When Lakisha Simmons retired in May 2021, it wasn't just the end of her professorial career, it was also the first time she had stopped working since she was 14. The 41-year-old mother of two says she always considered having a job to be a matter of financial security. Watching family members work with their hands doing "cleaning jobs, janitorial jobs, nanny jobs" instilled in her a strong work ethic, she says. Simmons is a member of the FIRE — or “Financially Independent, Retire Early” — movement living in Nashville, Tennessee.
