Home Economics No. 7: FIRE family living in Kansas City, Mo., on $125k with a goal of saving $2.5 million
And they just paid off their mortgage.
Welcome to The Purse, a newsletter about money and women and motherhood and careers and all that good stuff!
Hello! Welcome to the first paid edition of Home Economics!
I’m excited to share today’s edition. I originally picked this entry because it features a married couple living on a single income after the husband was laid off from his job. But when I started reading further, it became abundantly clear that, thanks to a mix of family inheritance and careful saving and investing, the couple is able to get by without too much strain during this period of unemployment. And then I had a lovely conversation with the wife, and I’m pretty sure we’d be friends if I lived in Kansas City. (Which, Ken will tell you, could never, ever happen, because we are staunch 49ers fans!)
The couple want to retire early, and they loosely follow the FIRE movement. For those unfamiliar, FIRE stands for “Financial Independence, Retire Early.” This Time article does a pretty good job of summing it up, if you’re curious.
I know from keeping up with the comment sections in past Home Economics that there’s a desire to see more stories from people who struggle with their finances. And I don’t disagree, and I will always try to tell a range of stories. But I also think this is an interesting Home Ec because these people exemplify the idea of the “millionaire next door.” They make good salaries, but they aren’t driving fancy cars or living in big homes, and that gives them an amazing opportunity to take risks and spend more time with loved ones because they don’t have to worry about earning a huge salary in order to support their lifestyle. (Of course, they have a lot of privilege, and they recognize that, and so do I.)
Just a reminder that I’m always looking for new Home Economics entries. Help me tell a range of stories!
Age: 38
Location: Kansas City, Mo.
Relationship status: Married
Age of partner: 40
About me: My husband and I have two daughters, and we live in Kansas City, Mo. I work as a business director in the healthcare industry, and my husband works in tech but was laid off from his job this spring. We are able to live on one salary because we’ve always kept our cost of living very low (drive an old car, live in a smaller house) and have a high savings rate (thanks in part to my husband not having student loans, plus we received some inheritance from grandparents). We loosely follow the FIRE movement with the goal of being able to retire early, but it has also allowed us not to stress as much during my husband’s period of unemployment.