In April 2024, Florence Poirel retired from her $390,000-a-year job at Google in what she called a “mini-retirement.”
After 18 months, she’s not sure if she’ll be able to return to full-time work. “I have to say, I’m not particularly anxious about going back to work,” she told CNBC Make It.
The 37-year-old lives in Switzerland with her partner Jan, a Googler who also retired at the same time. Poirel first started thinking seriously about financial independence in 2018, when she met Jan, who is 17 years her senior.
“I couldn’t just wait until he retired to enjoy time with him because he was much older by then,” she says.
How has financial independence changed the way I spend money?
Thinking about how they could have more fun together led Poirel to the FIRE movement, which stands for “Financial Independence, Retire Early.” This movement focuses on saving and investing aggressively in order to gain the freedom to leave work early.
Poirel had always been careful with money, and even when her salary increased, she saved much of her income. And despite earning a high salary, she says she rarely ate out, spent little on entertainment, and when she traveled, she flew economy or stayed in modest hotels.
Florence Poirel outside her home in Thalwil, Switzerland.
Gabriel Pecot | CNBC Make It
But discovering FIRE gave her a new sense of purpose in frugality. And as she learned more about sustainability, she became vegan and began weighing the environmental and ethical impact of everything she bought.
“When I first started my journey, I was mainly about frugality, but now my purchasing process is more about sustainability,” she says.
Now, before buying anything, Poirel asks himself the following questions:
Is this really necessary? Is it worth adding to the planet’s future waste? Can I buy it second hand? Is it vegan? Is it ethically produced? Is it recyclable? How long does it take to decompose once thrown away?
“I think it’s important to understand how money can be a force for good, whether you actually spend it or not,” she says.
Poirel’s current life
By the time he left Google, Poirel had about $1.5 million in the bank. This was enough money to take an extended vacation from my full-time job.
To preserve her savings in one of the most expensive countries in the world, she avoids unnecessary expenses and continues to live a simple life. Instead of expensive nights out, her days mainly revolve around hiking, swimming in Lake Zurich, and cooking at home with Jan.
But she’s willing to spend more money on items that are well-made and designed to last. “If you’re bringing something into your home or wardrobe, it should be environmentally and ethically sound,” she says.
Florence Poirel and her partner Jean.
Gabriel Pecot | CNBC Make It
She’s not necessarily spending less than before, she’s just intentionally spending more. “It’s not about cutting everything out, it’s about choosing better,” she says.
At the same time, she is frugal by nature, so it will not be difficult for her to follow the checklist. “I know a lot of people use shopping as therapy,” she says. “That has never happened to me. Shopping can be boring at best and stressful at worst.”
All amounts are expressed in US dollars and converted from Swiss Francs at the OANDA exchange rate of 1 Swiss Franc to 1.22 USD on May 31, 2025.
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