Quoting the BBC on financial independence

We had packed lunches every day for 10 years and retired at 40 Auntie Beeb Just reading an article about the FIRE (Financially Independent, Retire Early) movement and I have Opinions™. First, my obligatory declaration that I'm not talking about you. The headline centres around a couple who big up their coupon clipping and explain how they charge their phones away from home. The BBC skims over their actual salaries with Aside from their good incomes which is a significant aside; he is a self-employed lifestyle coach and she works in the financial industry. The other story outlined in the article similarly buries the lede under frugality. An American from Texas retires decades earlier than the average retirement age –lauded for her ability to do so– which she did by moving to countries like Japan and Singapore to take advantage of high wages in private education, living frugally, sharing expenses with a housemate, and then retiring to Bali to exploit their low cost of living. All of…