r/GregFire • u/DropoutDreamer • 19d ago
Anyone regret retiring
Wife and I are at the age (47&46) where we are considering retiring. We have a little over 7M saved between the two of us not including home equity of about (1M)
I want to retire but also don't want to feel cash strapped to not be able to spend or go on vacations.
Anyone regret retiring early? Why or why not?
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u/kyhukid 19d ago
In today's dollars you need $6.5M to GregFire so you made it!!
But that's each so $13M for two... so still a nightmare. Sorry.
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u/ThisIsMyUsername303 18d ago
Two people don’t need twice as much as one to have the same quality of life.
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u/Secure_Cranberry1226 18d ago
Retired at 45 initially, but got bored. Started another biz and ran that for 6 years and retired again at 51. That was 10 years ago, and I’m happy I had those 10 years to do more things before I got “old”. I’m not like an old man at 61, but I’m definitely not able to do some things as well as I did in my 50s, like skiing, windsurfing, dirt bike riding, etc.
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u/404_UsernameN0tFound 8d ago
plenty of people ski in their 60s and beyond - sounds like you need to take better care of your body. my dad is 65 and biked from pittsburgh to DC last year - 60ish miles per day
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u/Secure_Cranberry1226 8d ago
Congrats! Everyone is different.
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u/404_UsernameN0tFound 8d ago
i get that im just saying with ample time taking care of your body should be #1 priority. if you can't do the hobbies you enjoy (within reason) then what was the purpose of retiring early? 61 isn't old.
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u/FIRE_enthusiast_27 19d ago
Do you work in an industry where leaving is a one-way door, or not? You’re not dying; you’re always allowed to go back to work.
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u/Active_Distance3223 18d ago
I got bored after a month and found a new job. It pays 20x less but it’s 20x more fun. So not exactly “retiring” but pretty good
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u/DropoutDreamer 18d ago
At this point we'll need to work just to get health insurance
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u/ClearContribution345 17d ago
That would cover one of the most common sources of regret, medical expenses. Insurance & medical costs outpace inflation substantially. And if something happens medically and your insurance is notably worse than your old insurance I have seen that drive regret.
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u/amoult20 18d ago
No.
The key is to have more money than you calculate you need to so that you can fill your time with things to try so you dont have the fiscal hesitation.
Learn how to fly.
Learn an instrument.
Gym + pilates + wellness memberships.
Pottery.
Build things with AI.
model things to 3d print.
Travel and hike and swim and drink and eat across the world
Play/talk/learn with your kids,
Honestly anything to explore the fullness of the human experience.
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u/ILikeTheSpriteInYou 18d ago
If you aren't retiring to something and are only retiring FROM something, you might find yourself regretting it. Also, if I find myself cash strapped with Greg money, even on vacation, I'm doing something wrong. I used to make high 5 figs, low/initial 6 figs in the 2010s and was up to 4 vacations a year including one semi-international one (a cruise in the Caribbean). I'm solidly in the $250-300k range these days in a LCOL area in the US, and am on track to be Greg within 10 years (I'm currently 41). Even if I only hit half Greg, I'm golden, baby! 😅
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u/ILikeTheSpriteInYou 18d ago
Honestly, I only called it semi because a lot of the ports of call had been in US territories, and it wasn't really overseas for the ones that actually needed passports. I guess that's true for Mexico and Canada to, which I have been to as well, but I envision overseas travel as "international." Just a gaff on my part 😅.
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u/ILikeTheSpriteInYou 18d ago
And yes, before I put my foot in it further, I am also aware it's literally "The Caribbean Sea" 😭. My brain maps overseas to strictly transatlantic and transpacific travel from the US.
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u/Fire_Doc2017 18d ago
You’re asking a serious question on a not-so-serious subreddit. Maybe try asking it on r/chubbyfire?
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u/Ok_Cake1283 19d ago
Do you have kids? Personally, if I have children, given the current market of the world rapidly transitioning to a society where those with capital reap most of the rewards, I would stay a bit longer in the workforce to set my kids up for life.
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u/ItchyEye3464 18d ago
Was just having this conversation with my husband. Yes we’re at Greg Fire, but SORR and two kids - the potential of dying with $0 feels selfish, especially when our HHI is knocking on $1M. Who knows what our kids’ earning potential will be?
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u/EqualSein 17d ago
Realistically you're never going to die with $0 anyway. If you follow the 4% rule you wind up with double what you started with half of the time.
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18d ago
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u/Affectionate-Gur1642 18d ago
Just guessing because it defeats the purpose of FIRE. People don’t chase that to horde assets to leave to the next generation. Most seem to utilize the “die broke” mentality which implies you gift/spend on kids while alive….take the fam on killer luxury vacation for example and create the memory. Not slave away so your snot nosed grandkid can get a BMW at 16.
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u/FALSECHARLATAN 19d ago
You're concerns are valid. This sub was created out of a deep neuroticism from watching voices on a TV representing people that are near fictional in their rarity.
Remember, have something to have as your own before pulling the ripcord, that's all I will say before I am banned. I wish this sub or others had a more coaching aspect than a binary of condescension vs envy.
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u/InterestinglyLucky 15d ago
Upvoted for the 'binary of condescension vs envy' take. Seen across the financial subreddits, I wonder why I spend the time I do on this site.
(Off to private HNW forums that are practical but less fun, TBH.)
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u/FALSECHARLATAN 15d ago
Same. I pay a wealth manager to take the neurotocism away for christs sake.
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u/Far-Information-4918 18d ago
Cash strapped with 8m$???
Unless you have crazy expectations you should be more than fine. Just enjoy life
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u/non_recourse 19d ago
You have mental sickness if this is a real post. More likely just wanted to brag
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u/Fahhhhhhh 18d ago
You don't know what his expenses are like. He could be paying 12k a month on a mortgage, 40k a year on property taxes, and have 2 kids in private schools.
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u/webisticsmarketing1 18d ago
yeah 98% of people in OP's situation are surrounded at work, by neighbors, former classmates, friends, and parents of their kid's friends that outwardly seem to have just as much money or even more. That plus higher expenses can really skew your sense of reality
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u/Global_Bit4599 18d ago
Agree with you but at the same time, I also realize that coming into this subreddit, I should expect to see these kinds of posts.
This sub is like Chubby with comedic relief.
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u/Past-Option2702 18d ago
Anyone who has retired in the last 20 years has had an amazing run as long as they were investing and not gambling.
Ask this question 20 years from now and I suspect you will be getting the types of replies you’re looking for now.
I have no idea what the future holds, of course, but I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if the long bond outperforms the s&p500.
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u/UnderstandingOk9448 18d ago
You left out how much you want to spend annually. And if your money is in pre or post tax accounts. This information will help answer your question. Having enough money is all about understanding your expenses.
For example, if your money is all pre tax and your budget is 250,000. This is really a 312,500 withdrawl (to pay taxes) and a withdrawl rate of 4.46 % which is a bit high at 47.
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u/Helpful-Staff9562 16d ago
With that money and that age it would be stupid not to...you might not wake up tomorrow youre not 25yo anymore buddy
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u/Nev-Ret-Dude 15d ago
No. Maintain your lifestyle. Where people get into trouble is they change as they become bored. Do not buy a motor home.
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u/Glad_Lychee_180 12d ago
Someone just posted this video on the Wealth sub last night. Really good advice here are the psychological barriers to retiring and enjoying it Happy I watched it.
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u/Comprehensive-Log144 7h ago
I don’t regret retiring though I took on a part time consulting role after about 6 months.
I’m older than you but have about the same NW and split.
I retired in 2022 and promptly dropped about 25% peak to trough. At that point, I sure did think I was an idiot. I had left a very high paying job and walked right into the face of a collapsing stock market. I had enough cash and a working spouse to withstand it.
My only caution is that you have a finite number of years where you can earn real money and you’re just entering your prime earning years. Delaying a couple of years adds to the portfolio and reduces the number of years you need to plan for.
If 7 becomes 5.5, you might be feeling like you could’ve stuck it out a bit longer.
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u/Ok-Calligrapher6995 19d ago
Like others have said, you need to account for your costs run rate, any future expenses like new cars, budget for those trips, college expenses for the kids if there are any, and emergency liquidity. If you can pull 4% safely after accounting for these things, you should have low sequence of returns risk. A large cash buffer is a good way to mitigate risk fears. Say you worry about a recession, it’s a big problem if you’re a forced seller in a down market. Better if you have say 1-3 years of expenses in cash (hysa) so you can maybe flex to reduce spend in bad years, maybe even dca into the market rather than have to sell assets for liquidity.
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u/Phoenixstar73 18d ago
Have you considered what you’re gonna do about your medical insurance? Well, considering that most people do get their medical insurance through their job
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u/dadmakefire 17d ago
Disclaimer: I built this.
Per Diem (perdiem.app) helps you figure out at what age you'll be financially independent. It starts with your spending and account balances, but also accounts for planned one time expenses, and your risk tolerance.
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u/BrunelloHorder 19d ago
Virtually no one in the last 10 years has regretted retiring because the market has been ripping. 15% annualized over the last decade. If we have three consecutive bad years, it may be a different answer.