A New Thought Stocks Crashing? Rich going Poor?

nytimes.com

They All Retired Before They Hit 40. Then This Happened.

The stock market wasn’t going to create wealth forever. So what about the FIRE movement?

Earlier this month, Eric Richard was in Bali, Indonesia, enjoying the tropical weather and carefree life of a retiree. Last summer, at 29, Mr. Richard had quit his job as a corporate operations manager to become a “digital nomad.”

Now he is hunkered down at his parents’ house in Michigan, having returned to the United States as concerns over the coronavirus outbreak grew and travel bans were put in place around the world. He is in self-isolation as a precaution. And in recent weeks, he said, he has seen his net worth drop by more than $100,000.

“It’s definitely not a great feeling, to say the least,” Mr. Richard said.

He is an adherent of the FIRE movement, the personal finance strategy popular among millennials. It stands for “financial independence, retire early.”