What is Obese Fire? A Quick Introduction

Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) has become an increasingly popular lifestyle movement focused on saving aggressively and achieving financial freedom at a young age. Those pursuing FIRE aim to save over half their income, minimize expenses, and invest the rest in order to build enough of a nest egg to afford retiring by their 40s or even 30s.

But some seek to take the concept of FIRE to an extreme, indulgent level referred to informally as “ObeseFIRE.”

While traditional FIRE targets accumulating $1-2 million and living frugally off $40k-80k per year in early retirement, ObeseFIRE involves hitting investment portfolio targets upwards of $10 million or more in order to afford an outrageously lavish lifestyle without ever needing to work again.

For the newest FIRE aspirants unfamiliar with the concept, achieving Financial Independence and the ability to Retire Early is based on the principles of maximizing savings, achieving a high savings rate of 50% or more of one’s income, investing aggressively in diversified index funds or other investments, and living far below one’s means.

This enables an individual or couple to accumulate enough passive income from their investments to afford to quit traditional work years if not decades earlier than the norm.

Obese FIRE then takes this savings ethos, wealth accumulation, and liberation from work to a whole new extreme.

What is Fat Fire?

Obese FIRE is somewhat of a spin-off of the Fat FIRE movement. Fat FIRE refers to achieving financial independence and retiring early with a higher net worth target that allows for greater spending and lifestyle in retirement. Specifically:

Fat FIRE typically targets a net worth of $5 million or more (sometimes $10 million+) before retiring early, compared to “regular” FIRE which targets $1-2 million.

By having a fatter portfolio and higher passive income from investments, Fat FIRE pursuers can spend more lavishly in early retirement without worrying as much about running out of money. Annual spending in retirement may be $200k+, compared to $40k-80k for regular FIRE.

Fat FIRE requires much higher lifetime savings rates and more aggressive investment strategies to accelerate reaching the higher net worth figures in a reasonable timeframe. Typically requires maximizing income, minimizing expenses, and investing savings as efficiently as possible.

The emphasis in Fat FIRE is the ability to live a more luxurious lifestyle and have greater financial security without needing to work. Travel, expensive hobbies, multiple homes etc. are more feasible.

In summary, Fat FIRE adherents aim to retire early just like regular FIRE, but with a thicker financial cushion and more extravagant lifestyle. The “fat” refers to the size of the retirement nest egg targeted.

Fat vs. Obese Fire

ObeseFIRE is an informal term that takes the concept of “Fat” FIRE to an extreme level. While there is no definitive threshold, here are some key characteristics:

• Targeting a portfolio well in excess of the $5-10 million targeted in traditional Fat FIRE – often $20 million+, if not $50+ million.
• Ability to afford absolutely luxurious, excessive and indulgent lifestyles both before and especially during early retirement. Things like:
• Owning multiple enormous mansions around the world
• Flying private jets regularly
• Owning a fleet of supercars
• First class luxury travel and accommodation always
• Outrageous spending on entertainment, clothing, jewelry etc.
• Typically requires building substantial businesses or having an incredibly high-paying corporate career at the pinnacle of industries like finance, big tech, medicine etc.
• Also may be achievable by having a large inheritance or via getting exceptionally lucky with very high risk investments like cryptocurrency or hot stocks.

ObeseFIRE participants have accumulated such an enormous amount of wealth that expense or consumption is barely a consideration at all when retiring extremely early. It represents the extreme end of lavish, excessive lifestyles enabled by wealth. The term rhetorically suggests living large off investments to an “obese” degree.