What Is PovertyFIRE? The Most Extreme FIRE Flavour Explained

PovertyFIRE means retiring on a budget at or below the UK official poverty line, typically £12,000-£18,000 a year for a single adult after housing.

It is the most extreme flavour of FIRE, sitting one notch below Lean FIRE on the spending scale and treating subsistence as the entire goal.

The maths only works if your housing is already paid off, or you have permanent low-rent housing, or you live in a country where shelter is genuinely cheap.

A single boiler replacement, dental bill, or council tax revaluation can blow up the plan, because there is no slack in the budget for unexpected costs.

For most UK readers, Coast FIRE, Lean FIRE, or Barista FIRE will produce a freer life than PovertyFIRE, because the small extra capital buys disproportionate optionality.