We're at the point that one of our children and spouse are about ready to buy a house. We want to transfer between $200,000 and $250,000 to help them with the down payment. We understand that my wife and I can both contribute the maximum gift to our child and partner, and do it again after the first of the year, to get close to the $200,000 goal, but it doesn't quite get us there.

As a matter of logistics, what is the best way of gifting that amount of money to them for a home purchase? We would like to gift them a block of stock. How do we account for capital gains if we transfer stock, rather than cash? Is there a more efficient way of transferring the funds to them than simply gifting them a block of stock?

Some of you may have seen my previous posts:

https://www.reddit.com/r/fatFIRE/comments/tz46ju/fatfire_without_diversification

https://www.reddit.com/r/fatFIRE/comments/116iu86/update_fatfire_without_diversification

https://www.reddit.com/r/fatFIRE/comments/192zdi3/update_2023_fatfire_without_diversification/

The TL;DR on my previous posts is that I was an early employee and exec with ~$70m pre-tax in a company that IPO'd. I stupidly did not diversify at all even though I started spending more and ended up losing over 90% of it. I still had a very high compensation of $5m+ (all in growing equity priced at the bottom) and a lot of existing equity in the company. I had been cashing out the whole way back up with the stock but had still kept a large % of my net worth in the company (usually 30-50% adjusting during open trading windows back to 30%).

Once things started to improve I set a goal of $20m investable post tax and expected it to take 4 years assuming no stock growth (by this point I had cashed out nearly 10m already). I then ended up raising the goal to $30m after revising my expenses again once hitting $20m (which is when I made my previous post).

Now onto the update:

I'm happy to say that I have finally pulled the trigger and am officially fatFIREd! It has certainly been a roller coaster but it ended better than I could have expected. After accounting for all big ticket items in the very near future and paying off mortgages when the ARMs hit I am going to walk away with $48m investable post tax.

Current breakdown is:

• $23m VTI/VOO and similar
• $19m Company stock (after accounting for tax)
• $11m Treasuries and bonds
• $1m Single stock picks
• $1m Company stock moved to a DAF

Totaling ~$55m but after accounting for taxes owed, mortgages to pay off and all near term expenses it will be $48m investable in the end. All the expenses will be paid for via selling company stock as they arise. Also the $11m treasuries is just temporary and will be invested by my team of advisors into mostly real estate, private credit, direct investment and other funds. Still deciding how I want to allocate the remaining company stock value when I cash out more but likely I want to get $30m into VTI/similar and maintain some bonds/treasuries in the portfolio now that I'm retired.

Spend is currently around $1-1.2m/yr or 2.5% SWR at current numbers. I originally always planned for 3.5% since I'm in my 30s so that would allow me to go up to $1.68m. Only way I see that happening currently is by spending more on extended family vacations, gifting money to family members regularly, contributing to family college funds, additional charitable donations and maybe try out a jet card for a year to see how I like it but not sure if it's really worth the value. Also might use any remainder towards more risky direct investments since I'm more comfortable with those coming out of my burn budget than my portfolio allocations.

I know I ultimately got lucky to have this level of success twice and I do not recommend this post-IPO path to anyone. My advice to anyone is when you've hit your goals diversify it and secure it. As the saying goes concentration builds wealth but diversification preserves it. Don't let ideas of the next financial tier ruin what you already have.

I don't yet have much to say about my life after fatFIRE as I'm still figuring it out. Mostly plan to spend more time with family, travel even more, work on becoming physically fit, expand my hobbies and renovate my house.

I know it’s been brought up before but going to see if there are updated recs. Nearing my fire goal, recently single and interested in meeting someone likeminded who’s fire or fatFIRE. Apps are tough, any suggestions on where I can find something like this (Chicago). Perhaps meetups or better apps I’m not aware of?

I am 39M w/ 38F wife, 5 month old child and want 1 more child.

I am working with an M&A firm for the sale of my service business. The firm put out some “feelers” and my company is very desirable in a very desirable area, per what the firm says. I had my hopes on 40M. The firm said they are very confident with 35M+, but maybe not 40M. For context, I have a partner and we each own 50% of the business. If I sell I could potentially net 20M pre tax. The firm said after it’s all said and done, I’ll pay 29.5% in taxes. 20% cap gains, ~6% state tax, 3.5% broker fee. That would leave me with $14,100,000 after taxes. Now what? What tax do I pay in dividends if I want to withdrawal 3% a year? And where am I parking this 14M? Do I park it in VOO and hope for the best?

Wife is considering continuing to work at her job which brings in about 225k as she’s very happy with her work.

Edit: EBITDA close to 13.5x. Yearly take home for each partner about 1.5M

Basically the title.

Background- grew up in a middle class family with 4 siblings, am a first generation immigrant (in the USA for about 30 years), who came here with practically no money but a good college degree and a burning desire to ‘make it’. While our combined income from jobs has gradually grown to approximately 500k now, the next biggest factor in our current net worth of approximately 12 million is living well below our means (not frugal) and investing the savings that grew substantially over time due to stock market returns. Kids are done with college and have nice paying jobs.

With that background, we still have bit of hard time adopting to the fat lifestyle that this amount of money at our age can easily afford. Old habits of almost always looking for value in most of our spending decisions are mostly still with us. Hope to retire in the next 12-24 months and enjoy life a little more.

How are others with similar background doing in terms of lifestyle upgrades and truly enjoy their wealth?

Love this sub, burner account (sorry). Late 40s, three kids still at home, VHCOL area. Net worth (excluding residence and $2m remaining on mortgage) is $18m. Expenses excluding mortgage payments are about $300k a year.

I have a high paying W2 job with some stock appreciation where at least for the next year it looks like it would pull in $2.5m and after tax about $1.5m (years after it's a bit lower, say $2m before taxes). The job isn't hard, and I probably work 25-30 hours a week, but it's tiring and I'm not excited by it. It also gets in the way of fully exploring hobbies and 'me time'. I do feel I have enough time for family, but of course it could be more.

I have enough money to quit for good. Putting aside the argument of eternal moving goalposts, would you give up 1 more year to add $1.5m to $18m?

I have a current vendor who manages the CRUT and on the asset management side, they invest it in equities, have an option strategy, and also manage alternatives. Not terribly impressed with their CRUT admin side - always seems a hassle to get any reporting, proper invoicing etc.

Also the CRUT has $5M and the fee all in is about 1%. Wondering whether i can do better.

In Miami, looking to move my spouse and i to Direct Primary Care or Concierge Doc for primary care to avoid these wild wait times for appointments and lack of time to thoroughly talk things through. How did you all who have made the move to this find your doctor?

I (M28) am at a crossroads in my life, and I am not sure what to do. ~$5.3 million net worth almost all of which was inherited. Of that ~$5.1 million is liquid and another ~$900,000 of RE (two rental properties) of which almost $700,000 is debt and $200,000 is equity.

No students loans, car payment, or CC debt. No debt at all other than the mortgages. I have a bachelors degree in finance, but I am not really interested in working in that field. During and after college I worked in REPE firms and enjoyed the work at first but more recently the second company started having major issues and everyone either was fired or left on their own.

Since then I worked in a restaurant for 8 months. The money was sufficient but I chose to do it more for the experience as I had never worked in a restaurant before. I am now working a security job which pays the bills but it is obviously not fulfilling.

I have run through the numbers a million times and know that I could easily live on a SRW of 1.5% ($75,000/yr or about $60,500/yr after tax, with the expectation the portfolio will continue to grow) if not less. I live a very simple lifestyle. All of the activities that I enjoy are free or very cheap. Yoga, drinking coffee, watching the sunrise/set, being with friends, reading, exercising. The one thing that I enjoy that costs any significant amount of money at all is traveling, and there are obviously ways to travel cost effectively.

The rental properties that I have are covering their costs but not much above that for now. All of my day to day expenses are covering my living costs, so the portfolio is just growing for now.

I don't really have interest in having a career or working up the corporate ladder, but I see some of my friends on that path and there is a small feeling of missing out on that experience. I know it sounds silly and even crazy. I am thinking that I need to work on the things that I enjoy and things that I want to try like doing more art, more yoga, try windsurfing, travel more, and meeting new people. Aside from the FOMO, I also worry about the money running out. I know in 99% of the possibilities that could happen I shouldn't run out of money at 1.5% WR, but the events of the last few years like high inflation, fear of underperforming markets in the years ahead, the increasingly high cost of living, and my long time horizon have me concerned.

I have never been in a long term relationship, and I am not sure that having a traditional family is something I want, but the uncertainty of the high cost of potentially having a partner and kids is also a consideration.

Am I overthinking everything, or are my concerns justified; and what are your thoughts? Thanks.

I lived in Japan for most of the '90s, and my wife is Japanese, so we've often talked about going back someday perhaps in our retirement. One problem is that Japanese homes tend to be very uncomfortable by Western standards. Minimal insulation and lack of central heating mean that it can get very cold in hallways and other rooms where the heater isn't specifically turned on. Walls tend to be thin so sound carries too much. Etc.

When my in-laws die we will have access to a large plot of land, and rather than renovate their existing home, I'm thinking about essentially rebuilding my US home there. Has anyone tried anything like that?

Long time lurker here and would like to get the opinions of fellow redditors who have 8 figure net worth and live in VHCOL area (SF bay, NYC or London) with multiple children and/or extended family.

I always felt 30mm is a good target but now I'm not so sure. It sounds ridiculous but the yearly expense has really ballooned over time especially now with 3 kids living in the bay area and post pandemic traveling with extended family.

Here's a brief run down of our budget (most is based on our current expenditure but health care is assumed given we currently have employer sponsored plans):

30mm excluding 5mm primary residence leaves us with 25mm. Assuming 4% SWR that gives us 1mm which after tax is about 700k (assuming it's going to be mostly LTCG).

Property tax, insurance, utility and maintenance (4000 square feet with half an acre, it's the bay area): 60-100k

Three kids private tuition, camps and extracurricular activities: 200k

Health insurance for five and out of pocket expenses: 40k

Two cars payment, insurance and gas: 30k

Child care, cleaners, helpers etc: 60k

Food for four (can go over budget if grandparents come and stay for an extended period): 50k

Shopping: 50k

Vacation: we try to do 3-4 trips abroad and a few local trips each year. business class flights to europe for 5 now cost regularly around 35k, plus hotels and other expenses it's 40-50k for a week and if you bring four grandparents it's 90k. The five of us have flown economy too and it's 20k for a trip but well once you started flying business it's hard to go back. anyways we end up spending about 150k a year on travel which is big expense but also what the family enjoys the most.

We are in our forties with HHI of around 2mil. We originally planned to retire once we hit UHNW but now we are thinking of pushing it to 50mm to give us a little additional cushion. We thought about all the scenarios where we can save such as kids won't require tuition all their life but talking to friends invariably even when they are working you are helping them out with some expenses. Same thing for grandparents, they might not be able to travel forever but then you will have to help out with home care or assisted living.

Anyone else who are in the low mid 8 figure having similar thoughts?

Looking at Forbes 2024 Best In State Wealth Advisors for California they are separated into two categories...what is the difference?

https://www.forbes.com/lists/best-in-state-wealth-advisors/

We are in our early 50s, and we have more than enough to RE, but my spouse doesn't know what to do if she RE, and finds working more engaging.

The income and health insurance it brings is nice, but it limits her vacation times to just 1 month per year. I'm more interested in spending more time traveling and doing other things, but this causes a conflict between us.

Has anybody else encountered the same problem? How did you resolve it?

Willing to spend around 50k for 2-3 week vacation for 2 people in mid 50s. Parents love eating new foods, walking around historical cities and experiencing different cultures. Probably targeting somewhere in Europe as they’ve been Asia a lot already.

What are some places you’ve been been that you’d recommend? Unfortunately I’ve not had the chance to travel much in my adult life due to work, so any advice is greatly welcome.

I’m shopping for a new alarm system and finding the usual brands pretty unimpressive. Anything interesting fatfire folks have seen? Would really like room presence sensors to increase situational awareness when we have workers at the house (ie is there someone on a floor they probably shouldn’t be). Don’t want traditional motion detectors with high false positives. Would also like outdoor (driveway, back yard) presence detection and prefer something with good mobile experience

We are in a very low crime area (lots of guns and pickups in our neighborhood with many military and law enforcement) but it has recently been discovered by the wrong sort, probably since we tend to leave our doors unlocked.

I read somewhere long ago that wealthy people should distribute their net worth 50% in securities, 25% in real estate, 10-15% in collectibles, and the rest in miscellaneous.

I've kind of tried to follow that, and ended up collecting fine minerals.

1. Do you distribute your wealth in the same way?
2. Do you think the distribution I posted is reasonable in practice?
3. If you do collect stuff that can add up to 10%+, what do you collect?

Hello FATFire friends, Long time lurker and commenter here ... This is my first time posting. I am posting under a throwaway account as prior co-workers and family follow my regular user name (happy to verify with mods as needed for this post). I truly love this community. I am grateful for all the insight and learnings over the years from this group. I am humbly reaching out to this group for advice at a crossroads in my personal/professional life. 

Overview: My partner and I are in our early 40s. We have three children (ranging from 6 to 9 years old). We live in a MCOL city (southeast, think: Georgia/Florida area to give you an idea). I recently had a successful exit from a PE backed company in the tech space. This exit brought our liquid net worth to approximately $6M. Included in our liquid investments is ~$600K-$700K of 529 balances that we super funded for our children years ago. We have an additional $1M in equity in our home with a mortgage at a very attractive rate (don't plan to or desire a move in the next decade).

Financials/Burn Rate: Since exiting the PE backed business, I have taken time off. I spent 15 years with the same company & have been a stay at home parent for the last six months. Our annual spend is roughly $550K (mortgage, cars, private school, full time help in the home). My partner is thriving in a professional services role in a very stable field. Partner is earning roughly $500K per year. My partner absolutely loves their job and plans to work until retirement age. Partner's $500K income has enormous growth potential - expect that to reach upwards of $750K per year within a few years plus partnership opportunities in the business that would provide upside. Net, net, given my partner's income, our current burn rate is $225K to $250K on the high end annually ($300K-$325K after taxes, with annual spend of $550K). With consistent increases in my partner's income as it approaches $750K/yr, we expect our burn rate to decline to ~$100K annually within the next five years or so until the kids are out of college. I am modeling a total burn of $2M over the next ~15 years until kids are out of college. After kids graduate college, I would expect our expenses to go down slightly (no tuition, no nanny) but be offset by increased travel and leisure. I am now facing a decision if I should (need) to go back to work (or not).

Opportunities for me/going back to work?: My partner does not want me to go back to work - and frankly, neither do I (for now). Having said that, given my experience at the last company that was sold from one well-known private equity firm to another, I am hounded almost daily by recruiters and contacts to take a new C-suite role. These roles would pay at least $400K-$500K a year with opportunity for considerable equity (though, illiquid so I give that only some small credit). 

FATFire Calc: My math says that at a market return of 7% over the next decade or two, we should be safe despite burning significant cash for that time period. Math says we'd end with a balance around $20M in a few decades (7% on a balance of $6M with the above referenced burn rate for over a decade). Even with many years of burn, the market returns on liquid investments will hopefully outpace the capital depletion to fund our cash flow (realizing there is sequence of returns risk ... but, our horizon is ~30 years). We also stand to inherit somewhere on the order of $3M to $5M - though, not banking on this or counting it in any calculations whatsoever. If I go back to work now and continue for 5-10 years, that balance is obviously going to be considerably higher ($30M+) as my income would bring us at least to cash flow breakeven (or better).

Advice, questions from this group: For others who have faced a similar situation, how did you think about this? Did you go back to work - or, did you find happiness in what you had? Will we run out of money - or, is my math and reasoning sound that we can have cash burn until kids are out of college? Can we support the current dynamic in our household without having to worry about running out of money? I do not want to go back to the grind of a PE backed environment (my real appetite is for something more entrepreneurial). However, I have days where I worry about making a bad financial decision for our future by not working. What would you do if you were me? Would you continue to life you love - or, go back to work to provide more cushion and greater retirement savings down the line? How much would be "enough" to convince you to go back to work?

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Edit: thanks everyone, this gives us a lot to think about

My parents have decided to age in place but their house is not great for that (small rooms, steep stairs, 3 floors).

Since I'm the chubby one, I'll likely help out with any sort of modifications. Has anyone done this for their parents or for themselves? What were the big things to consider? How much did it run?

I've only thought of a possible elevator, no profile shower with grips and doors wide enough for wheelchairs. I'm sure I've missed a bunch of stuff but what?

How many people have decided to age in place vs move into a community of some sort?

Hey wondering how to set my kids up, currently 2 and 4. Have super funded a 529 to be worth ~300k by the time they are in college. When should I add them as authorized users? When they work I will max out their IRA’s for them but otherwise think it’s best to keep assets in a trust and then pass them on when we die for the step up basis.

What else do folks do? We are w2’s so no fun stuff like carried interest in a business etc etc

I live in NYC and all marginal taxes added (federal, state, local) my marginal taxes rate ends up being 53% or so.

Unless congress acts , a bunch of Trump 2017 tax changes expire in Feb 2026.

If so happens that while the marginal tax rate goes up, because cap on SALT deduction of $10k goes away too, my tax liability net net goes down.

While I rent currently, it is tempting to buy now because home ownership becomes a bit more attractive once I am able to deduct mortgage interest (currently I take standard deduction) and property tax.

Just curious if anyone here has a view.

The money is currently in a high interest savings account, and was previously cashed out from an ETF. Located in Canada.

I am early 40s and I'm close to pulling the trigger to early retire.

• $4.5M 401K (bout to roll over to Trad IRA)
• $2.5M Roth IRA
• $1.0M taxable brokerages
• $250-300K home (paid off)
• in summary, fluctuate around $7-8M net worth a lot due to some volatile stock positions, but will reduce risk soon

Spend is pretty low at can look at 3.5% withdrawal rate off of $4.5M to set up a Roth Conversion Ladder (RCL) until actual retirement at age 59, assuming 3% yearly inflation and 7% annual compounded growth. So I have enough in taxable brokerage to handle the taxes of the conversions and assuming 2025 marginal tax brackets, in 5 years I'll start having around $125K post-tax, inflation adjusted, every year till age 59, and hopefully still allow the $4.5M to still grow.

I have done a lot of looking up across Roth Conversion Ladders (RCL) vs. SEPP 72(t) and had pretty much settled on doing RCL because I didn't like the inflexibility of SEPP 72(t) with once you start, you can't stop until age 59. A CFP I met with suggested reconsidering a SEPP 72(t) to tide me over with dedicating a smaller Trad IRA for it. We'll be meeting again next week to go over more details. The online debates between RCL vs. SEPP 72(t), doing a mix of both, multiple Trad IRAs to even ladder SEPP 72(t), etc. are endless in what ends up being very small tax advantages.

In the meantime, I'm curious if anyone in the community can comment on if they have started a SEPP 72(t) for awhile similarly in their early 40s and regretted it?

EDIT: For those wondering how much in the retirement accounts vs. taxable, it's because of heavy concentration and freedom of trading in the retirement accounts without worrying about long term / short term capital gains. I took heavy losses in my taxable account through the years trying to trade more and worrying about tax consequences when I should've just followed the same strats as my retirement accounts.

Short story, I’ve posted on here before with my mental gymnastics of preparing for an exit.

Quick recap: Business has grown substantially.

Used to be really small.

Now roughly $23M rev and $3M EBITDA. Next year budget is $34m and $5m EBITDA. Targeting $42m and $8m EBITDA in 2026.

That would be a roughly 80-90m exit, I’d have to carry and continue running it.

For those who have gone through the exit process with a few year heads up. What steps did you take to minimize tax burden and prep your life for the next stage?

I believe we all agree that 1 million, while considered a millionaire isn’t rich.

So at what number do we truly see ourself as rich? Or someone else as a rich person?

I’ve hit 7.5M NW, but still don’t feel rich, more comfortable because I can afford to not work for a year.

I believe I will feel rich at 20M and at that point working would become an option, although my goal is 20M.

What do you consider rich and what is ur retirement number?

Married 52 and 49 2 children approaching college

2.7m in IRA / 401k 4.4m in brokerage accounts (standard 75 percent stock / 25 percent bond and money market indexes) $400k in 529s $1.9 Real estate fully paid off MHCOL area

Also have about $600k in illiquid (VC LP and private investments) Some pay distributions some have not yet and none are fully liquid

Do you count your illiquid investments in FIRE calculations?

We’re starting to look at apartments in NYC in the $4M range. A buyer's agent we might use wants us to sign a representation agreement that gives her 3% in any circumstance (even if the seller doesn’t pay 6% for the agents to split).

Understanding the recent NAR settlement changes things, my questions are (1) is 3% normal for this gross transaction value, and (2) is it normal for the buyer to foot the difference? If not, what would you push for?

Thanks in advance!

Does any of you travel with luxury watches (100k+?)

If so, how do you declare them?

I am mostly concerned about traveling with my watch to EU/Switzerland/US.

What should I learn to feel comfortable?

I am mid-30's, married with young kids, wife doesn't work, living in Canada (all numbers in post are in CAD).

Background: I started a small business 5-years ago, which has grossed ~$500k/y and have invested retained earnings within the company, which I have invested in public company start-ups. I have been fortunate to exercise ITM options received from public companies totally $2.0M over the past 2-years.

My NW has increased significantly over the last 5-years, from ~$0.4M to $9.5M ($5.8M of which in the last 2-years). Current NW breakdown:

- Home: $4.2M (mortgage free) - forever home, don't plan on upgrading

- Personal Investments: $1.5M ($500k RRSP, $100k TFSA, $900k stocks)

- Company Investments: $3.5M ($500k ETF's, $3.0M stocks)

- Cash: $300k

- No debt, car payments

By the time I am 40, I expect my NW to be ~$20M through the sale of my business and additional investments and options - that is 2x the goal I created for myself 5-years ago.

The more I think about where I'll be in the next few years, the more confused I get about what I want my working life to be like from here on out. Work is my identity, and I love what I do for work, but I am finding that what was once motivated me isn't anymore. I feel like I have no one to talk to bounce ideas off of or share in my success (outside of my wife). I am so busy with work that I have no time to do any research to figure out investment strategies - a lot of the companies I invest in are high risk and I have been focused on taking money off the table and investing in low-risk companies and ETF's, but there's no clear strategy.

Not sure what I'm looking for exactly, but maybe just to hear from someone who has been in a similar position - how did you create new and exciting goals? Who did you lean on to strategize? How did you find purpose?

NW is ~5 million and about to increase due to windfall. Looking for advice on which personal finance app is the most secure. I want to use an app vs excel or Google sheets to track spending and lifestyle creep but I’m concerned about the data sharing. I’ve looked at Monarch but stopped when I saw what the bank shares with Plaid to connect the account.

What are HNWIs using?