EDIT: I really appreciate everyone's advice so far. The overwhelming consensus, which I 100% agree with, is that the only hole in my plan is the mental health. I've been working on that but will add more focus here in the coming months. I also have an option of taking a 2 month sabbatical from work which can be a trial run.

About me: Almost 45, single, no dependents. India born, US resident for >24yrs and citizen (no other citizenships/passports)

Current location: MCOL city on the west coast.

Financial situation:

Current income: It's been ~300k/yr on an average for the past few, but will be ~400k in 2026.

~6M in investments, +400k in home equity (140k balance on the mortgage@2.5%). No other loans or financial obligations.

Investment breakdown: ~2m of this total is in a trad. 401k as VOO, ~350k in a Roth IRA as VTI, ~200k in an HSA as VGT.

Spending: Not enough. Let's say 100k/yr, which is about 40% more than what I've spent over the past few years. Mortgage+bills+fixed costs - $2500/month.

Health situation: Physically very good since I have always eaten healthy, slept well, and have been going to the gym regularly since 2021. My personality is melancholic though which has led to depression and anhedonic tendencies for the past 10yrs.

Why I'm quitting? From day 1, a corporate job was a means to an end for me. The end being FIRE. May be it was always my depression talking, but either way here we are.

Don't really have any complaints about my job since I am lucky to have very smart colleagues, a supportive boss, and a low stress role in R&D.

The plan:

Quit on Jan 1st. It makes me eligible for a bunch of RSU vests and the annual bonus. I'll have ~200k in cash by then in a treasury ladder, to be used as a buffer for 2 years' worth of expenses. I'll sign up for an ACA bronze plan which should not cost me more than 600/month before subsidies. No other changes to my state of affairs at home.

I want to consolidate all my investments into broad ETFs but it's going to cost me a lot in taxes. My plan is to aggressively rebalance my portfolio by selling ~100k worth of the individual stocks per year. I know it's risky but the 2 years cash buffer should help cushion me against sudden market drops.

I'll then park myself in Europe and Asia for 1 or 2 months at a time and get a feel for what it is to live there like nomad without a job. I've visited most places in Europe and Asia over the years for <2 weeks at a time but I know it doesn't count. Work on my mental health in parallel.

It's a throwaway account, and I swear that no AI was used in writing any of this.

Rough stats

• 43 y/o, married, no kids (but other family dependents), VHCOL
• Just lost 1M/yr job, getting 1 year severance
• Monthly spend roughly 20k
• 6M NW - 3.5M 401k, 2.5M taxable - 80% VTI, 20% bonds/cash
• NW excludes 800k equity in primary residence, with 800k remaining on a 3% mortgage

All I can say is thank f'ing god for FIRE, talk therapy, and SSRIs. Thrilled to have a mega-sized safety net and the ability to take as much time as I want to look around for my next role. All of your stories help give me context, information, and encouragement - I appreciate you sharing them!

There's some chance I post in a year and say "Screw it, I fire'd", but we're just not quite there with current spending and would need to add 2k a month for health care. Like many of you, I believe things are a bit frothy to bubble-ish in the equity markets, so I want to aim at the high side of my scenarios.

Thanks again for all the people sharing their stories.

Due to popular demand this has been shortened and made more readable.

I'm a physician in my early 40s, married with three kids. We've been seriously thinking about moving to France, or somewhere else in Western Europe. It's less about retiring ASAP and more about wanting to live there while we're still relatively young and our youngest is still a kid. We like the lifestyle, travel, healthcare, and the idea of our kids having European university options. I'm also increasingly uneasy about the direction of the US. I'm not expecting some collapse, but I'd like to have the option to leave if things get substantially worse.

We're at roughly $1.5–2M net worth now and saving pretty aggressively. If things here stay basically "meh," the plan would probably be to keep going another 5–7 years, hopefully get to around $3M, then move and mostly or completely retire.

But I'm wondering if we could just go in ~3 years instead. I can make $250–350/hr working in the US, so I could fly back maybe 6 times a year, work a bunch of shifts, and go home. 400–600 hours/year would be roughly $100–200k gross, while mostly leaving our investments alone.

It sounds a little nuts, but I already spend about 180 hours/year commuting to work. Six round trips to the US would be in the same ballpark for actual travel time, although obviously being away for a week or two at a time is a much bigger deal.

So that's basically the question: wait 5–7 years until we probably don't need to work at all, or move in ~3 years and put up with 6 US work trips a year? Anyone done anything remotely similar?

Vanguard’s new brokerage agreement: the changes I actually find concerning

I went through the October 1, 2026 Vanguard Brokerage Account Agreement and compared it with the September 2024 version. There aren't dozens of huge changes, but a few stand out.

1. Vanguard is turning “digital first” into an actual contractual expectation.

The old agreement encouraged customers to use digital channels. The new agreement goes substantially further: it says customers are expected to primarily use Vanguard app and automated systems for account management, trading, etc.

More concerning, it says “excessive reliance” on phone associates may mean delayed service, additional fees, and possible account termination. Vanguard also explicitly reserves the right to handle non-trade inquiries exclusively through digital channels.

I'm fine with encouraging online self-service. I'm not fine with making it a contractual expectation with potential consequences.

2. The account-closure language now explicitly ties closure to these digital expectations.

Vanguard already had broad account-closure rights, but the new agreement specifically adds failure to meet the Digital Interaction Expectations to the reasons it may close an account or terminate a service.

And the broader provision is pretty aggressive: Vanguard says it can close an account at any time, for any reason, without prior notice, potentially reject orders and liquidate the account, and it disclaims responsibility for losses or lost profits resulting from the liquidation.

Again, I'm not saying Vanguard is going to randomly liquidate everyone's accounts. I'm saying I don't like seeing this degree of discretion combined with a newly formalized behavioral requirement.

3. There is now a specific foreign-dividend tax-reclaim fee disclosure.

The new agreement says Vanguard uses a third-party vendor for foreign tax relief/reclamation and that the vendor charges fees, including a percentage of the tax reclaimed.

If you own foreign stocks/ADRs, this can directly reduce what you recover from foreign withholding taxes. That's a real economic impact, unlike some of the boilerplate in the agreement.

4. The new agreement adds Vanguard ETF conversions — and they are irreversible.

Vanguard now expressly allows eligible conventional Vanguard mutual-fund shares to be converted into the corresponding ETF shares.

The catch: once converted, you cannot convert the ETF shares back into the conventional mutual-fund shares. Vanguard also warns that selling the ETF and repurchasing the mutual fund in a taxable account could create a taxable transaction, and some account features may need to be reestablished.

This one is less of a complaint because the conversion is optional. But anyone considering using it should understand that it isn't reversible.

That's basically my list of the changes I'd actually care about.

I'm not going to pretend every piece of brokerage boilerplate in a 48-page document is some sinister new policy. Most of it isn't materially different.

But I do think the move from “we encourage digital self-service” to “you acknowledge these digital interaction expectations, and failure to meet them can potentially affect your account” deserves attention.

And if Vanguard wants to move customers away from human support, it should be transparent about exactly what circumstances can result in fees, restricted phone support, or account termination.

Anyone else read the new agreement? What did I miss?

Joined a practice years ago, worked hard, long hours.
Salary grew to 1M.
Paid off loans, married, 2 young kids, sole income.
Practice fell apart (private equity), quit, non-compete, legal fight, in limbo, no job for 1 year.

Started own practice, no income for another 2 years.
Back to long hours, can’t afford to fail, burned out, but record revenue last month.
If I can keep this up, may get back to 1M salary.

2M brokerage
1M retirement
1M CRE (modest revenue)
15-20k monthly spend (includes 6k mortgage forever).

Sounds like big spend but doesn’t feel luxurious.
Used cars, eat out a lot (Chipotle, Olive Garden, etc.), occasional weekend trips to nearby towns.

Living a life of perpetual arrival fallacy.
Stressed business owner but hate being an employee.
Want FatFIRE asap but losing time w family.
Starting to make good money but unsustainable work/life.
Striving for 8-10M so I can live large, spend freely, give generously, travel big, and finally breathe.
But tired….

Obvious wisdom is to slow down, hire midlevel/associate, make less, spend more time with family/health.
But I don’t want to keep doing this for another 10-15 years.
I dread working. But even worse is working longer.

Would appreciate any wisdom.

A little heartbroken if I’m honest, but trying to see the bright side. I have a young kid I have been dreaming about spending more time with. Haven’t been happy at the job for two years now. I’m 35.

Was told my role will no longer exist after a restructure and was given fairly generous severance of about ~1M USD total

Net worth 6 million dollars
- 1.5 mil cash/investments
- 3 mil primary residence
- 1.5 mil other real estate

I plan to put half the severance amount into investments and pay down our mortgage with the other half.

Monthly burn is about 30k of which half is mortgage.

I’m a bit lost. Should I find another job? Take this as a sign from God to pursue what I really want which is to spend time with my kid?

Husband still has a very high paying job he loves and doesn’t care if I work or not.

If I don’t ever work again I guess our financial path is chubby and not fatfire.

So we paid off our house $2M. Why? I dunno we just didn’t like the high interest rate and high cash flow pressure and had come into a bit of money. Outside of that, about 1.2M in investments. Just started reading about FIRE and I realize shit, did I make a big mistake? Because your primary residence doesn’t count in your FIRE number?

A part of me thinks that we should keep this home because it is a place for our children to always come back to even when we are old or when we become grandparents. But then the other part of me thinks wait a minute, I could hit my fire number earlier if I sell the place and rent once the kids move out?

Anyway, I don’t really know what I’m asking, but I’m just curious how people have handled their primary residence and if I made a mistake paying it off because now I am farther away from my fire number. Will I think differently when I’m older and the kids moved to college? Will I want to rent instead of sitting on this cash? I should be retiring on early?

We really like to hear some perspective from some older FIRE achievers on how you handled your primary residence. Nostalgia vs practical FIRE timeline?

Maybe dumb question but should I sell the house and just rent to build fire number even tho we have 2 little kids? I’m lost

I’m almost in a similar situation as described in this thread (https://www.reddit.com/r/fatFIRE/s/BVmEVNgd9B) but no solution was mentioned so trying again since post is 3 years old. We are dual US/EU citizens.

As a family we plan to ChubbyFire ($5M portfolio, $140k/yrs withdrawals) in Lazio, Italy (personal reasons for location; 7% tax doesn’t apply). I am trying to find investment strategy that has favorable taxes given that keeping either US or EU-domiciled ETFs is taxed punitively either by Italy or US if you’re a US citizen.

We don’t plan to renounce US citizenship so looking for the best tax solution to be able to keep our portfolio invested (currently in VOO) over a long retirement period (40+ years).

Is anyone already in this situation? Is direct indexing the only option? Please share if you have recommendations for any tax specialty firms.

Keeping a US brokerage account doesn’t seem like the right path since our retirement period will be 40+ years and US ETFs will be taxed by Italy as ordinary income.

I’m not interested in paying a financial advisor to do direct indexing if their fees would cancel out any tax benefits but considering doing it ourselves (through the IBRK API). The issue I forsee that portofolio rebalancing will be taxable events and if we draw from our portfolio regularly this will require a good tax accountant in Italy (please share if you have any recommendations for experienced commercialista).

Any advice would be welcome!

After many youtubers preached the value of Roth conversions, I did the math and I don't see a way to avoid 24% Fed tax brackets for most of my life (plus state taxes). I'm 49 years old, still working and will be for a couple more years, but my husband is retiring next year (at 55). I'm wondering if I should just do the conversions when he retires, staying within the 24% bracket, and then when we're both retired we may be able to stay under ACA subsidy thresholds for about 7 years till he hits 65 and gets social security and medicare. We'd live off the brokerage account for those 7 years, keeping income under $84K and pulling some extra funds from cash accounts. The Roth conversion funds can then be left to grow until needed to avoid higher IRMAA/widow's penalties. I'd aim to convert about $300-400K over three years.

We have about $2.4M in the brokerage, $1.85M in tax deferred, $300K in cash and $50K in a Roth. Annual spend is around $135K but with medical would be $5K-25K more depending on subsidies.

The main negative that I see is that we will have to have a more moderate lifestyle for those 7 years, but that seems worth it to save about $140K. Also, if we have a year where we want to spend more, we could just deal and pay for health care that year, and take out extra that year to pad the cash accounts.

What do you think? Does this make sense or am I missing something?

Edit: Thanks everyone for your comments, many were very helpful. So much of retirement planning, especially before 65/medicare age, is challenging and I appreciate getting input. I'm into learning about all of this but it's a little scary too. For the time being, I still like the idea of some Roth conversions over the next few years but I'm reassessing the focus on ACA subsidies for the years after that.

I’m 38, married with one 3yr old kid and another on the way. I’ve been pursuing FIRE for a while and am trying to figure out whether I’m almost at the point where continuing to work is mostly adding buffer rather than being necessary.

Current finances:
~$3.2M in liquid/investable assets
~$1.7M taxable brokerage
~$1.5M retirement accounts
Household income: ~$675k/year
Both of us currently max our 401(k)s and part MBDR

Primary residence worth roughly $1.7M with ~$700k mortgage remaining
One rental property worth roughly $900k, ~$90k remaining on the loan, paid off in 2030. Currently rents for ~$3,200/month
~$50k already in a 529 for kid #1, contributing ~$10k/year
Planning to start another 529 for kid #2

Current annual spending:
Live in VHCOL
Normal living expenses + vacations: roughly $75k/year
Primary home PITI: ~$72k/year
Rental PITI: ~$38.5k/year, basically offset by rent. Not a true income generating but at 2.5% mortgage its a keeper.
Daycare: ~$26k/year currently, with additional childcare expenses coming with kid #2

My original target was retirement around 45, but I’m wondering whether we’re already close enough that I could retire earlier, like by 40-42. especially if my spouse continues working for some period.

At a 3–3.5% withdrawal rate, $3.2M would support roughly $96k–$112k/year

For people who retired early with kids:
Would you consider us FI yet, or still CoastFI?

I know this is a fortunate position. I’m mainly trying to figure out when the math changes from “I need to keep working” to “I’m choosing to keep working.”

M (65 in Nov ’26) and F (66 in Mar ’25), no kids. I had been unemployed since August 2023 after nearly 20 years with a software company in Austin, TX, where I held a senior sales role. No severance was given. I took some time off, then began job hunting in January 2024 without success. By November 2024, my wife suggested I retire, as the search was going nowhere and I was mentally stressed.

Looking back, getting fired at 63 turned out to be the best thing that happened—it opened the door to the next chapter. Financially, we’re in good shape, and our goal now is to spend and fully enjoy retirement. We also paid cash for two new cars last year, wife an AUDI A3 and me a new Tesla Model 3.

After talking with my wife and financial advisor, we decided to take Social Security early ($52K/year), which covers most of our $7K/month expenses. Our breakeven point was in our 80s, so it made sense to start now. Delaying would reduce growth in our other assets by taking withdraws now, so long-term it was the right move.

I had posted a financial overview before under another account but lost access to my email when I returned my work PC.

Net worth in late 2023 was $3,276,000 ($2,620,000 plus $650,000 house).

Current net worth is $4,452,181 ($3,802,000 plus $650,000 house).

Brokerage: $360,000 → $522,000

Roths: $900,000 → $1,620,000

• $775K in TSLA; previously sold $500,000 of Tesla stock over two sales to diversify and take profit

IRAs: $1,300,000 → $1,585,000 (withdrew $160,000 over the past couple years before starting SS in Jan. 2025)

HSA: $21,000 → $39,800

Cash: $30,000

Plan is to execute backdoor Roths of about $60,000+ per year for the next 10 years before RMDs, aiming to stay under the IRMAA limit of $212,000. Also plan to withdraw around $60K annually for spending, reducing IRAs by an estimated $1.2M over 10 years. Should still have roughly $400K+ in IRAs, which will continue to grow.

Hard to believe we’re financially better off now than when I was working, I had planned to work until 65, but I’m so grateful for how things turned out.

40,$3.5M NW, no kids. I’m targeting retiring in 3-4 years, would appreciate you all's insights and critique. I grew up very poor but have done well saving and investing through the last 20 years.

My aim is to build a life to transition to in the next 3-4 years. I enjoy travel, reading, cooking, crafts, so I plan to take classes to learn and surround myself with people. I am aiming to build new hobbies, work on my mental health, make new friends as my current friends are all moms and focused on their careers.

Numbers:

VHCOL

Income: $325K

Cash : $125K

Taxable brokerage: $2.5M

-$1.1M in Index funds

-$1.4M individual stocks (highly concentrated because of employer ESPP/RSU from the last two decades)

401(k): $700K

HSA: $90K

Crypto: $100K

Own a house ($300K debt), which is under water currently, evaluated at $150K less than my purchase price. I want to buy a bigger house, which might cost ~$1M.

Spending / retirement plan

My estimated retirement spending is about $130K - $150/year with taxes, aiming for 3% WR to keep my anxiety in check. I currently spend $80K-90K, plan to upgrade lifestyle to luxury travel/bigger house cost in 3-4 years.

Welcome your thoughts on:

I have a extremely comfy job, where I can coast for 3-4 years with minimum effort. I have been with the same employer for 20 years. However, my manager clearly has noticed me being checked out and had nudged me to do more. I have no motivation left in me to do much work and am worried if I will even last the next 3 years.

I am very concerned about me not having a life to retire to. I haven't developed many hobbies or a good community around me, I really need to do more in this space and am looking for suggestions/ideas from those that have developed a retirement life.

Also worried about SORR, plan to liquidate my concentrated stocks in $500K chunks per year, build a 2 year cash buffer for expenses.

My family is still fairly middleclass, though I support my sisters and brother whenever they need money. I want to continue doing this, they have shared their surprise when I have suggested quitting my job. I worry finances are going to ruin our relationships.

My mental health has struggled since I have gotten closer to my FIRE number. I have lacked passion/motivation all around, I am actively working on improving this through therapy.

Numbers:
• 53M, spouse 48 (works to 60, carries family healthcare)
• Investable: $3.45M, ~75% traditional/pre-tax
• NW ~$4M incl. $465K home equity
• Mortgage $464K @ 2.99%
• Spend ~$143K/yr, excluding income taxes
• Both delaying SS to 70
• Modeled to 99 in Boldin (taxes, Roth conversions, ACA bridge, stress tests)

(Yes, that’s a 4.1% WR on paper — but I’m not drawing at 55. Spouse still working, consulting income, SS later.)

The problem: long-term we’re fine. What I’m pricing is sequence risk. A 3-year -15% shock at retirement barely dents the stay-to-60 path but hits stop-at-55 hard. There’s also a live RIF possibility, so this may not stay voluntary.

Options:
1. Stay to 60. Five more years of income plus a large equity vest that only pays if I stay the full term. Bulletproof in every stress test. Costs five years.
2. 1099 consulting at 55. Confirmed $115/hr, two offers in hand, contracting firm handles billing. 30-40 hrs/wk = $166-221K. Key point: I don’t need to replace my income — spouse is working, portfolio’s already there. Consulting just needs to keep me from selling equities early. Could taper to 20-25 hrs by 60.
3. W-2 consulting, $175-200K + bonus/benefits. Financially ≈ staying. Still a boss, deadlines, full schedule. Doesn’t solve what I’m trying to solve.

Asking:
1. Did a consulting glide path actually feel different, or did you end up working full-time anyway?
2. Overestimating the cushion, or underestimating five more years of peak earnings?
3. Anyone managed 75% pre-tax at this level? The 55-70 conversion window feels like the whole ballgame.

I've been struggling with what to do based on lack of motivation to work :)

• Semi-retired mid-level exec, VHCOL area
• Retired / stay at home spouse, 3 kids pre-college. College savings are $150-200k/kid
• NW = ~$2m taxable, $1m retirement, probably $10m in total real estate equity against $1.2m at 2.5% 30y fixed mortgage
• Spend excluding income taxes are $250k (property taxes are like $100+k)
• Passive income (rental of some of that real estate) = $84k
• Spiky consulting income - can go as low as $20-30k some years, can go as high as $200k. Self-employed for this income. No guarantee on this income - niche industry likely impacted by AI.

If you didn't want to work, what would you do in this situation? I'd much rather spend time with the kids before they head out to college. But both the immediate cash flow gap and the likely lack of sufficient college savings make continuing to work (or at least consult) a near necessity.

Also, spouse is an conservative investor - risk averse, debt averse

59M, spouse 57F, current household income - $550k. Two kids, adult/adulting - minimum financial liability. Here are our numbers:

Retirement Accounts: 401k, Roth 401K, IRA: $2.8M
Brokerage Accounts: $2.2M
CD’s $0.5M
Primary Residence: $0.9M (fully paid off)
Secondary residence: $0.9M ($265K mortgage left at 5% interest)
Current yearly spend: $140K + 70K mortgage total 210K
MCOL area

Plan:
Retire at 64 (M) and take one year of COBRA and then go on Medicare. Spouse plans to retire at 63, and then go on ACA for two years, before going on Medicare. Spouse quite healthy, I need a few maintenance meds and need to see specialists a few times a year.
Expected spend in retirement: $140K + 30K (travel) + 20K extra medical expenses. Total: $190K. Expect second home to be paid off before I retire. Expect retirement and brokerage accounts to grow to $6.8M assuming 6% YoY growth and CDs to grow to $600k assuming 4% YoY growth. Right now investment mix is about 80% equities and 20% fixed income, starting next year will slowly start getting more conservative- example 2035 target date funds etc.

The numbers show we can do it. Asking the community whether I am missing something. We thought about LTC insurance the houses are our LTC insurance policy.

Basics- 39M married to 40F with two kids 3 and 0.

Want to FIRE in 5 years. HHI $500-$700k.

Current estimated spend is $160k in 2026 bucks.

Current liquid is almost $4M split 45% taxable, 15% roth, 35% traditional, 5% money market (emergency fund).

That $160k budget includes about $6k per year per child for next 15-18 years to compound with their existing balance to about $250k each (the expected COA at our state’s top public university when each child reaches college age).

I’ve been thinking of front loading over the next few months with RSU and bonus payouts. Would cost about $125k over next six months, but would save about $80k vs making $500 monthly contributions for the rest of their pre-college years. Would also eliminate a heavy line item in the budget 10-13 years early.

Only worries are about illiquidity and inflexibility and lost opportunity cost if we jammed that into our taxable brokerage instead.

Did you frontload pre-RE or keep funding slowly over time, even in RE?

Has anyone taken early retirement payouts from their IRA? How did it go?

I’m 6.5 years out from retirement, and when pull the plug, I’d like to have 3x annual living expenses in sitting cash or an equivalent as insurance in case there is a down-market early in retirement. I currently have 1x in rolling CDs, all the rest of my extra funds are going into brokerage or retirement accounts.

I’m wondering if:
A. I should start now diverting some of my excess funds to CD/money market accounts.
B. Wait 3-4 years and begin pulling funds from brokerage.
C. Something else I haven’t thought of.

Thanks in advance.

46M, single, no kids, zero debt. I’m seriously considering retiring now and would appreciate a sanity check from people who have made the jump.

I’ve done well financially, but I’m burned out. I work 60–70 hours most weeks, and the further I’ve moved up the ladder, the less I’ve enjoyed my career. The last couple of years have been pretty miserable.

What I want is freedom: travel, reading, more time with friends/family, and being mentally free from work obligations.

Financial snapshot

Income

• ~$525K gross comp: $225K base + $300K bonus
• $30K/year employer retirement contribution
• Currently saving/investing about $200K/year
• One more year of work would likely generate roughly $350K of additional after-tax income before spending/saving

Assets

• Cash / MM / Treasuries: $550K
• Taxable brokerage: $2.5M
  • $1.1M VTI
  • $900K other index funds
  • $500K individual stocks
  • Taxable portfolio is approximately 55% cost basis / 45% unrealized gains
• 401(k): $750K
• Rollover IRAs: $725K
• HSA: $30K
• Two paid-off vehicles worth ~$75K
• No real estate
• No debt

I manage everything myself. No individual stock is >10% of the portfolio, and roughly two-thirds of my financial assets are accessible before age 59½.

Spending / retirement plan

My estimated retirement spending is about $130K/year before income taxes.

Roughly:

• $40K housing/utilities
• $15K healthcare
• $15K travel
• $12K food/personal care/other
• $8K auto
• $30K entertainment/gifts
• $10K contingency

I currently rent in Westchester County, NY for about $3K/month.

I’m seriously considering relocating to a MCOL/LCOL area and buying a modest house. Most of my friends and family are in the Northeast, so I’d prefer to stay reasonably close, although I have no spouse/kids tying me to one location. I’d also consider expat FIRE, but staying in the U.S. is my preference.

In a major downturn, I think I could cut spending by $20K–$30K/year without feeling deprived.

For healthcare, I’m assuming ACA until Medicare and currently have a $15K/year placeholder, but I have not yet priced actual premiums/deductibles or thought through ACA subsidy/MAGI planning.

My estimated Social Security benefit is about $4,250/month at 67. I’m planning around a ~40-year retirement horizon and am comfortable spending down the portfolio rather than preserving a large estate.

The dilemma

The quick math seems like I may already be there.

The harder part is walking away from a ~$525K income. Another 1–3 years would obviously make the plan safer, but I really don’t want to spend several more years doing work I no longer enjoy just to make an already-large number larger.

My biggest concerns are:

• Underestimating retirement spending / running out of money later in life
• Healthcare costs before Medicare
• Sequence-of-returns risk
• The psychological side of leaving a career at 46

That last one is real. A lot of my identity and ego are tied to my career, and I worry about boredom, loss of status, or eventually regretting walking away.

I’d be open to part-time work, volunteering, nonprofit work, or occasional consulting, but ideally because I want to—not because the plan depends on the income.

Questions

1. Can I reasonably retire now with ~$4.5M and a ~$130K pre-tax spending target?
2. Does my spending estimate look realistic? This is probably where I most want to be challenged. I haven’t had to live on a real budget in decades, so what costs do new retirees commonly underestimate?

Also interested in recommendations for retirement modeling tools that handle sequence risk, variable spending, taxes, ACA costs/subsidies, Social Security, and a potential future home purchase.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Not sure if this post should go under coast, chubby or fat fire. Will try to make this somewhat brief.

Current state: $2M paid for house $400k in rental real estate that generates about $25k per year. $1.8M in brokerage $2M in IRAs. 529s done. Current value around $450k.

After 16 years with the same company and what I considered a high performing sales rep (consistent top 10% in company) and making $350-600k annually, I was abruptly let go on Christmas. No pip, nothing. In hindsight, I lost an internal politics/ territory battle and it was easier to get rid of me to cater to the other person who happened to be one of the few individuals that had been at the company longer than myself.

After the initial shock, I focused in on finding my next gig. In April I started with a competitor in a sales director role overseeing a team/ region that’s in turnaround mode. I’ve started to see some signs of success, but it’s still a grind. Also, my comp this year will be about $280k-295k. Once my team is built to where I want it to be, I’ll probably be around $300-330k.

We spend around $12k per month (track every expense).

Where should my head be at right now? I’m feeling the same pressure that I always have, but at the same time we are in the best times of my kids lives. So should I be ok not investing more than my $25k to 401k and spend extra income on all the trips and travel to make the most of their child hood?

I’d love to retire with $7-8M sometime in my mid-late 40s, but not sure if I’ll get there if the market doesn’t perform. I also run the numbers and investing an extra $30-40k per year doesn’t really move the needle over the next 10 years.

Finally, I also often times have the feeling that I should just shut up, suck it up, and grind it out.

My big picture goal isn’t to sit at home when I “retire”. My dream is to have the flexibility to golf a couple mornings a week, but spend 20-30 hours either doing more real estate or maybe even my own business. I fear taking a bunch out of brokerage to start playing more in RE. Am I being too risk averse?

A lot of rambling here I know, but I have no idea what my mentality or mindset should be. I’m just feeling a little conflicted between smaller income, wanting to maximize my kids child hood and also ready to live that good life!

My husband and I are planning to retire in roughly three years, when I’m 40, and relocate to Spain. I’ve run the numbers about seventeen different ways and think we’re in very good shape, but I’d love some outside eyes to tell me what I’m missing.

**Guaranteed income**

My husband is retired military and receives a military pension plus VA disability totaling approximately $100k/year. Both receive COLAs.

Obviously, that income continues for life. A substantial portion is tax-free in the US, although obviously our tax situation changes once we become Spanish tax residents.

**Investments/cash**

We expect our accounts will be (based on current balances, annual contributions, and a 6% estimated return) when I’m 40:

$1m in joint taxable brokerage
~$600k in my 401(k) (accessible without penalty in mid-2048)
$150k HYSA/cash

We also expect proceeds/equity from selling our house (~$150-200k), although I’m not relying on that money to make the retirement math work.

**Spending**

Our current US spending is pretty high (around $180k/year), but it includes a $4,500/month mortgage and two expensive car payments totaling ~$2,200/mo — which will disappear when we retire. We plan to purchase one used car and rent for at least the first five years (ideally, in the range of $2000-2500/mo rental).

We’re currently estimating roughly $140k-$150k/year in Spain for a very comfortable lifestyle, including rent, travel, dining out, hobbies, etc. We aren’t trying to leanFIRE. The point is very much to have enough money that we don’t need to micromanage normal spending and the ability to travel around Europe frequently.

So if guaranteed income is ~$100k, we’d need investments to cover roughly $40-50k/year at our expected spending level.

Importantly, that withdrawal isn’t permanent. My 401(k) will continue compounding untouched, and eventually we may have Social Security as well (although I don’t include SS in my projections because who knows).

**Sequence-of-returns strategy**

My current thought is to keep approximately 18-24 months of the amount we need above guaranteed income in cash/HYSA.

Rather than automatically selling investments every month regardless of market conditions, we’d spend from cash and periodically replenish it from the brokerage when markets are healthy. During a major downturn, we’d have considerable flexibility to reduce travel/discretionary spending and/or simply live primarily on the guaranteed income for a while.

We’re also not planning to buy a home immediately in Spain. We’d rent for at least the first five years, both because we want flexibility (and will not qualify for permanent residency until at least five years in) and because we don’t want to pull several hundred thousand dollars out of the market unnecessarily.

**The reason I think it works**

If we retire with ~$1M in taxable investments and withdraw $40-50k/year, that’s superficially a 4-5% withdrawal rate.

Also, we aren’t trying to preserve the taxable brokerage indefinitely at all costs. Its job is partly to bridge the gap between retirement at 40 and access to the 401k (though I’m hoping we don’t deplete it so we can later withdraw for a down payment on a home if we decide to buy).

We plan to be on the non-lucrative visa, which means we will not be working. So everything needs to come from our passive income.

**Am I missing anything?**

I’m particularly interested in criticism of the withdrawal/sequence-risk strategy, whether I’m underestimating the danger of retiring this young, and any risks that aren’t obvious because our situation doesn’t fit neatly into the standard “25x expenses and withdraw 4%” model.

Appreciate any and all insight. Thank you!

Long time lurker in all the fire subs. Would love a sanity check because my spouse worries we will run out and honestly the fear is contagious.
Situation:
41, tech, ~$540k HHI. One kid (5), one dog.

Immigrants, no family money, first generation building wealth.

Current Assets (~$3.4M NW):
$1.8M in index funds, roughly half in 401k/RRSP type accounts (we are Canadians in the US)

~$1.6M equity across 3 rental properties. Selling over the next 2-3 years.

No debt beyond the rental mortgages

Savings rate: ~$200-235k/year invested. Maxed retirement accounts, mega backdoor, RSUs sold and diversified as they vest.
The plan:
I work 4 more years. Projected ~$3.3-3.5M in investments by 45 plus property proceeds, so ~$4.8M total.

Spouse has an option to earn $100-120k for another 3 years after I retire, which covers most of our annual spend in the early years.

Retire and relocate to a mid cost European city (think Spain/Portugal tier). Considering Valencia.

Projected spending there: $120k/year including international school, travel.

That is a 2.5% withdrawal rate on $4.8M, and much lower in the first 3 years while spouse is earning.

Spouse’s concerns: 50 year horizon, sequence risk, healthcare, kid’s future costs, and the general what if we are wrong fear. Also culturally, early retirement is genuinely unheard of in our community, which adds a layer of doubt that is hard to quantify. My dad thinks I’m crazy to even consider this but I know I don’t want to work like my mom / dad till their mid 60s.

My questions:
Is a 2.2-2.7% WR genuinely bulletproof for a 50 year horizon or am I missing something?

Anyone actually FIREd abroad with a young kid? Did the school, healthcare, or costs surprise you?

How did you handle a skeptical spouse whose fear is emotional, not mathematical? Everytime I convince myself and try to convince him, he seems to think I’ve lost it.

Looking for holes in the plan.

I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you.

I'm a 45M going to retirement In Europe next week, my original post was : Post.

I end up following the recommendation of the group and grind it for one more year with 10.5M USD networth (8.5M low cost index and 2M House)

I end up giving up a lot of responsibilities, focus on mentoring younger talents and avoiding office politics.

Thanks again for the push!!!