Invented by the blog Money Flamingo In the 2018, the Flamingo FIRE is one variant of the FIRE movement which has as its objective that of "semi-retirement".
The name “Flamingo FIRE” comes from the fact that this strategy involves “standing on one leg” like a flamingo, that is, to stop saving and investing when you have reached half the money needed to reach an early retirement.
This approach has gained popularity in recent years as an effective and flexible way to achieve financial independence without in a more relaxed manner than traditional FIRE..
What is Flamingo FIRE
The basic principle of Flamingo FIRE is simple: set aside half the money you need to achieve financial independence, so go into semi-retirement and let your portfolio grow “in the background” (thanks to the power of compound interest) until you reach your goal.
This allows you to enjoy your best years without having to sacrifice all your time to achieve financial independence.
The inventors of this approach are a couple, known as Mr. by Mrs. Flamingo, who were looking for a more flexible and efficient way to achieve financial independence.
The couple made serious efforts to achieve financial independence in 2016 and started with a plan 10-15 years. However, they quickly realized that they didn't want to spend the best years of their lives chasing financial freedom, at the expense of their free time.
They wanted to find a way to achieve financial independence more quickly, but without sacrificing all those years of their life.
So, they created something creative and came up with an approach that still gives them the freedom they want, combining several strategies already known to the FIRE community.
How Flamingo FIRE works
The process to reach Flamingo FIRE is divided into four phases:
1. Accumulation
In this phase you accumulate your nest egg through full-time work, frugality, savings and investments. Con Flamingo FIRE, it is possible to shorten this phase compared to the traditional path, as you can stop working full time when you have reached half of your FIRE goal.
2. Semi-board
Once you reach half of your FIRE goal, you can switch to semi-retirement, that is, working only to cover your living expenses. In the meantime, your nest egg continues to grow.
3. Financial independence (FIRE)
Once you reach your FIRE goal, you can stop working and start withdrawing 4% of its nest egg annually.
4. Traditional pension (optional)
In this sentence, you have the possibility to choose whether to continue working part-time to further grow your nest egg or enjoy your retirement.
Why follow Flamingo FIRE
The benefits of Flamingo FIRE are in line with those of Coast FIRE, these approaches allow you to enjoy benefits intermediate to that of your pension. For example:
- Changing jobs or careers: It won't take long to accumulate the money needed for this approach, meaning you will be able to leave your current full-time career and begin semi-retirement earlier than traditional retirement plans. Once you reach this milestone, you will no longer have the pressure to keep adding to your money, and therefore you will have greater choices regarding your future work, move to a less demanding job, start your own business or undertake professional retraining.
- Work less: After reaching your interim FIRE goal, you can reduce your hours and accept a lower salary, or take more days off or take entire “gap” periods from work (if the employer allows it) even unpaid.
- Go into semi-retirement: it is also possible to leave your job and enjoy a "mini" early retirement during which you need to earn a living chores / side hustles or alternative sources of income, for example sources of passive income such as real estate.
The Italian community of the FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early) to stop working and retire young.