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When Purple’s partner first told her about the FIRE movement — which stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early — in 2013, she wasn’t convinced. 

“The first thing I said was, ‘What do I even do with all that time? Why would I want to retire early?’” she says. “I was like, ‘I just need to find my dream job, and then I’ll be happy to work for another 40 years.’”

But in October 2020, Purple retired at just 30 years old with $540,000 in savings, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. She goes by Purple online and in the media to maintain her privacy.

In 2014, she got the dream job she mentioned — but it didn’t bring the satisfaction she thought it would. So the next year, she revisited the FIRE idea and started calculating. 

She estimated she could live on roughly $20,000 a year in retirement and would need $500,000 set aside upfront based on the 4% rule, which contends that you can safely withdraw 4% of your portfolio per year to cover your expenses without running out of money. Purple figured if she could boost her income and reduce her spending, she could reasonably retire in 10 years — a goal she hit five years early.

So far, she’s enjoying the freedom to spend her days however she likes and has no problem filling her time. “I’m very good at doing nothing and relaxing and finding new random hobbies,” she says.

Purple wishes she had gotten on board with FIRE when her partner first told her about it. Otherwise, “I don’t have any regrets in retirement,” she says. Her partner hit his FIRE number of $777,000 in November 2023, but he plans to keep working for a few more years to help support some of his loved ones.

Here are the three major moves Purple made to be able to retire early.

1. Job-hopping to maximize her income

Before Purple officially started her FIRE journey, she was making $48,000 a year working in advertising and living in New York City, leaving her virtually ”$0 after rent,” she says. When she decided to increase her income, she knew the best way to do it was through job-hopping.

“In my experience, [job-hopping] has been the only way I can get significant raises and even promotions,” she says.

She also learned early in her career that it doesn’t always pay off to be blindly loyal to a company; it won’t necessarily earn you a raise or promotion. As a result, Purple got very comfortable leaving jobs and companies she felt didn’t meet her financial or psychological needs.

That mindset paid off. Five years and as many jobs later, Purple had more than doubled her salary. As of 2017, at age 28, she earned nearly $107,000 a year. By the time she was getting ready to retire in 2020, her final salary was $114,230.

2. Cutting her spending

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