Unpopular opinion: “No retirement in my forties” - HPB

We teamed up with our client SNS Bank to help them form their opinion piece on the FIRE movement.

Retiring in your fifties, forties, or even in your thirties. Young people strive to be part of the FIRE movement, i.e. to gain Financial Independence and to Retire Early. To become part of the FIRE movement you need to, in a nutshell, live abstinently, save up loads of money, and invest in order to save up an amount equal to 25 times your yearly salary. If you’ve done that, you can stop working and live leisurely for the rest of your life enjoying your saved up money. Think cocktail in one hand, on Ibiza...that’s what we all want! Right?

Op je vijftigste, veertigste of zelfs op je dertigste met pensioen. Er zijn steeds meer jongeren die er naar streven om FIRE (Financial Indepence Retire Early) te worden. Simpel gezegd, FIRE worden doe je zo: soberder leven, veel sparen én beleggen zodat je 25 keer je jaarsalaris aan vermogen spaart. Dan kan je stoppen met werken en de rest van je leven van je spaargeld leven. Met een cocktail in je hand. Op Ibiza... En dat wil je! Toch?

Living off of your life savings as the ultimate goal. That’s exactly what the people in the FIRE movement are aiming to do. Because that’s financial independence or, better yet, freedom. But - besides the fact that living off of your savings isn’t as attainable for just everyone - financial independence also means something different for everyone.

Precisely this nuance was missing when we researched an angle on this topic for SNS Bank. Jumping into what was missing provided us with the space to form a new opinion, more accurately described as:a Novel Point of View. This, then, became the foundation for a story on the personal perspective that people have on what it means to attain financial freedom, the importance of setting financial goals, and on what young people can do regarding financial planning in order to reach their goals. That story laid out the groundwork for an interview with SNS’s Social Impact Advisor and, amongst others, De Telegraaf, and Algemeen Dagblad. Mission accomplished!

This project is a classic example of why I love my job so much. I get to throw myself into the social discourse and into the subject-matter, hang out with smart people who know lots about specific topics, and I get to help make a client famous. Especially clients who are willing to speak out about current events.

I like it so much that my monthly wages feel like little presents. In my opinion, that is what it means to have financial freedom.