1954: How FIRE Parents Hack Childcare, Housing and Education

If you’ve ever looked at the FIRE movement — Financial Independence, Retire Early — and thought, that sounds great… but what about kids? — today’s episode is for you.

For years, the assumption has been that FIRE works best for people without children: dual-income professionals willing to live extremely frugally in pursuit of early retirement. But what happens when you want both financial independence and a family?

My guest today, Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung are some of the pioneers of the modern FIRE movement. The couple retired in their early 30s with over a million dollars invested and inspired thousands of people to rethink the traditional path of working for decades before enjoying life.

But even after achieving financial independence, Kristy found herself confronting a new financial question: Could they afford to have a child?

In their new book, Parent Like a Millionaire, Kristy and Bryce explore what it really takes to raise a family while maintaining financial freedom. From resisting the pressure to overspend on baby gear, to rethinking housing, childcare, and education, their approach challenges many of the assumptions we’ve been taught about the cost of raising kids.

In this conversation, Kristy and Bryce share practical strategies for making your money work harder as a parent — and how thoughtful financial planning can reduce stress and create more freedom for families.

We also explore the deeper emotional layer behind financial independence. Kristy grew up in poverty, and her pursuit of FIRE was driven not just by the desire to retire early, but by the need for security and stability. What happens when someone who has worked so hard to escape financial instability decides to raise a child? Can financial independence help break cycles of generational money trauma?

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