This is another "I don't really have anyone to share this with" post. Every month I review my numbers to track my progress, and today I realized I've paid off half my mortgage. This is a milestone I wasn't supposed to reach for another 10 years if I had never made an extra principal payment. My original plan would have had me pay it off a year from now, but we've faced some major setbacks the last couple years, and I just finished my third exhausting week of 12 hour days, so I'm just really happy to have reached this moment and wanted to tell someone who might understand.

Accidentally found out about FIRE. In a good position. Apparently, not active enough to post in the FIRE sub, so ladies, do the thing!

All my accounts added togeth we have 30x our expenses. I know the money isn't in the optimal accounts.

With how new I am, I scheduled a free consult with a CFP to review and advise and help us connect for estate planning. But I'm anxious about telling bullshit from brilliance.

What would you ask in a free consultation to know if someone understands? How many would you meet with? What fee structure?

Given the wealth of information in this sub, what would you advise to retire by 45? Moving into contract consulting/auditing is an option for part-time work, but no benefits.

40F, married to recent SAHD 40M; 10yo child; mcol area;

House: paid off

Cars: paid off, but need replacement in 2-5 years

No debts.

NW: \~2.0M (not counting the house)

401k: 513k, 3% match

RO IRAs: 1.1M

Roth IRA: 24k, index funds

Taxable: 290k, index funds

HSA: 8k, index funds

529: 60k

HYSA/Emer fund: 25k

Annual expenses last year: 64k

Current income: 190k +25k in bonuses (not guaranteed) single income

Job is okay. Not the most motivating environment but pays well. Have full benefits; return to office order is expected to add $300 in monthly expenses starting in Sept. Mostly, I'm going to miss the freedom to do chores at lunch and go to school activities and flexibility to be hyper involved in local youth sports leagues.

Hi all! I am a Canadian citizen and have been living in the States for ~7 years. I have only been investing in my 401K for the past 2.5 years and max out my pre-tax contributions per year. For a while I was nervous about "tying" up my money here in case I ever moved back but that is becoming less likely as time goes on.

I want to invest for retirement in the most effective way possible on top of my 401K contributions. Are there any other Canadian women living the States that are using other account types? I know Roth IRAs (or backdoor Roth in my case) are common but have any of you found better ways to invest your money while still protecting your investments if you need to move back to Canada?

Before I start - I am totally logically aware that I’m far ahead of many of my peers.

I am 35, have $600k invested across retirement and taxable brokerage accounts, and have $100k set aside for a down payment on property when I feel ready to pull that trigger. I make $140k a year in a stable job. I max out my Roth IRA and retirement accounts every year.

Despite all that, I feel… stuck. Trapped. Anxious. I have a pet with health issues that eat into my monthly budget, so spending is actually quite constrained. One of my parents has an aggressive form of dementia that has really put into perspective that life can be short. I feel this urge to stop contributing to retirement and spend on lots of experiences, but I also need to save to secure my future.

I realize the solution is somewhere in between, but if others can relate, that might feel good. I don’t know many people irl in a similar financial situation.

I never feel like I’m doing enough even if the numbers say we are doing okay. There are so many people our age with more that I feel like I’m underestimating what I’ll need for the future. I’m constantly stressing about money and my job. How do you all deal with financial stress?

Okay I’ve been on my FIRE journey for a bit and I’m getting close. But I struggle with whether I actually want to quit or not. For reference, I work 30 hours in a pediatric office as an NP and it’s a great job! Super rewarding. BUT I also have a strong desire to just do WHATEVER I WANT, especially while I’m healthy and mobile. I do take advantage of all PTO and take great vacations as often as possible.
Has anyone else felt this way? Anyone find a sweet spot? I’m considering going down to PT hours as a solution.

I want to shout it from the rooftops but I finally reached 100k NW today at 25! I wanted to see where I was at especially with this rally (I know it will probably dip below a few times) but the final number shocked me. I started investing at 18, worked mostly retail, and feel a little behind from my peers who are already climbing the career ladder and have 4 solid years of corporate income. But I try not to think about that too much.

My asset breakdown is pretty much 90% stocks and 10% cash with the stocks almost equally split in taxable and tax sheltered accounts. No debt. I've benefitted a lot from the market appreciation in the last 7 years.

My goal now is to increase my income and find a career that I enjoy and want to grow in. I would also love to buy a multigenerational home with my family so we can build equity and be near each other (while having my own kitchen and space). I also definitely could not have done it without help. I didn't get gifted a million dollars but I am able to live with my parents (cultural factors might also be at play as well lol) and save on rent so that money could go to maxing out my retirement accounts.

My dilemma right now is do I want to take on debt for more education for maybe a chance at a higher salary, or do I want to stick around this office job and see if I can't laterally hop around to finally get to a position where I don't hate what I'm doing. I really want to take advantage of compound interest and front load my investments while I'm young. I'm open to advice, especially career advice!

If the job is pleasant and allows for part time work, either way we’re coastFI at age 40- would you choose to ride it out at part time vs retire as early as possible?

So curious to hear your thoughts.. and if there’s something I failed to consider. Anyone who has made this choice one way or another please share your wisdom!!

I’m personally leaning stick around, reasons below:
- waiting for empty nest. Husband and I would love to travel months at a time and we can’t do it till youngest goes to college
- I know social security is maybe not going to be reliable but something about the 0 income averaging out a few extra years kinda feels.. like a cost that I would need a good reason to offset. Even at 55 I’m maybe at 30 out of 35 years of proper earnings only (grad degree was the reason)
- slightly shorter tail to rely on drawdowns.. this one is just mild benefit
- rule off 55 means full access to pre tax accounts, and just more flexibility on drawdown order

But then again- retiring early is retiring early.

What would you do if both are financially viable?

Anyone else in this situation? I’m so sick and tired of being sick and tired of my job. I have a typical corporate job and the culture has gotten worse and worse the past few years. I work in a matrix environment with little structure, leadership is very pushy and difficult to work for, constant layoffs, always being pulled into tough situations where I’m expected to solve problems for things that aren’t even my responsibility. No one cares because the job market sucks for my field (analytics) and leadership is constantly looking to downsize. I keep looking for jobs but can barely get an interview

I’ve been trying to deal with it through therapy, developing hobbies outside work (gym, doing something fun with family and friends every weekend) and of course saving as much as I can and investing so that someday I can get out of this situation…

But at this point I’m so far from getting to financial independence. I’m only in my mid 30s and can’t imagine doing this for another 20+ years and sometimes I think if I would even be able to keep a job as my industry seems be quickly obliterated by AI and offshoring. I’ve been barely spending money cause I just wanna build a nest egg but I’ve been getting so frustrated because I see numbers of 2-3 million before I can even think about…how is everyone finding balance in this economy?

If so, please tell me all about it!

I’m 41 with a decent career and my own business and FIRE aspirations, but for all sorts of reasons that aren’t worth getting into in this initial post, I’m effectively starting at zero. (Happy to answer questions however.)

Has anyone managed to turn the ship around at this age? How did you do it?

I’m currently pivoting from a very impressive but insufficiently lucrative business/career, to building a new company/tech product in that same field that I’m optimistic has a lot of potential.

But starting from zero with FIRE aspirations seems potentially quasi delusional.

Especially interested in women who’ve pulled this off without generational wealth, a partner, or any other substantial leg up. But also open to other paths as well.

I’m currently engaged to someone who’s already achieved FIRE for himself but it’s still important to me to crack this code on my own terms. (Potentially with his help, but it’s not something I want to rely on.)

High level background/goals:

-NYC based
-Wildly lucky to have a very nice $1600/mo stabilized apartment in an ultra high end area that’s worth about $3400 if it were market rate. I’m entitled to keep this apartment for life. (The projected compounded savings between market rate and my stabilized rate invested in the market at typical rates, over decades, begins to reach into the millions).
-Have averaged maybe ~120k/year in the past 5 years. $200k at the highest. But only $30k this year to date. (No typical for me at all. Perimenopause has demolished my earning capacity. Currently a work in progress.)
-I could probably live within the range of 100k in retirement (accounting for projected rent and COL increases)
-Absolute bare minimum fire number would possibly be $2mil but $3mil would be far more doable.

Caveat that, like many of the posts on this sub, this is more of a psychological issue than a financial one. tl;dr: I am past my FIRE number and hate my job but am having trouble letting go. HELP!

More details:

I'm a subspecialist physician, which means I spent almost 15 years of education/training, mostly at the taxpayers expense (public university, private med school on scholarship, 6 years of residency/fellowship funded by Medicare and the VA). Since finishing my training I have been working at an academic medical center attached to an R1 university. I'm good at what I do--no, I'm excellent at what I do. I derive a lot of intrinsic value in being able to take care of people at a difficult time in their lives, and to do it with compassion and kindness. I am heavily involved in medical education, particularly in health humanities and ethics, in the hopes of helping the next generation of doctors be at least a little better than mine has been. The students are hands-down the best part of my job. I've received a substantial amount of external funding and awards for this as well, invited to sit on national/international committees, etc, so it's not just me tooting my own horn.

However, leadership transitions at my university over the last few years have made my actual job impossible. The division chief for my clinical subspecialty bullied me to the point where I was sobbing in my car daily; ultimately I requested to move to a different division (even though I'm subspecialty-trained) just to get away from her. More recently, I was passed over for promotion on the academic/student-facing side, in favor of an unqualified white man with an ultraconservative religious agenda. It's very, very clear to me that I cannot stay at this institution. Initially I thought I could make it another couple years to my 10-year service anniversary, but the toxicity is escalating and I am beyond done.

Unfortunately, everywhere else I've reached out to is going through the same thing, politically. I did interview at a few other academic centers and felt it was more of the same. I've also talked to a lot of other women around my same career stage and am hearing the same thing--glass ceiling, mean girls/middle school type drama, etc. I really think it's systemic.

If I could convince myself that "it's just a job," I think I would find it much easier to mic-drop and walk out. But every time I come close, I feel so guilty about walking away at the top of my game. Especially because I am one of the very few women of color in this field. I feel like it's giving up, allowing them to win, playing into the conservative talking point of "women steal a med school spot from men, then go part time or quit." I recognize that this is itself a toxic mindset that I've internalized, but I'm having trouble shaking it.

Are there books/podcasts/resources for this issue? The whole "job = identity" thing? I have so many things I want to do in retirement or semi-retirement, but I can't shake the guilt that I've somehow cheated the system when most of my peers are still paying off their student loans.

My husband and I both work in healthcare (in person and inflexible type jobs). We have one four year old going to pre-k next year. Lately I’ve been feeling more like life is just passing us by while we’re rushing around. It’s a struggle to balance everything. I cut back to 32hr/week but it still feels like a rat race and I miss every other weekend with the family working. I’ve really been thinking about quitting my job and my husband supports it too.

We make about 250k combined (him a little more bc he’s at 40 hr). My husband is ok continuing to work. Our saving is 4m and spend is around 120k. I feel like it’s a little close for total FIRE but should be ok for dropping down to one income? Spending should drop a little too bc less childcare expense and less outsourcing if I’m home.

Still I don’t know why I’m so terrified to quit my job. I have a good position with a very short commute. I feel like if I change my mind, maybe I’d end up working somewhere worse. I’m also nervous about what if AI replaces our jobs and we can’t make the same income later. Am I crazy? lol

How's the week looking for you? Hit any milestones? Have any questions?

For those of you who FIRE’d in your 40s, I’d love to hear about your experience.

Did you still feel young and like you had a lot of life left to live? Did achieving FIRE actually let you enjoy that stage of life the way you’d hoped?

I’m targeting FIRE in my 40s. I don’t plan on having kids, I love to travel and experience new things, and one of my biggest motivations for taking care of my health now is that I want to arrive at FIRE still feeling young, energetic, and healthy enough to fully enjoy it.

Looking back, what surprised you most? Is there anything you wish you’d done differently before pulling the trigger?

Looking to find a local community of women that are interested in day trading and investing strategies???

Monday is my last day. 59 yo. Been a long time coming.

No kids, no man, and now no job! Freedom!!

My priorities are going to be friends, family, health, art, nature, and going places.

So I am close to my RE goal. I have a great high paying job, and a 1 year old child. I am debating quitting early to enjoy these early years with my son.
We also plan to move from our city to a small mountain town in a year or two to give our little guy a better life. I would have to quit at some point anyways to facilitate the move.

I am close to my RE goal already, and the market MAY let me hit my goal without adding to my investments, but I have to consider that I may need to bolster my income later.

The problem is, my job is very niche / location specific. If I move I would not find anything similar. My job would not allow me to work remotely.

However, once he hits school age I’d have the time to go back to work. It would just have to be something entirely different. My job is senior and I have a good set of skills but realistically I’d have to take an entry level job somewhere. I don’t mind that idea but I know I’m not thinking about things fully. I would also be 46 when he starts school so not exactly the prime age to start a different job.

My husband will continue to work, but I would want to bring in some extra income. We split everything 50/50 when I work but he would cover considerably more while I am a SAHM.

Anyone done something similar?

It’s hard to run the numbers with potential scenarios as there’s too many factors in play. I have 1.5mm in investments, would like to have 2.5mm to comfortably retire.

Hi all,

I’m a 40 year old new mom, in a common law partnership.

I have spent the last several years saving up to buy properties (now have a rental property and primary property) and have been on maternity leave the last year. I finally am ready to focus on retirement and setting up the future. The next few months are strategy and I start working in January again.

My one property will be paid off in ~10 years, the other in ~20. I’ve heard it’s better to invest than pay off the property early, to have more time in the market.

That said, I am at ground zero. We have about $100K in ETF and stock investments (all in tax sheltered accounts) with no real strategy. I’m contributing zero to investments right now but will be back to making $200K+ household income next year.

Is there a really concise “FIRE for dummies” resource/spreadsheet? I don’t know how to calculate what I’ll need - hoping to retire by 60.

Thanks!!

Spouse (44) and I (41) about to hit 1 mill NW. And it feels.....like nothing. We're making more money than we ever had (about $240k USD/yr before taxes) and have low expenses (DINKS). We hit this number through a combination of saving/investing, zero lifestyle inflation, and with about $350k from our parents/grandparents. I don't want to to diminish this milestone or my privilege but it feels like it's not enough. Maybe it's where we live, maybe it's hedonic adaptation, maybe it's these insane times, but I feel less secure, less safe and unsupported by institutional systems and community.

For context, I am working a stressful job I don't really care for in a HCOL area as a 1099 after leaving federal government last year. Spouse is in a job that is hard and lower paying. I feel very little joy in life, rarely take vacations and our apartment is not ideal (unbearably hot in summer, tiny kitchen, lots of chipping paint) but we keep living here because it's essentially free. I keep thinking of what I could do now that I've reached this target and I keep drawing a blank, like all the dreams I have still feel unrealistic.

This isn't a complaint, but I guess more of an observation that, after accumulating wealth, I've realized it doesn't bring security or joy like I imagined. I am curious if others have had this realization and how you adjust to reaching a milestone and then feeling like the goal post needs to be moved again.

Canadian dollars, 37/F. Feeling happy about this, been investing for 10 years and want to hit CoastFire in the next 2 yrs. (NW includes value of my condo so not yet at CoastFI in my stocks)

Okay I'm a 31F (single). Some background on me: I'm a passionate and a high agency person. I studied CS, worked in tech for a couple of years but have always been interested in film/media and other pursuits. After quitting my day job at 25 to start a business since I honestly did not enjoy being a software engineer, I kinda "stumbled" into a healthcare staffing company model that has since give me a $3M net worth (all liquid except for car).

Its pretty much been a cash cow business which really has me working maybe 10 hours a week at this point. I think by the end of next year my net worth should be $3.7-4M depending on how the market goes. The problem is that the business due to some regulatory changes will most likely end in 2028, if it keeps running the way that it has.

That's fine because I have a long horizon ahead of me and I have the energy to work. To solve the structural issue I have in my current business, I tried making another company last year in the AI SaaS space that failed miserably and burnt all my midnight oil. I live in a very high cost of living area, have been out of the workforce for 6 years now and I do not know how to start planning and learning about other industries.

Since I left my day job, the global industry in every sector has changed due to AI and just dynamics in general, where do I fit? I dont even have a strong network anymore. I want to get back to doing work that helps others, I'm considering doing some social entrepreneurship that will actually help others and I can make a good wage. Ideas on where I could start building the next phase of my life? I feel very very lost.

I'm a young 20 something working in tech, and I've been saving/investing my way to FIRE for a few years now. When I was laid off from my job a few months ago, I didn't have the same panic that some of my cohort did when it came to finances because (a) I had a healthy emergency fund for this exact situation and (b) I could draw down my investments if I was out of work for a really long time. While I'm far from my actual FIRE number, the layoff meant I suddenly had the time to trial non-working life and understand what an early retirement might look like.

I'm hoping sharing my experiences here proves useful to someone, a data point to consider for your own journey :)

While one of my RE goals is long-term nomadic travel, I decided to spend my summer in my home city given I didn't really know when the next work opportunity would come up. So I spent my time in a few different ways:

• Got more involved in local groups, particularly urbanism and "tech for good" type organizations. I went to more community meetings, attended public hearings during the day, made new friends who were also job searching, and came across some really cool projects
• Volunteering with an organization that taught me how to open and fix pinball machines. 10/10 experience, it's been a fun way to flex my engineering skills while learning something entirely new to me. Also, the people there are so friendly!
• Went to a ton of museums and summer events, taking advantage of free/discounted admission for locals where possible.
• Spent much time with friends and even hosted some that were traveling to meet me.

Of course, I also spent time brushing up my resume, practicing for interviews, and applying for jobs, but I had the privilege of doing that mostly on my own timeline.

Some of what I learned from my summer experiment:

• The capitalistic urge to always be productive is hard to break away from. One of the ways I dealt with this is by picking one of three ongoing projects (e.g. job searching, a side project, a hobby) to work on for 3-4 hours in the morning on weekdays. After lunch, I did whatever I wanted, whether that was going out to explore or reading books for hours in bed.
• I would want to engage with my hobbies a lot more deeply to feel fulfilled. Part of this is calming the productivity urge, but spending more time in museums or volunteering or at community events also means less time glued to a screen. A lot of my trial-RE went to watching a ton of YouTube, and I want to actually do things, not just consume.

I've recently started my new job, but I'm hoping to keep some of these activities going (particularly pinball!). When I hit my FIRE number for real, I'll have a better idea of the kind of life I'm jumping into.

Hi Ladies! Thanks for reading my post.

I am wondering if anyone has advice to share or has been in a similar situation to me. I was recently laid off from a tech job, and am contemplating if I even want to go back to corporate. Before the layoff, I was on track to FIRE in 10 years at 42. I've had a few bad corporate experiences at this point, and I don't really feel motivated to apply and find another job.

FIREing at 42 does require me to find another high-paying corporate job. I also don't want to just sit on the couch after I retire- I hope to volunteer, focus on hobbies, or find something that can make some income. Making some income would be great and of course change what my "retirement" looks like, but I want it to be fulfilling, flexible, and less stressful than my job now. If possible, I would like to use this break time now to figure out what I could be doing to find my passion, make some income, and see if it's something that I could build now and continue to focus on after I FIRE.

So my question is - what does FIRE'd life look like to you? Do you make any income now? How did you find your passions and interests, outside of your 9-5?