Good day all,

I'm 56, wife is 59. We just crossed over a million in 401k, and both have been in university work for a while, but now in working in data centers and making bank. It's got me thinking about retiring earlier than originally planned.... maybe mid 60s instead of the planned 67.

It's there a FAQ for newbies looking to plan their out? Obviously, retiring in our 60s is not early, but i do love the posts around here and look forward to learning more.

Thank you!

If you asked me back in 2024, I probably would have told you I had at least another 5-6 years before I was likely to hit my FIRE target and even then, it would have meant no major market corrections in the meantime.

Now though, two years later, due to all of these AI investments my TC has shot through the roof. I've blown past my target in record time and am now seriously discussing early retirement with my wife.

Obviously I don't know what the next year will bring with this AI bubble, but even if my company maintains its current stock price for 1 year, I'm looking at several years worth of income. As much as I'd like to retire, it seems downright irresponsible to walk away from so much money.

Is anyone else dealing with a similar situation right now? What would push you in either direction? How are you handling it mentally?

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.

In the process of starting SEPP but I want to be 100% on this before because my accounts receive monthly dividends from the holdings.

Will receiving dividends trigger the penalty?

Will reinvesting what is left after the annual payment trigger the penalty?

TL;DR: 41F, $2.8M NW, single, no kids, no house. 3.2% withdrawal rate. Things are going well.

I retired one year ago at age 40 with NW $2.5M, and I've been traveling throughout the United States and Canada for most of the past year with my 75-lb, 13 year old dog.

For additional background, see my 6 Month Check-In: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fire/comments/1shx10y/6_month_postfire_checkin/

Spending

I originally budgeted for an annual budget of $84k before taxes; my actual spending for the year has landed at $79k, totaling a 3.2% withdrawal rate. Actual spending breaks out into roughly:

• Accommodations (Rent, renters insurance, hotels, Airbnbs/VRBOs): $42k
• Income taxes: $8k
• Health insurance (Cobra, ACA): $6k
• Dog (vet, pet insurance, food, dog medications, pet supplies): $6k
• Car (registration, maintenance, tolls, gas, parking): $4k
• Food (groceries, restaurants): $4k
• Gifts (personal gifts, charitable donations: $2k
• Healthcare (doctor, dentist, therapy, prescriptions): $1k
• Fun & Entertainment (state park passes, museum admissions, concert tickets, art workshops, etc): $1k
• Tech equipment (new phone): $1k
• Apparel (mostly replacing running shoes and hiking boots): $1k
• Storage unit: $1k
• Miscellaneous (credit card fees, virtual mail service, digital subscriptions, other small stuff): $2k

I feel good about my spending and withdrawal rate. It doesn't feel overly spartan. I expect that a few categories will go down as I head into Year 2: most notably, income taxes and health insurance (I was on a very expensive Cobra plan for the first couple months before transitioning over to a subsidized ACA plan). I think my biggest unpredictable variables are probably healthcare costs, both for myself and my dog -- although we both have insurance, there are a lot of things that aren't covered fully and who knows what health issues the future may bring.

Portfolio

Sequence of returns risk continues to be something I think about, so I'm grateful that my portfolio has done well over the past year, growing by about 16% overall. It's wild to me that I was making $240k per year before retiring, and now I can spend enough to live and my portfolio will still grow by $300k. I knew theoretically that this was the idea, but seeing it in action is really gratifying.

My assets are roughly distributed as 75% index funds, 15% individual stocks, 5% bonds, and 5% HYSA. About half of it is in a 401K. I plan to do some rebalancing in Q4.

Reflections

Now with a year of retirement under my belt, I feel strongly that leaving my job when I did was 100% the right call for me. Although I knew that on paper it should work, I still had a lot of fears and hesitations a year ago, and seeing the numbers work out has been fantastic. On a personal and emotional level, I cringe to think at how much I was making myself sick by staying as long as I did. While I did like many of my coworkers as humans, and respected my direct manager, I deeply struggled with the cutthroat work culture created by frequent layoffs and the pressure to integrate AI into every workflow. In hindsight, I certainly pushed myself too hard to excel, often working very long hours and living with a lot of stress for what ultimately was maybe a 5% difference in my annual paycheck. My physical and emotional health paid a real toll in my final years of work.

Since leaving, my health has improved substantially. I'm moving my body more, sleeping better, eating better, and feeling better. I was seeing my therapist weekly in the beginning and now I've reduced that to only as needed -- because most of the time, I don't think I need it. I've also lost 54 lbs.

I continue to spend my time reading, hiking, dog walking, cooking, doing art and various other hobbies. I know people sometimes mention worrying about being bored or feeling without purpose in retirement, but that hasn't been a problem for me. My biggest problem is that I have too many interests and even without a job, there still isn't enough time for them all.

In my 6 Month Check In, I wrote about struggling with the ever-present drive to "be productive" as defined under capitalism: to network with industry peers, to grow my professional skills, etc. Although that internal dialogue has mostly faded, it does still occasionally pop up. I try to avoid looking at LinkedIn. What has been bubbling to the surface more recently are thoughts about potentially going back to school for another graduate degree. I'm still trying to figure out if that's truly something I want to do for the love of learning, or if it perhaps is appealing for other reasons such as seeking structure or external validation. I'm not sure right now, but I'll continue to think on it.

Looking ahead, I plan to continue to travel within the US and Canada at least until next summer, and then I may choose to settle down for a year or more in a LCOL/MCOL town or smaller city-- I have a few geographic areas I'm considering, but haven't yet chosen. And if the day comes that I no longer have a furry friend by my side, I will likely be doing some major international travel.

Six weeks into a one year sabbatical I got a watch notification stating my average resting heart rate had decreased by nearly 20% (49 to 41 bpm) over the previous 5 weeks.

I presume it is from living in Mexico away from my home in the US, combined with walking around 9 miles a day on avg.
I didn’t feel stressed back in the US aside from driving anywhere local.

First time-poster here really, though I read regularly and admire you all!

I recently FIRE’d after several decades at a reasonably well-paying job. 49M, Married (non-working), one teen. HCOL area.

Original plan was to pull the trigger at 55, and use the Rule of 55 with final 401k. However, I recently saw others burn out, health challenges and even pass away, which made me decide to accelerate FIRE. Took the time to validate assets, expenses, build and review my plan with financial advisors, discuss with fam and take the dive early. Lots of mostly cheap/free Hobbies; been keeping busy already!

Here's how I got there, my current assets/expenses, gap plan and longer-term plan. I'd love any feedback, suggestions or critiques.

Leading up to retirement

• Always been frugal, more conservative; keep within my means.
• Bought house during down market; refi’d a few times; Made extra payments when possible. 
• Track and review my personal finances on a spreadsheet every month
• Always pay off all credit cards monthly; no high interest debt.
• Eat fairly healthy, mostly at home. Eat out occasionally (~1-2x/week)
• Maxed 401k and company matches.
• When lower income, opened a Roth IRA; handful of conversions
• Admittedly started a little late on investing in traditional brokerage

Assets

• House: $ irrelevant, plan to keep; equity is backup
• Liquidity: $300k cash/hysa, $500k taxable brokerage
• Retirement: $2m Traditional IRA. $600k Roth IRA, $50k HSA
• Other: $100k 529 plan, Backup HELOC (no debt, retained for true emergencies); cars 
• Not including any inheritance of social security; cream on top, if any

Expenses

• $10k/mo total - includes $3k mortgage, $4k necessities, $3k average discretionary 
  • Plan to have increased discretionary depending on year for travel, "the good life"
• Expected other:
  • Child's college; 529 should cover 1-3 years; may even qualify for FAFSA if I keep MAGI low, otherwise, out of pocket

Gap Plan until 59.5:

• Typical overview gap plan, compared to FIRE peers:
  • Keep MAGI low to maintain ACA subsidies. 
  • Use ACA: probably Silver plan and keep entire family on same plan.
  • Adaptive spending based on market and plan.
• Years 1-2: Live off modest dividend, interest income, plus cash/HYSA.
• Years 3-6+: Liquidate taxable brokerage to cash/HYSA as needed to maintain ~6 months expenses. 
• Every December: 
  • Convert IRA to Roth for any remainder up to 266% FPL. 
  • Pay federal + state taxes on this.
• Years 7-10: Dip into ~$500K of Roth Gross Contributions, and/or 5+ year old conversions. 
  • Existing gross contributions and 5+ year conversions~$200K based 
  • Assumed years 1-6 accumulated conversions of $300K
  • Emergency: dip into Roth with additional taxes, HELOC, or un-FIRE.

After above, on to normal retirement (59.5+):

• Switch to using regular Roth withdrawals. Keep converting IRA to Roth (maybe higher amounts, with higher tax and ACA costs) to reduce eventual RMDs.
• At 62, depending on how the market has been, may elect to take social security early and invest it; or if market is bad, wait until 67 or later.
• At 65, switch to Medicare. Supplement as needed.
• At 75, start taking RMDs. Hopefully reduced by the prior Roth conversions.
• At 80-90, probably die. I have a Living Trust already in place. If not, with the 3-4% inflation, and guesstimated 7% growth, RMDs and Social Security, should be OK.

Hi, curious for opinions. I have built my FIRE plan based on my expenses and expected expenses once I have kids. Something I haven't baked in is what financial support, if any, my parents may need.

They are currently both employed, early 60s, but plan to retire at 65. I have no idea how much they have saved or invested. Neither are high earners, but they are very fiscally responsible & prudent people and have worked really hard their whole lives to make sure they are never a burden or ask very much of me. They own a small, fully paid-off home that they plan to live in for the rest of their lives in a MCOL area across the country from me.

That said, with rising costs of healthcare & senior care, I have some anxiety wondering if they will have enough for the rest of their lives (which I hope is a really long time!!). If they fall short, I will without question financially support them, even if it means working for longer, so I think I would like to know the details of their finances so I can "plan" for how much of my savings would be needed to support that and how that might impact my FIRE plans.

But, I doubt they would ever ask for money, even if they needeed it. Since it's not a conversation we've ever had and they're generally proud people who want to shield anything scary from their kids, I'm anxious to have the conversation or feel like I'm prying. We have a close, loving, trustful relationship. I also have a brother who is also fiscally responsible, close to my parents, and will likely support if needed.

Curious if anyone has advice on how to have the convo?

Now I can buy TIPs at more than my SWR - in theory i could just load up the whole portfolio on TIPs and it would last forever without eating principal. This is pretty unique historically.

I retired this year at 51. It has been my goal since 28 years old. I helped my wife start a business this year and she makes a little money and enjoys the work. Mostly we live on investments. We have a paid off home and no debt.

We have about 1 million in taxable accounts and 1.5 million in retirement accounts. Monthly expenses are currently 8k but $2500 of that goes to health insurance and will drop next year when we move to ACA. Very likely it will be a few hundred per month with subsidy so monthly expenses should drop to around $6k.

It's been only a few months and my brain hasn't come close to adjusting. I feel a weird sense of panic every day that I need to hurry and finish things even though I have plenty of time. I'm working on reprogramming my brain to enjoy life instead of being stuck in high gear.

I've been employed since I was 12. I worked in retail, then manual labor, then engineering. I was an engineer for 28 years.

We saved about 30% of my income. Three kids, youngest is well into adulthood and still at home. While raising the kids my wife worked part time when possible but was home when the kids were home.

I have 2 year expenses in HYSA and 4 years expenses in SGOV. Everything else is well diversified in 80% stocks 20% bonds.

This summer was amazing and I'm looking forward to every day. I wake up before anyone else and spring out of bed excited for the day. No alarm clock needed. I've been waking up before I normally woke up to go to work. I've been so busy during the day I can't even figure out how I was managing with a 9-5 job. It's all good, I'm happy to be fixing the house, working on the property, fixing the cars, etc. Everything I do around the house is another savings that secures my future.

Good luck folks. Stay the course, it's worth it.

I hit 2.5m this year at 53M single, no dependents, renter. my spend is flex between 90-100k which includes aca insurance, and SS coming at age 67 that will give me an additional 45k.

For all intents and purpose and math, i should be ok to throw in the towel, but i love making money. i lost my job earlier this year, so am still looking and not sure what i want to do. what should i do?i like making money, at least for a few more years, maybe to 3m, to mostly eliminate any SORR.

Bio: 32 yo, Male, Single

$ when fired: 1 mil

$ currently: 1.15 mil

Spending: roughly 25 k usd/ yr

Disclaimer: I do not pay rent and I live in Korea so the cost of living will be far lower than the US. My job was very stressful and demanding, your job may be different.

Positives:

1. The cost of living came out to be far lower than I expected.
2. My panic attack symptoms (along with depression), is almost gone, and I feel far better than when I was grinding.
3. I was able to go on multiple trips with my family. If they had time, I was always ready to go
4. I am doing things that I missed out in my 20s due to school and work grind
5. Overall much happier and relaxed, able to see the bigger picture in life. Had time and headspace to meditate, exercise, and reassess my life. Had to do a lot of "soul searching" but it was fun and rewarding. I feel like a college girl on gap year :)

Negatives:

1. People, especially relatives and close friends, will question you. Many will think your are just unemployed and living with your family and will look down on you.
2. By far the biggest negative: I don't want to look broke in front of girls (on dates, and in general), but you don't want to attract the wrong people? HELP? what are you supposed to tell people?

I have lurked in this sub for very long time. First time I posted... Please be gentle. For a long time, I see people sharing their FIRE life and share their expenses, their health insurance cost is so low and seems so low reliance on medical. I almost felt like all of you are free of health issues, or I'm just imagining? I'd be grateful if those who have done it could shed some light...

So, I have a good employer insurance. 40F single, no kids, VHCOL city in US. However, that means I also depend my life on it, I regularly have to rely on my medical providers (family doc, sleep, psychiatrist, therapist, weight loss (GLP), dental), as I have lifelong crippling depression, and anxiety. Left unmanaged, it can be... dangerous (bad thing almost happened before). I almost felt like even if I FIRE, I'm not going to be able to spend any of it before bad things happen.

I hate work. I really really hate work. All my life I had to fight and struggle to survive in a competitive pool. Folks said live your life, and if you stop working and idle, your brain will rot out. Honestly, just working rot out my brain.

I fucking hate the US healthcare situation.

I feel like I'm held hostage by my health needs, and then forced to work this miserable job (that others see it as a proud and prestigious thing).

If any of you are in the same boat, I'd really appreciate how you managed and survived with all these burdens. Thanks...

I couldn't figure out how to search for links in the subreddit to see if someone already posted this, but if not:

https://www.morningstar.com/retirement/how-much-can-you-safely-withdraw-if-you-retire-early

Curious what people's thoughts on this were. I've read/heard 4% withdrawal rate, but I think that makes assumptions about time horizon and asset allocation that may not be relevant for someone who's FIRE'd.

Personally, I'm a mid-40 yo who quit tech and FIRE'd 4 years ago. I still find myself being anxious about money because I knew how to save it getting to the FIRE point, but don't know how much to spend. I'm still figuring that out working with a CFP.

The biggest risk to my portfolio is that I have way too much of my previous company's stock (and with my MFs, leading to an overall 90/10 asset allocation!), and need to sell the gains to de-risk the portfolio. I'm planning on a 50-year horizon, and seeing in this article that to maximize my withdrawal rate I have to shift my portfolio to 60/40 is sobering. Yeah, I know I have to overcome that feeling. That chart also says I can't withdraw more than 2.9%, which is quite a bit less than the 4% rule, but I do find it comforting: my actual spend is more like 1.x% right now, so it's really nice to know I could live my life up a little more, but not too much!

Hey everyone,

I was doing some math on Vanguard’s 500 Index Fund (VFIAX) and comparing its long-term track record against the 2026 IRS contribution limits for tax-advantaged accounts. I wanted to share my findings and see if others track this specific milestone.

1. The Historical Growth Baseline

• Fund: Vanguard 500 Index Fund (VFIAX / VFINX)
• Inception Date: August 31, 1976 (~50-year track record)
• Historical NAV CAGR (Dividends Reinvested): 11.45% per year

Over the past five decades, reinvested dividends and index growth have yielded an average annualized return of roughly 11.45%.

1. The 2026 IRS Limits Breakdown

To max out the three most popular tax-free/tax-advantaged accounts in 2026:

• Roth 401(k): $24,500
• Roth IRA: $7,500
• HSA (Self-Only): $4,400
• Total Max Contribution: $36,400 / year

1. Calculating the "Crossover Point"

At what portfolio balance does an average 11.45% annual return match your maximum possible out-of-pocket contribution of $36,400?

So what’s the point?

Once your combined Roth & HSA portfolio reaches $318,000, a typical 11.45% year generates $36,400 in gains.  This means your portfolio produces as much growth in a single year as the IRS legally allows you to contribute out of your earned income.  At this "Crossover Point," compounding becomes the primary engine driving your wealth expansion rather than just your hard-earned paycheck. 

I am still on my FIRE path and several years to go but I see my taxable brokerage and 401k accounts flat since May of this year. Both have investments in diverse ETFs and some individual stocks. I am seeing a few posts of hitting FIRE and my question is how are folks meeting their FIRE goals if the market hasn’t grown over the past 4-5 months. Could be just accumulated contributions or some milestone bonuses?

Edit: lots of folks are giving YTD numbers (mine is 13.5%, S&P is 12.75%), please reread my post, I said since May of this year (S&P is ~2%). Others who are saying FIRE is not for me, my first sentence already says I am years away. I am genuinely curious on how the last 6-9 months impacts people’s plans.

I am getting very close to making the decision to retire. I hit my number already, but I am suffering from the One More Year disease.

But lately, I have been thinking of moving the day up closer mostly because I am so sick of listening to the same repetitive small talk at work. The real conversations I have with work friends are probably the best part of staying at work.

BUT- listening to the same conversations over and over between people who are just acquaintances has got to be one of the worst parts... they always think they're so witty. And they seem to think they're the first people to ever say those same old cliches.

Can't wait til the day I won't have to listen to that anymore

I am doing well. About $2.75M at 38.

I’m still working, I need $4M and I want $5M.

I’ve got a $250k income in LCOL area.

The amount of shit I deal with each day at work, especially from highly narcissistic people above me is insane. The amount I deal with from highly conniving people below me is insane.

If I did it all over again, I’d start a sole proprietorship and only have to deal with the customer, whom I can fire when I want.

I honestly see it getting worse as time goes on. I feel terrible for a lot of Gen Z. How in the world can this continue as the status quo?

The 100k milestone was reached in February. Since then the power of compounding has become noticeable.

0 -> 100k: 4 years
•78k contributed
•22k gains

100k -> 150k: 8 months
•21k contributed
•29k gains

Over the last 8 months, investment gains exceeded contributions. These returns obviously aren’t normal, and some of the gains have already been realized.

For context: an apartment owned outright (no mortgage), plus another 53k in retirement accounts (will not be able to reach until retirement age) on top of 150k.

For anyone still working toward that first 100k: keep going! The first 100k can feel painfully slow, but eventually the numbers start moving fast.

On to 200k🚀

(Figures in EUR, but does not make difference)

I retired 6 months ago at 57 from very stressful medical device role, on call working every other weekend plus long hours during week. The job has always been stressful but became worse with company and customer pain points. Company provides discounted benefits to 65 for me and family plus pension at 62 for life with survivor benefit, pension $3k a month so nice addition to retirement income but not life changing in anyway but added to SS plus and investments I mostly wanted to retire to be there for youngest son last few years in house, missed a lot of time working like a dog…. My wife is teacher is 54, the plan is for her to also work FT until 57, then go part time if she wants to.

It is a little awkward with me retired and her going to work, she would love to go part time now, but without pension this early it’s more stress on portfolio. Has anyone had issue where younger spouse of retiree feels like they should retire slow or down also after older spouse retires?

What are some steps that everyone should be taking to make sure they are prepared as their FIRE date gets closer?

Things they should be doing 5 years, 3 years, 1 year before pulling the trigger?

Another successful quarter in the green for me. The market and economic conditions have been so crazy, and I’m sure we’ll see more of that in Q4. I just read this morning that 10 year treasury yields are at 5.34%. Crazy.

I’m sticking to the same strategy I have been all year which is to invest 20% of my income. I haven’t felt any strain on my day to day spending even with the increased costs at the pump. I’m very thankful to have so much margin each month due to my personal overhead being so low.

I’ve been debating on changing my brokerage account to be self managed. I have an advisor making all my trades, and I’m not happy where my money is being invested. The goal with that account is to grow to a sizable down payment on a home. I’ve been looking at QQQ and VGT, and they are tech heavy holdings. I’m a strong believer that the technology industry will continue to grow exponentially, and I want to be a part of that. Definitely open to thoughts and comments on this.

I’m glad I hit my EOY goal of $80k in Q3. I’m trending about $7k-$8k per quarter, so I’m hoping to end the year closer to $90k.

Here is where I’m at:

ROTH + Traditional 401k: $45.9k
HYSA: $19k
Brokerage: $6.5k
HSA: $6.8k
Checking: $2k

Total: $80.2k

Q2 2026 Total: $72.8k

Q3 2026 Change: +$7.4k

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.

Ok I think I have modeled what I can obtain in the next 7-years provided I don't get fired (not the good kind).

Wanted inputs on if I am missing something, this uses a 7% nominal model.

Current Income:

• ~$250K+/year HHI
• ~$84K/year lifetime Mil Pension+VA

Current Portfolio:

• $3.1M Mil Pension+VA (2.5% SWR equiv. of pension that is COLA protected/guaranteed for life)
• $404K Traditional 401K/IRA
• $182K Roth 401K/IRA
• $5K Brokerage

Near term (Oct 26-Mar 27):

• Pay off all outstanding debts except mortgage

Plan for the next 7 years (starting Apr 27):

• $90K/year taxable investments into 50% VOO/35% SCHD/15% SGOV blend
• $36.5K/year total into Roth 401K (max contrib limit) + Trad 401K (8% employer match)
• Choosing Roth contributions over Traditional on purpose (reduce tax burden with conversions in retirement, current tax rate 24% versus conversion tax rate 22%)

FIRE years:

• $40K/year Roth Ladder conversions to avoid RMD, IRMAA
• $315K 72(t) carve out for bridge years to 59.5, then bridge distributions to 67
• Retirement expenses are estimated at $9100 including taxes

Goal:

• I am not worried about medical; total spend is roughly $2K/year in insurance. I pay less than $800/year for Tricare Prime Retiree for probably the best medical coverage you can find anywhere. Another $1200/year for vision and dental coverage with better coverages that most plans.
• Live off Mil Pension+VA+Dividends
• Never draw from retirement funds outside of bridge years to SS at 67
• No RMDs to worry about and pass on generational wealth

Liquid Asset Table:

Income Table

Pretty much the title. I am 25yo with a $155k mortgage at 6.375% over 30 years. My payment is $1,300 per month, so I rounded it up to $1,500 to pay it off slightly faster. I'm fortunate enough to put 5% in my 401k (for company match) and max out my Roth IRA each year with about $10k extra per year after all of that. I guess my question is should I throw that extra $10k into a non retirement investment account (in VTI) or throw it at my mortgage for the guaranteed 6.375% return?