8 Years Later: The FIRE Mistakes That Shaped My Journey

About this episode

Michael shares his journey to financial independence, discussing mistakes and lessons learned over 8 years.

In this episode, Michael shares the full story of his journey to financial independence - from moving to Ireland from New Zealand in 2011, to building a life with more freedom, less money stress, and far more intention around how he lives. What started as a normal middle-class life of earning and spending gradually changed after meeting a friend living a very different kind of life - one built around time freedom rather than consumerism. That experience opened his eyes to the FIRE movement and set him on a very different path over the next 8 years. Michael talks about the mistakes he made early on, from poor pension decisions to chasing high returns through unregulated investments that ultimately cost him time, money, and peace of mind. Looking back, one of the biggest lessons was that investing does not need to be exciting to work. The more he chased shortcuts, the more complicated things became. Real progress came when he focused on the basics: tracking spending, saving consistently, automating where possible, thinking long term, and keeping investing simple. He also reflects on what life looks like today, how money stress affected relationships in the early years, and how even…

People in this episode

Host: Michael Houghton

Topics covered

• financial independence
• FIRE movement
• investing mistakes
• money management
• personal finance
• life lessons

Keywords

• financial independence
• FIRE
• investing
• money stress
• personal finance
• life lessons
• spending habits

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Ireland, New Zealand

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• Ireland vs New Zealand: A Cost of Living Showdown · February 17, 2026 · 16 min