Episode CF09 – FIRE Strategies In France Pt. 2
Hello! Today we will listen to the second part of the talk between Alvar and two French Fiers, Victor and Maxime. While the first part has been very technical, in this second tranche we hear more about the personal life and approach to financial independence of our two guests, with several useful insights along the way. Enjoy!
We also talk about:
- Salaries in France
- Living in Paris
- Fat and Lean FIRE
- The “micro-entrepreneur” tax regime
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Victor’s journey to FI
Victor is 31 and his quest for financial independence began about eight years ago: he was working in investment banking not long after the 2008 crisis so he was working something like 90 to 100 hours per per week and taking the metro all the time. At one point he decided that he needed to find a way of getting out of the system in 10 years. But salaries were not that great in France at the time, so he started looking at American blogs about FI. There he started thinking about real estate investment and everything started.
Maxime’s approach to reach FI in Europe
Maxime is 21 and is in his last year of engineering studies, which in France means he also studied management and similar disciplines. He came in touch with the FI movement early in his life, and after comparing the situation in the US and Europe he has developed a clear strategy that he finds is the only one that could take him to financial independence in France in reasonable time: having a primary income from a steady job and running his side business in video games, going all out for 10 years and trying to save around 70 to 80 per cent of his income.
The Barista way to FI
Barista FIRE is A Hybrid Between Fat FIRE and Lean FIRE. In a way is being able to retire before the conventional age of 60+, but taking on a part-time job for supplemental income, health insurance and state-pension participation. Basically, the idea behind Barista FIRE is simple – save enough so that you only need to make a little bit of income each year from work in order to fund your lifestyle. This work could be barista, freelance or a part-time job at your old company. It is also ideal for people that want to maintain some sort of professional activity, in other words want to be FI but not necessarily RE. Therefore, with Barista FIRE, you can find something you love to do that also pays a bit as well.
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