India, the rental yield or rental income is around 2-3%.

While retiring early is an individual choice, financial independence can do a world of good for everyone.

We are never truly free until we are financially independent.

It means not having to worry about money or our expenses for the remainder of our life.

It frees us from having to work for money ever again.

Once this happens we would deeply think about what it is that we truly want to do with our life.

It would also help us have a good relationship with money, instead of running mindlessly in our career without really knowing what we are running for.

But, how much do we need to say we are financially independent ?

The rough estimate is 25 times our annual expenses.

For example, an average middle class family in a metro city will have 1 lakh as monthly expenses, which translates to 12 lakhs per year.

So, the FIRE no is 25 * 12,00,000 = 3 Cr.

With 3 Cr as corpus, one can easily retire or pursue his other interests in life.

But, why do they say 25 times annual expenses is good enough ?

Let's say one retires with 3 Cr corpus.

Even a very conservative return of 4% on 3 Cr will give him 12 lakhs income which is enough to cover his annual expenses.

Ideally, one should invest 50% in equity and 50% in debt to get much better return to take care of inflation too.

Financial independence is a game of finding a way to make money while we sleep, and not a game of working until we are old enough to leave the world.