How FIRE can help you break free from your Biglaw job
The FIRE (Financial Independence/Retire Early) movement is often thought to only apply to software engineers willing to live off ramen noodles and forgo all of life’s pleasures on the road to early retirement. But these very principles can help lawyers free themselves from the shackles of their law firm jobs, in time to allow them to find more fulfilling careers, no matter the salary.
And isn’t that why we all went to law school in the first place?
Check out the video below where Rho Thomas, a practicing attorney on her own financial independence journey, and I discuss FIRE for lawyers and how she used the techniques to reduce her working hours by 50% and how I was able to leave the law entirely.
Rho and I discuss the following key concepts in the video:
The most important financial indicator you can track — your savings rate
How to calculate your own savings rate
What FIRE savings rates look like and the timeline to financial independence
Two lesser known versions of FIRE that are much more attainable for lawyers — BaristaFIRE and CoastFIRE
How my clients applied FIRE to their own lives and dramatically increased their savings rates
My own journey to FIRE and how my husband and I were able to take a $165,000 pay cut when I left my legal career to become an Accredited Financial Counselor
How Rho and her husband paid off hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt on her own path to financial independence
The toughest part of applying FIRE in Rho’s own life
How she works with clients (she’s a financial coach, too!) on their own FIRE plans
The best first step someone can take if they’re considering FIRE
Figuring out your FIRE number: (your future annual living expenses when “retired”) x 25 = FIRE nest egg
Or just use this calculator
Additional resources for those interested in FIRE
Your Money Or Your Life by Vicki Robin
There are plenty of FIRE blogs out there, find one that speaks to you and go for it! (here’s one by a former lawyer)
And if you’d like some help thinking through how you could apply FIRE to your own financial circumstances, schedule a free consult with me and let’s talk about it.
