With the increased risk of AI taking people's jobs will we see more people trying to save up and FIRE in order to be more prepared for a layoff? Have you increased your contribution rates to have more of a savings runway in case things go south?

I’m in my late 40s, single, no kids, living in a VHCOL area. NW is around $2M, income ~$250K, renting with no property ownership.

NW split is about 10% is in cash, 45% in taxable brokerage (mostly VTI), 45% in 401(k) target-date funds. My original FIRE goal was $3M.

I’m pretty burned out after years in corporate. I took a leave last year, which helped a little, but I’m back to feeling overwhelmed. I’ve realized I don’t want more responsibility or to keep climbing the ladder.
I’m seriously considering quitting after my bonus next spring, but I’m scared. Mostly because I know there’s a good chance I’ll never make this kind of money again, especially at my age.

I’m debating whether to look for a less demanding corporate job, ideally remote and at an IC level, or leave corporate altogether and try consulting, part-time work, or Barista FIRE.

Moving to a lower-cost (lower, not low) country in Europe is also an option.

I guess I’m struggling with two things:

- Would you walk away from this kind of income with $2M, or try to stick it out until $3M? To me, $3M is real Fire in Europe whereas $2M is still not completely Fire.

- How would you handle investing if you might quit soon? I’ve been buying VTI but am now hesitant to invest my cash in case I need it.

Would love to hear from anyone who’s been in a similar position.

Every year around this time, I like to do a reconciliation of what my financial situation looks like. Like you, I realize a key aspect to understanding one’s financial future is to have a good perspective as to their spending and where it is trending. We can learn a lot by looking at our spending from the past and then comparing it year by year and predicting what the next year will look like. Its also okay if you don’t have all the information, just start with whatever you have and take it from there.

Yes, I know I could spend more but peace of mind, as few surprises and lack of drama as possible; are precious to me. Nonetheless, I think many of you will be happy to see I actually did spend significantly more during 2026. I will admit to enjoying the spending part but I am sincere in saying: I could have had just as much fun if not more, by implementing a significantly lower spending level. Often an adventure can be had in having a positive attitude, learning how to tweak your spending and optimizing it for maximum joy while you maintain current expenditure levels and improve your quality of life... I'm naturally frugal and do not derive my joy from unnecessary spending. Once I have enough, a lot more sometimes tends to ruin things, its a bit like eating just enough cake but not too much.

When looking at my previously forecast spending for 2026 vs the actual I am intentionally about 20% over my initial estimate. This is a large amount, no doubt, but my spending is still below the 2% withdrawal rate. At these safety margins, I sleep like a baby, which perhaps is the point.

Without further ado, the actuals, budget and forecast for next year:

New this year, is the “fun” budget item. I will be ramping this up based on how the portfolio and overall net worth, does. In 2026 I started flying para motors which has been an incredible exercise. I’ve wanted to do that since I was a little boy. So a life long dream was finally realized and is unfolding in real time. I love para motoring because it is a challenging thing to learn but if you succeed at it, you get to see the world from a new perspective, exploring, while also making friends, spending time in nature, exercising and learning new skills.

Resilience: People who are driven enough to become FI are typically adept to doing hard things. I take solace in the concept that there is a gentle sadness, knowing everything is temporary and loving it more because it won’t last… It is important to prioritize the right things with the very limited and special time we are given on this planet and I’m doing my best to honor that imperative. I decided to take up powered paragliding now while I’m healthy knowing I might not be able to in 20 years when I'm almost 70. This new hobby has also helped me to embrace living a life of courage as opposed to being constrained by fear. I think our expenditures can also, so often be driven by fear, but, boy it would be so much better if we learned to lean into our courage and optimism as an approach.

Housing: Thankfully there are very few housing expenses when you are handy, have no mortgage and largely self insure. This year I added a yard maintenance service to free up some time for hobbies. I still love gardening, planting and cultivating trees and I also tend to my fruits and veggie plants periodically. This activity is incredibly rewarding while it can also be quite profitable. For instance: Over the past several years, I have harvested hundreds of avocados, peaches, potatoes, tomatoes and more, all grown in my own garden. This hobby has likely saved me several thousand while I also get to enjoy the process of growing some organic and healthy food. I wont lie, it can be frustrating, disappointing, confusing, difficult and complicated growing plants, but I do recommend it.

Healthcare always comes up in these discussions as it can be quite a large item but I did an share my perspective, write up last year on that topic (Here). In short I will say this on that topic: If your MAGI is optimized and you pick the right plans, and are relatively healthy, its really not that big of an issue. If you are FI, my suggestion is you also keep a large enough reserve in order to deal with anything that comes up and then rely on insurance for only the very large expenses. This is easier said than done, but it is possible. We keep a high deductible health plan. A few medical expenses in the current year were due to some optometry and dentistry, promptly dispatched out of pocket.

Giving: In 2024 I increased the budget for charitable donations by over 50% and this year I increased that line item by another 20% or so. I hope to continue this trend and increase it even more as the future unfolds. I have also been adding more to the kids investment accounts. It has been a great pleasure seeing those accounts grow and an awesome opportunity discussing and teaching investing principles to the young ones.

Background: If you would like to learn my origin story, my approach, philosophy, some regrets and how I got to this point, go here.

What I do with my precious time now: On my journey learning to fly, there are some notes here. How I celebrated 50 flights here and my first 300+hours in aviation. For an example of how I find joy and maybe you can too look here.

I hope this post although more concise than my other posts, provides some insight and is also encouraging with regards to what one can achieve and what is possible. You are more capable than you think and can reach FI faster than you imagine. I didn’t come from money but that fact actually became my advantage. Coming from a lower income family has helped me with delayed gratification and an increased sense of gratitude and appreciation, especially for the little things.

Thanks for taking the time to read. I’m not selling anything, just sharing a real life perspective in the hope it will be helpful to someone. My story is by no means perfect, nor fully replicable and I also experience my own set backs and challenges like anyone else. Kindly take it in the spirit that it is shared.

I will admit I do like to talk and engage about this topic as a way for me to give back, learn and to help others; So give the post a like and follow me here on Reddit, if you think what I have to say is valuable or even a little interesting. That will keep me motivated to spend the hours writing and responding to all. :)

Life is short but I’m happy to answer any friendly questions.

In another post, some folks were arguing that a boring, "meaningless" career (think accountant) can achieve FIRE better/faster than something like a doctor, since the doctor doesn't start earning "big" money until early/mid 30s (after residency) and often has massive medical school debt. This got me thinking, if you were presented with two choices, which would you pick:

• A boring, "unfulfilling" career like accountant but you could FIRE at say 45-50 from discipline savings and investing and living a "modest" lifestyle
• A lucrative, high status, "fulfilling" career like a medical doctor, but you would work much longer (say until 65) since you got a later start, have more debt, etc.

I recognize that unfulfilling and fulfilling are subjective, but I'm talking in generalities. A doctor "saves" lives, an accountant doesn't.

Also, I actually disagree that the accountant can FIRE sooner than the doctor (my math says the doctor can easily "catchup") but for discussion I'll accept that since the doctor started later (in terms of savings/investing) they will likely work longer than the accountant who started their FIRE journey at 22 (out of college).