It’s sweeping the World Nation Internet okay maybe just the Personal Finance Blogosphere so far, but it has already started a chain gang, and it has the potential to go far and wide. What am I talking about? It’s the FIRE Prowess Gauge, and today I’m bringing you this special post – the FIRE Prowess Score for Life Zemplified and The Gang.

FIRE Prowess Gauge and The Official FIRE Prowess Score Chain Gang

JW from The Green Swan wrote a post titled “The Swan’s Prowess Gauge // Savings Rates be Damned.” In his post, JW explains a new metric he developed to measure one’s progress towards FIRE (financial independence/retire early). By dividing the change in one’s annual net worth by their total annual gross income, they will receive their FIRE Prowess Score.

My friend Fritz, from The Retirement Manifesto, liked JW’s new gauge so much he inspired other personal finance bloggers to calculate their scores and spread the word. I’m jumping in and joining the gang as well.

Here’s the calculation:

FIRE Prowess Gauge = Change in Net Worth / Total Gross Income

And here’s how to decipher your FIRE Prowess score.

If over the last five years your FIRE Prowess is:

• Negative or 0.0x – Not even on the path toward retirement, let alone FIRE. If you aren’t saving and investing any money and your net worth isn’t growing, then it is time to make some changes and develop positive financial habits. It may be a change to a frugal lifestyle or getting an advanced degree to take the next step in your career.
• 0.0x to 0.25x – You’re conscious of your retirement and know you should plan for it, but early retirement may not be on your radar at this point.
• .25x to 0.50x – You’ve got the ball rolling, and you’re certainly trying! Keep investing wisely, perhaps add a side-hustle or few lifestyle tweaks to lower expenses and FIRE can be within your grasp.
• .50x to 0.75x – You’re working hard toward your retirement goals! Early retirement is definitely possible. Keep working hard, and that investment snowball will be rolling (compounding) in no time!
• .75x to 1.0x – FIRE is on your mind, and you are performing in overdrive right now!
• 1.0x and over – You are killing it! Don’t make any stupid mistakes and FIRE will be within your grasp in no time. In this scenario, your net worth is more than your lifetime earnings which Joe at Retire By 40 recently wrote about.

FIRE Prowess Score for Life Zemplified

So how are we doing? Pretty good it seems!

While I don’t quite have a full five years, we are pretty close, and these numbers make sense to me.

John and I married in March of 2013 and fully merged households at the end of May 2013, so 2014 was the first full year of paying for only one home. In 2015 I left a position mid-year due to our relocating, and I did not start working again until January of 2016. We also bought our current home in 2015. We’ve been saving diligently, and I think it shows from these scores.

The Lifetime score may be a little deceiving as it’s not really our score from the beginning of our income earning life, but our score over these last five years.

Please check out these posts below if you’ve not already done so, and calculate your own score. Let us know in the comments how you are doing or join the chain gang to share with everyone.

The Official FIRE Prowess Score Chain Gang:

• Anchor: The Green Swan – The Swan’s FIRE Prowess Gauge – 2016:  132%  Lifetime: 93%
• Link 1: The Retirement Manifesto – Is Your Wealth Building On Track? – 2016: 57%  Lifetime:  44%
• Link 2: OthalaFehu – My Swan FIRE Prowess Numbers – 2016: 72% Lifetime: 61%
• Link 3: Budget On A Stick – My FIRE Prowess Score  – 2016: 52%  Lifetime: 55%
• Link 4: Shnugi – Calculating My Savings Rate  – 2016: 71%  Lifetime 54%
• Link 5: Dads Dollars Debt – DDD’s FIRE Prowess – 2016: 26% Lifetime 32%
• Link 6: Debts To Riches – My FIRE Prowess Report Card  – 2016: 29% Lifetime 43%
• Link 7: Adventure Rich – The Adventure Rich FIRE Prowess Score – 2016: 45% Lifetime 47%
• Link 8: Freedom Is Groovy – The Groovies FIRE Prowess Score – 2016: 163% Lifetime 90%
• Link 9: Working Optional  – Calculate Your Progress To Financial Freedom – 2016: 97%  Lifetime 75%
• Link 10: Budgets Are Sexy – My Total Lifetime Wealth Ratio:  – 2016:  135%  Lifetime 60%
• Link 11: Life Zemplified – FIRE Prowess Score for Life Zemplified And The Gang  – 2016: 78%  Lifetime 76%
• Link 12: Physician Wealth Services – Physician Wealth’s FIRE Prowess Score 2016: 43% Lifetime 46%
• Link 13: Married and Harried – Married and Harried FIRE Prowess Score  – 2016: 32% Lifetime 14%
• Link 14: Ms. Liz Money Matters – Introducing the FIRE Prowess Score  – 2016 279%  Lifetime 72%
• Link 15: Actuary on FIRE – The Swan’s FIRE Prowess Gauge – My Results  – 2016: 61% Lifetime  %59
• Link 16: Trail to FI –  FIRE Prowess Score, Trail to FI Edition – 2016: 34% Lifetime  %53
• Link 17: Maximum Cents –Maximum Cents’ FIRE Prowess Score – 2016: 56% Lifetime: 70%
• Link 18: Retiring On My Terms – ROMT’s FIRE Prowess Score – 2016: 119% Lifetime 57%
• Link 19: Minifi – The Minafi FIRE Prowess Score – 2016: 74% Lifetime: 94%
• Link 20: Military Dollar – FIRE Prowess Scores and How To Correct For Military Paychecks – 2016: 81% Lifetime: 83%
• Link 21: Finance Yo Self – FIRE Prowess Score for Finance Yo Self – 2016: 44% Lifetime: 44%
• Link 22: The 7 Circles – FIRE Prowess Gauge – 2016: 246% Lifetime: 219%
• Link 23:  Money Metagame: The Good, Bad & Ugly of the New FIRE Prowess Gauge 2016: 108%  Lifetime 68%
• Link 24:  Summit of Coin: Savings Rate or Fire Prowess Guage?  2016: 36.2%  Lifetime 45.7%
• Link 25:Personal Finance Junkie: My FIRE Prowess Score 2016: 28% Lifetime: 29%

Readers In The Chain:

• Daren: FIRE Prowess Score 2016: 78% Lifetime: 47%
• Todd: FIRE Prowess Score 2016: 75% Lifetime: 29%

Check out the Retirement Manifesto’s FIRE Prowess post for instructions on how to join and post or feel free to Comment below!

What do you think of the gauge and scoring chart? Are you well on your way to FIRE or still wondering what the heck FIRE is?