Retirees Grappling with Post-FI Life

“How do you get off the treadmill. It’s funny I doubled my initial fire number but somehow feel worse off now due to adjusted family lifestyle, private school, etc. assets - 3m diversified liquid portfolio - 2m retirement+hsa+529 - 1.5m in primary residence - wife has some non-liquid ownership in a family thing. Thinking of it as like maybe $0 or maybe bonus breathing room like 30 years down the line. 35 yo. married. 3 young kids. ~750k TC single income ~300k expenses Looking for encouragement, a”

“Laid off. $973K, 70% stocks 25% HYSA, 5% BTC. Burn rate $32K/yr (tested for 5 years). No house, LCOL rent. ACA incl. Late 40s. Can I leanfire abandon the rat race? submitted by /u/ThePrevailingReality [link] [comments]”

“Hi all, long time reader, first time posting. Using a throwaway, as I don't want folks to know I'm seriously considering this. (Mods - if throw-aways aren't ok, let me know how I can verify, happy to.) So I'm sure I'll leave out some important part of this, but I'll do my best. I'm 42, Engineer + MBA, was in PE/finance for a decade before hanging my own shingle and founded a company. I'm about 10 years in, and somewhere between bored and burnt out (same shit / dif”

“I'm a little outside your requested demographic (currently 53, retired at 49), but some of this might be useful. The biggest challenge for me was after the first year. I had knocked out all the "projects" I wanted time to do (painting rooms, fixing things that needed fixing, etc.), I realized I had too much time on my hands for my energy and activity levels. I ended up taking a low-paying, seasonal job helping people struggling with home heating costs. The work is rewarding for me”

“Thanks for the tips! I'll add those to my reading list. Agreed on dividend-focused strategies; leave too much growth on the table. [re: Pulled the trigger on fatFIRE yesterday. Cheers!]”

“I'm 41. I read and watch a lot of "How I retired at 40/50" sort of content. But it's usually some 41 year old that "retired" (i.e. quit) last month and is trying to get you to sign up for coaching. Where are the real people that are 60+ now, but retired in their 40s? How are things panning out for you? Did you have kids? What would you do differently or the same? submitted by /u/Middle-Substance1257 [link] [comments]”

“Congratulations! Love to see these success stories. Please stick around and continue to share your insights as you enjoy life. [re: Pulled the trigger on fatFIRE yesterday. Cheers!]”

“Congrats and GFY. I’m almost at my first retirement anniversary and it’s been good… [re: Pulled the trigger on fatFIRE yesterday. Cheers!]”

“Gentleman, ladies: yesterday was my last day. Founded a company, built it up, sold it, helped transition to new owners. Now: Out. My wife will be following suit in a few months. I've very much benefited from this community over the years, and will continue to do so. The recent set of post-FIRE updates folks have been posting have been excellent to read and think about. So: thank you all. Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe I have some breakfast to be making! Cheers! submitted by &#”

“I'm 37 and hoping to retire around 40, so posts like this are really helpful to read. The financial math is one thing, but I think the psychological side of walking away from a career is something people don't talk about enough. One thing I'm curious about is whether you built in a bigger margin of safety than your spreadsheet says you need, especially with healthcare costs and a retirement that could last 30–40 years. Do you feel more comfortable now that you've actually made th”

“Don't wait too long to get the spending up, especially as one of you is still working as I remember. Life can throw you curve balls.”

“Retire 1-2 years earlier or have an extra 100+ dinners with people you care about over the next decade.”

“Congrats. I think you’re fine with a plan that you want, and enough wiggle room to tier adjust during any bad times. If you wouldn’t mind sharing in return, how is is the 20m liquid invested? Curious about the equity holdings and allocations.”

“I stick with 2% withdrawal now. I need to prepare for 50 years. Also have to take care of my parents and may be siblings.”

“< $700/month is crazy lol I am currently spending ~$2,000/month in a VHCOL tech city. I thought I am frugal enough. Likely moving to another country for retirement. My current net worth can't let me to spend enough to address the inflation since 2021.”

“I think it is OK to fund a few years like this, I'm not sure if I'd do it indefinitely / not sure when I'd stop. Interest rate risk is one. Also, note I think it is not an 80% drawdown (vs 20% borrowing) that wipes you out, it would be whatever is required to maintain the margin balance. The counter argument is $250k on $12 million is low-2% and the tax bill is probably $10k-$20k (will depend on basis). It's a scenario that's never failed so why start doing something that cou”

“What are your big life goals? I'd start there, and then arrange life around that. If you want kids in life, which is a common life goal, you will need a lot of money, which usually requires a full time job. Career is another big life goal for many people. I presume your current career doesn't align with your life goal, but do you have another career in mind?”

“I fired in 2019 at age 29 with closer to $9M. I don’t regret it at all and knowing what I know now I would definitely have pulled the trigger with less (my wealth was from one big exit so I didn’t have that choice). My target spend is obviously higher, but I also do not have kids and do not plan to have them, so my spend is almost entirely discretionary, this may be a little different in your situation. The market has obviously done great over the last 7 years, my NW has definitely gone up despi”

“It could be a mistake but it depends on your life goals. It’s amazing to be able to retire early. But you can also part-time retire, build a small business, or even do a start up. Either way, your career should never define you.”

“Yes. This is the answer. ChatGPT the goals. Why? You are retiring in six years. The new AP is building a career and resume. They are trying to fill every bureaucratic goal put in front of them with fidelity to tick boxes and move up the ladder. You are trying to enjoy your students, help them learn, and let the clock run out on your career. Keep yourself below the radar, do your thing, and look after yourself.”

“I’m on track to retire before I turn 40. Has anyone here done that and spent at least 10 years retired so far? I hear a lot of people say they experience a loss of purpose in retirement, and I imagine that could be exacerbated by a longer retirement. However… idk that I believe it. I have such a long list of things I’d do if I had more time, and it keeps growing. I feel like I’m really living my life when I’m away from work and spending time with my family or pursuing my personal interests. I go”

“Whatever the percentage is, it's higher in a sub like this where people actually care about their finances”

“Curious how many of you have actually hired a financial advisor throughout the journey to fatFIRE? 40, married+1, $2M NW, $500k TC. Not a citizen in the country I work in, so I feel like I'm leaving some money on the table (taxes, etc). Edit: I'm not looking for anyone to tell me what stocks to buy. I do my own investing. submitted by /u/EntrepreneurFinal471 [link] [comments]”

“I pay myself once every two weeks. Idk why. I just like seeing it flow in. 2. I have about a year and a half of spend in my brokerage account. I figure I can run a little lean if the market tanks and get 2 years out of it. Much of my spend, which is about 2/3 of yours, is elastic. 3. I don’t have many things other than a small mortgage at a good rate and taxes that I have to pay so flexing with guardrails is relatively painless. The housekeeper may have to come every other week and I may not tak”

“Real talk, get a fee only financial advisor to walk you through this. You'll come to understand you don't have a money problem. There's only so much help Internet strangers can be in this regard. You have enough where you can pay a professional to walk you through why you'll be okay, and different scenarios and how to structure your portfolio. Also, get a health care broker to deal with the insurance piece. My plan once off COBRA is to do this and likely a low tier health care pl”

“My solution was to move to Europe and get EU citizenship. That way, I have subsidized healthcare guaranteed for life. We wouldn't consider moving back to the USA until we are eligible for medicare. That EU passport is the greatest hedge against runaway healthcare costs. We do not think about sequence of returns risk. We collect dividends from companies like Coke or other dividend stalwarts with 20, 50 or even 100 years of steady and rising distributions. We live off that income and reinvest”

“Thank you for the perspective. What kind of fat lifestyle changes are you thinking of after retiring?”

“The question is real. Math (aka arithmetic) is simple. Sometimes, advice from those in a similar situation is worth its weight in rhodium. Essentially, Reddit is "free" input from the choir, fatFIRE Anonymous. You ever wonder how many people post similar things here versus how many actually take the group's advice and implement it? Thanks for your input; it was a good read.”

“And as far as going to $20M, or $100M, you are certainly free to pursue that. The people who do have other motivations, RE isn’t for them. I don’t totally agree here. I would like to be in the position to have the things and lifestyle I want, while not being required to work, and that takes a lot bigger number than $20M.”

“Yes this nails it. OP respectfully you have won with eight figures. What is the goal? You are fatFI, and work optional is great, you are free to choose to work as little or as much as you want. Who cares that the last role was not at a high note? My last role was the worst of my career. Doesn’t matter, no one cares. I now do whatever I want to do. And as far as going to $20M, or $100M, you are certainly free to pursue that. The people who do have other motivations, RE isn’t for them. I’m still i”

“Hmmm....not sure what to say that is semi serious....20mm is more than enough. If you are worried about a market crash hold enough dividend stocks to cover your annual burn....maybe consider a heloc, structured notes, bonds etc to ride out a crash (rarely last more than 3 years). The rest is equities. Just use other products when a serious crash occurs. Otherwise trim off equities.”

“You are fine. $20m is plenty. If shit hits the fan cut back to $400k spend or sell a toy. You are good to go!”

“Congrats (and GFY). Here's my tip, don't retire on the last of the month, retire on the first of the month as typically you get the full month of Healthcare from you employer the month you retire.”

“I've picked 12/31 as my last day and the notices are in. I like my coworkers, but I'm done with the industry. It gets more regulated and more exhausting every year, and grinding through it just to watch the number grow feels like the bigger mistake. The numbers: 55 / wife 52, high-stress jobs in healthcare. $20M liquid / invested equities $5M of commercial real estate with a $2.5M loan (decent rate structure -8 years left to pay off) VHCOL area, primary residence (1.8M with a cheap 450k”

“This is helpful thanks, will look for more wealthy friends to get referrals from 😉 But in all seriousness, living in the Bay area I know there are some lucrative investment opportunities given the right access. Between maximizing skill for the job and carrying for toddler, this is one thing that I want to outsource to someone qualified for existing assets (5M) while my stock options vest. I’ll look into the investment strategies/retail investor route and atleast get better at speaking the langu”

“Are you still feeling this way? Has anything changed in your perspective on staying content and finding new challenges? We are almost at 10M, I’m in my 30s and want to quit. I want to focus on myself and getting quality time with my kid. My husband will continue to work because that’s their priority right now. I used to very driven and a high achiever. I also have exceptionally high standards for the food we eat and parenting style. No screen time, park everyday, cook high quality meals etc. So”

“I love the fact you have other dad friends who have retired too… how do you find them?!? Most guys I know are basically working in finance or law”

Sure, if you don’t replace the mental workout with something else.

“With the reality of it coming and achieving the financial goals how did you transition to retirement and deal with the mentality and lifestyle change that came with it? submitted by /u/TheDyook [link] [comments]”

“You still have a 30+ life expectancy. There is no 25 year period in the past 150 years where real (after inflation) of the SP500 was less than 7%. I think you are over complicating things and should simply use 7% for equities returns and simply temper that number down appropriately based on your bond allocation. The best way to model the education expenses is to just separate them from your wealth, either by gifting it out of your estate directly to them (what we did), or simply moving them mone”

“You have plenty of money, it sounds like you're really more in shock over the layoff. You're real question seems to be "am I too young to retire? What will I do with my time of I'm not working?". I say take the time do to the layoff, collect unemployment, and try out the retirement lifestyle for 6 months. You can always rejoin the work force if you find you still want to work.”

“i left to caregive for my mom and then after she passed i decided to retire early. luckily i had been planning for a while but really got lucky w/the 2020-now markets. i still do tech but for fun now and people i know. i can't imagine what its like these days, i left IT corp world in 2020. however i wouldn't mind an easy helpdesk job for fun but man interviewing/applying for a job just sucks so i'll just enjoy my time and live my frugal life.”

“I don't enjoy dealing with anything investment related. It's just uneeded stress for me so I'm fine paying for it, esp. when my firm handles my taxes, estate planning, etc... as well which I'm obviously not going to do. When I fully retire perhaps I'll scale down the relationship or maybe convert to just an accountant, but for now this works”

“This won't make sense to most people, because to them 'retired' is a terminal state”

“I thought about this, and everyone is different- I'm good enough managing money that i can live within means, if means go down, lifestyle goes down. but (like in my previous example) if i have more means and no real need to save, shouldn't i enjoy it instead of saving due to fear (fear i'll run out of money in a hypothetical)? i'm able to retire now. i'm back to work- so each year i work, retirement grows more without me contributing (statistically) instead of me drawing on i”

“Hi everyone - TLDR. if you can live FatFire, how did you make the decision to continue/or not continue grinding? Sold my business to a PE-backed strategic. Walked away with more than I thought I'd ever need/want (~$25M). Building the business pre and post acquisition have been quite intense. It's been meaningfully less fun post acquisition. Feel much less present mentally during family time/weekends as it's always on my mind. We have young kids at home (2 under 4) and I need to make”

“Why would I care about my business acumen? I retired early to get away from all that crap. Whole point of FatFIRE is I don’t want to make money or convince other people of anything”

“How has no one else brought this up? He might be talking about risk-adjusted return. If you were in a mix of bonds/commodities/stocks and the part of the portfolio that is stocks overperformed you had a higher risk adjusted return. My advice is to advise against a financial advisor when you're young and recommend it when you're older. Now that you are nearing retirement would be the worst possible time to go 100% VOO.”

“Follow up from an earlier post contemplating retiring. Sharing latest numbers and learnings after pulling the trigger. Comments and advice welcome. Prior post: https://www.reddit.com/r/fatFIRE/s/T9uu3OBaOq Numbers: Thanks to a continued bull market, our wealth continued to grow. Net worth $9.2M liquid Taxable/Roth: $5M 401k/IRA: $3.7M 529: $475k No debt and $1.5M house all equity Income: wife still makes $400k/yr and is happy doing it for a while. Current Spend: $240k / yr w/o tax and medical in”

“There is absolutely no way I would consider spending 3 hours a day, five days a week, 48 weeks a year actively managing properties retired. If you no longer have earned income, what benefit is REPS to you?”

“Coming from someone w similar stats and FIRED already in 40s - if you think the challenge is interesting I’d say do it. But if this brings up burn out or requires sacrifice that might affect your loved ones or relationship with them - not might be worth it. Maybe a conversation with your partner. What do they think?”

“Sorry if a dumb question, but what’s that 80% of—his highest earning power? Or?”

Then that isn’t fat fire. It’s FI.

“Seven months ago you posted that you quit your job with $12.5m, saying "the tech grind had really gotten to [you]" and that your "plan is to decompress and de-stress and focus on the gym and hobbies" and that you were "single and considering traveling as well." What's changed?”

“2) six figure pension is based off if I retire now, but I can’t start collecting for a while. Pension isn’t going anywhere (knock on wood!) Awesome. 3) liquid stocks, SPY, etc. can liquidate any time (and pay LTCG of course) Then you don't have 900k liquid. You have 900k in stocks, presumably in a brokerage account. It's important to use the right terminology. If it's in invested in stocks, it's not liquid. Do you have an emergency fund (actually liquid)? If so, how many month of”

“The problem I’ve struggled with since retirement is finding the fire in the belly to really take on something like this. (Yeah, I did that on purpose.) I did it for two years (CFO in my case) and just couldn’t keep the grind going. I realized it was range anxiety and I’ve learned to live with the risk of possibly running out. It does help that my three houses are fully paid for and I have zero debt beyond next month’s credit card payment. Make sure you have the motivation to grind as hard as you”

“… has nothing to do with this post. OP hits the nail on the head “at what point is maximizing wealth no longer maximizing responsibility?” There is such a thing as diminishing marginal utility, and I don’t think easing your foot off the gas in terms of wealth maximization should be viewed as slamming on the breaks and putting generational wealth progression in reverse. What’s the point otherwise?”

“You haven't said what the opportunity cost is in practical terms. What are your goals for that (potential) 40? Setting up your kids for life? A yacht? Leaving it all to the local dog shelter? If you're so excited about this property, consider your goals against this and the incremental day to day lifestyle changes that the alternative would provide.”

“Um, how long have you been pursuing early retirement?”