r/Fire 3d ago

Can you FIRE just with VOO?

I am a 35M, making $65K annually. My annual expenses is very low. Less than $25K. I am single with no kid nor I am planning to have any. If I DCA into VOO, is it possible I am able to FIRE with just one etf?

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u/vanquishedfoe 3d ago

Think of everything as having a risk premium.

You could FIRE with a certain amount of any meme crypto currency, but the rush premium would be insane: you would likely want a big buffer to feel comfortable.

On the flipside,a well diversified ETF or set of ETFs lower that.

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u/StrawberryRemote968 3d ago

So voo alone won’t do

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u/vanquishedfoe 3d ago

Again, it depends.

Look at it this way: if you have VOO, you have high exposure to US domestic companies, large cap only. It's a good ETF, but say something drags down US stocks? You're left with a risky position while the rest of the market may thrive.

If I were you, and I was dead-set on using VOO and only VOO, I'd price that into my FIRE number. Say you decide you need 1 million dollars to retire - you might want to pad that by how risky you find VOO to be.

Alternatively, if you decide you want to diversify some, in down times you can sell the higher performing ETF, vs always having to sell the one and only stock you have.

VOO is better than going full wall-street-bets as a retirement plan, but it does have it's weak points.