“First step, no kids” — Singaporeans say it’s impossible to achieve financial freedom and retire early if one has children

SINGAPORE: Many young professionals nowadays are joining the FIRE movement—Financial Independence, Retire Early—to escape the 9 to 5 prison; however, many Singaporeans believe this goal is impossible for those with children.

Financial experts say that to reach FIRE, one has to essentially cut back on expenses, save 50% to 70% of their income, and allocate a portion of those savings for investment.

The ultimate goal is accumulating savings at least 25 times their annual expenses. For example, if someone’s annual expenses total S$200,000, they would need to save around S$5 million.

The catch is this can be incredibly challenging if one has dependents. Many Singaporeans on Reddit have shared this view, noting that reaching FIRE becomes almost impossible when children are part of the equation.

One user said, “Kids and FIRE don’t go hand-in-hand. Thought this was obvious. Supporting anyone further delays FIRE.”

Another commented, “First step [to FIRE], no kids.”

A third user shared, “It is easy. Just don’t have kids. Most people I know who have done it by age 40 have no kids. One couple I know then had an unplanned kid and they had to drop their FIRE lifestyle and go back to work.

Maybe people don’t like to hear this but not only do kids really cost a lot of money, they also limit your earning opportunity, especially for women.”

A few even did some calculations, saying that having kids will delay financial independence by at least five years.

Still, there were a handful who disagreed with this perception and stated that they were able to achieve FIRE despite having a family.

One user said, “FIRE with kids is definitely more of a challenge but not impossible. It just means your costs go up on avg 3-5k a month.. which should be achievable if you know where & how your passive income streams are.

I typically survive on about 10-15k a month average including kids expenses and mortgages.”

One user also explained that this all comes down to what type of FIRE one tries to achieve. If one is going for Fat FIRE, which means saving up a huge amount to live a high-end retirement, then having children could be a hindrance.

But if one is simply aiming for Barista FIRE—where one saves enough to retire but still work part-time—or Lean FIRE, which is about saving just enough to live a minimalist lifestyle, it is still entirely feasible, even with children.

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