- Many Gen Z Americans are prioritizing financial literacy in an effort to retire early.
- Younger Americans are investing more than previous generations, with two-thirds saving early for retirement.
- Four Gen Zers said they are embracing FIRE principles like cutting back on expenses and diversifying their income.
Gen Z is becoming more financially savvy, with many doing all they can to retire early.
Younger Americans are far more likely to invest than their parents, who were in their early-to-mid 20s, and two-thirds of Gen Zers have already started saving for retirement, according to the Transamerica Center for Retirement Research.
Four Gen Z Americans told Business Insider that they followed principles from the FIRE (financial independence, retire early) movement to achieve a high net worth by their 30th birthday, which includes cutting expenses, investing in index funds and real estate, taking on side hustles to generate passive income, and maxing out retirement accounts early.
Some people had no intention of following the “retire early” part of the acronym, instead preferring to pursue their passions while still earning money.
Their stories range from serial entrepreneurs to Boeing engineers to Navy petty officers, but all four emphasized that sacrifice and risk early in life may be the key to future financial security.
Cody Berman, Entrepreneur and “Passive Income Expert”
Cody Berman, 28, achieved financial freedom at age 25 but has no plans to retire early. He started several businesses in college, some of which failed, before launching a successful disc golf manufacturing company.
“I always thought of 'rich' as people who made a really high amount per hour, like doctors or lawyers who made $200 or $300 an hour,” Berman says, “but I realized that you don't actually have to trade time for money. You can trade time, energy and money, because things are going to pay you forever, whether you're working on them or not.”
He got a corporate job as a commercial real estate lender but worked hard every morning and night on his side hustle, sometimes working 15-hour days. After seven months, he quit that job to focus all his energy on freelancing, digital products, blogging, and podcasting.
At age 25, he was making about $400,000 a year from a side hustle and considered himself financially independent. He saved about 90% of his income, investing most of it in index funds and a portfolio of 11 rental properties.
“I'm not in the FIRE movement to invest in real estate,” Berman says. “I love building businesses.”
His net worth is about $2.8 million, but he drives a 2015 Nissan truck with nearly 100,000 miles on it. He and his wife live in a one-bedroom house and rent out a four-bedroom house next door. Cutting down on housing costs has allowed them to spend about $10,000 a month on travel, dining out, and concerts.
Berman, co-founder of Gold City Ventures, which helps people start Etsy businesses selling prints through workshops and classes, said he's seen people leave the corporate world to make more money selling online.
Jubilee Bosch, Engineer on Sabbatical
Jubilee Bosch, 26, has worked as an engineer in St. Louis since graduating from college, but is on leave because her net worth is more than $190,000.
Bosch grew up in a lower-middle-class California family with a stay-at-home mother and a military father who worked three jobs before starting a housecleaning business. He was raised to be frugal but never learned how to invest.
After attending a community college and a four-year university, she earned a degree in mechanical engineering and graduated debt-free thanks to merit scholarships, college employment and help from her parents.
After the internship, she was hired full-time by Boeing, making $64,000 a year. Though she struggled with the transition to the corporate world and quickly burned out, she negotiated a promotion and a raise to $95,000 a year, and continued to move up the ranks. Around this time, she read about strategies for achieving financial independence and increased her investments while helping a friend open a Roth IRA.
She kept her annual expenses down to about $22,000 and put most of her savings into the market: She moved into a smaller space with her partner, strategically packed meals and got a travel credit card to lower her out-of-pocket airfare costs.
“I was starting to realize that maybe I didn't want a traditional career, and there would probably be a period in my life where I wouldn't have a permanent job, so I could carry that over and save on taxes,” Bosch said.
She had enough investments and savings to take a year off work, so she cut back on her investments to create a cash cushion. She realized she no longer needed to be “extremely frugal” and could spend her money on things that matter to her. She now plans to retire between 45 and 55 and wants to explore different career paths.
“I started spending more money in the areas that brought me the most joy and realized the lifestyle changes were worth it with little impact on my bottom line,” Bosch said.
Amber Smith, online reseller and content creator from the tech industry
Amber Smith, 27, has a net worth of about $250,000 and left her tech job earlier this year to focus on her side hustle.
Smith, who lives in West Des Moines, said her parents both sold things on eBay as a side hustle, and they stressed the importance of having a side hustle. She got a full scholarship to college and landed an internship in financial planning by chance. She read financial blogs and got training from her manager on how to best prepare others and herself for the future.
“I had my first real office job and I was thinking, can I do that for the next 40 years of my life, or can I save aggressively now to shorten it?” Smith said.
After graduating, she worked as a contractor for the local government and a bank. Two years after college, she landed a job at a startup making $78,000, then moved to a financial technology company making about $100,000. But after being laid off from both jobs in quick succession and landing a job in the insurance industry, she felt stressed and directionless.
She had enough savings to survive without a corporate job for a few years, so she quit her job in insurance and started a side hustle, turning down interviews with recruiters and focusing on creating profitable content and reselling used clothing.
While she was working for her previous company, she was making $30,000-50,000 a year reselling part-time. In the first five months of 2024, she made more from brand deals and influencer work than she did in all of 2023. While content creation is less stable, she once made $2,800 from a brand deal and has accepted other deals that paid more than $1,000.
She said her savings are down this year due to a drop in income after she left the corporate world, but she's not too worried because she's been smart about investing and her net worth continues to grow.
“I want to have a way to pay my bills and earn a living, and I want to do it without stress,” Smith said. “Even if I make less than I did in insurance, that peace of mind is a big factor.”
Corey Sarkisian, a Navy petty officer seeking a financial planning position
Corey Sarkisian, 27, served as a Navy petty officer for eight years and saved and invested $375,000 during that time. For the past six years, he and his wife, with whom they have two children, have been living off one income, splitting their time between San Diego, Hawaii and Connecticut.
He had saved up $10,000 before joining the Navy, and during his first three years in the service, he didn't have to worry about food or housing, allowing him to save almost every dollar he made. In 2016, he bought himself a Honda Civic with cash, a car he'd bought four years earlier, and still drives it today.
In 2018, he moved out of his government housing and got married. With a monthly housing allowance of $2,700, the standard rate for his rank, he and his wife found an apartment for $1,700 a month and kept the rest. He also never paid for medical care, because it was free through the military.
In 2020, he began investing in index funds through a Roth IRA and a Thrift Savings plan, and he and his wife put a 10% down payment on a condo with a 15-year mortgage and 1.75% interest rate. Two years later, he was forced to relocate to Connecticut, but sold the condo for $70,000 more than he paid for it, and used the money to fund his children's 529 plans, buy a used car, and put more money into a brokerage account.
They have $180,000 in a Roth account, $125,000 in after-tax brokerage accounts, $45,000 in savings and $21,000 in a 529 plan. They used their savings to travel to four Hawaiian islands and New Zealand. Sarkisian said he wants to develop a financial plan after he retires from the Navy.
“I don't think we're sacrificing ourselves,” Sarkisian said. “We put up with a few inconveniences in the beginning, but I think we've found a pretty good balance.”
Are you part of the FIRE movement or live by its principles? Contact this reporter. nsheidlower@businessinsider.com.
