FIRE – Financial Independence Retire Early – is a hot topic in the Netherlands and Belgium. Becoming more financially independent is more relevant than ever and creating ‘F*ck You Money’ is important for everyone. Building your own pension and possibly even wanting to stop working earlier or temporarily is rightly brought to the attention of the current generation of young workers.
Merijn Heijnen does not have millions in the bank or in investments, but mainly by simply spending less money and thinking smarter about his own lifestyle and behavior, he has made choices in his life so that he could move out of the corporate rat race. Together with his wife Judith, he has made choices that enable them to embrace a lifestyle that is not about making a lot of money but about doing things that they find useful or important. From their current hometown of Goa, India, Merijn and Judith share their time and business knowledge with local businesses in Goa, India, and with Women on Wings.
Merijn has written a book called ‘from F*ck You Money to FIRE’ and is regularly interviewed by Dutch media about the choices they have made and their new lifestyle. This week, Merijn could be heard in conversation with De Nacht van BNN VARA radio (starting at 2:33:40) and read in Kleur&Stijl | Vakblad over persoonlijke profilering, in which he also talks about his work for Women on Wings as lead consultant of a women entrepreneurship program with Indian state governments.
Find the book in Dutch here, or in English here.
Merijn and Judith Heijnen | photo Benning/Gladkova for FD
