But many don’t want to wait until retirement age winter years to kick back. FIRE - financial independence, retire early – is a personal finance strategy that involves extreme investing and frugality during your working life in order to enable early retirement and financial freedom. “They shift the conversation from being one of ‘when can I retire’ to one of financial freedom. Starting early and taking small steps beyond the bare minimum (like the 8% auto-enrolment through a workplace pension) has such a greater impact than thinking about saving huge amounts, says Photiou. Rules of thumb around optimal savings rates vary but assuming 8%-12% for a moderate retirement – based on a ‘normal’ retirement age, anyone hoping to retire sooner needs to do some serious budgeting.