A Gen Xer who 'retired' at 45 shares how the FIRE movement and side hustles helped him grow his savings to over $6 million (2024)

Grumet said his finances were already in good shape — not quite good enough for him to "jump ship" and retire, though. But after learning about FIRE, he realized it could be exactly what he needed to get to the finish line.

"Discovering FIRE greatly changed my habits," he told Business Insider via email. "For the first time in my life, I started tracking and budgeting. I stopped spending money on things that weren't of value to me."

His efforts paid off. Four years later, in 2018, when he was 45, Grumet said his savings had grown enough for him to retire from his medical practice. But he didn't stop trying to improve his finances.

Over the past six years, his savings in his primary investment account have grown from roughly $2 million to more than $6 million, according to documents viewed by BI. Grumet, who's now 51 and based in Illinois, said he focuses his time on "purposeful and joyful" side hustles that keep him busy and provide an income.

"When I say retired, I mean that I no longer do these things to make money," he said. "All the activities I engage in now, I would do even if no one was paying me for them."

Many Americans are struggling to save for retirement, but the FIRE movement has offered some people a blueprint for becoming financially secure. While the methods and goals of FIRE advocates vary widely, some save the majority of their income, take on side hustles, and delay costly life milestones like having kids. While FIRE isn't for everyone, experts say some of its general principles — like consistently allocating money to diversified investment funds — are applicable to a wide audience.

Grumet shared how he's grown his savings in recent years and his main goals for his retirement.

Side hustles and investing in retirement can boost one's savings

Over the past decade, Grumet has padded his savings through various income streams. Before he retired from his medical practice, he said his average income was roughly $500,000 a year.

When he retired, he spent time working as an associate hospice medical director. While he considered this to be a side hustle, he said he earned as much as $200,000 a year. He's since scaled back his hospice work to about 10 hours a week — but said it still brings in about $75,000 a year.

In addition to hospice work, he's also tried side hustles that include medical expert work, nursing home medical directing, medical blogging, and several forms of consulting.

Additionally, he's published three books and said he has a fourth on the way. He said the first two books were self-published and "made no money," while the third book — which was traditionally published — has earned him about $20,000 over the past two years in royalties. His most recent books offer advice for improving one's finances and living a meaningful life.

Over the last year, he said he's earned about $110,000 through his various side hustles, including a podcast.

While the extra income has helped boost his savings, Grumet said investing much of this income into the stock market — and seeing strong investment returns — is what's allowed his finances to truly blossom. He said he also sold about $1 million worth of real estate, which provided additional investment funds.

Grumet said his retirement goal was to have at least 25 times his total annual spending in savings — he's already met this milestone. When he set the goal, he said he averaged about $175,000 in annual spending — putting his goal savings figure at roughly $4.4 million.

To be sure, Grumet's level of savings is likely to be out of reach for many people. Business Insider has interviewed other members of the FIRE community who have less ambitious goals — some said they were aiming for between $1.5 million and $2.5 million in savings.

Money doesn't solve all problems

Ever since he embraced the FIRE movement, Grumet said he's sometimes struggled to balance active saving and using some money to enjoy his life. But he said this has gotten easier in recent years.

"I have started spending more freely than before," he said. "I pay less attention to the stock market and concentrate more on using money as a tool to live the life I want to live."

Over the last few years, he said his average annual spending has increased from $175,000 to roughly $250,000.

Going forward, Grumet plans to continue pursuing side hustles that interest him. He said two of his main goals for retirement are to live a life "full of purpose and joy" and think less about his finances. He thinks this would improve his personal life satisfaction and his relationships with his family.

He also hopes to continue using the free time financial security has provided him to work on other areas of his life.

"Money solves money problems," he said. "Being financially independent didn't solve the other myriad problems that come with being a human being. I just had more free time to work on them."

Are you part of the FIRE movement or living by some of its principles? Are you willing to share your story? Reach out to this reporter at jzinkula@businessinsider.com.