Is FIRE even realistic for Indian professionals in present times, what can I do to make early retirement doable?

Given India’s lack of a robust social security framework and rising healthcare costs, how realistic is the FIRE model for the average Indian professional, and what structural changes would be needed—financially and socially—to make early retirement more sustainable in India?

Beyond the financial feasibility, how should individuals psychologically and purposefully prepare for early retirement under the FIRE model to avoid the sense of aimlessness or identity loss that can follow when traditional work structures disappear?

Advice by Akhil Rathi, Head – Financial Advisory at 1 Finance

FIRE – Financial Independence and Retire Early – is something many aspire to, but few achieve because of lack of financial discipline and growing family responsibilities. Retiring at 45 means sustaining the next 40–45 years purely on your passive income, while inflation and medical costs continue to rise. The focus should not just be on early retirement but on creating a strong financial foundation, building assets that can generate inflation-adjusted income, managing risks through adequate insurance, and ensuring liquidity for emergencies. Without a solid plan covering healthcare, taxation, and consistent cash flows, early retirement can quickly become financially stressful instead of liberating.

Beyond numbers, FIRE also demands emotional and psychological readiness. Many professionals underestimate how much of their identity and daily structure is tied to their work. The goal should not be to escape work but to reach a stage where you have the flexibility to work on your own terms without financial pressure. True independence comes when you can balance financial stability with a purposeful life, where money becomes an enabler for choices, experiences, and long-term peace of mind rather than just an end goal.

Business Today has compiled a few points on FIRE:

FIRE, or Financial Independence, Retire Early, is a lifestyle philosophy built around achieving complete financial freedom well before the traditional retirement age. The idea is simple in theory: save far more than the average person, invest consistently from a young age, and allow disciplined compounding to create a corpus large enough to quit full-time work by your early forties. Followers of the FIRE mindset embrace a deliberate approach to money—minimising unnecessary spending, avoiding debt traps, and channelling a significant share of their income into equities through mutual funds, stocks, or low-cost index ETFs. Over time, this disciplined strategy aims to replace the need for a salary with an investment-generated income stream.

The early twenties are considered the ideal launchpad for FIRE. With fewer financial obligations and decades of compounding ahead, allocating 40–50% of income to investments can dramatically accelerate the journey. 

As life progresses into the thirties, responsibilities grow—marriage, childcare, home loans and rising lifestyle expectations can all strain finances. The challenge is to resist lifestyle inflation and divert increments, bonuses and surplus cash into systematic investments instead of consumption-driven expenses.

By the forties, the initial enthusiasm often meets reality. This phase tends to determine whether a person is genuinely on track for early retirement. It becomes important to reassess goals, eliminate high-interest borrowings, optimise tax structures, and begin rebalancing the portfolio to reduce risk as the target timeline approaches. Entering the fifties, the equation changes again. If the accumulated capital is sufficient, aggressive saving becomes optional and the focus shifts to steady growth and protecting the corpus. Those who lag behind may need to continue working—perhaps part-time—while maintaining strict control over spending.

A crucial pillar of the FIRE journey is knowing the target corpus, commonly estimated by multiplying annual post-retirement expenses by 25. For someone expecting to spend Rs 10 lakh a year, the goal becomes roughly Rs 2.5 crore, adjusted upward for inflation, medical needs and lifestyle choices. Ultimately, FIRE is less about extreme stinginess and more about intentional living, financial awareness and prioritising long-term freedom over short-term consumption.