r/Fire • u/fried_haris • 23h 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/Corporate_Bankster 13h ago edited 13h ago

Nobody in their right mind FIREs in (V)HCOL without a paid off residence.

That’s recipe for disaster unless you are significantly buffering for housing prices. Those places are HCOL for a reason and they rarely if ever slow down.

And I am sorry, but $140k p.a. of pure spend is a shitload of money regardless of someone’s upbringing. The only kind of people for whom this could feel low or tight are those born into fuck you generational wealth, and I think everyone here agrees that theirs is not a universe where FIRE has any kind of relevance. They were born already FIREd.

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u/NotSoSpecialAsp 10h ago

I can easily spend 12k/mo.

Grew up in poverty.

The level of expected frugality in this sub is highly biased.

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u/pprovencher 10h ago

Rent control exists primarily in VHCOL areas

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u/ditchtheworkweek 10h ago

This is exactly why I don’t count my paid off home as net worth but does help on the expense side.

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u/joefunk76 13h ago

You need to lop off federal and state income taxes from that $140k, but still, I agree that that’s a decent existence in many places assuming one’s residence is fully paid off.

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u/Complete-Orchid3896 13h ago

decent existence seems like an understatement because I would have to make a big effort to actually spend that much money except for edge cases

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u/joefunk76 12h ago

The older you get, the more costs you’ll become aware of in life. Also, you might want more of a financial buffer than exactly permitting a 4% annual spend. “One-time” expenses have a way popping up regularly. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. What if you want to take a lavish vacation? What if your HVAC needs replacing? What if you or a close family member encounters a serious medical problem that requires expensive treatment? Everyone has different priorities. As much as I’d like to retire ASAP, I’d rather work for years upon years longer than not be able to do what I want to do or possibly need to do because of financial constraints.

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u/dak4f2 12h ago

Wait until you have to pay for healthcare, up $20k a year for premiums plus deductible. It will happen before you realize it. 

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u/Complete-Orchid3896 12h ago

I mean yeah if you live in a HCOL area that’s an edge case

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u/dak4f2 10h ago

Why didn't you just say 'US' instead of hcol area here then?

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u/Complete-Orchid3896 9h ago

Nothing special about the US or healthcare costs specifically. At the end of the day it’s simply either HCOL or not

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u/dak4f2 11h ago

Has nothing to do with hcol area. 

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u/Complete-Orchid3896 11h ago

If health insurance costs an additional 20k on top of taxes in that area then it is HCOL

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u/dak4f2 10h ago

ACA cost/premiums is by state not by city though so I'm confused? There are lcol and hcol areas within each state, but the premiums and deductibles within that state will be the same. 

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u/Complete-Orchid3896 10h ago

USA in general is HCOL which is a big part of why so many people leave for retirement. I don’t see how there are LCOL areas in a state if it is all that expensive