FI School: The Ultimate Guide to FI

FI School The Ultimate Guide to FI

Welcome to FI School! 

To learn more about FI School, visit the intro page.

Scroll through the lesson summaries below to get to the content that’s relevant to you. The topics are arranged in a natural progression—one building on the other. But there are no rules! Work through the content in the order you find most useful, at your own pace.

Unit 1: FI Basics

Get started, progress through the stages of FI, and reach your goals!

7 lessons

Lesson 1: FI 101

What is FI, and why pursue it? This lesson will answer all your questions and motivate you with inspiring stories.

Lesson 2: Frugality and saving

Looking for easy ways to get your FI journey started? Frugality and saving are the low-hanging fruits of FI and the simplest ways to get the ball rolling.

Lesson 3: Budgeting and tracking

Wish you could build your FI nest egg faster? You can—by putting every dollar to work. (Don’t worry—it’s easier and less boring than you think!)

Lesson 4: Income

Want to know what your greatest asset is? It’s you! Learn how to maximize your human capital, earn more money and reach your FI goals sooner.

Lesson 5: Early retirement planning

Ready for the fun part? Learn how to plan for your early retirement and make your FI goals a reality.

Lesson 6: Index investing

Looking for a simple, low-maintenance investment strategy to grow your FI nest egg? You’ve found it in index investing! Learn all about it in this lesson.

Lesson 7: Investing

Want to maximize returns, reduce risk, and have more peace of mind? Build your investing knowledge—because more knowledge equals more wealth.

Unit 2: FI Boosters

Learn about ways to keep and earn more income and boost your FI journey. 

5 lessons

Lesson 8: Tax optimization

I love paying more taxes… says no one. Learn this FI ninja skill to (legally) keep more of your hard-earned cash. 

Lesson 9: Side hustles

Day job’s not getting you to FI soon enough? It’s never been easier to earn money in your spare time! Learn all about side hustles in this lesson.

Lesson 10: Real estate

Want a proven way to grow your wealth? Try the FI community’s favourite business/investment hybrid: real estate investing.

Lesson 11: House hacking

Are housing costs delaying your journey to FI? Why not turn your home into an income-producing asset? Learn all about house hacking in this lesson.

Lesson 12: Travel hacking

Want to travel the world for free or cheap? You can with travel hacking! Learn how to get started with this lucrative hobby.

Unit 3: FI Extensions

The incredibly important—but often overlooked aspects of the FI journey. 

4 lessons

Lesson 13: Happiness

Want to know the true why for FI? For most of us, it’s happiness. Learn how to build more of it into your life.

Lesson 14: Personal growth

Seeking greater happiness, health, and wealth? Continually growing and improving ourselves can lead us to all that we seek and more.

Lesson 15: Estate planning

Estate planning is a gift and act of love for those we care about. No one wants to think about it, but we all should. Learn how to get started, then take action!

Lesson 16: Conclusion and resources

Congratulations! You’ve completed FI school—now what? Here’s a list of resources and articles to keep your FI journey going.

A sincere thank you…

To the amazing content creators I’ve featured in FI School: Thank you for sharing your stories and your work with the world. 

Without your contributions, there’d be no FI journey for me, no Eat Sleep Breathe FI, and no FI School. You’ve inspired, taught, and motivated me to pursue a life with more choices, freedom, and joy. 

My hope is for others to discover your stories through FI School, and be likewise moved to change their lives (and become your newest fans)!

Support this blog

If you liked this article and want more content like this, please support this blog by sharing it! Not only does it help spread the FIRE, but it lets me know what content you find most useful. (Which encourages me to write more of it!) 

You can also support this blog by visiting my recommendations page and purchasing through the links. Note that not every link is an affiliate link—some are just favourite products and services that I want to share. 🙂

As always, however you show your support for this blog—THANK YOU!

10 Comments

  • Reply
    Sam
    January 26, 2019 at 6:47 am

    Chrissy, this looks great. I am just sitting down today to consider my intentions for February and one of them is now to start making my way through all of this information. Thanks so much for all of your hard work on this.

    • Reply
      Chrissy
      January 26, 2019 at 8:25 pm

      Hi Sam, thank you for stopping by to check out FI School. I’d love to get your feedback. Let me know what you think!

  • Reply
    Kris
    February 1, 2019 at 12:53 pm

    Hey this is a great idea Chrissy!! Rounding all of these blog posts and turning into different FI lessons. I’ll check these out for sure. Big thanks for doing this!!

    • Reply
      Chrissy
      February 1, 2019 at 2:14 pm

      Hey Kris, thanks for coming by! I’m sure you’re quite the FI expert already, but you can never learn too much about FI and money, right? 🤑

  • Reply
    Savvy History
    March 5, 2019 at 3:50 pm

    Wow! Really impressed with how organized and approachable this looks. You’ve put together an amazing go-to resource. Thanks for your hard work.

    • Reply
      Chrissy
      March 5, 2019 at 5:18 pm

      Aw, thanks Michelle! I really do want to help others discover FI, and hope this makes it just a bit easier and less overwhelming.

  • Reply
    Bob Wen
    December 26, 2019 at 9:06 pm

    Fantastic resource! Clearly this took a great deal of time and effort. Many thanks.

    If you add a miscellaneous/bonus page, here’s my suggestions:
    – Playing with FIRE: The Documentary – movie trailer: https://youtu.be/kD8uNm5ck0Q
    – Valuable Lessons from My Second Year of Freedom audio/podcast episode: https://www.madfientist.com/second-year-of-freedom/
    – Warren Buffett’s 2017 Letter to Berkshire Shareholders, the section called “The Bet” starting on page 11: http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2017ltr.pdf
    – Investing Demystified (5 videos): https://youtu.be/_chiIIxMGl0

    • Reply
      Chrissy
      December 29, 2019 at 4:31 pm

      Hi Bob, thanks for sharing your links. They’re all excellent, and I’ll find a way to incorporate them into FI School (probably in the appropriate lessons). I appreciate you taking the time to comment and share!

  • Reply
    Bob Wen
    December 26, 2019 at 9:11 pm

    Re: “Valuable Lessons from My Second Year of Freedom audio/podcast episode:” – It’s the audio to the first year of freedom (on the same page) that I found the most impactful.

    • Reply
      Chrissy
      December 29, 2019 at 4:34 pm

      Thanks for clarifying. I always enjoy Mad Fientist’s shows and will relisten to this one.

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