The tendency to delay retirement even after hitting your number, chasing just one more year of salary. A real psychological hurdle — often rooted in identity, not math.
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Income that continues without active work: dividends, interest, rents, royalties. Less common in early FIRE (most rely on portfolio drawdowns), but a popular parallel path.
(Income − Expenses) ÷ Income. The single most important variable for years-to-FIRE. A 50% savings rate reaches FIRE in ~17 years; a 20% rate takes ~37.
The risk of bad market returns in the first few years of retirement, which can permanently damage your portfolio even if average returns are fine. Mitigated with bond tents and cash buffers.
Quick FIRE-number estimate: multiply annual expenses by 25 (the inverse of a 4% SWR). $50K/year × 25 = $1.25M target.
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