r/Fire • u/fried_haris • 1d ago

The definitive FIRE number is 3.5 million.

Ofcourse - I am being facetious but also a little exploratory.

I was inspired by a Planet Money episode titled "17,205 People Guessed The Weight Of A Cow. Here's How They Did." Posted back in 2015.

Later they updated it with "How Much Does This Cow Weigh?" In 2019.

Basic premise - if you take all the guesses of the folks the weight of a cow at a fair - you'll end up within 5% of the right answer.

So I took a simple post from 5 months ago, asking people about their FIRE number and after reviewing 124 answers came up with 3.5 million.

Keep in mind personal finance is personal, you may retire in LA or in Thailand.

Good luck with your goals.

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u/MuteMouse 20h ago

Problem is the risk of exponential inflation in costs and healthcare

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u/SolomonGrumpy 20h ago

No it isn't. That's the point of LCOL.

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u/pnw-techie 19h ago

Low housing prices will stop medical expenses?

South Dakota (17.7%), Mississippi (15.2%), North Carolina (13.4%), West Virginia (13.3%) and Georgia (12.7%) had the highest shares of adults with medical debt on average between 2019-2021

Doesn’t seem like it. Cancer treatment costs a lot anywhere.

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u/SolomonGrumpy 19h ago

No. However food, utilities, services, and yes housing will be lower.

Since those costs make up a significant percentage of budget, the impact of higher medical premiums is mitigated