About the Blog
This blog is a roadmap for public sector employees to achieve Financial Independence and Retire Early, a movement commonly known as FIRE.
While our counterparts in the private sector may earn more on average, we have several advantages: high job security, comprehensive health plans, pensions, regular raises, and work-life balance. For many of us, we also have access to an underrated tool: the 457(b) pre-tax retirement account, with its own contribution limit and penalty-free withdrawals upon separation of service. When taken together, these benefits can double the leverage of your salary.
Besides exploring how to maximize government benefits, a niche sometimes called “GovFIRE”, Civil Service FIRE aims to incorporate the best aspects of the FIRE movement, from CoastFIRE and BaristaFIRE to LeanFIRE and ExpatFIRE. Knowing when the golden handcuffs have become an illusion, working part time, practicing minimalism, and moving to lower cost of living overseas: all good ideas.
I will also cover, from time to time, topics of wider financial scope I feel deserve greater attention.
About the Author
I am a civil servant in California with a goal to retire in my early 40s outside the United States. I’ve been drawn to personal finance ever since I took on too much debt to try to earn a degree I didn’t need. In two short years, I paid off that debt, and a half year later I purchased a condo. My path has been all state and local government since then, first in the outdoors and now at an office. Every day I’m learning something new, and I hope to share that knowledge with others.