Has the pandemic made you rethink your life? Affected by the pandemic, some people realize that life is too short and start thinking about the meaning of life and work, which leads to the “Great Resignation,” and more people follow the “FIRE Movement.”
Taipei, Taiwan (Business Northeast) – After the epidemic, more people want to retire early! Affected by the global pandemic in 2019, people’s lives and work have changed significantly, such as more people caring about public health, using online shopping, and working through the cloud. During the pandemic, some people lost their jobs, changed their work style, realized that life was too short, and started to think about the meaning of life and work, which led to the “Great Resignation,” and more people followed the “FIRE Movement.”
From 2021 to the present, there have been incidents of collective resignations of employees in many countries. The most frequently cited reasons for resignation include rising living costs, stagnant wages, poor well-being, and limited career development opportunities. Others said they couldn’t continue to work “lack of enthusiasm” because they valued time with their families more or wanted to pursue their ideals rather than just working for the company.
In the United States, for example, the number of people leaving the workforce has been increasing since early 2021. About 4 millio people left the workplace in July 2021, about 4.4 million people left the workplace in September, and from January to October, a total of about 34.4 million people left the workplace, accounting for 3% of the total workforce, breaking the 20-year mark record since.
According to Microsoft’s March 16, 2022, Work Trend Index Annual Report, more than 50% of the workforce is more likely to prioritize health & well-being than work than before the pandemic, and more than 50% of Gen Z and millennials may consider changing employers. On the other hand, many employees no longer want to return to the office, preferring to work in a hybrid or remote way to add flexibility between work and life.
Some people who stayed on the job changed their mindset about work and hoped to reduce the proportion of work in their entire lives. They became followers of the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement, valuing happiness in life more than material satisfaction and increasing their savings ratio by increasing income or spending less.
Followers of the FIRE Movement recommend setting a savings goal of 25 times your annual spending, plus a 4% investment return on that savings to achieve financial independence and early retirement. For example, if you spend $10,000 a year, you must have at least $250,000 in savings. In addition, the $250,000 in savings must generate a 4% annual return on investment to generate enough passive income to support future living expenses.
On the other hand, there are some conditions and issues to consider if you want to follow the FIRE Movement, such as avoiding high-interest debt, planning for insurance, etc. With the advancement of medical technology, human life expectancy has increased yearly. Hence, people also need to consider medical expenses in later years and even the salary cost of hiring caregivers.
Are you satisfied with your current job? At what age do you want to retire? In the universe, human beings are small, and life is very short; people work hard to obtain a better quality of life or to practice ideals. Choosing to work until old age or to retire early is different from the same answer for everyone. Still, before that, we must understand our savings and expenses to plan for the future as early as possible.
