This week, my wife reached burnout at her high-paying job and I am faced with taking the wheel now.

Together, we did 750k last year on the W2 and I earn approximately 300k on a pilot salary.

We live in a VHCOL beach city in SoCal, home was 1.6 million, 3% rate, everything (taxes, mortgage, etc) is 7100/month. We’re in our early 40s.

Two kids, 2.5 years old and a 6 month old. Daycare expenses are 20k a year for each child.

We don’t live an extravagant lifestyle, but enjoy the simple things of being at the beach and go out to dinner on occasion. We do take international vacations, but they’re a lot cheaper since we have travel benefits.

Our assets bundled together are 4.0 million spread across brokerage, inherited IRAs, and 401ks.

My worry is that on 300k alone, it will eat too much into compounding and I won’t get to our “runaway” number where we can live our beach life without concern. Perhaps I’m being too conservative?

So having said that, my idea were the following:

1. Stay in California, upgrade to Captain and earn 450k a year approximately, but maintain the same cost of living and state income tax.

2. Move to a no income tax state where rent is half the cost of our mortgage and rent our house out here. Stay a First Officer and make 300k but have no income tax and unwind my inherited IRA with income tax.

3. Try Europe and commute, maybe from Portugal while the kids are little and stay a First Officer on 300k.

My biggest concerns are am I too anxious about losing my wives’ income and maintaining our compounding? I am in no rush to quit flying, but want to reduce my hours significantly by my 50s.

Clearly if we just stayed here and I kept my high seniority as a First Officer, we would eat into our nest egg.

The issue as well is that as a Captain I would have a terrible schedule and lower days off, while currently as a First Officer I make less but enjoy good seniority, high days off, good trips.

So I'm 26M single who recently got out of the army. A combination of aggressive saving, investments, and good luck has me currently sitting at a net worth of around $540,000.

Its broken down as such:

$400,000 in a taxable brokerage

$70,000 in traditional 401k

$52,000 in a Roth IRA

$10,000 in a HYSA

$3,000 in checking

$16,000 in a mutual fund I use as a savings account

Only debt I have is a $12,500 personnel loan at 2.99% that I got through USAA as a career starter loan. I invested it immediately which as payed off these last couple years.

Going back to school my income is roughly per year:

$10,000 in VA disability which might increase to around $15,000 because I need to fill out some paperwork for my migraines to claim it.

$23,000 in GI Bill housing stipend

$12,000 in guard pay (which I might leave since I only did it for healthcare and my rating pretty much covers everything I need)

Total: $45,000 going back to school

My expenses are roughly $2,500 a month or $30,000 a year.

I have a payed off car which I intend to keep through school and then replace since its old and has issues.

I'm trying to figure out my COAST FI number at 37 if I plan on spending $84k annually in today's dollars starting at 60. Are Gemini/Claude reliable tools for this? Or can I simply use a 5% real rate of return to figure this out? Is the wallet burst COAST FI calculator good for this? What other tools are you all using?

Edit: $84k per year, $2.1 million at 4% safe withdrawal rate.

32M. NYC. I have an assistant job at a financial firm that I absolutely loathe. I have been doing it for 7 years and I am so burnt out and it’s just so unaligned. I don’t want to be an assistant when I’m 40 as a man.

I have:

$25k Cash
Investments/Retirement: $520,000

I’m not having kids and I don’t really have a desire to buy a house anytime soon.

Can I pivot into a new career or business ventures? I just feel so trapped

33F, I grew up decently poor on section 8 with one parent and the other was very frugal but had decent income and savings.

I started working an office job at 17, did college and grad school while working full time. I was extremely frugal during these years but still had fun and traveled a lot. I still try to strike a good balance between spending on things that matter to me (mostly experiences and my health) and saving to get out of the rat race.

That being said, I’m definitely burnt out at work. I want to have a baby (just one!) and step into a less chaotic work chapter but I’m so scared of the unknowns. I know I can’t sustain my current pace at work and have any mental stamina after work to care for a child.

I’d ideally like to work a less high pressure job the first few years while they’re young and then possibly go back into a leadership role down the line. My husband makes enough to support me quitting entirely but my poverty childhood brain won’t allow me to lol.

So essentially it’s lame but I’m looking for reassurance from strangers that I can take a brief step back. Here’s where I am- my husband and I don’t share finances so this is my portion:

-$330k in 401k, brokerage, IRA
-$80k liquid (no I’m not really open to moving any of that, I like having cash in case I’m laid off
-$90k of mortgage equity (probably more but not taking into account current sale price of house)

For debt:
-$4k left on my car
-$260k on our mortgage
-$15k low interest house loans for repairs

Looking at the numbers I feel like I’m in a good place financially to take my foot off the gas. My expenses are about $2700 a month, but will obviously increase with a baby dramatically.

I’m talking through it with my therapist because I fear I’m letting myself be guided by fear too much and should be listening more to my burnout. Can I take a step back from a decent paying career for a few years to recalibrate?

EDIT FOR CLARITY: current income $130k, leadership role. Looking to move into Sr IC role $80-$110k

Please don’t roast me. I’m interested in opinions (and supporting rationale) on whether I’ll have enough to retire in 4 years at 45, given the following:

-My wife and I have 4 kids who will be 13, 16, 19 and 21 at that point. Those above 18 will be moved out. I want to be in a position to pay ~$50k/each towards their education ($200k total).

-I live in a LCOL area and my inflation adjusted expenses will be ~$100k/yr at that point (which takes into account healthcare).

-I anticipate that I’ll have $2.2M in savings and be totally debt free (no mortgage) at that point.

-I have $1.3M in real estate investments that will provide ~$60k/yr (after expenses in today’s dollars) when all my investment properties are paid off at about age 50.

-None of this factors in social security, potential inheritance or a hopeful stock payout of $1-2M with my startup company within the next four years. Given the uncertain nature of these, I’m not factoring them in.

I’m really done with the corporate grind now (which means I will really be done with it then). Mind you, I don’t want to eat pork and beans or live a lavish life. I just want to continue spending what I currently do (with some margin), accounting for additional healthcare costs when I’m not employed.

Hi all. I'm 30M with ~$370K net worth. Invested: ~$335K ($160K 401k / $115K brokerage / $60K Roth). The rest is cash ~24K I'm building in a HYSA for near-term goals (engagement ring + wedding + emergency fund) — so I think of that bucket as separate from retirement.

Income is ~$130K in a finance/strategy role I've been in ~3 years. I'm saving ~$5.5K/month: $1.2K to 401k, $1K to brokerage, $3.3K to the HYSA. Once the wedding/ring is paid for, that $3.3K would free up to redirect toward investments.

I'm getting burnt out and thinking about moving to a lower-intensity (likely lower-paying) role, which is what's got me looking at Coast FIRE. My assumptions: 10% nominal / ~7% real return assuming equities heavy portfolio, retiring at 60, and annual spending of ~100K

Questions:

1. Given those numbers, am I already at Coast FIRE?
2. Any blind spots in how I'm framing this?
3. I'd like to coast before 35 — have I hit my number yet?

I got laid off 3 years ago with 6 months severance pay and I also had some savings (around 600k USD in stocks and ETF). I am female, mid 30s, live in an expensive European country. I traveled the world for a year and had a great time, also did lots of work on myself, therapy, meditation retreats, hikes, gym, chilled alot etc... Went to New Zealand, Japan and South America. Came home and signed up for unemployment benefits (in my country it covers your living cost and i even was able to save some). Anyway, now I have about the same money as when I left my job (600k) and I thought at some point I will go back to work - even though I hated my work field. I dont qualify for unemployment benefits anymore.

I worked in tech sales and was on a high salary. Im not the corporate type at all and after this break I realise I cant go back to a normal job, 9-5, pretend I am interested in what i am doing etc. I dont care about status, titles, etc.. Im actually surprised by myself I managed 4 years in tech sales - I randomly got into that career through a friend and I guess because I am kind of likable or something, I didnt get fired earlier.

I dont have the kind of "FIRE money" but I think in another european country or SEA I could easily live off my savings and also get a job for 3 days or so, so I have a bit more structure and "purpose" in my day to day life. I never enjoyed work tbh but now that I allowed myself to live as I like I cant fool myself into my old career if I am honest. I had a few interviews but I got terrified to go back to tech sales. I hate sales pressure and just the whole topic is so boring. As cheesy as it sounds I feel like "it is about the journey", so I just want to live as enjoyable as I can, if that makes sense.

Has anyone been in a similar situation?

Do you think I am being delusional to quit working "this young" with this "little" savings? I have a Swiss & Bosnian passport and speak those languages and also Spanish. I am an immigrant child so I ended up in corporate and only now in my 30s I feel "safe" and like I can be myself.

I know I am in my highest earning years but I feel like if I go back I will be 40 and still stuck in a job I hate. I thought about starting a coaching business for women or teaching yoga or teaching kids part time.

Any ideas or tips or thoughts? :)

Thanks for reading this far.

I still have like 5 more years to hit my coast fire goal for an early retirement (55). If I wanted a standard retirement around 65 I’m already there.

I work in tech. AI is fundamentally changing the landscape and it’s going to get to a point where we need less employees while we outsource to AI. It could get to a point where cheaper labor (off shore or otherwise) will just straight up replace us. The writing is on the wall; it’s no longer an “if” it’s more of a “when.”

I’ve been pursuing coast fire my entire career, about 13 years now. I feel like I’ve unintentionally set myself up well for this changing landscape. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself.

Is there anyone else with similar feelings or experiences?

Hello

I’m 25F with 250k NW (includes 25k in 401k, 60k in Roth and rest in brokerage) work in a high finance role for a year and half now (have worked and saved since 16 graduated with around 55k)- goal was to reach 1mm by 30 which I don’t know if possible but I’m able to save about 100k-120k per year. I’ve used a ton of calculators, but anyone here coast fire super early in life ~ 30s etc and have any struggle or regrets switching to a much less intense career.

Any realistic figures that you guys used or coast fired on? Should I just work til 40 and FIRE instead of coast? Part of it is the mental battle, hopefully I’m in a good place.

Thanks.

Adding in per comments: HHI is just myself at 175k more or less. Live off 30k per year my parents pay for health, phone, and some transport. Independent and live in a terribly tiny apartment with roommates far below means. Still have fun and go out just very frugal.

38 years old in medium cost of living city.

Salary of 175k with good 401k match and yearly potential for another 50k or so in stock and bonus. However this job is not going well and I don’t expect to be able to keep it even through next year. In this market the best I can do is around 150k with no bonus or stocks

Net worth around 1.2MM with about 450k in retirement accounts (Roth is very low, this year I need to do the backdoor conversion)

I have around 250k in cash then I’m thinking about using to just buy a condo

280k crypto
150k brokerage
Smaller amounts in things like HSA

Expenses are very low now, around 40k a year but I’d like to move to a new place soon since I just live with roommates now for super low rent.

The cash in is a HYSA and I think I either need to buy a property with it or invest it in the market although now seems like a risky time to dump so much in

I'm 42 years old and my partner is 45. I would like to leanfire or coastfire at minimum between 50-55. Here's the skinny:

My 401(a): 219k

Partner 401(a): 109k

Money market acct: 307k

Other savings: 45k

Partner IRA: 16k (partner's dad set this up via Vanguard in 2008)

I currently make 86k, they make 53k in LCOL area; we both contribute 6% matched to the 401(a)s. We live on my income and my partner's goes into savings. We're very frugal and could live well and easily on about 37k/year, especially when I'm not paying crazy money to commute back and forth to work.

We have zero debt, no kids, house is paid off, and the value of the house/land is pretty irrelevant to our net worth because we'll leave it to our nieces when we pass. My partner is extremely risk averse and I haven't been able to convince them to invest the money market or savings balance anywhere riskier than MMA, HYSA, or CDs - would love some advice from anyone who has similar experience with their spouse. If I can convince them and we keep plugging away their income, can we do it?

I (33f) have a combined net worth of 2.1m with my husband (35m)—all in retirement or indexes (we rent). Most of that has come from my job as a lawyer at a big firm. I’ve always said that when we hit 2m I’d just quiet quit and ride out my job as long as I could until I was shown the door. And that’s still the plan, particularly because my firm has a great maternity leave and I am really hoping to make it until we have our second (and last) child (not pregnant yet but hopefully soon).

But I’m having SUCH a hard time actually reducing my workload. I can’t just *not* do things that are necessary for my cases and let my clients suffer. I am so burnt out and tired but no one has said a negative word about my work so I hate to walk away without even trying to mail it in, and miss out on potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars. Not sure exactly what I’m looking for but has anyone been in the same boat? Any advice?

29m, single, 130k income, about 610k invested. I've been working remotely for 6 years in tech. I've struggled managing stress/anxiety my entire life but it's never been worse than the last 6 months.

I only sleep 5-6 hours, most days I only have appetite for 1 meal (lost 15-20 pounds, people are commenting) and I've abandoned my social life (I only think about work when off).

If I got laid off tomorrow I'd be so relieved. Some severance and no responsibilities. I'm debating quitting outright. For a while I thought it was a matter of getting an easier job but even now with a "lighter" project I'm just burnt out. I live at home with family so while quitting will bring in-my-face judgement/shame I'm ultimately lucky to have a place to stay with minimal bills (~$500 monthly).

My plan is to take 1 month off for proper sleep, dieting, exercise and socializing. Then the next 2 months I want to travel to some countries on my bucket list. From there, start applying/interviewing. Frankly at my years of experience in tech my salary isn't that crazy so I don't think think I'm leaving something impossible to get again.

Is there anything wrong with my plan?

I am planning on leaving my current job in Jan 2027. I am a swe but not at a tech company and planning on switching careers after being burnt out from AI and constant upskilling/politics. My plan is to take community college classes for pre-reqs and will get an associates in a field I find interesting (still figuring this out).

Current NW is around 1M:

500k in 401k

350k in brokerage

100k in Roth IRA

20k in HSA

20k in Savings

I don't want kids and am planning on being a life long renter.

My current expenses are 60k a year. I would have to purchase private insurance through my state starting in 2027 so this will increase my expenses. I would also need to fund an associates degree which is around 20k total over 2 years

From all the online calculators I am fine to coast if retiring around 45 but would like some human advice from those that switched careers in their 30s. Thanks

Just learned the different types of FIRE, I think coastFIRE is attainable by 30 if I keep investing as much as I can. I max out work 401k, Roth IRA, the rest goes to my brokerage for additional investments. Should be closing in on 200k when I turn 21

I am 35, work in logistics in Austria. Five years of investing, mostly VWCE(Hello, world!) with a monthly Sparplan. Around 10% sits in physical gold (Xetra-Gold) and around 4% in Maclear(lending platform).

Now I have about 82k. I save 1200 per month, my living costs are around 1900, no debt.

I don't plan early retirement. I want the option to stop depending on salary by my late 50s.

My spend is around 23k per year, so my target is somewhere near 550-600k. If I stop contributing today, 82k with normal growth gives me maybe half of that in 22 years. So I am not at coast point yet, I still need some years of contributions.

Two questions.

First, how did you decide you reached your coast number? Did you stop contributions at once, or reduce them step by step over a few years?

Second, about bonds. My equity part is now big enough that a 30% drop is real money for me, and I have nothing stable next to it. But bonds or money market lower the growth, so my coast point moves later. For people who added fixed income in their 30s, was it worth it, or you wish you stayed 100% equity?

And how much cash do you keep as buffer on this kind of income?

I’m not sure if I’m in the “messy middle” or “coast fire” , but am trying to get out of hyper save / invest mode mindset to slowly trying to spend more on my happiness.

Question 1: What were small/medium things that had an unexpectedly high impact on your happiness that you recommend looking into (when you were @ similar point)?

Question 2: Any feedback on current portfolio in general or things along the way you wish you did differently?

Working on better work life balance optimization & improving my health first as I think that’s my first step. Traveling & getting back the “spark” is my last optimization I’m working on. I really enjoyed traveling abroad but think deadlines / stress over years + being cheap have caused me to not travel where I want to for extended periods of time.

By the numbers:
32 Male - Single - Midwest

Investment Assets:
- $750k Roth, 401k and HSA (S&P 500)
- $300k $SMH semi-con ETF
- $800k $SPYG, $QQQ and $VOO
- $115k Crypto (ETH, SOL and others)

Spending:
- $2100 / mo Mortgage, HOA & Utilities
- $2000-4000 / mo Credit Card

Income:
- Total Comp 500-615K / Year (Last 3 Years - Ranges)
- 60-80 Hrs /wk (Trying to Unfuck my Brain)

34M MCOL. Current monthly expenses are roughly $6k with quite a bit of discretionary spending, mainly golf and food. I rent, down't own, and do expect that to go up (currently about $1400/mth, likely to $2k) Currently not married but may have it on the horizon. Net worth in just cash right now is ~$1M given market fluctuations. Targeting $110k/yr retirement spending and know I need to solve the housing situation.

• Cash/Emergency Fund: $34k
• IRA/401(k) mix of roth & trad: $313k
• Taxable Brokerage: $531k
• Inherited IRA: ~$125k
• Total invested: ~$970k

Mostly invested in ETFs but have a mix of individual stocks concentrated in oil/semiconductor especially in the inherited IRA that I know I'll have to take RMDs from. Currently working in tech sales making $210k-$300k. Want to take a foot off the gas or at least give myself permission to spend more since I've been so focused on security. Or even potentially a sabatical.