It’s been quite a few years since I commented on Independence Day. If you value the freedom and autonomy that come from reaching FIRE (financially independent & retired early), you probably have an American flag flying in front of your house this holiday weekend.

Related: Freedom For Our Nation & For Ourselves

Unfortunately, our government representatives are letting our economic freedoms slip. The Heritage Foundation conducts a thorough ranking of the economic freedom across all countries each year and the USA slipped to #25 in the latest analysis. The top 4 countries are Singapore, Switzerland, Ireland, and Taiwan. Here’s the full map …

When I retired just 7 years ago, the United States was ranked #11. Since then, 14 countries – including Germany, Sweden, Czech Republic, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates – have all moved ahead of us.

The key concern for the U.S. – across the 12 economic indicators – is the country’s monstrous federal debt. It’s gone from just 40% of our GDP when I started my career, to almost 122% now. It used to be that we laughed at countries like Greece or Spain, who allowed their debt to reach 100% of GDP. Now we are way beyond that ourselves.

As you are enjoying a frosty beverage at a BBQ this weekend, raise a cheery toast to the hope that some fiscal restraint will return to Washington DC soon – and restore the freedom we all based our own FIRE achievements on.

🇺🇸 HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY WEEKEND 🇺🇸

Image: MidjourneyBot AI