Latest update January 17th, 2025 6:30 AM
FIRE movement launched to push financial independence
“Retirement is not an age; it’s a financial independence number.”
At least this is the definition being promoted by Mrs. Athalyah Yisrael, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Outliers Zone.
Outliers Zone is a financial independence training institute which recently launched its country-wide Financial Independence Retire Early (F.I.R.E) movement to help 8,400 households understand the modern retirement concept.
Cadets of the Bertam Collins School and facilitators of the FIRE movement
According to Yisrael, Outliers Zone embraces the belief that any Guyanese child, youth, adult and even elders can begin pursuing this goal in 2020.
The movement was officially launched Wednesday at the Bertram Collins College of the Public Service with 60 of its cadets ages 16 – 21. The cadets were trained in practical Financial Independence skills which, once implemented at their age, can achieve early retirement.
The goal of the FIRE movement Yisrael said, “is to learn how to live on less than you earn, aggressively begin saving and investing now so you can build assets that work without you, and give you the freedom to do what you love in your 30s or 40s or at least 10 years from starting this journey.”
Essentially, the movement is an international campaign aimed at spreading the wisdom of financial independence which can be available to “anyone who resonates with the idea of creating a life on their terms, free from debt and living only to pay bills,” Yisrael added.
According to her too, “This movement means that you build enough wealth so that you no longer have to work for money but you have assets that work for you.”
Those who join this movement, she asserted, can become financially independent when their assets produce enough income to cover their expenses.
An example Yisrael shared is, “if you build assets such as rental properties that generate $60 million dollars in annual income and your expenses for the year are $2.4 million (4% of your total assets value) then congratulations! You are now financially independent. Your assets are producing more income than you spend in a year. The idea is to find your number and start taking aggressive actions to get there.”
This Outliers Zone’s mandate, which was kicked into motion in 2019 and continues this year, is to help 11,000 households get money smart. This national campaign has started to garner noticeable momentum, said Yisrael. She disclosed that for last year, 1,000 primary and secondary students were taught the Money Smart Principles of Saving, Spending, Donating, Investing and Tithing. Additionally, 1,631 employees were taught the strategies to break free from the pay cheque-to-pay cheque lifestyle and start building a sound financial base.
This year, Outliers Zone expects the FIRE movement will help the 8,400 households pursue Financial Independence. This movement, Yisrael said, “Sets out to adequately prepare Guyana’s children, teens and adults for an oil producing economy and learn how to grow assets that will work for them and thereby reduce the level of poverty and other social ills affecting national development.”
Determining if you qualify for the movement is as simple as taking a few factors into consideration. These include: if you have no emergency savings (at least 6 months to a year expenses saved); you currently work hard for money but you have no assets working for you; your knowledge on saving and investing your income is very low and you have no comprehensive plan for retirement.
“If any of these four scenarios fits you, then the FIRE Movement is a great strategy to kick start your family’s Financial Independence journey in 2020,” said Yisrael.
The first step to joining this Financial Independence movement is registering for its inaugural upcoming online FIRE Movement Master class on February 20 at 7pm.This will allow Guyanese from all 10 regions to sign on and begin learning about Financial Independence. This online class sets out to help 100 households understand the movement, set a clear financial target for 2020, learn strategies to increase their monthly income and start their Family’s Financial Independence journey.
Yisrael, is encouraging men, women and entrepreneurs who are tired of living from pay cheque-to-pay cheque, making a lot of money but not having anything to show for it and desperately seeking a Financial Breakthrough in 2020 to join this movement. Interested persons can contact Outliers Zone at 617-0173 or via their Facebook page.
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