If you’re in the FIRE community and you’ve heard of lifestyle creep, it’s probably been in negative context. Outside of questioning the 4% rule, it’s hard to think of bigger sin for FIRE folks than succumbing to lifestyle creep.
However, I’m not so sure it deserves such a bad rap.
Is spending more as you earn more money really such a bad thing? Can it derail your retirement plans? Shouldn’t you be investing more your index fund portfolio?
The short answer is, “yes” to all of the above.
The longer answer is, “yes, but there are ways you can smartly experience lifestyle creep without getting off track.”
We’ll dive into all those reasons and more, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First things first, what actually is Lifestyle Creep?