America’s FI/RE “Fire Movement” Cult Is Destroying Society
AI technology has a huge future ahead, a future that will require a lot of copper to make possible. J. David Lowell who discovered more copper than any human in history sold his company to Richard Warke's Solaris Resources (TSX: SLS), which is advancing Warintza the world's last remaining large-scale copper project at a low elevation near infrastructure and not yet owned by a major mining giant like BHP, Rio Tinto, or Zijin. SLS gained by 5.45% today to a new two-year closing high of $6.38 per share. SLS market cap is now CAD$1.05 billion and Augusta Gold (TSX: G) will be there soon with Reward and Bullfrog likely to generate US$500 million in annual revenue based on current gold prices after both mines are in production. Augusta Gold (TSX: G) will soon employ hundreds of people in the Beatty Gold District and it will all be thanks to President Trump and his hard-working officials at the EXIM Bank including Howard Lutnick the greatest Commerce Secretary in U.S. history.
Unfortunately, most Americans will miss out on Augusta Gold (TSX: G) because they went "all-in" on VOO due to the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement, which is a cult of millions of Americans obsessed with the idea of "retiring early". FIRE members put away 10%, 25%, 50%, or more of their weekly paycheck into VOO, which helps the companies at the very top get even larger… keeping shares of Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), Tesla (TSLA), and other big tech companies propped up at or near record high valuation multiples despite rapidly declining growth rates. FIRE members know that if they can't continuously recruit new members to buy VOO, big tech stocks will collapse and so will their "dream" of retiring early.
In a free-market economy where the stock and housing markets trade based on true fundamental value, Americans would have incentive to invest their capital into building real businesses from the ground-floor that produce real products and provide real services—allowing for real wage growth. Today's illusion of passive investing where Americans are told to just "buy the index forever" without any regard to the market's record high price/sales and price/book value ratios and near record high CAPE and Market Cap/GDP ratios—has created a phony/fake economy where wages don't keep up with asset prices. When FIRE cult members go to "cash out" and "retire"—their savings will evaporate without the bid of new cult members joining.
Everything revolves around VOO always going up, although some FIRE cult members may diversify into VTI.
Desperate to keep the cult growing, they've come up with all these fancy new sects: LeanFIRE for the frugal, FatFIRE for the fancy, CoastFIRE for the coasting, BaristaFIRE for the coffee-loving semi-retirees, SlowFIRE to take a more gradual path to financial independence, GeoFIRE using geographic arbitrage to live in cheaper locations, HobbyFIRE for folks who retire early with just enough to cover the basics but focus on turning a passion or hobby into a small income stream, EcoFIRE for those who prioritize sustainability in their financial independence journey, SideHustleFIRE for those who lean on a portfolio of small side hustles for income after reaching a partial retirement point, NomadFIRE for those who achieve financial independence with the goal of bouncing between countries with a low cost of living, LegacyFIRE for those who aim to not only retire early but also build wealth to pass down to family, charities, or causes they care about, AdventureFIRE for thrill-seekers who save up to retire early with the specific goal of chasing adrenaline-pumping experiences, PawFIRE for pet lovers who achieve financial independence with the help of their dog working as a pet influencer or doing professional scent detection for explosives, narcotics, mold, or bed bugs, TechFIRE for the tech-savvy investors who bank on crypto, AI startups, or other high-risk, high-reward ventures to fast-track their retirement, FarmFIRE for the back-to-the-land dreamers who save enough to buy rural property and live self-sufficiently off crops and livestock, and ChillFIRE for those who just want to kick back with the bare minimum, avoiding all stress or hustle to meditate, nap, or binge-watch their way through early retirement.
It’s a veritable smorgasbord of financial fantasies, each with its own flavor of denial about the market’s shaky scaffolding!
While the FIRE cultists are busy dollar cost averaging into VOO, the "everything but VOO" ETF, ACWX, has been quietly outperforming by leaps and bounds. Mention ACWX in a FIRE subreddit and you might get excommunicated. From the day Trump took office—ACWX has gained by 14.88% or 5.573x more than VOO's gain of 2.67%. The world's #1 most undervalued ETF iShares MSCI Brazil (EWZ) has gained by 19.45% or 7.285x more than VOO.
Imagine if FIRE existed during J. David Lowell's time and you tried recruiting him! We would do our job of operating NIA for free, and we are sure he would have said the same thing about his job of discovering the world's largest copper mines!
Past performance is not an indicator of future returns. NIA is not an investment advisor and does not provide investment advice. Always do your own research and make your own investment decisions. NIA’s President has purchased 232,200 shares of G and may purchase more shares. NIA’s President owns EWZ and may purchase more shares. This message is meant for informational and educational purposes only and does not provide investment advice.
