Has anyone achieved FIRE through alternative investments to the stock market?
I have no desire to invest into the stock market and prefer real estate. Anyone else have alternative FIRE investments to the status quo of index funds that the majority of MMM and early retirement community invest in?
I think real estate is probably an easier route to FIRE in most places. Steadier returns where personal investment in learning and work can improve returns (much more so than the stock market, where arguably the vast majority of people can't on a risk adjusted basis) and then much easier to turn into cash flow producing investments over time, and if you want to manage them yourself, it gives you a part time job to keep yourself busy (and also boost returns).
The downside is you are either tied to a particular community/area, or you are investing in real estate in a place you don't live. Neither are ideal to me but even so, if I didn't have the ability to put so much into tax advantaged accounts (basically up to $74k per year between my wife and me, although we're unfortunately not even quite to 50% of that number right now), I would be going more heavily into real estate than the stock market.