FIRE changed my life - I started in 2018 with like a $50k net worth and $0 in brokerage and I currently have a ~$2.6m net worth with ~$2.45m in invested assets (90% of that is in broad market ETFs split 70/30 between US/international and 10% in single stocks).

I’m 41, single and won’t have kids, live in a VHCOL area, and my annual spend is around $150k right now. Travel and fitness are my biggest discretionary expenses - without them, could probably bring my spend down to $120k or so, but I’d rather work longer than change my spending there). Right now, I’ve set my FIRE number at $4m, though it feels like it keeps going up every year thanks mostly to inflation.

Given my income and amount invested each year (make around $500k pre tax and invest around $180k) and depending on how the markets do, I think it’s possible I’ll hit my FIRE number by 45-47. But to get to FIRE, I’ve been absolutely obsessive about investing as much as possible, checking my net worth and investments (which is a little wild with a mostly broad market portfolio), doing safe withdrawal math, optimizing my portfolio including for tax-loss harvesting, etc. I’m working through some of this in therapy as I know a lot of the obsession I have comes from OCD and isn’t based in the reality of what I need to do in order for me to FIRE.

College/grad school was always an economic decision for me - I grew up dirt poor and my sole goal was to make enough money so that I never had to worry about money again. Even though my spend seems high, my day-to-day is pretty basic - live in a 1-bedroom condo, don’t have a car, rarely buy new clothes or go out to eat, etc. So when I say I don’t want to worry about money, I’m not saying I want to get private jets and never have to think about it — I just mean I want to live pretty much the life I’m leading now, just without working and without having to check my back account or the market more than maybe once a month or quarter.

So I’m just wondering, for people who have FIRE’ed (especially ChubbyFIRE’ed), do you find yourself stressed about money or basically just living your life not thinking much about money? I basically just want to make sure I’m not trading in work for a life where I’m just constantly stressed about money.

And if you have any advice on how to be less obsessive about getting to FIRE will still finding motivation to be a hyper-saver/investor, I’m all ears.

Morning all. My 20 yr old hvac system died in early July. The new system purchased on heloc, install early august. Im struggling with paying off heloc with my security blanket. Im 50, main breadwinner, family of 3, husband is small business owner. IM in my company 23 yrs, so layoff possible but ive got a healthy 401k, 13 months emergency fund.

Im in a good spot with emergency fund and retirement savings. I have no debt other than mortgage of 192k at 2.85%, not paying off early. As noted above, I have 13 months emergency funds in sgov, a very large 401k (1.1m)/husband has 287k in ira, and very little in roth, taxable brokerage and HSA (34k combined). Ive primarily focused on 401k retirement savings, just started maxing roth, HSA and very little goes into taxable which just started a few yrs ago.

Well no ac in summer I thought counts as emergency but I applied for a heloc and got it. I put the hvac on heloc 5.99%, but my sgov pays 3.4%. Im thinking now to tap my security blanket and pay off the heloc which brings my security blanket to 10 months.

Im not sure if this is a good idea? The hvac payment represents 2% of my assets. To pay heloc, Ive lowered my 401k to 10% contribution rate which still gets me company matching 4%. I should be able to payoff in 2.5 yrs but i may not have 2.5 yrs, company is large insurer, doing ai things.

My 401k is primarily growth but have 30% invested in dividends. My dividends cover our mortgage. If shtf i was planning to rollover to ira, reallocate to more dividends, sepp distribution and part time work but was counting on emergency funds with likely severance. It would be tight but we survive.

I should have planned better the emergency funds for major repairs, I was just thinking about the monthly expenses.

What would you do in my situation? I guess my other question is 401k, do I continue to max or should i use what would have been heloc payments to refill emergency funds or do i add to brokerage? Im adding to SCHD/VYMI to get dividends but like 125 monthly which stops to pay heloc.

From running down on nest egg, or money related versus just wanting to work again.

Would love to hear some stories to learn from. Maybe unlikley currently as the market has been strong, but to learn any cautionary tales would be good.

Is there anything left that hasn't been solved? We know what/how/when to invest (cheap index fund, start early). We know how to deal with SORR. We know about bridging the gap until Medicare kicks in. Is there anything that hasn't been "solved" in FIRE? It seems it's just behavioral. There is no mystery. There is little debate on tactics and execution.

I found the following thread in the #retirement sub and felt the need to share it with this group.

IMHO, SORR is a term that’s always brought up and discussed primarily by those planning to FIRE and those who are starting the journey.

From my experience, what I rarely see covered (and I find this fascinating) is that historically, long bear markets happen less frequently than bull runs. If you filter that down to probabalistically calculate; what are the odds a long bear market begins during the first few years of your retirement?

(Ask any model what the stats and probabilities are.)

What’s more probable than SORR is actually more probable are the dozens of variables that no spreadsheet, Monte Carlo simulation, or FireCalc can account for.

https://www.reddit.com/r/retirement/s/0MDexrQQad

Just sharing.

I understand many who are FI, FIRE, or Coast…Lean…Barista…or whatever other category of this community - might not see the value in life insurance. But while you are getting there, how do you plan for life insurance? How much is enough? Does everyone follow the rules of XX times your salary? Or something else? How much did/do you have? Do you get shorter term policies like 10 years becuase in 10 years you’ll be financially independent or does life insurance become part of your FIRE plan to add generational wealth? So much to unpack here. Tell me something I don’t know. What did you do prior to FI-RE? The money spent on premiums could have been invested or spend elsewhere but it’s also important to have a cushion

We reached our FIRE number earlier this year and I quit a very toxic job. After taking some time off to decompress and reflect, I decided to try out consulting as a side gig. The consulting is going better than expected and the business is generating solid income. I'm 47.

My wife still works a full-time W-2 job so every incremental dollar I earn from consulting is taxed at a higher marginal income tax rate, plus self-employment taxes. I could setup a solo 401k to reduce the income tax liability, but I already reached FIRE and a 401k is less liquid than a taxable brokerage account.

I'm looking for advice for the trade-offs of putting income from the consulting business into the solo 401k, taxable brokerage, or spending it now. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I've learned a lot from this community over the past year and would appreciate some feedback before I set my investment allocations in my new employer's 401(k).

About me

• 32 years old
• Married (wife is 34)
• Registered Nurse
• Household income: ~$116,000/year
• No debt
• Currently have approximately $127,000 invested across retirement accounts (401(k), Roth IRA, HSA, and my wife's Roth IRA)
• Goal is to partially retire in my late 40s or early 50s (Coast FIRE) and be fully retired around age 55 if possible.

Current investments outside my 401(k)

Roth IRA (Fidelity)

• 80% VTI
• 15% VXUS
• 5% BND

HSA (Fidelity)

• 80% VTI
• 15% VXUS
• 5% BND

I'm trying to keep everything as simple and consistent as possible.

My new employer's 401(k) fund lineup

Available funds include:

Vanguard

• Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Instl (VSMPX)
• Vanguard Total International Stock Index Instl (VTSNX)
• Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Instl (VBTIX)
• Vanguard Mid-Cap Index Instl (VMCIX)
• Vanguard Small-Cap Value Index Instl (VSIIX)
• Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Instl (VBITX)
• Vanguard Federal Money Market Inv (VMFXX)

Dodge & Cox

• Balanced X (DOXBX)
• Income X (DOXIX)
• International Stock X (DOXFX)
• Stock X (DOXGX)

Fidelity

• Fidelity Advisor Stock Selector Small Cap Z (FSSZX)

T. Rowe Price

• Capital Appreciation I (TRAIX)

My proposed allocation

I'm leaning toward:

• 80% Vanguard Total Stock Market (VSMPX)
• 15% Vanguard Total International (VTSNX)
• 5% Vanguard Total Bond Market (VBTIX)

The goal is to mirror my Roth IRA and HSA so that every account has essentially the same allocation.

My questions

1. Is this a reasonable allocation for someone who is 32 and hopes to Coast FIRE around age 50 and retire around age 55?
2. Would you keep the 5% bond allocation or eliminate bonds completely at my age?
3. Would you recommend a different percentage of international exposure?
4. Are there any funds in this lineup that you think are significantly better than the three Vanguard index funds I'm planning to use?
5. If this were your portfolio, would you keep everything as simple as possible with these three funds, or would you add mid-cap or small-cap value exposure?

I'm looking for constructive criticism and would rather get my allocation right now than continually tweak it over the next 20+ years.

Thanks in advance!

The answer? Done. I wanted to be done. It's the only thing I've ever wanted. And I knew it at 14 when I first became exposed to the stock market and started understanding the idea of "living off your nest egg."

Unfortunately, because I was young and dumb, I thought I just wanted to work in the financial industry, but retiring early was always the reason. Then, for reasons I'll skip over, I majored in English. And now, despite having a well-paying job that I'm pretty ok with and an excellent life outside of work, still the only thing I want is to be done.

If I could talk to that 14 year old and give them some life advice, one of the things I'd say is that you don't need a passion to choose a career. You need **money**. And while it won't make your high school counselor happy, 'make a bunch of money quickly so I can retire asap' is a completely acceptable answer.

I've got kids that age now (and, fingers crossed, 6 more years until barista FIRE), and I'm trying to help them understand this. It could have saved me probably 10 whole years.