I am 30 male currently living in Las Vegas saying at home with my dad. Right now I am working as a security guard and I make around $9hr. Yet, despite being lowpaid I've managed to save a net worth of around $80,000 and no debt. I want to make more money, but while job searching I noticed that the vast majority of jobs here in Vegas pay around $8 to $12 an hour.

I have been wanting to get a work from home job or something I can do online since most online jobs pay a lot more. Prior to being a security guard, I worked at a computer repair shop for around half a year. I mostly learned to do things like install anti virus, clean out PCs, remove viruses, and so on. I also did go to community college for a few years but I never graduated and dropped out. I was hoping that some of my experiences at working at a computer repair shop and some college would get me a entry level remote job. I've been applying to some but even if I were to meet their qualifications they still won't hire me. I was thinking about getting into IT or customer support type roles if that is possible. I want to work towards earning a 6 figure salary but I'm not so sure on how to do that. How can I use my net worth to find a better paying job?

FIRE management isn't common sense, I'm curious where people in this sub get the tools they need to create and maintain their path to a FIRE goal. For someone just starting out, how do they set up their plan? Who do they turn to with questions (besides this awesome sub)?

What have you been working on this week? Please use this thread to discuss any progress, setbacks, quick questions or just plain old rants to the community.

So I'll try to sum it up as succinctly as possible. I retired early due to cancer last year (which I beat)-and due to my relatively younger age-57 and very low retirement pension, qualify for medicaid. It has been wonderful-pays for everything. I was shocked since I own my house outright and am selling another investment property -I planned on using the proceeds to buy a small place out west and rent this house out on the East Coast. I'm loving my free time since I get to really delve into my own art work. So here is the question, I feel very lucky to have this insurance-even thought at first I wasn't quite comfortable with it, the person who took my information assured me I could have assets and still quality.

I don't know if it will be the same in another state and now I am a little worried about leaving this state as my primary residents. Maybe I should do something else with the money from the rental property...just considering options and I don't have a partner to discuss it with LOLOLOL. Thanks for any and all input.

Hey r/leanfire community,
I'm (23M, single) evaluating my financial standing to figure out how close I am to achieving early retirement and would love to get your insights. While I have a decent corporate job, I feel like almost all jobs are meaningless grinds and want to stop working asap.

Here's a quick rundown of my assets:

• $160k in ETFs (VTI, VXUS, QQQM) - this is all in Roth. IRA / 401k (I have mega backdoor)
• $60k in crypto
• $180k in cash about to be in ETFs
• $30k in watches
• No debt
• Annual income (~$120k - I could get a higher paying job but WLB would be much worse)
• Annual withdrawal amount - maybe $40-50k? What's a good amount to live off of in MCOL or LCOL US?
• Targetting 4% withdrawal rate

Given these assets and my age, what would you suggest as a strategy to move towards lean FIRE? How soon do you think it might be feasible to retire? Is there something I'm missing in this planning?

Thanks everyone!

I just turned 32 and have $143kish across my retirement accounts (roughly 75% domestic stock, 18% international, 7% bonds). Can I just say I’m good on retirement account contributions now and start saving for a career break/early retirement? I want to start working more on funding life before age 60.

MORE CONTEXT: Current TC is $141k/yr but I don’t expect to work this job for very long (a couple years) due to high stress. Have around $230k invested in taxable brokerages and an $8k emergency fund. ~4k in student loans left which I’m slow paying (all figures for myself and not my household).

Can probably save $4500/mo while I have my current job. Live in Seattle on ~$42k/yr rn, but the plan is spend a year living in Taipei to travel Asia, and a year in Lisbon to travel Europe. We MIGHT choose a perma-home abroad. Plan for those two years is $2k/mo in expenses (again, for each of us, not both). If we come back to the States, I’m happy to work part time.

I find that the anti-work message has too many people hating almost every idea while I find that the FIRE subs have too many people gargling the balls of their employers and getting scared quitting.

Is there a combination? People who use the principles of anti-work, marixism, etc to refine their own FIRE goal?

Because I am getting a little sick of the common trope of "just grind harder bro" when it comes to working when I honestly HATE working.

over the years, I've gone from very lean FI to spending about 50k a year. I'm trying to get that back under control and cutting that down after getting back into MMM and wanting to be able to take a sabbatical. I figure my biggest expense that needs to go is my dining out which is hundreds a month. It looks like if I cut this down and when I move in with my girlfriend, my expenses will drop to about 33% of my salary.

Going to try to stick with it next month and writing this for accountability.

I'm currently on a leave of absence from my work for what will probably end up being about three months due to a severely traumatic personal event and feeling conflicted between letting myself have this time and wait until I really feel recovered, versus rushing myself to go back.

Prior to this I haven't taken more than two days off in a row for the past three years, and I have plenty of money saved up to not even have to think about it during this break, yet I feel the corporate gods breathing down my neck that personal well-being is not as important as being a constantly dutiful employee.

Has anyone else encountered this inner conflict in their career?

I have seen/read about how so often retirees are too conservative and end up dying with shit tons of money in the bank. Nothing wrong with that. But my ultimate goal is to kick the bucket having maximized my time and money...leaving nothing in the bank. So what I'm asking is for your thoughts on how your spending/savings are going in reality vs what you planned? Are you spending more or less than you thought? And also looking for people to shit on my idea and poke holes in it.

Stats: 40y with NW $375k looking to geo arbitrage and go abroad.

Assumptions/Base Case:

• Assuming zero income going forward, in reality I'd have some side money from freelance gigs or pocket change from teaching english.

• Assuming no decrease in spending. When in reality as funds draw down I'd adjust along with studies show as you age your spending decreases

• Assuming $2k spend per month initially increasing yearly with inflation. When in reality it would probably steer less than that per month.

• Assuming 7% portfolio return annually with 3% annual withdrawal inflation

• Ignoring Social Security

Results:

-This scenario has my account drawing down to zero at year 25/26...short of the 30 year target I arbitrarily set. Now the thing that makes me not overly concerned about this scenario is that:

• Market returns in recent history and in my portfolio exceed 7%...if portfolio returns 1% higher at 8 percent then I make 30 years with plenty left over

• With side income of a measly $200 a month I make it to year 30 sticking to the base case scenario

• My spending would adjust easily depending on how my portfolio performs as that $2k a month is living very well in locations Im looking at. Could easily spend less.

• At 10 years I'll essentially be flat in base case (ignoring inflation) with a balance 10k below the initial starting amount allowing me flexibility to adjust if needed. Can pull the ripcord and abandon the plan at this point with the same $ I started with (minus opportunity costs/inflation)

Issues:

• Im assuming no sequence risk, kinda hard to plan for that, I guess always have one years living already liquid so dont have to tap into capital during a drawdown?

• Im assuming no giant unforeseen expenditures/purchases/emergencies. A large outflow can easily change the calculus.

• Im assuming I dont care about my life or live past 70 lol. Not to get philosophical or call me dark, but I dont have high expectations for or of desires of getting past a certain age where life is essentially just struggling against your aging body/brain.

Hey all,

Posting from a throwaway account for privacy.

I'm a 39M based in Germany, been in Berlin since 2014, now a german citizen, working in startups for the past 20 years. Now an exec with a 150K eur annual total comp, background in sales and business development.

Just got back from a vacation to find my company on the brink of bankruptcy in the next 3 months. Feeling burnt out and considering taking several months, maybe a year or even longer, off. Thinking of barista fire, coast fire or any other options, but having a trouble of putting it all together as I'm focused on saving the company however feeling completely burned.

Been crunching numbers on my savings to see if I can afford it. Here's the rundown:

Cash: 480K at 4% rate till Dec 2024 spread across different bank accounts

Investments: 185K in FTSE All World

Real Estate:

Apartment 1: Mortgage, rented out for 1500 Eur/month. Monthly costs - 1000 Eur/month, profit 500 Eur per month before taxes. Mortgage left - 200K at 1.1% till 2030, current apartment value - 350K

Apartment 2 for living: monthly costs - 2K (mortgage+utilities), could be rented out for a flat fee of 2500-3000 EUR Mortgage left - 400K at 1.9% till 2037, current apartment value - 590K

Our current monthly spending, incl. apartments: 3K

Current net income: 8K/month, investing 3-5K from it in FTSE All World.

Looking for advice from those who've been in a similar spot. Thank you so much!

TLDR: Burnt out from startup job, considering a break and move to any type of FIRE.

Hi, My name is Calvin. I'm currently living with my parents. I'm 18 years old and i'm searching for a job. I can work minimum wage. i also do gardening and raise animals for meat. I need some advice on investing and what to do from here on. What stocks should i invest in? How should I save money? I currently have no income flowing in. What can i do about that? I don't know what to do and I just visualize myself just in the future living off grid in the city either almost for free just paying the necessities or cheaply just growing my own food. Please give me advice. Thank you in advance

Hi All,

Long time lurker here, and I'm looking for some input on my grand plan to retire by age 50! I've been dreaming about it since I first landed my job a couple years ago (first "big" job post-PhD), and I'd appreciate any insight, or perhaps a reality check. Here's the key info:

Me, 30 y/o: 70k salary (university admin), no debt, ~361k networth before closing on a house soon Partner, 32 y/o: 65k salary (university professor), no debt, ~55k networth before closing on a house soon

I opted into an alternative retirement program where I put in 10% of my paycheck/month into a 401a with an 11% match. I also contribute $250/month into a Trad. 457b, $150/month into a Roth 457b, and $500/month into a Roth IRA. My partner is on a pension plan, and intends to work until age 64 when the pension maxes out. They also contribute $100/month into a Roth IRA (will likely increase this now that they make more money; previously, they hadn't). I also have a few inheritances either in progress or coming up, maybe about 250k total (to be conservative; maybe more)

We are about to close on a house, and moving forward, we'll have a $285k, 30-year mortgage with a 6.5% interest rate, which puts us at about $1,801/month mortgage. Property taxes & home insurance (paid ourselves) will average about $530/month.

Right now we are on separate health insurance at the same employer, but once I retire, I could hope onto theirs for about the same rate I'm at (a bit more expensive).

My very rough math using some online calculators shows that, if I kept on the same path until age 50, I'd have about:

-$736,000 in 401a -$311,000 in Roth IRA -$100,000 in 457 -$37,000 in Roth 457 = ~$1,180,000 in retirement accounts (that I largely wouldn't be able to touch until age 59.5)

This doesn't account for my taxable brokerage, which has about $115,000 in it right now (I add $500/month and whatever extra money I get, like inheritances).

Given that my partner will still be working (with good university health insurance) and that we'll have hoped to pay off most of the house by then: does this seem feasible? Could I actually retire by 50? I could live off what I have in my brokerage/457b, as well as rely on my partner's income (they're totally okay/on board with this). By then I'd imagine they'd be promoted and tenured, so we'd possibly be looking at around 100k or so yearly income. We don't spend too much now; definitely under 50k a year, but not sure of the exact total once we get the house.

I just wanted to get some feedback from a broader community of people, as I've been so excited about this but don't want to get my hopes up if it doesn't seem feasible. How does this look? What am I missing? What should I be working on?

Thank you!!

I turned 40 last year and have been working for the Veterans Administration for a little over a year. I want to retire at about 50-52 years old. When I say retire I mean I would still work as a therapist and see about 15 clients a week. My question now is should I stay at my VA job or keep an eye out for a higher paying job so I can save more?

The VA is still a job I can get a pension at even after 10 years. If I retired like I want to it would be about $700 later in life a month. I currently make $81200 a year. If I got a Gs12 job in the VA that would be more like $94000 a year but there is no guarantee that I would get a job like that. I also work from home 4 days a week now. There was a recent job posting outside the VA that I could make about 93k a year but no pension.

I currently have in my 401k(TSP) 13,000, my IRA from other jobs is at $142,000, I contribute 10% every pay to my 401k and they match 5%. My wife also started working for the VA in the past year but she may just work until regular retirement, she is not sure. So would it be better to just stay at the VA and get the pension down the road and maybe get that GS12 job or take a higher pay job not at the VA and invest the difference in pay on my own and not have the pension?

What have you been working on this week? Please use this thread to discuss any progress, setbacks, quick questions or just plain old rants to the community.

Hello all. Please let me know what you think.

My current job, which is salaried at $62.7k/yr~ but really only work 15-20 hours a week, including commute - 3/2 a week hybrid schedule. Very low stress, great boss, decent benefits & amazing WLB.

I just received a job offer for a senior position in SCM for $84k which is including yearly bonus, salaried, with 4.5 hours of OT expected weekly, but I do get paid, just normal rate for OT. So $92k yr~ TC. The benefits are stellar, including 9% 401k match if I contribute 6%.

I just put in my two weeks notice and my current employer just countered with a raise to $69k yr. Coming from $62.7k. The only downside to this position is that it’s not 100% stable as they’re trying to insource my position.

FYI: We are in our mid late twenties. My wife and I’s HHI is $115k. We save $2.8k~ a month after expenses & maxing out our Roths IRA’s & employer 401k matches at 4%. We have 0 debt besides our mortgage. We also have a 1 year emergency fund in a HYSA.

I am also in the Reserves (Healthcare, Pension, & monthly pay).

Thanks for reading

With a traditional IRA my MAGI drops by $5800, thus saving me ~30% on taxes.

However I also have a loan with an 8% interest rate.

Is 30 still bigger than 8 or am I confused? Need advice on which to plow money into.

2 years ago, I shared details of my leanFIRE journey. I have since increased my income with a new job and I am here to share an update. I am posting again because my investment number has finally surpassed the 100k number.

32F living in rural Michigan. Started career in 2014 at 22. Paid off $36,000 student loans in 2019. Started saving for retirement in 2017 with Roth IRA. Gained access to 457 in 2021. Purchased house in 2021 for $62,000. Appraised at $75,000. Put down 20%, $42,500 currently left on mortgage (15 year @ 2.2% interest). Gained access to 401k in 2023 - started maxing immediately. House is (likely) worth around 95-100k right now with market conditions + cost of comparable sized houses in our neighborhood + the many upgrades we have given it over the last 3 years (new roof, new floors, new furnace, various other improvements).

Income: $79k; Partner income: $16k - 17k (permanently disabled on SSDI, but works almost full-time during the growing season).

2022 income: 55k, increased to 75k with new job in 2022. Income has increased to 79k as of 2024.

No other debt. Hoping to have enough for the option of retirement at 49 or 50. $10,000 in combined cash savings between the 2 of us. Net worth includes the house & retirement accounts, but not cash savings as we plan to use that towards new siding this year. Retirement account total value across 4 accounts at $104,500 (between Roth IRA, 457, 401k & HSA). I should also note that we have no children & no plans to do so.

Retirement savings:

• $1,913 per month into 401k (Vanguard index funds through Fidelity/maxing)

• $583 per month into Roth IRA (Vanguard index funds/maxing)

• $300 per month into cash savings/emergency fund (not factored into net worth)

• $110 per month into HSA (Vanguard index funds/maxing)

Monthly Expenses:

• $330 per month mortgage

• $110 gas bill per month (average)

• $140 electric bill per month (average)

• $70 water bill per month

• $85 internet bill per month

• $45 phone service per month (each, so total of $90)

• $170 car/house insurance combined policy

• $300 - 450 groceries per month

• $300 gasoline per month

• $200 - 300 restaurants per month

• $30 Netflix/Shonen Jump/a few mobile apps per month

Yearly Expenses:

• $1,900 per year for 2 cats (includes food and vet visits)

• $1400 annual property tax (no escrow)

• $1,700 for karate dues/tournament fees/gear purchases

Everything else is considered 'whatever/whenever' fun money. It typically goes towards restaurants, little fun house purchases, new shoes/clothes or games on steam. Most of the time it carries over month to month as a buffer. I don't have "a job" for every dollar. Once we started maxing all the retirement accounts and felt like we reached a responsible place, I decided I wasn't going to get too much heartburn over those details. At some point I might increase the monthly cash savings.

Thanks for reading. I'm very proud of how far we have come in such a short time. With the increasing costs, it's been harder and harder for me to continue maxing everything for retirement, but I have been able to stay the course for now.

It seems like regular FI/RE wants ~$2.5 million and those people say that’s the bare minimum. Many aren’t happy until they get to $6 million! While here people seem to be happy with $500k or $1 million even for a couple!

The difference in numbers is just massive and it’s just all over the place. At this point I’m honestly not sure what I should even be targeting.

Hi all, I am 40 and am thinking of leanfiring because of racist boss and upper management not protecting me. Is a 120K job worth destroying my summer 2024 ? Please motivate me )) peace and love

I know people are going to say 401k match, IRA or some standard investment vehicle. I’m curious this groups thoughts on real estate, crypto, and other creative ideas.

Hit me!

I'd like to retire in a cheap country. I already bought a vacation home abroad for 50 000$ in the 2008 crash.

I only need, maybe, 10 000$/year for a comfortable life. 5000-7500 minimum for affording it.

I'd maybe like to get an annuity, but I plan to retire at 35. All the ones I've found, start at, at least like your 50s. But I don't get why. They obviously re-invest your money, and you give you small, guaranteed returns... What are my options for retiring early abroad, w/o any risk? Even at 3%, 300k invested gives you 9k/year. Which is fine. Except something like a GIC still carries fluctuations.

Are there really no options to retire at 35 fully safe? Surely some companies have some products offering at least 3% returns for life? I only want around 10k/year, but I don't want to carry any annual risk through investing in ETFs while retired. I'm in Canada not USA, btw.

hi guys! I have been ignorant about the importance of investing for a really long time because i was always falling short on savings if i indulged into investing even the smallest of the amounts but now I am just beginning to get into investing my money and i came across the leanfire approach so I would like to know whats the best way to start off for something like this especially when your income is not that high. Would love to get different perspectives on how to approach investing. Thanks

Hi, trying to decide if it's a good idea to buy or keep renting

I've been wanting my own place for a while but I'm not 100% sure about it yet so I'd like some advice. I'm mostly considering two options,

1. I put all my savings, $40k, towards downpayment on a condo or apartment. MCOL area, mortgage fees will be more than double what I currently pay for rent, $800 split with a roommate, which is a bit tight but I can afford it. My roommate isn't terrible, I just hate having to share my space constantly and I'm tired of having to vacate the place at random times because she has friends over.
2. I put maybe 60% of my savings into an IRA and index. Then I'll be able to invest more with the additional savings from not paying the mortgage. Also apparently interest rates are really high right now? I'll put off getting my own place if I have to, but I'd prefer to move out asap.

It's just that at this rate I'm wondering if there will ever be a right time to get my own place. I swear social media has been panicking about the housing market being over-price for over half a decade now. I have the funds and I can afford it, I'm also pretty happy with my work right now so I wouldn't mind staying in this area long term.

I'm also worried about being stuck renting indefinitely. I hate the idea of being retired and still having to pay rent. Right now I'm leaning towards just biting the bullet and buying an apartment. I've been looking around and there's this newly refurbished place only 15 minutes away from work by bus.

I don't know, what does everyone else think? Houses are supposed to be a great asset, does that also apply to apartments and condos too or should I keep saving and try for an actual house? Also what if the housing market does suddenly collapse? That would really suck, should I wait a few years?

I need to postpone the interest from my high-yield savings account to 2025 to maximize my ACA subsidy for 2024. Can I transfer funds into a 10-month CD, where the interest is realized at the term's end. I think the link below confirms this strategy, but I am not sure. Any thoughts are appreciated; new to leanfire but learning fast.

Link.

​

Hello! What's the best way to calculate SWR?

I live in Toronto, would like to retire around age 45 with my investments paying at least 5k per month. I am on a job which pays me 140k annually. What would be my final goal of lump-sum money saved/total money invested to retire and How much should i save per month. I am very eager to start investing now and would like to know ideas on investing as well.

I just recently learned about Roth conversion ladders to withdraw your money penalty free before 59.5 years old. From my understanding about Roth IRA, you can't withdraw your earnings still though, is that correct?

Example 1: Roth IRA of $10k which consists of $8k contribution + $2k earnings.
From my understanding, you can only withdraw $8k out of this Roth IRA before 59.5 years old. Is this correct?

Example 2: Traditional IRA of $10k which consists of $8k contribution + $2k earnings.
Can you convert that $10k to a Roth IRA, wait 5 years (which let's say earns another $3k in those 5 years while in your Roth), and then how much can you withdraw penalty free in this scenario? Would you be able to withdraw $10k? And then the $3k that was earned wouldn't be able to be withdrawn penalty-free until you're 59.5 years old?

Another question I had was in regards to health insurance. My spouse and I are currently on Medi-Cal and are fine being on Medi-Cal. It seems like there are a lot of people that want enough income in the future to avoid this scenario though? I know the paid health insurance plans are a lot better, but is there anything wrong with my idea to just stay below ~$28k (the limit for 2 people) in order to get free health insurance with Medi-Cal? And for further clarification on this, that means I can convert $28k every year (assuming I have no other income) from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA and still qualify for Medi-Cal correct? And any withdrawal I make from my Roth IRA won't actually count as additional income and push me over the eligibility requirement right?

I'm currently renting but I have a strong desire to own and make a place my own. However, a hypothetical mortgage eats up 90% of my FIRE number.

Numbers:

• $750k @ 4% = $2,500 a month
• $2,220 monthly expense for a $265k home (PMI, utilities, mortgage, property tax)
• $280 leftover for all else

How the heck do you-all leanfire with housing costs being insane? What do you do? I can't find a safe, clean home to live in for less than ~$250k and I'm looking in rural parts of the east coast.

So I'm happy as a pea in a peapod living the Barista FIRE life. Recently though, I had to go to a family event (distant relative passing away). Eye brows were raised. I felt like a social leper in a way? People not understanding?

I'm not sure how to deal with this. It's certainly affecting me less (I care less). But I think it could be better.

1. Maybe improve my elevator pitch, talk about previous career accomplishments to show I'm not a total screw off.

Right now I say "I own property and I'm a freelance writer" and I feel I am selling my self short. What else can I talk about? I mean LOL is it okay to talk for a minute when someone asks "what do you do" when most people answer with 1 word?

2. Trying to get into psychology of my family. Are they trying to protect their kids from a LeanFIRE deviant? LOL. Is what I'm doing not respectable and in a way reflecting back on our family?

I know there's a bunch of people here who will say "who gives a f*ck" but I feel with certain types this really sets the ground for a conversation. Uptight/judgemental people won't consider you a peer and you're kinda screwed for the rest of the social event.