FIRE in India — Is Early Retirement Realistic? Your Numbers, Your Plan

## FIRE in the Indian context The FIRE movement was born in the US and adapted to Indian conditions requires adjustments: **Higher inflation**: India's CPI runs at 5–7% vs US 2–3%. A 4% withdrawal rate isn't safe long-term in India. Use 3–3.5%. **No social security**: No universal pension system means 100% self-funded retirement. Every rupee must come from your corpus or passive income. **Healthcare wildcard**: Indian healthcare costs are lower than the US, but medical inflation runs at 10–12%. A serious illness in your 70s can devastate an under-planned corpus. Include health insurance and a separate medical emergency fund. ## A realistic FIRE example for India Couple, 32. Monthly expenses: ₹70,000. FIRE target: 45. Life expectancy: 85. - Annual expenses at 45 (6% inflation for 13 years): ~₹16 lakh - Corpus needed (3.5% SWR): ₹4.6 crore - Current corpus: ₹30 lakh - Annual savings: ₹12 lakh (₹1 lakh/month) - At 10% return: reaches ₹4.6 crore in approximately 13 years ✓ ## Coast FIRE as a gentler path Instead of accumulating your full FIRE corpus, accumulate enough that it will grow to your FIRE number by traditional retirement age without additional contributions. Then switch to a lower-stress job or gig work you enjoy.