I'm tentatively planning on retiring in a few years and am starting to think about what I plan to do. I have some ideas but would love to hear what others are up to that have been in a similar position and age for some inspiration. I understand everything is a personal choice but again, I'm interested in learning about others experiences, how it has or has not evolved over time etc.

36F HHI about 1.1M, I make about 650K
child will be 5 when I quit, partner will work about ~5 more years
NW: 7M, 6.3M excluding house

I understand the comfortable SWR of 3 to 4% of investable assets.

I wonder if that adjusts lower once significant social security yearly payments begin, perhaps at age 70?

If so, perhaps an SWR of 5% for some years before age 70 might be acceptable with the idea that it would drop after age 70

Folks,

I am a big fan of some of the early retirement calculators out there (FIREcalc!), but they couldn't model some scenarios I wanted: specifically how would sending my kids to private school (or not, or private for high school only) would work out. I also wanted to try running simulations using block bootstrap method that let's you simulate more scenarios than possible given the market history we have. So developed something locally and wanted to get feedback from the community if this will be useful enough for me to build a public version.

Please take a look at let me know if this is useful and what else would you like to see: https://rndm3.github.io/

Note that this is not really a fully working website. It is just a static page that was the output for my scenario ran on my local machine.

Which at a 7% return throws off more earnings than my family of 4 spends in a year in the Bay Area.

I know, I know, inflation, SORR, etc etc

But that feels like a milestone to me.

Using a throwaway account since I have friends and family in this sub that know my username but don't really know about my career plans or finances.

Recently discovered this sub and friendly community (less than a year ago) but have been following the FIRE process for over 5 years now. Assessing and preparing for the version of FIRE that makes sense for me and my family.

I found myself in an opportune situation about a month ago and am curious to hear your thoughts as sanity check whether I can RE.
So our family has been on the path to chubby FIRE in 3years and I was let go from my job with severance covering my base pay until the end of 2025, i.e. 1year out of the 3. I have been applying to jobs and looking for interviews but the current market is tough to crack. So it got me thinking if I can pull in the RE date up by 2 years, do we really need the second income considering RE was on the horizon anyway, partner's employment covers medical insurance and expenses?

Family:
We are a family of 4 -- 38M, 39F, 4year old and 2year old (no more planned). Partner and I have been high income earners for over a decade now and current incomes are $550k and $450k. We are both on H1B visa in the USA in VHCOL and in the long line for GC with both our priority dates in 2017 (i.e. a million years away from becoming eligible to file our GC). I am at a FAANG company and partner is at non-FAANG.

Assets as of today:
401k/IRA $900k
Roth IRA $450k
Taxable investment account $1.7m
(Primary home not included here)

Income:
Partner makes $550k annually

Household expenses including childcare:
$25k (due to high interest rate + daycare)
It will drop by $4k once kids go to public schools, however, with extra curriculars and after school, it will realistically drop by $2k)

We have two EV cars -- 1 year old and 8 year old. Both are paid off and the second one may need replacing in the next couple of years.
No other planned major expense in the future since we recently bought a remodeled house.

I have been wanting to put the tech career aside in favor of splitting the responsibilities vertically, i.e. one partner for household chores and finances management and one for income generation. For our family it seems that this structure will de-stress our lives somewhat and allow us the time to be present for our kids today when they need us the most. Currently, we both work, we both parent, and we both cook+do household chores. So we are both exhausted after work when our kids return from daycare and need our 100% attention. Eventually we find couple-time, me-time, and sleep competing amongst each other with only one winner. This constant cycle has been leaving me exhausted, and dissatisfied with my lifestyle. Also, induces guilt when I think about the times I ask my kids to play sitting games instead of physical activities in the evening, which they ask for.

Pros for RE-ing:

1. Financially, partner's income can cover our monthly expenditures of today. Assuming income increases or stays flat while expenses reduce or stay flat (due to inflation), things seem in balance.
2. Vertical responsibilities will allow each partner to focus only on 2 things vs 3 on a day to day basis; helping with reducing our stress

Concerns with RE-ing:

1. Financial security in the long run
2. Immigration situation in the worst case that partner loses job
3. Financial situation in the worst case that partner loses job

Mitigations:
- for #2 and #3, we both can try interviewing and hope that one of us gets a job to cover insurance and part of the monthly expenses besides getting valid visa. Worst case scenario, we move back to India (although this would be the last option).
- I can shift to H4 dependent visa and find part time jobs to bring in ~$100k income to support non-utility expenses like family travel and local events or simply build out our investment portfolio more. It also allows me some social interaction instead of being by myself while partner works and kids are at school.

I am aware that our numbers are on the lower end of the spectrum for a VHCOL zone. This was the reason why I had my plans set to one person RE-ing in early 2028. However, with this layoff and difficult job market I am re-thinking the timeline.

Please share your thoughts, more importantly raise any red flags or blindspots that may be there.
It is my first time posting to ask advice of this kind and may have left some details out accidentally. Happy to share more if relevant and doesn't dox me.
Please be kind, fellow retirees and aspiring retirees. Thanks!

I’m a 60M physician in a high stress field, married (64M - retired.) Burned out. Some days ok, most are not. Enjoy coworkers. I’ve been working since 12 yo, so wondering when is enough enough. Obviously that’s a personal decision. Planning to work thru this summer at least til spouse eligible for Medicare. Will have to see what is happening with ACA when I pull trigger.

Recently cut to 0.8 FTE and that has helped with my fatigue at least. Considering drop to 0.6 FTE and would still get benefits. Still enjoy interacting with coworkers and students. Spouse thinks I’ll be bored and should stay on to teach resident physicians. I’m on the fence with that one. Considering a couple month leave without pay to see what that feels like.

My folks worked into their 70’s and pretty quickly medical issues interfered with travel, etc., and I don’t want that.

Financially good I think. NW just shy of 7M. $400k mortgage with $1.1M equity. 5.3 M in mix of 401,annuities,apple stock. Fixed expenses around $10000/month - that’s everything. Spend another 100-150k for living and travel. Financial planner helps every step and we trust him. Says ready to go.

Biggest question is how are folks going from a lifetime of saving to then drawing down that savings once the income stops. Psychologically challenging for me and I don’t want it to make me work longer than I really want.

Thanks in advance for the long post

Im 53. Just retired. Networth is 5.5 million on paper but growing each year.

I own my house in Southern California no mortgage. No kids. Will keep this house forever.

I own 3 paid off rental properties that pay all my living expenses. After prop tax and hoa on 3 properties brings in 5k net.

My wife works part time 20 hours a week as a remote therapist. Her salary is 75k to 85k per year.

I have 800k in a high yeild money market paying 4.75% which is ok. It brings in 25k income. I may buy more rentals if there's a crash but for now I'd rather make close to 5% than risk it in markets that's at all time highs.

Id rather be conservative than aggressive now that I'm retired so the hysa brings in 25k to 30k a year depending on the rate which fluctuates depending on the 10 year treasury rate.

I have an IRA with 450k sitting in a dividend paying bond fund earning 30k per year. I just let it sit there and compound and grow.

Wife has a 401k with 50k.

I take 36% of her salary and put it towards the max 401k contribution of 31k since she's over 50.

Doing this brings our adjusted gross income low enough to get huge ACA subsidy. I have a zero deductible silver plan for $178/month.

So with all my income with rentals that on taxes don't show income due to write offs like depreciation and prop tax and etc.

I end up still saving about 2 to 3k every month.

Would this be lean fire or chubby fire.

Since I stopped working my 185k IT job I feel nervous about spending too much but I probably shouldnt.

Any opinions or investment advice to feel more secure...

Thx

Long time lurker and appreciate everyone’s advice and experiences. Hoping to get a gut check on if FIRE is a reality or if we need to stick with the daily grind a few more years to shore up our finances. Neither of us are excited to be working.

My situation is the following:

• 46m and 46f with 2 kids (14&11)in VHCOL
• Annual spend $200-250k while working but expect $150-175k post FIRE, HHI $750k
• $3m brokerage
• $2.1m pretax account
• $200k 529
• $2.8m (2sfh) rental properties $85k gross (no loans)
• $3.6m primary and secondary residence ($750k @ 3% loan remaining)

Based on all the calculators and financial advisors I’ve spoke with, all seem to indicate we are FIRE eligible now. Fear of healthcare costs, college, HHI, and about retiring this early in life with old age running in both sides of the family keep both of us working.

One thought is to sell one rental and take the hit in capital gains to throw it into the market to improve yields.

Hi! Glad I found you all! 43yo couple with 9/11yo kids planning to retire soon. $150k annual expense, $1.5m taxable, $1m 401k, $2m in investment property equity generating about $100k/year in MCOL City. Kids 529 plans at nearly $200k and $70k in donor advised fund.

Question is at what level does it make sense to live off our pledged asset line vs. liquidating taxable account? Currently have a roughly $1m loc through Schwab at 6.6% interest, and expecting my portfolio to grow faster than that rate. Anyone have experience or advice?

When I retire my pension will be just above 100k yearly. With that in mind, how much of a nest egg would you guys fill comfortable with? I do not own a house and will not have kids. Currently very unsure on where I want to retire.

50m and 46f 4 kids at home. Just passed $7m net worth. $3m investment property sfh $1.5m 401k $1.5m brokerage $700,000 primary $300,000 cash

Spend is approximately $120,000. Question for group, why do I feel like we don’t have enough to quit my job? My number was $5m. When I got there it didn’t seem like enough. No that passed $7m it still doesn’t feel like enough.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated

The title really says it all. My wife (46) and I (45) just crossed over $5 million net worth, including our primary house but excluding our kid's college funds (which are mostly in 529s). Basic breakdown:

• $500k primary residence
• $200k rental property (rented to family below market rates - yields ~3% cash annually)
• $675k rental property (yields ~6% cash annually)
• $3.425 million in ETFs allocated 75% US Equity (VTI), 7% International (VEA/VWO), 18% Bonds (BND, PTTRX)
• $100k venture capital investments (actual value is higher but is exit-dependent)
• $100k business equity (actual value is higher but also exit-dependent)

Our FIRE goal is $7 million invested apart from our primary residence. Hoping to get there by age 50 but it will depend primarily on how well our business grows between now and then.

Long time lurker first time poster. I’m very near FU $$ and can’t take another month at my current job. I’d like to leave but I’m not into paying COBRA $$$ for my health insurance. I’m 52, a former triathlete and Ironman and been pretty much healthy all my life (though overweight - plan to use my time not working working on my health). So for you how have left jobs how do you pay for health insurance. Also I’m single so no spouse - almost regretting divorcing hubby cause you know health insurance is a thang!

I have been in a very lucky golden handcuff situation for the past few years with my current employer (Big Tech) but I am ready to do something else with my life while I am still young and childless (31F, single). For the past couple of months, I've had a rough time finding time for my interests and hobbies in life because work started to become extremely demanding and it's taking most of my mental capacity. I dread every working day (high stress, competitive environment) but I am really good at my job which is why the company kept throwing money at me since I joined (~10 years ago) which I am aware is a really good problem to have. However, I am ready to do stop and explore other things that life has to offer and travel around a bit. There are a million different hobbies I want to explore and things I want to learn.

Current status:

• 180k yearly spent: veeeery comfortable, I basically don't look at prices at all and buy whatever I want + travel wherever I want. Very nice apartment, 5 star hotels, some designer clothing. I'm splurging but realistically don't need to spend this much money to be happy. VHCOL

• Annual total compensation estimates (pre tax): 2.2M in 2025; 1.2M in 2026; 800k in 2027

• Current net worth: 3.4M; 90% invested in stocks/bonds. 2% real estate (investment property), 2% angel investments, 6% cash equivalents

• Expected retirement spending: I am pretty sure I could easily get by with 100k/year if I tighten my spending and budget a bit more but ideally I allow myself to have free spending between 120k-180k. I am honestly not sure where this will land because I will leave VHCOL and digital nomad in some cheaper places initially.

My initial fire goal was 5M to justify 180k/year spending with a safe withdrawal rate (3.5%) given I'm still very young. I used to love my job and think there is a chance that I will actually go back to the workforce at some point but with my own company instead of working at a big company.

Exit options:

1. Exit now with 3.4M + coast fire to 5M until I'm 40 (assuming conservative 5% growth). I would leave around 3M unvested RSUs on the table (over 4 years) but front loaded. I would try to make up my cost of living with extra earned income (this will be easy for me, I already have passive income of around 2k/month and have a few ideas to pull up to 10k/month if I focus on it) while not touching the 3.4M invested at all.

2. Wait until end of 2025 and exit with 4.2M + 50% coast fire to 5M until I'm 36 (assuming conservative 5% growth). I would try to grind until the end of the year but then take out half of my expected spending (~60k) + make up for the other half with side hustles/other income. Again, easy for me to do because I can ramp up my side hustles but in this version, I can enjoy myself a bit more.

3. Wait end of 2026 and exit with 5M. No need to think through coast fire or side hustles with a comfortable withdrawal rate and spending at 180k/year. I dread this option because I would have to stay at my current job for 2 more years and miss out on other life experiences.

I am aware that most people here will probably recommend option 3 and just stick it out. I am aware that my salary is way above target and I will most likely never earn this much money again while being employed. However, I am also almost 100% sure that I will have different streams of income in the future and might even go back to the industry after a break (I am 31 after all... and I used to like what I do). I am worried that I would regret leaving this much money on the table later on in life if I pick option #1 or #2 but I know I'd also regret it if I lived this life for another 2 years and picked option #3.

Currently leaning heavily towards option #2 but I'd love to hear from people who have been in similar situations and understand what they'd advise me.

I grew up in a lower-middle-class family where we had just enough for necessities, nothing extra. This mindset of careful spending is deeply ingrained in me.

Now, while my family can technically afford a $100k+ car, I'm torn. Currently driving a sub-$50k car and it serves me well. Part of me thinks we should enjoy our improved financial position, but another part feels guilty about not investing that money instead and saving for FIRE.

For those who own luxury vehicles ($100k+):

• What's your annual income range?
• How did you overcome the mental hurdle of spending this much on a car?
• Do you feel the purchase was worth it?
• Did you have similar internal debates before buying?

Looking for perspectives from others who might have had similar thought processes

I was originally aiming for 6mm and now that we are nearly there, I'm thinking 8. Purely driven by childcare and housing costs as we have very young children who aren't in school yet.

I target a 3.25-3.5 percent swdr given current market valuations.

I also plan to exceed this wdr in the first few years given childcare costs will decrease as they grow up and don't need nanny. But that's fine.

Note that in my case we rent so part of that 6-8mm (and part of the annual spend) would go toward either rent or more likely a purchase of a 4 bedroom home in a good school district near the city (estimated 1.5mm).

Wife and I (33 and 32 YO) rent a very comfortable SFH in a HCOL metro area. One kiddo and another 1-2 likely on the way shortly. $985k HHI - $520k of that is base salary combined. Discretionary bonus makes up balance, past four years have been steady 5-10% increases.

I’m in PE, contribute about 60% HHI, with some longer term promote worth $1-2MM in 2030 or so and larger tickets behind that likely in 2034-5 (3-5M). I like my job overall but do not like my firm and think leadership is horrible. I’m feeling like I’m not fully recognized for what I contribute, and don’t believe I’ll be able to build true wealth here - also think the founders age out and sell the business (and I don’t have a partnership interest).

$2.1MM taxable brokerage / cash (shame on me but 40% in money market yielding just under 5%), $750k retirement accounts, $50k cash value whole life insurance w NWM so far (I know what people say, I like our WL policies for our setup - combined with term we have $2m coverage each), $50k 529, $100k wife stock options, and $100k personal k1 RE investments for about $3M total (not including any unvested promote).

Rent ($7500) and daycare ($2500) alone $10k/mo. Other expenses around $8k avg. for $18k spend monthly.

Questions for you all -

1. we have been debating purchasing a home which in our area would be $2.1-$2.5M. Not entirely sure we want to be here forever as family primarily on other coast, but could see until our first is school aged i.e. 4 years from now. Based on what I’ve said, can I afford this level and would you buy?

2. I may have an opportunity for a entrepreneurial leap away from my firm with a senior person and get real platform ownership in a new venture that could come together - I am sick of the firm leadership and dynamics I sense happening from a potential sale perspective are disconcerting. I’m at the point now too where I’m cleaning up my resume to explore other opps doing what I do for someone else as my frustration builds. Think I could pull off something entrepreneurial and a likely sizeable cash income reduction for 2-3 years for a potentially larger payoff/more success in the future as an “owner”?

Generally, I’m afraid to give up safety of my $550-600k cash per year and would love if my wife could take a part time role somewhere but at the same time, I’m a driven person who desires to achieve above upper middle class and don’t believe I can do so without being an owner and taking a risk. Afraid I’ll regret it later if I don’t try. While our spend has accelerated in recent years, I’m pretty stingy and grew up with limited means. Appreciate folks opinions in advance.

I have been using the historically low tax brackets of the past few years to convert my substantial IRA holding (maxed out 401k contributions for perhaps 25 of my 35 working years) to Roth. Without the conversions, I was likely to be solidly in the current 24% bracket anyway, so I was maxing out to the tippy-top of the MFJ 24% bracket with conversions in 2022-2025 (4 years). I have since noticed (using Fidelities "Goal Planner tool) that I have reached a point where should my wife and I live indefinitely (I have 108 as our life span) that I have finally reached a point where with "Average Returns" my RMDs from my IRAs at age 75 will no longer exceed my burn rate.

So should I call it good? I suspect that with Trump back in office, that the current tax brackets will be extended, but using the recommended draw down from the tool, we will only be in the 22% bracket and have an "effective tax rate" of 13.5% between now and my projected start of our Social Security at 70yo (my spouse is just 3 months younger).

If my assumptions (and math) are correct, I will also only be in the 25% bracket if they ever revert to 2016 levels with an effective tax rate of abt 15%.

I have been focusing so long on "significantly below average market" that I lost sight of what will happen in the "average" market scenario.

In any case, my ratio is currently about Roth - 46% Traditional - 51% HSA - 3%

Is there an Ideal ratio? In an Average market, my HSA should be exhausted by the time I am 75-80yo so it is effectively the same as Roth. In a poor market Fidelity says it will be exhausted in 4-5 years. As I sit here today, I am thinking that I shouldn't convert any more. Or if I do, only convert to the top of the 22% bracket.

Hi FIRE community, I posted something similar on the Mortgage and First Time Home Buyer subreddits but I wanted to pick the brains of the FIRE minded folks. My wife and I (37yo & 39yo) close at the end of this week, we’re upgrading from a 2,800 sqft townhome to a 4,600 sqft single family. We have two kids, 4yo and 6mo and wanted to make the move before our oldest started school. Mortgage/PITI will be around $4,700/month (30yr mortgage) vs. the $2,100/month (15yr – 10yrs remaining) that we have with our existing townhouse. We’ve been aggressively saving for our FIRE goals and have an investment account of $1.7M, plus $250K in current home equity.

Our net monthly take home (after full 401K contributions) is $17,000, leaving $12,300 for remaining expenses after mortgage ($2,900 in childcare, $400 disability insurance, $2500 credit cards, $300 car payment, $500 utilities, $500 529 contributions just to name a few additional expenses).

In theory, we shouldn’t notice the increased mortgage since all excess was previously going into our brokerage account, so viewing this as more a spend vs. savings transfer. Another huge driver of the decision is that my wife (breadwinner) will reduce her commute by 6-7 hours per week, and being in the healthcare field will be more willing to take on additional shifts if finances feel tight.

Overall the new home is a huge upgrade, beautiful hardscaping, inground pool, and almost 1 acre yard for the kids. I’m having slight buyers remorse because we won’t see the savings that we’ve gotten acclimated to over the last few years, but reassessing our FIRE goals with 2 children and time saved from the commute this feels like the right move for our family, but perhaps not towards my own selfish “retire by 45” mindset.

Final note is that we plan on holding and renting our townhome, cash flow positive of $450/month for the next 10-years and then roughly $40K/year once the mortgage is fully paid off.

Do your thing FIRE community, where should my head be at and any risks with this new mortgage payment?

I’ve been playing around with some numbers, and I wanted to share an interesting observation about saving and compounding. Let’s say I currently have a $2.5 million portfolio allocated 80% to stocks and 20% to bonds, with an assumed average annual return of 8%. My goal is to grow it to $10 million.

Using a compound interest calculator, I found the following:

• If I save $200k/year, I’d hit $10 million in about 12 years.
• If I save $100k/year, it would take just over 14 years.

That’s only a 2-3 year difference, despite doubling the yearly savings effort! It’s fascinating to see how compounding works in the long run, and it makes me wonder: after reaching a certain portfolio size, is saving extra really worth the effort?

Of course, this is based on a lot of assumptions (returns, market performance, etc.), and the future is always uncertain. But it’s still an eye-opener to think about the diminishing returns of extra savings when you’re already compounding a significant amount. What are your thoughts on this?

Background

My wife and I are both approaching 40. We live in a very high cost of living (VHCOL) area, where I work in finance. My income is $200K annually, excluding stock options (currently not performing, so we assume their value is zero). I’m the sole income earner, and we have a 2-year-old child.

Both my wife and I have over 10 years of experience working in tech, and we’ve been feeling burnt out, especially after COVID. Our current plan is to work for a year or two at a time, then take extended sabbaticals (6 months or longer) to spend time raising our child. Since our child doesn’t need to attend school yet, we believe we can continue this approach for another 2–3 years before they start elementary school locally.

Financial Snapshot

IRA/401(k): $500K Taxable Brokerage: $250K Crypto: $80K Cash/Cash Equivalents: $800K 529 (Child’s Education Fund): $25K

Liabilities

Primary Residence: $750K mortgage at 2.6%, monthly payment: ~$3,500

Real Estate Investments

Property A: Paid off, generates $80K/year Property B: Paid off, generates $110K/year Property C (Primary Residence): $750K mortgage, generates $40K/year from an accessory dwelling unit (ADU)

Monthly Expenses: $9K/month

The Dilemma

I’m debating whether to allocate the majority of our cash into the stock market, as our current stock investments seem behind compared to others. The alternative is to save for another 3–6 months and buy a smaller investment property (possibly a fixer) using all cash, without borrowing. This could generate an additional $60–70K per year.

Am I over-investing in real estate and putting too many eggs in one basket? Or should I focus on catching up on stock investments instead?

Would love to know if there are any success or regret stories of people who are deliberately superfunding a 529 to create a generational education dynasty where you fund it now to help your kids in college but also funding it so it grows for decades and pays for k-12 private school for your grandkids and beyond (my state allows use of 529s for k-12 but not sure if all states do). There are pros and cons to private school, I'm sure. But I grew up lower class and I'd imagine a k-12 private school can really elevate a wealth class for my future familial generations to come. If anyone is actively doing it, just wondering how much your investing to I guess grow that account as big as possible (while it compounds over literally decades until grandkids are born). Obviously the downside is my kids dont have kids haha. But I guess if that happens, they can just pay the penalty.

I have two kids, the older one is 4. I expect to FIRE long before they go off to college, but the cost of college for both kids could be anywhere between 0 and a million dollars by then, and we have no way of predicting what. I would like to fully fund their 529 accounts before we retire, but I can't settle on what it means to fully fund it.

I figure I want to put in enough to not be completely screwed if they want to go to expensive schools, and would also like to avoid having them graduate with much debt. But dumping that much money into a 529 will delay FIRE by that much. We don't plan to have more kids and my kids are the youngest in our extended family, so swapping out beneficiaries has limited use for us.

Do you follow any frameworks for thinking about how much money to put into 529s? Do you err on the side of overfunding and eat the penalty cost of withdrawing for non educational uses? Or aim for the middle and expect to cut back on our own spending during the kids' college years to make up the difference? Or something else?

Possibly relevant info: 40yo, kids are 4yo and 1yo, their 529s so far have 80k and 30k respectively. We are in VHCOL and our spending/WR will be high enough to probably not qualify for income-based financial aid.

I see a lot of people that are mentioning rental properties with positive cash flow as part of their assets/income. How necessary is it to have something like this? With real estate prices high, and no experience being a landlord it is not something I'm that drawn to, but would love to have a cushion like this.

I'm strongly considering pulling the trigger on upgrading my current home $425k to purchase a bigger house $1.4 million and wanted to hear everyone's thoughts on my situation.

- Background: Mid-Thirties Married Couple, MCOL Area in Southeast, 2 kids: 5-year-old and a 6 month old

- Household Income: $380k

W2 Combined $340K Combined, Split fairly evenly between couple, have been in this range for last 3-4 years, have likely plateaued in HH income.

SF rental properties cashflow $40k annually

- Expenses: Comfortable Lifestyle $75k annual spend, will increase to $90k

Expenses will increase $1k month with 2nd child entering daycare soon

- Assets: Cash/Cash Equivalents: $400k,

401(k): $450k,

IRA/Roth: $700k,

Taxable Brokerage (Equity, Indices, T-bills): $1.7M,

Investment Real Estate Equity: $850k,

- Personal Residence:

Market Value: $425k owe $110k @ 3.5% (Purchased for $280k in 2018)

Liabilities: $25k Vehicle Debt (44 months left, 5% interest $600 month)

House Situation:

Our current home is in a great neighborhood with amenities we really enjoy (pool, fitness center, playground), but we feel like we are outgrowing our house. 3 bed/2bath around 2000sqft. We definitely need a bonus room for kids and/or an office since spouse is WFH. We are also 25 mins from oldest child's school and would like to be closer.

The house we are interested in would likely be our forever home from a size/location perspective. The PP is $1.4M and Taxes/Insurances additional $1k month on top of PI. Plan would be to roll equity from current residence (325k) and put additional $300k cash toward downpayment $625k in total. New Home loan would be $775k on 30 year note @ 6.8% interest ($5k PI plus $1k = $6k total monthly payment)

This would increase our monthly expenses house payment from ($1600 to $6000) and our total expenses from $6600 month to $11,000 month. Wife would be extremely happy, but I am somewhat nervous with such a large monthly increase in expenditures.

FIRE Goal

I have no intention of retiring from my career at this time, but my wife would like to step away in the next 3-5 years, with our current investments @ 3.2% withdrawal rate. We are already able to produce ($2 million x 3.5%) = $70k plus $40k in rental income ($110k annual income for her to step away.

Questions

- Is this an unreasonable jump in house payment/monthly expenses based on where we are today.

- Would it make more sense to put even more down toward the house or less to keep money invested.

- Would it be more prudent to have my wife continue to work for at least 10 years in order to comfortably afford the house purchase

Throwaway account because I'm sharing all my numbers but I came to this revelation for myself and hoping it can help others here too if grappling with investing every penny imaginable vs. spending more now and enjoying the ride.

High level about me: 40M + 35F + 2 yr old. H-VHCOL.

Net Worth Breakdown: Total Net Worth: 2.1mm | Total FIRE NW (not including house equity) = 1.8mm

Retirement Accounts:675k

Taxable Brokerage: 725k

Money Market Fund: 400k (I know this is absurdly high but I'm planning to spend around 40k on house furnishings and invest 200k of this in 2025 leaving me with 160k Cash. That's still high but I want a moat of 10% cash for peace of mind and also dry powder in any downturn. By The end of this year I project to have 1.8mm in investments

Spending: Investments: $10k/month. I invest about $8000/month into retirement accounts and $2k/month into taxable brokerage Spending: $135k/year total on all life expenses Left Over: Depending on my bonus, I may have a surplus extra cash flow of around $10k-15k/year but I never bank on it

Future Growth: If the market can average 8-10% a year and I continue to invest $10k every month, I project I would hit my Chubby FIRE goal of 4.7mm in 7-8 years at the age of 47-48.

ENJOYING THE JOURNEY: Here's the kicker. I just did the math, and from this day forward, if I never invested another penny (going from $10k/month down to 0 from this day on) I will hit my goal 3 years later at age 50. This means I can spend an extraordinary amount of money (an ADDITIONAL $120,000/year) and ball out and I would only have to work 3 more years to still achieve the same result.

Now, I dont want to work 3 more years. And Spending that much is just not in my DNA nor do I feel I need it. But let's say I split the difference and invest 50% less, so I only invest $5k/month going forward. That would still give me a whopping $60,000 every year to play with. I would have to work 1 extra year than originally anticipated to reach the same end goal.

And in a 3rd scenario, if I lowered my $10k/month investment goal 30% to $7,000/month, I would have an extra $36k a year of cash in my pocket to spend, I would only have to work another 6 months down the line to still hit my goal! 6 months isn't bad at all in exchange for an extra $36,000/year to spend!

SO WHAT? My point is.... if you're in a similar situation with a large amount invested, the powerful snowball force of compound interest is so great that it likely outweighs future contributions. You can spend MUCH more money along the journey, guilt-free, and still reach your goal only 6 months or so later. That is powerful. What would you do if you had an extra $36k-60k/year to spend? Things like flying first class, hiring a personal trainer, private school for kids, nicer vacations, season tickets to your favorite team, and on and on. Sky is the limit! This was a good lesson for me to spend along the journey and truly live the Chubby life. And obviously this all assumes the market will average 8-10% over time

Use this thread to discuss anything you don't feel warrants a full blown post

I see everyone listing travel as top priority in retirement life. I did think travel is what I wanted to do as a kid and that motivated me to move to US, make big bucks. I did enjoy my first few vacations. However, I am starting to love the comfort of my home. May want to do a digital nomad life but for extended period of time in any one place. I am not enjoying solo trips anymore. What do you see about travel that i don't see ?. I am realizing if my day to day life is pretty good, I really don't have travel craving.

I’m wondering if the following idea could be a good way to reduce, to some extent, the effect of a market downturn early in retirement.

In the event of a market crash, i could source my withdrawals more from taxable accounts because:

• Tax rate is lower on capital gains. (I would need to sell more stocks from 401k to net the same amount).
• After a severe downturn, taxable accounts will have more Cost Basis as a %.
• I may have some tax losses to harvest.

I have 25% of my LNW in taxable accounts, 12% in Roth and rest in 401k & IRA.

I haven’t seen the above mentioned in what i read about reducing Sequence of Returns Risk (SRR). This would be in addition to other methods too such as glidepath.

Has anyone leased an expensive car after retirement? My credit score is 815+ and my liquid NW is just over $4M but obviously I have no W2 income.

Is there a possibility that I would get turned down?

To clarify, I’m leasing because I don’t plan to keep this car for more than a year. Also, not concerned with depreciation or whether it’s better to lease or buy.

Thanks!