36. Financial Independence with Diania Merriam of the EconoME Conference

Diania Merriam is the founder and Chief Economist of EconoMe LLC, which was formed to launch the EconoMe Conference, an event centered around financial independence that’s known as the "Ted Talks" of the Financial Independence Retire Early, or FIRE movement. On this episode of CFO at Home, Diania and Vince discuss her personal journey out of debt and onto the FIRE path, some common misconceptions about FIRE, couples pursuing FIRE together, and more.

• Key Takeaways
• • Increasing your savings rate in pursuit of FIRE
  • • Areas of focus for decrease your expenses 
    • • Housing
      • Transportation
      • Food
    • As your income increases, don’t let “lifestyle creep” consume your additional income   

• • FIRE movement is agnostic to income level; the key is the gap between your income and expenses
    • If you’re struggling to make ends meet, focus needs to be on increasing income to create income-expense gap
  • FIRE is about creating options, not deprivation 
  • With FIRE, each person has to decide the level of frugality that’s comfortable for them
  • For couples, finding common ground where you can be frugal in some areas, yet neither partner feels deprived is important 
    • Don’t be afraid to have open and honest conversations about your perceptions of money and wealth
  • Financial Independence “Rule of Thumb” definition - Savings of at least 25X expenses, allowing you live off a 4% annual withdrawal rate 
  • The aggressiveness of the FIRE movement also makes it very appealing to those getting a late start in preparing for retirement

• Resources:
• • EconoMe Conference Tickets
  • https://www.madfientist.com/how-to-access-retirement-funds-early/
  • FIRE Misconceptions, Assumptions, and Criticisms 
  • EconoMe Conference- YouTube
  • Optimal Finance Daily Podcast

• Ways to contact/follow
• • EconoMe Conference - Twitter
  • EconoMe Conference - Intragram
  • EconoMe Conference - FaceBook
  • For the FI-Curious - FaceBook
  • Diania Merriam - FaceBook

• Contact the Host - vince@thecfoathome.com