I had exceeded my financial goals in 2024 but I didn’t mind my work and liked the people I worked with. Almost pulled the trigger at beginning of 2026 but couldn’t quite do it, partly out of fear of the new war in the middle east and its effect on stock prices, and again, work wasn’t too bad.

But I was trying for good in December. Last week I had a major heart attack. I hopefully can make a pretty good recovery but life won’t be quite the same.

I should have pulled the trigger. You can’t know what your health is going to do. I thought I was good. Work out every day. It’s mostly genetic.

I put in my notice 6 months ago and I’ve been training my replacement for the last 3 1/2 months. I knew I was gonna miss the people, but I didn’t know it was gonna be this hard to say goodbye today. It was rough. Five of the coworkers I’ve known for 20 years. I hope I feel better tomorrow. I have been looking forward to this for so long. I am free.

I am 54 with 2M investments, paid off house and 40K in passive income. My spend is 50-60k per year.

Reddit has suggested I cross post this from r/financialindependence . I have never done this before, so I'm adding this disclaimer at the top that I have little clue what I'm doing :D

.....................................................

This is my 4th post in this sub, so I (43M) won't go into my backstory. here is a link for those who want my origin story.

I did it! I officially FIRE'd and it feels weird and great.

In my last post I mentioned that I was in my "One More Year" phase. Over the past year, I did all the things that I felt I needed to do before retiring. I accidentally followed The Gambler: I bought a Japanese car and put a new roof on the paid off house. I also got all known repairs done on the house, funded the kids college accounts a little more, graduated from therapy, and got my last kid out of daycare. As I was doing all this, one more year paid off big time. My company was sold and I got a literal years salary as a bonus. So one more year effectively paid out like 3 (due to 50% savings rate)

I currently have ~2.3m invested

• 1.4m 401ks
• 100k ROTH
• 600k brokerage
• 200k cash/CDs

Keeping round numbers, 4% withdrawal gives me an income of 90k/year. I'm a little apprehensive because I haven't lived on 90k/year before. Prior to my divorce, my inflation adjusted after tax average spend was ~50k/year, but since my divorce its been close to ~115k/year. A large portion of my expenses have been one offs or things that I have since resolved (e.g. mortgage payment, hospital stay, new furnace, matchmaking service, therapy, daycare, roof). With those handled, I believe the 90k is realistic. My budget also has fat that can be trimmed: something like 10k/year in vacations and another 10k/year in outside help (cleaners/yard work). At this point, I know I can make it if I remain flexible on my withdrawal amount so here we go!

My immediate plans are two-fold:

1. Set up for financial success. I am going to make a brand new set of spreadsheets, write up a retirement plan, set up recurring withdrawals/transfers, establish a HELOC for emergencies, etc. I'm going to track my expenses closely while making slight cut backs to see how my future expenses are stacking up against my historical expenses/current budget
2. Focus on my health. I'm planning to hit the gym, go for walks, join a club or two, and eat down the pantry. If I spend 6 months with this as a primary focus, I'll be in the best shape of my life AND will reduce current and future health expenses.

Retirement draw down plan:

I am a parent who files as head of household. My plan is to convert as much as I can from my 401ks into my ROTH. This will still give me a little room at the 0% capital gains brackets, so I'll take that as well. I'll be paying full price on the ACA exchange for the next decade while I spend my cash and brokerage. When insurance costs skyrocket as I mature (and my kids age out of being adorable little deductions), I'll pivot to use my ROTH conversions and convert 401ks as needed to control my MAGI.

I feel like most posts are people without kids. I wonder how many people with kids actually FIRE? It is so much more difficult.

I just FIRE'd late last December and I'm enjoying my first full FIRE year at the moment. So far, my spend is crazy low, because I'm finding it hard to flip the switch back into being a spender/consumer. I was a hardcore frugal saver/investor up until very recently.

One thing that I'm thinking of doing to try to combat my hesitation to spend is to have a Splash Out year. A year where I spend about 170k total. I call it Splash 150, because I'd be using 150k from my cash hoard and then another 20k from a small pension I get. I'd have about 170k to spend in a single year, which translates to slightly over 14k monthly.

14k monthly, for me, seems like an absolute FORTUNE, so I will feel like I'm living the high life, allowing myself to spend so much. (I'm single, living by myself, no kids to take care of or pets)

I haven't spent more than 3.5k per month for the last decade. I'm trying to allow myself to have a 6k per month lifestyle going forward, but I haven't come close to 6k yet, but I think I'm going to give myself this early "Splash Year", to force myself into relinquishing my ruthlessly frugal mentality. It's a year of exposure therapy. Exposure to actually spending money, lol. Baking in this arbitrary Big Baller Year is one way to do it.

I just turned 56, I'm male, and my life expectancy is only about late 70's due to some family medical history, so F it...

I also consider this one year of heavy spending as "Kick The Bucket" Insurance. You know how you hear of these people that retire and then die a year later and they hadn't yet done their "Go-Go" stuff? I'd hate for that to be me. So, I need to do my Splash year pretty damn soon.

What am I going to do with my Splash 150 year? Probably visit Europe for the first time ever. Italy is my No.1 destination. I'm also curious about going to someplace in SEA, like Vietnam perhaps. Heard good things about Da Nang. I could also just live a bit more lavish while in the US. Treat myself to a luxury apartment somewhere for the first time in my life.

NOTE: I won't necessarily force myself to spend exactly 14k every single month. Some months might be way less, but other months could be more. I just want to give myself the freedom of being able to go nuts for 365 days, lol

I'd be interested to hear anyone's experience, good or bad, that has had to sign up for COBRA during the 60 days signup period after having a medical emergency.

My work insurance ends at the end of this month (Oct). In January, 2027 I will be on an ACA plan. Instead of paying full price for a ACA plan for Nov and Dec, I was thinking about coasting on the 60 day COBRA signup grace period. If I don't have an emergency, I wouldn't sign up and will have saved ~$1,300. I have no doctor appointments in Nov or Dec and am covered on medication through the rest of the year. I would make sure a trusted relative knew how to sign me up for COBRA, should I be incapacitated.

Thoughts?

Curious to hear from people at two stages:

1. Wealth accumulation: Which ETFs/assets do you invest in, what are your allocations, and how do you rebalance?

2. Living off your portfolio / FIRE: What's your portfolio setup, how do you fund your expenses (selling shares, dividends, cash reserves), and how do you manage market crashes?

If you're comfortable sharing, what's your age, net worth, annual spending, and FIRE target?

I retired at about 40 and im closing in on 50 now and I need more structure in my life. I got divorced and stopped working to make sure I showed up for my girls. But, they’re getting older now and my life isn’t chaos anymore so, I think I could start doing something.

But, I’ve always worked in finance and startups as a software developer and that type of work is out. Im not willing to commit to a job like that anymore.

What ideas do you guys have? What’s worked? What have you hated?

Thanks!

We are a family of 4 , 2 kids grade 7 and grade 4.

I worked before, but have now transitioned to be stay at home mom, and spouse works at 107k a year FT job. He hates his job, is an architect and looking to do something new.

We want to take a year off and live in India, travel around from countries from there as well (nearby). We will homeschool, tutors etc which are relatively cheap in india. We are currently renting in a HCOL, and don’t own a home, although we want to buy soon.

Our assets:
401k/IRA, approx 1 million
roth ira : 300 approx

Brokerage account: 425k approx
Cash : 700k approx

529 account kids: 175k total both kids

We have a lot of cash, because we will put down about 400k as down payment to handle the monthly mortage on a house about 700k.

My husband has to quit job and he is against the idea— worries on finding something after a break of year , he is 52.

I think we will be ok. this is the only chance , since come high school, hard to get away from school. He is not very financially savvy, pretty much 100 percent of the wealth has been thru my previous job and savings. He is not a spender, just his career does not offer 401ks or high paying early in career. Am I wrong? Is this possible?

This might be a long shot of finding someone who
has done this move or something similar. Long story short.

My wife and I have lived up in northern BC since we were born. In northern I am referring to Fort Saint John. Winters are a lot of -30 and weeks of -40c and non stop wind. Then summer comes and it’s short and bug filled.

After 33 years of this and now with young kids we have been wanting to move somewhere south with better weather and lifestyle to raise kids. I have worked the oilfield lifestyle for 16 years of that and tired of it all to be honest….. but it’s all I have ever known.

We have been wanting to pull the trigger for 5 years now but each year comes and we are still here….

My wage will drop from 180k to about 100k. Wife is not working right now with the 2 young kids at home but she will after they reach school age.

Cost of living will be about the same except housing will cost more.

Currently have about 1.1 million in stocks and 250k in home equity. (Hoping to fire at 2m) have saved since I was 20 aggressively

Not sure what’s scaring us or why we can’t mentally make the move….

Would love to hear some feedback or similar stories

This is a relaxed hangout thread for the FIRE community to chat with other FIRE-minded folks without having to publish separate posts. This is the place for brand new people to get their feet wet as well as for lurkers who have questions or comments, but do not want to create posts of their own.

All of the sub rules apply in this thread as normal with the exception of the off-topic rule, which is relaxed to the extent that people don't go wildly off of the reservation.

We are putting this up as a trial to see if it is worth keeping this as a permanent feature of the sub. Participation is entirely voluntary and anyone who wants to create a separate post of their own rather than posting in here is free to do so.

If you can FIRE with a 24% pay cut from what you’re making right now, would you?

https://www.reddit.com/r/dating_advice/comments/1x5hs4r/is_it_a_red_flag_if_a_guy_refuses_to_tell_me_what/

I have noticed several posts here (and other FIRE sites) about how to explain that they don't work while trying to date. Here is a take on how a date interprets that vagueness. While I realize that no one wants to attract the wrong sort of partner, this is illuminating. I don't know what the right answer is but interested in knowing others thoughts.

First of all thanks for the time anyone puts into this. It is easy to approach FIRE as a goal, but implementing a plan is completely different. I would like to tell you my financial situation, then get an honest opinion about what my "spend" should be, and how to invest my Bridge Money to get to 65, or 62.

I am 56 years old, and my wife is 50. I would plan to take Social Security at 65 but I am willing to hear thoughts about taking it at 62.

1. I have 4500/mo in military disability.
   
2. I have free healthcare, but might get a high deductible plan for backup/additional care
   
3. No home but I am happy renting and don't plan to stay in the country.
   

*Finances

1. 1.2m in taxable dollars in a brokerage account.
   
2. 1.0m in 403B's and K's
   
3. 4500/mo passive, non-taxable income.

To reiterate, I want to do this differently than other posts. I would like you to tell me what my monthly spend should be, and how you would face this, how to invest the 1.2m Bridge money, when to start taking retirement, and when to start taking Social Security.

I know I'm asking for an entire plan and time from people, so for those who participate, I truly appreciate it!

I'm married, in my mid-30s with 1 kid. We won’t be having anymore. I live in a very low-cost-of-living area in the States with cheap housing. That lets us invest heavily in equities and real estate. Here are our numbers and the plan.

Income

Household income: $200k gross (W-2)

Rental income: ~$18k net from 4 properties

Spending and investing

Monthly expenses: $2,000-2,500 (does not include rental mortgages)

Annual investments: $105k-130k

Current liquid net worth: $890k

The plan

Phase 1: My wife and I work full-time until we reach roughly $1.75-2M. Based on online calculators, that should take 3-5 years.

Phase 2: We drop to part-time (1-3 days a week). Both of our careers allow this easily, and the income would more than cover our expenses. We stay here until our accounts reach $3.25-3.5M.

Phase 3: We stop working and sell 1-2 rental properties a year to live off the proceeds. I don't expect big profits from the sales, likely $30-40k each.

End goal: "GregFIRE" at $5M. That's far more than we need, but it would give us significant security, let me help family, and let me pursue interests I otherwise couldn't.
I know many of you are far more knowledgeable than I am. Please poke holes in this plan and point out anything I might be missing.

(I wrote this, but used AI to clean it up)

This is a relaxed hangout thread for the FIRE community to chat with other FIRE-minded folks without having to publish separate posts. This is the place for brand new people to get their feet wet as well as for lurkers who have questions or comments, but do not want to create posts of their own.

All of the sub rules apply in this thread as normal with the exception of the off-topic rule, which is relaxed to the extent that people don't go wildly off of the reservation.

We are putting this up as a trial to see if it is worth keeping this as a permanent feature of the sub. Participation is entirely voluntary and anyone who wants to create a separate post of their own rather than posting in here is free to do so.

https://www.youtube.com/v/N07KPICF1i0?version=3

Erin Talks Money video

WSJ original article: https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/retirement-4-percent-rule-dbdc9297

I haven't read the book itself yet, but I have read the Atlantic's article-length version, which I thought had some interesting takes on the psychological challenges of decumulation. Has anyone read the book yet? What did you think?

I frequently read subs on these topics and it often feels like they don't mix at all - there are the rich personal finance bros who just want to save millions and live in luxury and the broke crunchy granola types who buy secondhand jeans and boycott Nestle. I feel like I'll get a traumatic personality split trying to interact with both. Living in NorCal and seeing former hippies in million dollar homes and techbros "disrupting AI" in flip flops only exacerbates the issue for me

since this community is known for its no BS common sense take on things I'm just wondering if there are any people here who in their personal life philosophy combine certain principles of both of these worlds. Like:

\- working a corporate job because that's what pays the good money, but not drinking too much corporate koolaid and trying to check out of the race as soon as possible
\- saving money aggressively but not hoarding, just getting enough for your own modest living
\- cutting expenses as a personal finance goal, but also to reduce waste; buying less, buying used, driving less, growing a garden whatever else
\- investing in the index funds covering the good the bad and the ugly of the global economy, but using some proceeds to support local ESG initiatives, volunteering etc

Do you see yourself as hardcore capitalist (drill baby drill, screw the whales, greed for lack of a better word is good) or as free spirited tree hugger and how do you reconcile these two concepts in your mind?

I have no dependents, but all my family and friends are in hcol where i currently live. But seriously so many people insists that I'm wrong and I should move to lcol where I know no one.

Why are people so insistent on this? I tell them I would be miserable, but they say, "but you pay so much less!". Yes I know, I can do math, but its so funny that people just think they know better.

I'm 53, retiring early this year (not entirely voluntary), with $2.5m nw, living in hcol area (can't move for personal reasons), single no dependents, and spend about $95k / yr. Will have SS coming at 67 that should be about 50k. I've ran the numbers, and it seems like I should be fine off my spend to retire. Have enough post tax to get me to 59.5

I've been retired essentially for the last 3 months, and its been really scary to spend my nest egg down. i've found myself really agonizing over it, even though the numbers say i can spend 8k a month. i sometimes try to make a game out of it to spend less so that it help my nest egg grow. Is this how its always going to be? I feel like my numbers are comfortable, but one 2008 market from insolvency. Do other people feel this way, and if so how do you assuage the fears?

This is a relaxed hangout thread for the FIRE community to chat with other FIRE-minded folks without having to publish separate posts. This is the place for brand new people to get their feet wet as well as for lurkers who have questions or comments, but do not want to create posts of their own.

All of the sub rules apply in this thread as normal with the exception of the off-topic rule, which is relaxed to the extent that people don't go wildly off of the reservation.

We are putting this up as a trial to see if it is worth keeping this as a permanent feature of the sub. Participation is entirely voluntary and anyone who wants to create a separate post of their own rather than posting in here is free to do so.

I just turned 43. 4+ years ago, I was in a severe car accident. I was out of work 16 months, 2 cervical spinal surgeries, and a peripheral nerve surgery. I'm getting another nerve surgery and probably a pelvic nerve stimulator. Permanent nerve damage in upper and lower extremities. I was in a very positive retirement outlook situation before all this, and I wanted to retire comfortably at 59. I'm in severe pain every waking moment - so that's not looking likely.

I don't even know if I can make 10 years tbh, but is a 53-55 timeline conceivable at all?

Job / Expenses

I have worked in govt for almost 20 years. I just received a substantial promotion. In 5 years I will reach the end of my pay grade, which is 172k in todays dollars. My wife is not working currently - we also have a special needs child.

The formula is you can retire at 55 with 30 years of service. I would have 32 years. 30 years is 60% percent of my final salary with 1.5% added every additional service year. I could technically retire at 53, but I would have no pension and pay COBRA for 2 years. You can base the pension amount on 172k todays dollars salary.

At >=55 I can collect my pension and I keep my $0 premium / $0 deductible insurance in retirement.

I owe 147k on a 3.5% mortgage with 19 years left. My 350/month 0.9% car loan is paid off April 2028. 2 cars will be paid off with low miles (23k/40k). No other debt. Expenses currently around 6k per month.

Assets

60k Emergency HYSA/checking

230k 457

180k Roth

28k t-bills and 43k ETFs in Taxable brokerage

80k in HYSA for future medical procedures, home maintenance I can no longer do, home repairs.

===

Before promotion I was contributing 10% to 457. Within the next 2 years I plan on saving on more aggresively and hopefully max out my accounts.

I'd love to make it to 55 and cross fingers the numbers may work. I just dont know if my body can make it and I think the math falls apart any age earlier than that.

Any advice is appreciated.

Seems like a no-brainer - 3.3 without touching principal, adjusted for inflation. As an early retiree (49 y.o.) I was using 3% as my safe withdrawal anyway.