A recent survey shows nearly 43% of Indians under 25 want to retire before 55, a goal that would have seemed absurd to their parents’ generation. But in the age of influencer finance and investment apps, the idea of FIRE, Financial Independence, Retire Early, has gone from fringe theory to mainstream aspiration.
Among those who’ve done it are Ravi and Neha Handa, who retired in their late 30s after selling their edtech startup Handa ka Funda. They now live what FIRE promises: control over time, work, and money. But as the movement spreads across India, experts warn that the math and the mindset don’t always add up.
What FIRE Means, And How It Came To India
At its core, FIRE asks people to save intensely, invest consistently, and aim for a portfolio large enough to replace their working income. The movement grew in the West after the 2008 financial crisis, when millennials began prioritising “time freedom” over job stability.
As Lavanya Mohan, CA, finance columnist and commentator, puts it, “FIRE is a cultural movement in the West, especially among millennials who lived through the 2008 crash and watched job security evaporate. For many of them, the goal wasn’t to stop working, it was to stop depending on work.”
In India, FIRE arrived through personal finance podcasts, YouTube explainers, and online communities.
Yet Mohan cautions that India’s context is different, “One is born out of redundancy; the other out of design,” she says, comparing layoffs abroad with India’s voluntary pursuit of early retirement. That difference, between reactive exits and proactive planning, defines who can realistically chase FIRE in India.
The subreddit FIRE_Ind now has over 65,000 members, where people trade spreadsheets, share milestones, and celebrate “FIRE days.” A 2024 Grant Thornton Bharat survey found 43% of Indians under 25 want to retire before 55.
The Success Stories That Fuel The Dream
The Handas’ story is now FIRE folklore. After years of disciplined investing and the sale of Handa ka Funda in 2021, they hit their target corpus in 2022 and retired. Today, their portfolio, roughly ₹15 crore across property, mutual funds, stocks, crypto, provident fund, and sovereign gold bonds, gives them the freedom to travel at will.
“We look at our expenses after the trip instead of planning the budget,” Ravi says, recalling how they recently splurged ₹20,000 on Universal Studios Express passes without second thoughts.
Others have followed similar paths. Jayant Kumar, a Noida-based software engineer, says, “I started investing aggressively in 2015, and by 2020, I was saving more than 60% of my income. Compounding did a great job of adding wealth to my investments.”
By 2024, he reached a corpus close to his FIRE number, around 35 times his annual expenses, and quit full-time work. These stories lend FIRE its seductive glow. Freedom earned through sacrifice, discipline, and a little luck.
The Rules People Repeat, And Why They Can Be Misleading
At its simplest, FIRE rests on three pillars: earn more, spend less, and invest wisely. The popular formula suggests one should save 50–75% of income, accumulate a corpus worth 25 times their annual expenses, and then live off a 4% withdrawal rule.
In theory, that means your savings will last for decades without running out. “Those figures come from the U.S., where inflation hovers around 2%-3% and markets behave differently. In India, the maths is far less forgiving,” warns Lavanya Mohan.
Palak Chauhan, a pensions actuary, agrees, saying, “People think personal finance is as simple as putting everything in a formula. It’s not. One needs to consider assumptions that are relevant to each economy. And 25 times of one’s annual expenses is irrelevant to India. A more realistic estimate comes to around 30-33 times.”
The moral: FIRE formulas aren’t universal; they collapse without context.
Who Can Actually Do This, And Who Can’t
The movement’s loudest success stories often come from people with high incomes or windfalls.
Vivek Kaul, Indian author and economist, explains, “Only when one invests a lot of money, and catches the upcycle [like some people have managed to do in the last five years in the stock market], does the concept of FIRE work.
Invested money grows and leaves one with more money to retire early. This is an important point that people tend to forget.”
For ordinary earners, the dream is much tougher. Eeshan, a 28-year-old customer-service executive, says saving 75% of income is impossible: “After paying rent, EMIs, bills, and other necessary expenses, I make it a point to set aside a small amount each month; I can manage 5% in SIPs.”
For India’s salaried middle class, FIRE often remains a mindset, the desire for control, rather than an achievable financial goal.
Identity, Purpose, And The Paradox Of Leisure
Money can buy freedom, but not necessarily meaning. Psychologist Dhara Ghuntla warns, “Early retirement is often imagined as freedom from pressure, but it can also mean freedom from structure, stimulation, and meaning, the three pillars that sustain emotional and cognitive health.”
Without structure, many early retirees face boredom, loss of confidence, or even a blurring of identity.
That’s why both Ravi and Neha found new projects soon after retiring. Ravi has launched an AI-driven personal finance tool called “Handa Uncle.” “The identity crisis is obvious,” he jokes.
Neha, meanwhile, runs educational workshops for children in their housing society. “There’s play, arts and crafts, storytelling, and other brain gym activities,” she says.
FIRE may give time, but how you fill that time is the real challenge.
Also Read: 5 Alternate Retirement Plans For Indians Which Guarantee Good Money
Is FIRE Being Sold As A Story?
Sceptics believe FIRE is as much a marketing pitch as a philosophy. Vivek Kaul argues, “FIRE is basically selling a story, by those in the business of managing money. They need a catchy story to sell to their prospective clients.”
The narrative of early retirement can, in turn, encourage unrealistic expectations among young professionals seeking shortcuts.
Monika Halan, chairperson of SEBI’s Investor Protection Committee and author of Let’s Talk Money, offers a firm warning.
Halan said, “Young people want shortcuts to make a lot of money quickly. In my experience, this is a sure way to lose a lot of money and peace of mind.”
She advises caution and planning: “You need to take professional help to do retirement planning.” In other words, financial independence shouldn’t be treated as a social media challenge.
A Gentler, More Realistic Approach To Financial Freedom
FIRE doesn’t have to mean quitting your job at 35. Variations like Coast FIRE (save enough early so compounding works for you) or Barista FIRE (earn a partial income doing what you enjoy) allow flexibility without extreme austerity.
“The point isn’t to retire at 35 with a big corpus. It’s to reach a stage where money doesn’t dictate every decision,” says Lavanya Mohan.
Experts also emphasise small, steady habits: building an emergency fund, getting health insurance, and investing regularly, even if modestly.
Vivek Kaul distils it simply, “The first aim should be to save money and build an emergency fund, and then go about building more savings.” The focus, in short, should be on resilience, not just early exit.
FIRE sells a simple promise: buy back your time. For people like the Handas, who turned a startup windfall into long-term security, that promise has delivered comfort and choice. But for most Indians, the dream requires more than financial discipline; it needs privilege, planning, and emotional readiness.
As Monika Halan reminds, “There are no shortcuts.” And as Ravi Handa reflects, “There’s so much competition in India, hard work and talent are not enough; one needs luck by their side.”
In the end, FIRE may not be about quitting work at all, but about redefining success from endless earning to living deliberately.
Images: Google Images
Sources: The Economic Times, The Hindu, Hindustan Times
Find the blogger: Katyayani Joshi
This post is tagged under: fire movement india, gen z finance, personal finance india, early retirement india, financial independence, money management, indian economy, saving and investing, millennials finance, finance explainer, middle class india, budgeting tips india, investment culture, mutual funds india, financial literacy, economic trends india, lifestyle inflation, money psychology, indian youth trends, long term investing
Disclaimer: We do not hold any right, copyright over any of the images used, these have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly mail us.
Other Recommendations:
Watch: 5 Indian Cricketers Whose Retirement Left Fans Heartbroken
