FAQ
The questions you actually need answered.
Answers to what fjordFIRE does, who it’s for, where your data goes, and how the private beta works. If your question isn’t here, write to [email protected].
What is fjordFIRE actually trying to do for me?
Help you understand what you already have, and see how much freedom it actually buys for your life. Most finance apps optimise for engagement and integration. fjordFIRE optimises for awareness and calm. The monthly check-in, the manual entry, the absence of streak nags, the no-bank-logins stance, they all come from the same place. The product is built to leave you with a clearer picture and a quieter mind, not a more crowded notification list.
What does FIRE actually mean?
FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. It's the goal of building enough invested wealth that the income from your portfolio covers your living expenses, so work becomes optional. The classic rule of thumb is the 4% rule (Trinity Study): if your portfolio is roughly 25× your annual expenses, you can withdraw ~4% a year and the money should last indefinitely. The full FIRE community has spectrum variants: Lean FI (a tighter version of your life), Fat FI (a roomier one), Coast FI (you've saved enough that compounding alone gets you there), and Barista FI (part-time work bridges the gap). fjordFIRE helps you track your progress toward any of those without the math lying, especially when your money lives across more than one currency or country.
Is fjordFIRE safe to use without giving it bank logins?
Yes. That is the entire architecture. You enter balances manually each month. We don't store bank credentials, don't ask for them, and the architecture has no path that uses them. No Plaid, no Tink, no Open Banking, no aggregator. The trade-off is intentional: a monthly ritual you sit with, not a continuous scrape. You build real awareness of where your money is, and there is no credential store for anyone to breach.
Do I have to live in Norway? Does it work outside Europe?
No, and yes. The app is made in Norway but designed for globally mobile people: you can be in the US, India, Singapore, the UAE, anywhere. The app supports 160+ currencies and country-level cost-of-living data for 170+ countries. For FI projections, it uses region-specific defaults (safe withdrawal rate, expected return, inflation, coast-FI age) so the math reflects where you live, not just a US-centric baseline. You can also set or override any of these yourself if you have a stronger view.
I'm single, not a couple. Is this still for me?
Yes. The household and per-member math is there if you want it; for solo users it just shows your own numbers. Every feature works for one person: FIRE projections, safety-net runway, relocation planning, FX decomposition. The couples-specific math is a layer on top, not a requirement.
I only hold one currency. Is fjordFIRE worth it?
Yes. The cross-border features (FX attribution, multi-currency safety-net runway, relocation runway) are the headline differentiator, but the core works the same whether you hold one currency or four: four-pillar net-worth tracking, region-aware FIRE projections with Coast / Lean / Fat variants, safety-net runway math, the monthly check-in ritual, and the privacy-first architecture with no bank logins. Single-currency users get the full app; the multi-currency layer stays out of the way until you need it.
How is this different from Monarch / Personal Capital / Mint / spreadsheets?
Monarch and Personal Capital are bank-aggregation tools that sync with US banks. Mint is shutting down. Spreadsheets work until your life gets more than one currency. fjordFIRE is built specifically for the cross-border case: real FX rates, multi-currency net worth, per-country runway, separate Protect / Growth / Retire / Move pillars instead of one number. It is not trying to replace your transaction-tracking tool; it is the layer above it.
What's the waitlist for? Is the app stable?
The waitlist lets us onboard households in small cohorts: talking to each one individually, fixing what breaks, tuning the math against real numbers. The product itself is feature-complete and deployed (MFA, audit logs, AI assistant, the works). The waitlist gates who gets access, not whether the app works.
Where is my data stored? Are you GDPR-compliant?
Primarily within the European Economic Area, on Railway infrastructure. We are based in Norway, subject to GDPR, and we built the data model to respect it: full export, full deletion within 30 days of request, audit-log PII anonymisation on a 180-day rolling schedule, inactive-account cleanup after 3 years (with email before deletion), breach-notification commitment in writing. See the privacy notice for the full set of rights.
Can I export my data if I leave?
Yes. Self-service JSON and CSV export from the day you sign up. Your data is yours, not hostage to your account. If you cancel or step away, your data is preserved; you can pick up where you left off without rebuilding anything.
Does the AI train on my financial data?
No. The in-app AI uses a European model, and your conversations with it are not used to train any model. AI interaction data is stored for up to 30 days for reliability and quality monitoring, then deleted.
When does the public open?
Public open follows entity registration, targeted for late summer or early autumn 2026. The exact date depends on the Norwegian company registration timeline and on how the current cohort feedback shakes out. We pace the launch to match the cohort experience, not a marketing date.
Question not covered? Drop your email and we’ll get back to you with what happens next.
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