggressively to retire early<\/a><\/p>\n

Replenishing <\/b>the well and drawing on it in times of need works best when you know your values and priorities. Don\u2019t draw from it mindlessly to pay for status symbols that only feed your ego. <\/p>\n

Draw from it to improve your health and water your relationships. Replenish it by forgoing those things you don\u2019t care about so you can draw from it for things you do care about. <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how I responded to the reader: \u201cSacrificing starting a family to achieve FIRE is not worth it. Neither is sacrificing your health. I would rather you retire later with the family you want, and in amazing physical shape, rather than retiring at 45 with no family and in worse health.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to FIRE, money is important but it\u2019s not everything. Measure your life by love instead of money, and you\u2019ll be truly wealthy. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: FIRE is a personal finance movement which stands for ‘financial independence, retire early.’brizmaker\/iStockPhoto…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[4320,4309,4321,9,4302,4322,79,995,4301,4314,4315,4311,4303,4300,179,2597,18,440,4313,4307,4333,4304,4305,3428,19,17,4310,3521,3136,4323,4306,4328,4329,4331,4326,4330,4324,4327,234,235,430,4317,4318,790,4316,4325,4308,82,4319,4312,4222,66,4332],"class_list":{"0":"post-256563","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-business","15":"tag-canada","16":"tag-canada-news","17":"tag-canada-sports","18":"tag-canada-sports-news","19":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","20":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","21":"tag-canadian-news","22":"tag-economy","23":"tag-education","24":"tag-eire","25":"tag-environment","26":"tag-federal-government","27":"tag-foreign-news","28":"tag-globe-and-mail","29":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","30":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","31":"tag-government","32":"tag-ie","33":"tag-ireland","34":"tag-life-news","35":"tag-lifestyle","36":"tag-local-news","37":"tag-manitoba","38":"tag-national-news","39":"tag-new-brunswick","40":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","41":"tag-northwest-territories","42":"tag-nova-scotia","43":"tag-nunavut","44":"tag-ontario","45":"tag-pei","46":"tag-personal-finance","47":"tag-personalfinance","48":"tag-photos","49":"tag-political-news","50":"tag-political-opinion","51":"tag-politics","52":"tag-politics-news","53":"tag-quebec","54":"tag-sports-news","55":"tag-technology","56":"tag-travel","57":"tag-trudeau","58":"tag-us-news","59":"tag-world-news","60":"tag-yukon"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}