I dismissed it as a tech worker thing. Then I started working in wealth management and everything changed.
During the pandemic, I was spending a lot of time on Reddit. One day I kept seeing this acronym over and over in different threads.
FIRE.
I clicked on a post. Then another. And another. And my first reaction was genuinely simple.
Wait. We can retire early?
I didn’t even know that was possible.
The First Thing I Got Wrong
Here’s what happened next. I read more. I learned what FIRE actually stood for — Financial Independence, Retire Early — and how the math behind it worked. And then I made a decision.
This isn’t for me.
The people in these communities all seemed to fit the same profile. Tech workers with six-figure salaries right out of college and stock options that made my head spin. Or people on the other extreme — cooking every meal at home, driving a 20-year-old car, eating rice and beans and somehow being happy about it.
I was in banking. Mid-$60ks salary back in 2020, plus a modest bonus. Not tech money. And I definitely wasn’t interested in optimizing every single dollar for the next 30 years just to skip work early.
So I filed it away as something other people did and moved on.
The thing is, when you keep seeing something, eventually it finds a way back to you.
When It Actually Started Making Sense
Then I started working in Wealth Management in 2024.
Suddenly I wasn’t just seeing FIRE as a Reddit thing anymore. It was coming up in client conversations. My colleagues were talking about it. People I was advising were working toward it. It stopped being some fringe internet concept and became something real — something people I knew were actually building.
The more I was around it, the more I understood what I’d missed the first time. FIRE isn’t one thing. It’s not either/or. It’s a spectrum — and somewhere on that spectrum was something that actually fit my life.
That’s when it clicked. FIRE is really just about one simple idea: if you save enough money and invest it well, eventually your investments make enough money for you to stop working.
The math behind it is straightforward. There’s something called the 4% rule. If you need $40,000 a year to live, you need roughly $1 million invested. If you need $60,000, you need $1.5 million. If you need $80,000, you need $2 million.
Simple concept. But when you really sit with it in a professional context, working with real people building real plans? It becomes life-changing fast.
The Part That Changed Everything for Me
Here’s where my situation gets different — and where it gets personal.
Most FIRE conversations assume you’re retiring in America. And if I was retiring in the Bay Area on $30,000 or $40,000 a year? Yeah, that would be tight. That would be Lean FIRE — minimal lifestyle, watching every dollar, making it work but not really living.
But I’m not retiring in America.
I already own a condo in Manila — paid off, no mortgage. That eliminates my biggest expense right there. A $30,000 to $40,000 annual income in the Philippines isn’t tight. It’s comfortable. It’s actually good.
Transportation? Grab (similar to Uber) replaces needing a car. Food costs a fraction of what it does here. Healthcare is cheaper. Entertainment is cheaper. Everything is cheaper.
The same money that makes me “lean” in California makes me free in the Philippines.
And that realization — that your FIRE number isn’t fixed, that it depends entirely on where you actually want to live — was the moment everything clicked for me.
What I’m Actually Working Toward
So here’s my real FIRE number. I’m targeting somewhere between $1.5 million and $2 million in total investable assets by age 55.
That sounds like a huge number. It is. And no, I don’t have it today.
But here’s what that number is actually built on:
My 401K, Roth IRA, and HSA — maxing those out every year and letting the compound growth do its work over the next 15 years.
A rental property in Mississippi that’s already generating income. Every month the tenant’s rent payment builds equity. Will probably sell it before retiring.
A brokerage account with index funds and ETFs — a taxable account that gives me flexibility outside of retirement accounts.
Social Security — I plan to delay claiming until 70 so I get the maximum monthly benefit. That becomes my income floor later.
Is this a lot to juggle? Yeah. But it’s specific. It’s real. And it’s actually happening.
Why This Matters Even If You’re Not a Tech Worker
Here’s what I want you to understand.
In 2020 I was making in the mid-$60s in banking. By 2025 I was making well over six figures. Not because I switched careers to tech. Not because I got lucky with stocks or a startup. But because I invested in my own career, took on more responsibility, and kept pushing forward in the work I was actually doing.
FIRE is not a tech worker thing. It’s a math thing. It works for anyone who earns more than they spend and invests the difference consistently.
And if you’re Filipino-American specifically — or anyone considering retiring outside the United States — there’s another piece that matters even more.
Your FIRE number is smaller than you think.
That’s worth sitting with for a moment.
What’s Next
Next week I’m going somewhere more personal — why I chose the Philippines in the first place. The condo I bought almost by accident, the realization that changed everything, and the trip that made it all feel real.
If you thought FIRE wasn’t for you — the next post might change your mind. Drop a comment with your biggest misconception about early retirement. I’d love to hear what’s holding you back.
About the Author
Ono is a banking professional documenting his journey toward early retirement. What started as a personal question at 39 turned into a real plan backed by numbers, intentionality, and the willingness to do things differently. He’s sharing CraftYourExit because the path he’s building didn’t have a blueprint—and he thinks you might be building something similar.
Learn more about Ono’s story →