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Potential opp on the short side for TSLA?
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I retired at 42 - 6 months ago. NW $3.6 with $2.5 of that in liquid and retirement. While I had always planned on FIRE, the catalyst was losing a few close friends and family and realizing how short life is. I was over the rate race and stress.
How did you manage Health Insurance
Mentor
Retired at 40, almost 6 years ago. FI/FU funds were at $2m at that point, with NW ~$2.2m
My trigger was the last years in consulting, the daily grind, the travel, the missing out on child's life and growth, and the strain on my spouse. Couldn't have made a better decision.
A very tiny percentage of people who are aware of, and realistically able to, FIRE actually end up FIREing. The onemoreyear-itis is real.
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Hi, thanks for sharing your situation.
I’m not FIRE’d yet, but I’m on the path. I’m in my 30s and currently working as a senior full stack developer. My focus right now is to build more experience and to find reliable, long‑term clients that I can grow together with.
I can relate to what you’re feeling, even though I’m at a different stage. On paper, your position looks very strong – early 50s with around $3M in liquid net worth is something many people in tech, including myself, only dream about. But I’ve realized that FIRE is not just about hitting a number. It’s also about mindset, fear of change, and having a clear idea of what life will look like after you leave full‑time work.
From reading other people’s experiences, a few things stand out to me:
The real trigger is often not the exact net worth, but a clear vision of how you want to spend your time (family, travel, hobbies, part‑time projects, etc.).
Running very conservative plans (bad markets, higher inflation, unexpected costs) can help you trust that your portfolio will survive even in worse scenarios.
Many people think in terms of regret: in their 70s or 80s, will they regret working a few extra years, or will they regret not using their healthiest years for what really matters to them?
As someone earlier in the journey, I actually find your situation inspiring. You’ve already done the hard financial work. Maybe the next step is less about money and more about designing the kind of life you want after FI.
Whatever you decide, I hope you find a balance where you feel both financially safe and personally fulfilled.
Mentor
FIRE’d at 37 with $7.1M NW & $300k passive income with spouse and 2 kids below 3. Trigger was birth of our second child (and Covid) - I realised life was too short to spend the best years of my life (and health) cooped up in an office away from family and friends.
It’s been a couple years and we now spend 4-6 months each year slow traveling in Europe/Asia and the rest focused on passion projects, getting healthy and spending quality time with family & friends. No regrets so far and watching our children experience the world (10 countries in the last 2-3 years) has been amazing.
Mentor
Since we’re not from the US and are currently based in South East Asia - private healthcare is very affordable and good quality. We buy medical insurance ($3400 for family of 4) for hospitalisation and critical illnesses but otherwise pay out of pocket for the rest.
Typical costs for doctor visits, vaccinations, annual checkups, dental, eye, pharmacy, chiropractor, etc is about $2800 a year for family of 4 assuming no major health issues.
I was laid off in Oct with continuation to this passed Friday. 53yo. And I was solidly in OMY limbo. I decided to consider it a very extended sabbatical. I haven't opened my resume even once. I did update LinkedIn to say I was open to jobs and I open LinkedIn in about once every two weeks.
I have zero desire to get back into the grind, no less scif life. If I start to get antsy I'm sure I'll come up with more things to fill my time. But right now I'm loving having zero responsibility or schedule to adhere to.
I just had a medical thing pop up and OMG it was so nice to not give a single F about work.
Liquid NW hit $2M just a few days before my last paycheck but dipped again with the market. I also have a military pension, Tricare for health insurance, no kids, and have a modest costing house.
You're not wrong. And as my recent hospital stint showed, TriCare is as much as the pension
For those of you retiring early with 3‐5M, how much do you plan to live off annually?
I can't see the 3‐5M lasting me until I'm 90.
Yeah - most of the FIRE community (even fat fire) is generally conservative about spending and will come out on the “retire early” side of the “lifestyle bloat vs retire early” debate.
BAH sounds like a non-FIRE HENRY.
I finally pulled the trigger when I saw my parents not able to retire until their 70s, and I really didn't want that to be my wife and me. It can be scary to finally make the decision, but once the money is there, it's there.
Wider quesion is what purpose do you want. Wealth/financial independence is an enabler, not a status.
Generally it's essential to still have objectives and goals. FiRE means you can choose them.
E.g. read-write more, better (grand)parent, productive hobby, volunteering.
Ehh, I think you’re overthinking the word purpose SSE2 but YMMV. Not a big deal. Best regards.
I’m in a similar boat with getting forced out but was planning to leave within a year. Nw is 2.5M at 40yo, not a ton of that is liquid but I’m also purchasing a business and plan to spend 10-20 hrs a week doing business / side hustle stuff. Even if this is more of a coast fire I feel feel so much more excited about life rather than when I was tied to the corporate grind.
Not fired yet (soon hopefully) but for me it will have been figuring out what it actually is I want to do with the free time. I just happened to figure this out slightly before the FI part.
I’ve had a lifelong interest in music in various forms but in the past year or two I’ve become deeply interesting in creating my own original work. I’m now at a point where I’m enjoying listening to my own work. I want to allocate my best energy toward this rather than giving it my left over energy
I applaud you guys who retire in your 40s with those funds.
Would love to hear what you all do for medical coverage ?
I am mid-50's NW in $3-4m range. Plan is cash out on the house after our remodel in a few years and have access to all $$ by 59,5y (IRAs, etc). But for me I'm not thinking FIRE. It's FI and then rebalance such that I take on the work I want to the level I want. It's very much not "retire" in the sense of my father's generation. It's stay engaged, stay relevant but manage the work to things I'm passionate about and define more on my terms the topic, amount of time & compensation level. Yes, I'm not doing it for free. I expect to create real value and still make real money -- just not take on all the stress. Take care of body & mind as I age while managing stress and inflammation
I retired sooner by a year with $1.90 million in IRA, and several properties. My decision was based on the company's DEI, since I am born with original condition. However, I am four years into it, and should be able to draw SS at age 70 plus have 85% of my account in a Roth plus living in a Red State, low cost of living.
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Yeah, so these numbers aren't true. I looked up gas and electricity and neither number is what you said.
My husband retired at 55. I still work but remotely so we can travel while I work. For international travels I use the 5 weeks PTO I have available. We have 3300 passive income monthly plus annuities and stocks. I just turned 57 and figured I will work a few more years and then fully retire.
I'm 37, currently sitting at $4.5M (mostly liquid enough), $4.8M NW. Debt of 920k (forever house 570k... looking to refinance, but the tax reduction makesit hard to pay off early, 350k loan for our land at low interest rate that will also be written off through a future inheritence). I'm in a constant struggle on whether to just keep working until my 50s (I WFH and get paid well for it) or to go ahead and retire early at some point. Part of not retiring is showing my kids how to work hard and not think retiring is the end-game. The way my numbers are calculating, conservatively, I should be at $16M+ in today's money by 55. Do I need that much...absolutely not, but how to stop is real. Btw, we spend about $115k/yr with all those loans. Without the loans, spend around 35k/yr.
Thanks all, and congratulations!
Would love to hear about 3 other things.
1. Any regrets about FIREing?
2. Has your NW grown, stayed the same, decreased?
3. What do you do about healthcare coverage?
1. No regrets
2. Yes, increased despite drawing down to support my current lifestyle
3. Self insured in the US; have full private coverage in EU (no copay, no deductible)
Came across the below link today. It's the best article I have read on the topic so far. Thought I'd share with the community.
The below question resonated a lot:
"The most important question in the OMY syndrome is simple: Which risk matters more—running out of money or running out of time?"
https://www.thegoodlifejourney.com/home/one-more-year-syndrome-fire-why-we-delay-retirement#:~:text=%F0%9F%A7%A0%20Fear%20beats%20math:%20Most,active%20years%20to%20enjoy%20freedom.
I FIRE’d this year at 56. Well, kind of. I started my own LLC to work on short term contracts, but only if they align with my interests and goals. I have about $6 mil in liquid assets and another $5 mil in real estate assets. Although, i a trying to play the tax planning game to avoid most of that being taxed away.
The question to ask yourself is, when you are on your deathbed, what will you regret not doing? If the answer is, you will regret not getting that last promotion or regret not making that last sale, then keep running on the corporate treadmill. But if the answer is, you would regret not traveling or not spending more time with your family, then plan an early retirement. I have to say the biggest consideration turns out to be healthcare under age 65, because contrary to the title, is NOT affordable. Now that they are talking about eliminating subsidies, premiums can cost $3000 for a couple or $1500 for an individual per month, and still leave you with a $10,000 a year deductible.
That said, there is no magic number for age or net worth. Figure out what you want to spend per month, factor in the you want for each year, and talk to your financial advisor about how to structure your portfolio to make sure it will last until you’re 95.
Another major consideration is your own personal health. I had good advice from people who lost their spouse at age 60 from cancer, who would desperately love to have those last five years over and not be working.
I could see having over lived to 95, withering in a Medicaid nursing home, feeling too exhausted to be entertaining company for anyone, having all kinds of pains to complain about and things I need done, and having nieces and nephews being busy enough with their own parents, and my no longer being the rich uncle representing a future ka-ching in return for showing up now and then and making sure my bed sores aren’t too out of control. Nope not going to be me.
F