When you first learn about financial independence it can be an exciting time. There’s a whole new world of finances, life planning and investing out there that you can take active steps to change your life forever.
But there’s a lot to learn! Within every subject there are dozens are sub-subjects. There are savings and spending. Frugality, thrift, and minimalism. Investing, real estate, and side hustles. Mindset, life planning and goals. Taxes, debt, and capital gains. Emergency funds and health care.
And that’s just to name a few.
There’s a reason that people refer to learning about FIRE as “going down the rabbit hole”. There’s enough to learn that it takes years to understand not just the numbers, but the mindset and future planning involved.
Below is an interactive chart I put together that focuses on some of the must-learn topics involved in financial independence and early retirement. It’s not as complex as the Interactive Guide to Early Retirement and Financial Independence, but it’s a fun way to explore a bunch of topics!
Click on any square to learn more about any topic here. Think of something else that should be added? Let me know in the comments!
Your route to financial independence doesn’t need every item in this chart – not by a long shot. Even within the “investing” category, the vast majority of people won’t need half the subjects in this list.
Likewise, understanding what you want out of life doesn’t fit on a graph. It’s a life-long pursuit without an end.
Finding 118 topics and authoritative links for each was no small task! I linked to Minafi articles when I could, or searched around for articles by authors I read and respect to fill in the gaps. Have you have an article you think belongs on this list for a subject without a link, feel free to drop me a line and let me know.
Credits: This is adapted from the Periodic Table of Elements on CodePen created by Mike Golus.
Dave @AccidentalFIRE says
Wow, very dorky and very cool – well done!
Adam says
Thanks man!
Taller Dollar says
This is so cool. Great content, but I’m more impressed with the visualization/interactivity that you coded up and built here.
Adam says
Haha, that was the fun part. It helped that I was able to adapt it from an existing codebase that had the table of elements. Doing that from scratch would’ve been more of a pain.
Mike Schmick says
This is a wonderfully designed, awesome resource.
Tawcan says
Man this is super cool! Awesome.
Adam says
Thanks man!
Andrew @ Wealthy Nickel says
Very cool! This speaks to my inner nerd on multiple levels.
Adam says
Haha thanks. Nothing like crossing a few nerd-doms.
Angela @ Tread Lightly Retire Early says
Okay this is stupid nerdy fun and I love it. And it may need to be a shirt.
Adam says
Haha, that’d be a lot on a shirt. People around would find something new every time they turned around though!
Matt @ The Working At Home Man says
Wow what a great resource. Hats off to you.
This must have taken a while to complete, well done!
Matt
Adam says
Thanks! It took about a little over a week from idea to publication, but it’s an idea that’s been in my head for a few years. I could honestly just spend all my time creating arbitrary (but fun) visualizations like this haha
Tony @ OneMillionJourney.com says
Wow this is impressive stuff, such a great creative idea. Well done!
5am Joel says
Awesome resource, dude. And I agree that we need a T-shirt of this made!
Sameer says
This is amazing Adam!! Love how visual and interactive is.
T'Pol says
Wow! First time reader here. I am very very impressed. Thank you for your effort!
MillionaireBefore50 says
I almost flunked my chemistry class in HS so this brings bad memories 🙂
But, wow… Very nicely done.
Piki Living says
Amazingly done Adam. This is a great idea and you really crushed it with the implementation.
Melinda says
This is the coolest thing ever!
southwalesfi says
Wow- utterly loving the table of fire. Can I suggest a reset button to enable somebody to view all the elements again? Otherwise, you can only really see them by clicking another filter. Other than that- really like it !
Adam says
Ohh yeah, good call! If you click anywhere else it’ll reset, but it’d be nice to have that using escape or even with a physical link.
Dividend Power says
That’s a lot of work to get 118 links to good articles.
The Crusher says
This is absolutely brilliant!
Suzanne says
This is absolutely fantastic! I may have squealed with delight 🙂
I’m part of a location independent / entrepreneurship mastermind and I’m trying to instill the ideas of FIRE to them as well so I shared this and at least one person is also excited about it.
Please keep making fun visualizations of data!