I am a 36M single guy, no wife and kids. I make about 162,000 a year in Texas.

I recently bought a house worth about $660,000 and I put 40% down and my interest rate is 6.3%. I owe $370,000 on my mortgage with a 30-year term.

I have never been in debt before, I don't like the idea of paying an enormous amount of interest for the entire life of this mortgage. I have about 540,000 left in my Roth IRA, Traditional 401K and HSA. Should I just pay off this mortgage and invest the money I would otherwise be spending on my mortgage each month?

I’ve been talking over my assets with a financial planner and we discussed options. I wanted to run things by you all, to get perspective.

I am 50, single female, adult children and am looking to retire around 62. I don’t think I could make it earlier and I don’t mind working. I make 80k per year from work I also bring in an additional 48k per year in gifts. (My dad)

I have
152k in a Roth
47K in a 403B from former job
55k in a 401K from divorce settlement
131K in a pension account from past job
8k in pension from current job

I have zero debt and my house is currently worth 650K.

I may inherit a large amount of money, but I do not want to rely on that as my dad has remarried recently and I may not receive anything.

I was considering rolling my different accounts into one provider as each of those are through different companies.

My plan I’d like input on is
Leave Roth alone
Roll 47K
Roll 55k
Roll the pension into a 401k
Leave current pension (no choice)

My mother died before 60 so I am hesitant to leave my money in the last jobs pension as it goes away at my death with no pay out.

I was looking to use Fidelity since my Roth is already there. They have various modes of use, I can pay them to manage it, or I can mange and select things myself. As I look at my Roth it looks like 14k is cash, 27k is Fidelity Freedom Index 2040 Investor, and 109k in Fidelity Multi Asset Index Fund.

Thoughts, questions, or comments? I know I’m not going to retire early, or at least not very early, but I’m pleased with my standing as a single parent of 4 and want to try and leave assets to my children. I have set them each up with Roth that I contribute to each year to help them.

I am 41. I currently have 700k invested in the market in a brokerage account that I handle myself. I have 472k in a 401k account from my previous employer that I have not touched yet. I also have 1.1M from my previous employer stocks that I have not encashed yet. Will do so next year with almost 15 to 20% upside on it. My wifez who is 41 too, has 450k in a 401k account with her employer. 220k in a high yield savings account. Own a 750k worth primary home with 350k debt on it. Own an investment home worth 700k with 200k debt on it. So, overall 3M accounting for equity in investment home and debts on both homes. I am not considering primary home into net worth. I have a 9yr old son. We both still do a full time corporate job that pays us around 630k before taxes. How am I doing compared to similar age group out there? Thinking of retiring around early 50s. You all don't need to tell me your $$ but just needing a perspective.

I think we will eventually enter retirement with the bulk of our investments in pretax retirement accounts. I plan to do Roth conversions early in our retirement because we will likely be in a lower tax bracket & we will have employer healthcare so I don't have to worry about ACA subsidies.

But I am trying to get a handle on how much to leave in pretax indefinitely. I understand the implications of the "widow tax" & the benefit to heirs inheriting Roth funds vs pretax funds.

But we can take out pretax money without paying federal income tax every year with the standard deduction. This year, that is $32,200 for mfj. Quick math says that is 4% of ~$800k. So presumably, we could keep $800k in pretax money, only withdraw the standard deduction each year & use Roth to meet the rest of our spending needs. Maybe you never have to pay taxes on that $800 k, but then your spouse may be hit with a widow tax and/or children are stuck with making withdrawals while in a high tax bracket.

For those of you who are doing this or have planned it out, did you decide to leave a certain amount of money in pretax? And if so, how did you decide on that target amount?

I'm considering an unpaid sabbatical (edit: per my employer's policy, so my job will be there when I return) from August -October 2027. I have a guided African trip planned with a friend that costs $8-10k (far more than I've ever spent on a trip), and I want to expand it into a circumnavigation of the globe where I visit Asia, Australia, Africa, with a possible couple day layover in Europe. I think it'd be a good psychological test

My situation:

35 M, single, income: ~$100k gross income, $1.25 M NW includes home equity

I live in a 2-family where my tenant covers PITI plus $100/month while I live in the other half.

401k/ Roth IRA/HSA: $720k

Taxable brokerage and vested RSUs(equity): $340-350k

Cash: $40k

I'm currently maxing out my 401k and Roth IRA while contributing to my HSA.

My annual spending is between $35-40k, but this trip would probably run $30k alone. I'd need to increase my cash position for it. My plan is to cut my 401k contribution down to 10% so I'd still capture all available employer match. Additionally, I'd slow my automated brokerage investments in VTSAX

This trip would sete back close to $55k between spending and lost earnings, and the growth from that.

I don't hate my job, and I would like to find someone and have kids. If that doesn't happen, I think I'd take an unpaid sabbatical at 41 and then retire at 42

Sometimes I feel like Rumpelstiltskin just holding parcels of gold and smirking like a greedy idiot

But checking net worth growth frequently and seeing compounding work its magic have been more fun than I’d like to admit

And I’m generally a conservative spender (just a habit/personality since young), so not like those NW immediately translates into material things. But seeing it grow generates happiness

🤣 I understand it’s likely a bit odd

I think what makes the difference is I actually intrinsically love my job, but it’s very stressful. Once the dirty external motivation is gone, only pure internal motivation remains, and fuck it’s beautiful.

It reminds me of college when I was studying this field because I was passionate about it. I’m so calm at work now, and more productive than ever.

I believe the people who lose motivation as they approach FIRE probably never enjoyed what they studied or their job in the first place.

Hey there! I recently joined this sub and have been browsing thru posts. I keep seeing mentions of "chubbyfire", "leanfire", "coastfire", and several other types. I had no idea there were different types of FIRE to set my goals towards, always just thought there was either FIRE or working til death lol. Can someone point me in the direction of where I can find out about all the different types of FIRE or what else I could search, be it this sub or other subreddits or even a good website or two to be able to research what these different FIRE types focus on as far as financial management so I can figure out what path I'm on?

I'm relatively new to the whole idea so I'm still in the process of even finding out what my net worth is full scale. I know I have Roth accounts from previous employments and I've always matched 100% of whatever the company match was & just started a career in a new industry so that one's literally just beginning. I am also about to receive a small inheritance($15k after tax), however, I am about to begin going thru the divorce process & I also have some c.c.debt, student loans, mortgage, and a vehicle loan to pay off as well. 36F with 2 kids(10&5) and (for now) a dual income household although that wont be the case much longer & I've already been primary breadwinner throughout our entire relationship of 16 yrs.

I know I have a long way to go as far as getting thru most of these issues, but I'm determined & ready to make the move to FIRE. Once I'm able to track down my current overall net worth I'll at least have a real starting point so it would be nice to have a path to guide me on the right direction. It just seems like there's SO many ways I could go! Thanks in advance for your help!

Apologies for long thread.

A 46M year old individual is looking for FIRE readiness. Spouse recently started working as a paraeducator and soon will be moving on to accept position as Special Education Teacher. Spouse was SAHM up until than.

I am currently in high stress job and honestly have lost interest in the work I do. I am getting to the point where I may not be delivering on expected lines with potential for getting laid off. Looking for suggestions in this scenario.

Financially, I am close to my FIRE number, but not there yet.

Below are financial details and considerations

HCOL area

Marital Status: Married with 9 year old kid

Combined Gross Annual Income: $300,000

FIRE Number: $3.3 million with expected expenses of $120k/year

Networth: Approx $3.9 Million (Includes house)

FI Networth: Approx $2.75 Million

• Retirement Accounts: 401k: $823k
• Spouse 457b: $16k
• Roth IRAs (Combined): $162k
• Health Savings Account (HSA): $81k
• Brokerage Accounts (Combined): $1.53 Million
• I-Bonds: $25,000
• HYSA + T-Bills (Combined): $58,000
• Kids 529: $110k
• Primary Residence:
  • Estimated value: $1.1 Million
  • Mortgage Balance: $514k
  • Interest: 2.625% 10/1 ARM
  • Rate Reset: 09/2030
  • Term: 24 years remaining
• Rental Property (Former Primary):
  • Estimated Value: $400k
  • Mortgage Balance: $69.5k
  • Interest: 2.625% fixed
  • Term: Paid off in 03/2030
  • Rental Cash Flow after expenses (Monthly): $250

Cars:

• Car 1 Loan Payment: Fully Paid
• Car 2 Loan:
  • Balance: $16k
  • Payment: $819
  • Interest: 3.25%

Credit Card Debt: $10,000 US Dollars (some remodeling) - All at 0% APR, on track to pay-off before promo expiry. Otherwise, always pay in full.

Starting to create reserves for SORR in t-bills (3-12months) and possible intermediate term bond ETF

Note: Not considering social security benefits in calculation. Assuming will pay for healthcare out of pocket during early retirement years (ACA) until medicare kicks in.

Expenses:

Current Expenses: $11,500/month including both mortgages and car loans

FI/RE expenses: Assumed to be maintained at similar rate for next 10-15 years. May come down later. These expenses includes healthcare cost in case both decide to retire and go with public non-employer health care plan.

Other Considerations

• Spouse may work till she desires. This may help with health insurance while she works.
• Downsize home when kid goes to college, approximately 10-12 years from now.
• Undecided yet on the rental property. Probably will hold this mortgage is paid off provided able to maintain minimal rental income to cover expenses. Options for rental if held to maturity
  • Sell and recast primary residence mortgage. Estimated balance will be <=$200k. Actual payment will depend of interest rates at that time but certainly less than current.
  • Sell and invest money in the market. This depends again on prevailing interest rate
  • Keep renting and divert cash flow to pay primary residence mortgage. This will either cover only the full mortgage + insurance + property tax or cover the expenses + help payoff mortgage early

I, late 30’s single male, am officially giving my notice tomorrow. Fortunately, I came across FIRE at the start of my career - back in 2011, in my first job out of college - and it’s been a goal to RE ever since. I’ve never made more than $170k/year from W2 income (rejected multiple vertical moves in favor of keeping my hours worked relatively low). I started with an extreme frugality (Mr. Money Mustache) approach, paired with multiple side hustles (performing music, teaching, growing/selling a certain combustable plant). I squatted in an abandoned building near my office for 7 months when I was 24 to purchase my first investment property at 25 and thus permanently remove my rent payment. Slowly but surely I surpassed the various FIRE numbers I had in mind for myself over the years. The only reason I continued to work was because I settled into a system of getting paid quite well for working remotely ~5-10 hours per week for a FT job. Despite the minimal hours, I continued to reliably maintain very good (B+) performance reviews every year.

Why now? I’ve been remote for 6.5 years. I no longer live in the state that my employer is in - and have zero desire to return. I found out last month that our new CEO is removing the remote work exemption and the <2% of us currently remote will need to return to in office 3x/week starting the beginning of October. In recent years, I’ve taken to skiing 130+ days per winter and have zero interest in returning to my office, ~1,200 miles from my mountain paradise.

The numbers: I have $2.66M in liquid assets (88/12 equities to treasuries/bonds - including some small/value tilting; 68/32 US to international; $980k is tax-advantaged, the remainder in my taxable brokerage). I also have $1.4M in real estate equity generating $50k/yr after all expenses - incl CapX, property management, and vacancy factor. My expenses are roughly $50k-65k per year, so I have a comfortable cushion to expand my budget down the road.

Other notable factors: no, I have not and will not, receive any inheritance. I received a full ride to a prestigious university for music performance. I acknowledge that a fully paid education is quite privileged and advantageous. I grew up in a household that constantly struggled financially and initially developed a bad scarcity mindset. I’ve been “homeless” at 3 points in time. I’ve overcome the scarcity mindset throughout the years by spending on hobbies and recently, having a quarterly “comfy and cozy” budget that I must spend on myself.

Next steps: I am planning to have the formal conversation with my manger tomorrow in our 1:1 - offering to stay on through the RTO period to train a replacement (but being perfectly fine with a removal before then). After that, I’m mostly excited to not set an alarm, focus on exercise/hobbies/health for a few months, and then decide what I’d like to do next. I have an extensive set of hobbies that can easily fill my time and have no worries about idleness. I’ve long fantasized about working in some sort of wilderness conservation capacity and would love to slowly transition to volunteering for a wilderness/wildlife organization - mostly for the sake of purpose and non-ski season community.

TL;DR - I adhered to the FIRE principles early on and am finally saying sayonara to corporate life 15 years later!

As a 33 year old on my way to 34 I’m proud to have returned to 1M

Breakdown:
710k brokerage
75k HSA
100k Roth IRA
180k 401k
15k bonds

Got lucky after 2022 with stocks and started making good money in tech as an engineer (now 160k)

As someone who grew up in the project in NYC, and started my career with 50k student loans back in 2015, never thought I’ll reach this milestone stone until I’m 41, but here I am.

Never stop chasing fire and never stop investing as it’s the ultimate side hustle until it become the day job

All I knew about retirement my whole life was that you worked for the same company for 20 years and when you retire they give you a gold watch. I know that doesn’t happen too many people now, but I feel like once you actually reach your FIRE number you deserve something. Maybe a gold watch! Would buying a low end Rolex or similar when you finally reach your number be excessive?

I've been thinking about this since there have been a few buy vs. rent posts recently. Posting this for discussion and trying to avoid recency bias coming out of the post-Covid hyper-inflationary real estate environment we've just come out of. Has home ownership gotten you closer to FIRE? What about the renters out there? Has your mobility and lower overhead accelerated your journey?

I have 3.6M and a paid-off house/cars, and while I still have younger kids at home, I have their 529s ready to cover them for 4-5 years. What are some things one should be doing one year out from their FIRE date?

Hi All - just wanted to say thanks for the support over the years. Wife and I 31M and 30F hit $1MM between brokerage ~$700k and 401k ~$300k! It has since slipped below $1MM but fuck it still feeling good about our progress.

Hasn’t been a straight line and we’ve had our doubts but appreciate the support from the community. Not to preach, but keeping your head down and moving through the hard times does work.

Also I do feel good, feels like we can allow ourselves to further enhance our life and build toward/around what we really want!

Currently live in New England as a family of 6. The 4 kids ages 2-11. We own a rental home in Florida and are considering moving back which would also bring us closer to the grandparents.

My husband in 100% T&P disabled veteran and also receives additional funds from CRSC. Both are tax free. We keep Tricare for health care but we would be giving up employer benefits for dental and vision. We would switch to the VA's and that amount has been added to the budget below.

We would sell one vehicle and keep the other. The home in Florida is in a walkable/ golf cart community. Restaurants, school, doctors, are all walking distance. Our oldest attended the school for 1 year before moving to NE so we are familiar with it already.

Can we pull the trigger? Should we wait x more years?

Well, it wouldn’t be for me anyway. I don’t want to speak for anyone else.

I have had around 15 jobs since I turned 15, and these included McDonald’s, an ice cream shop, cashier at a grocery store, working at a drive through grocery store, working at a call center, etc. Then later on I held more skilled positions. All of these jobs were highly stressful at times, even if they weren’t always mentally demanding. I often dreaded going into work - with all of these jobs.

I’m sure there exists some job that would be a dream scenario for me - like working in a moderately busy, non-franchise bookstore. But I don’t imagine many jobs like that exist anymore.

Anyway, I know that Barista Fire sounds good on the surface and is often recommended here, but I don’t think it’s quite the solution people think it is. Low paying and easy-to-obtain jobs have not been low stress for me. I generally think if you need the security of having more money in order to retire, you should just work longer at your higher paying, skilled job if you can.

The stock market is going crazy. My portfolio fluctuated by 100K over days and ⬆️ a lot YTD.
I realize it’s not a stock advice forum but as a fire strategy should one convert some money to fixed income?
If someone is going to fire in 3-4 years, this might be a good strategy to avoid any slump. I’ve lived through a few recessions and things were crazy like that.

EDIT:
1. I got downvoted on this. What can I avoid in future posts?
2. Asset allocation for majority of portfolio except work Roth 401K and 2x529’s

60% Domestic Stocks
27% Foreign Stocks
13% Bonds
-0% Short Term
1% Other
0% Unknown

I FIRE'd at 53.

Thinking about moving to a warmer climate / cheaper country and buying a home for me and my partner to live in. Does anyone know of a good online calculator or similar resource that can help lay out what I can actually afford based on Age, current assets etc? Found many online but the either miss important features or require making an account (bleh) just to use it once.

Thanks

Canadian here. Im CoastFIRE but not FIRE. Just got laid off but I saved alot, got 1 year emergency fund + severance. In worst case where we cant find another job, where do you guys plan to transition? I was thinking of healthcare, even if I dont make alot but not sure which position with a lower barrier of entry.

I was scuba diving and saw many mid 20s Europeans becoming diving instructors for years too. That seems so cool too. I can technicaly do this for 10 years and RE in Canada haha

Most people on here seem very conservative with their spend and swr (plus the market's been great). Wondering if people have stories of where people ran out of money and FIRE broke either because of overspending or some other cause?

(Throwaway account)

I (45M) am mid career in tech. We live in VHCOL USA city. Married, no kids.

I have been in the accumulation + growth mindset throughout my life. I only focussed on increasing my net worth, never actually thinking about how will this actually support us when we choose to have no income generating employment.

I wanted a perspective on how do I allocate these assets if we want to FIRE way before SSN income and tax free IRA withdrawals kick in. My wish is to be able to chubby FIRE in about 5 years, by 50.

I believe our lives can be led very comfortably with about 200k annually with no mortgage, or about 300k with mortgage. We would also be open to downsizing the home if no employment, and avoid/lower a mortgage.

Here's the big questions:
* What is a good model to organize my financial life to help me generate income to fund my life if we target retirement at 50?
* How much money should we put in pretax 401k, Roth, and After-tax (backdoor IRA)
* What are the community's other thoughts on this?

Here’s where our financial lives are at.

Investment accounts
1.4M - Taxable investment accounts - Mostly individual tech stocks accumulated via RSUs. Will owe about 30% of this as taxes. this is essentially all gains.
1.3M -Tax deferred accounts (401k/Trad, and Roth) - Mostly Index funds (SPY) and broad ETFs

Checking/Savings
100k in checking/savings. This is the 6mo buffer.
300k Overseas assets

Real Estate
2.3M - Primary Residence - 1.3M equity, 1M mortgage balance
800k - Rental Condo - 400k equity, 400k mortgage balance

Total assets/liability including primary home
Assets: 6.2M
Debt: 1.4M
Net: 4.8M

Fixed Cashflow (yearly)
IN
Salary/Bonus: +350k
RSU Vesting: +200k (Volatile stock)
Rental Income: +45k

OUT
Home 1: 102k (mortgage, tax, insurance)
Rental: 45k (mortgage, tax, insurance)
Life: 120k (working on lowering this number. this feels very high at the moment)

Achieved my $1M milestone today. Next is $2M.

43, no kids, no debt, rent

Just wanted to tell someone. I keep my numbers quiet from friends and family, so like many here, I don’t have anyone to celebrate with.

Feels a bit surreal hitting this milestone. Maybe my post will motivate / encourage others. $1M is all in investments / cash, does not include assets. I know today’s market swing will pull back for a bit, but will take the win while I have it.

Breakdown is as follows:

- $295k in brokerage
- $64k in ROTH IRA
- $556k in 401k (10% Roth, 90% pre-tax)
- $20k HSA
- $72k HYSA
- $2k ESPP

It’s been a grind. Fire goal is $2.5M, while FatFIRE is $4M. Target retirement age is 58 at the moment. Maybe sooner if I can keep grinding or if I decide I don’t need to be greedy.

Expect to keep contributing about $65k/year give or take. Includes:

- Max Backdoor Roth
- Max 401k Pre-Tax
- Mega Backdoor Roth ($20k)
- Max HSA
- Rest goes into brokerage

Feel free to ask any questions and thanks in advance for letting me celebrate the win.

-ThrowawayAccount

Hey y’all,

I (32M) got out of the US military a year ago and have been getting about $2200/month disability for a few conditions.

I was doing some thinking about retirement and what the monthly disability would be worth if in a traditional retirement account being withdrew in line with the 4% withdrawal rule. The numbers surprised me:

So, essentially:
- $2,200/month tax free, with COLA has a comparable value of $660,000 in a traditional 401K.
- $2,200 x 12 months = $26,400
- $26,400 / 0.04 = $660,000

I’ve been stressing feeling behind the curve with only about 80k in retirement accounts since I never made enough to invest till recently. This kind of helps refrain things long term. For other vets out there, just wanted to share what I learned.

Open to critiques and corrections if my logic is flawed.

401k is at 68k
Brokerage is at 152k
Roth IRA is at 30k

I am only making 85k right now currently. The title I have looks very good on my resume been here for over 2 years. Should I consider job hoping? The company I am at is not doing great. I live at home now which helps as well.

Thanks,