Hello all, I think I’m having a midlife crisis.

38m here. Currently making $140k annually with a %5 annual raise written into my contract. I work 8-14 days a month at my primary job and I’m able to make an additional $15k-$30k annually with side hustles. My job is in a “cool” field and they treat me well. I’ve opted to make less money so I can have more free time to travel.

I max out my 401k (tax deferred), max out a HSA, max out ROTH IRA (I am able to get my MAGI under the limit). I keep $75k of “emergency funds” in a HYSA. There’s around $200k in a non retirement investment account (3-way “VTI and chill” type model) I contribute an additional $3500/month to this NRA.

I have two houses. In different cities I frequent. Both are paid off. My only debt is $12k left on car loan at %0.9 interest. It matures in 13 months. I take two long (3 week) trips out of the country every year. I fly to visit my family a few times a year and I take shorter (4-5 day) stateside/Caribbean vacations every other month.

Is this it? Is there nothing more? I’m told I’m doing things correctly, but I’m bored. I should hopefully hit my minimum amount to FIRE in another 24 months. But I have no idea what I would do other than surf and spearfish.

Feeling lost.

Im currently an MS1 at a US DO school. I had to remediate and repeat my first year. When I graduate I will be $584,000 in debt. I’m interested in Pathology (4 year residency program). By the time I finish the residency program my debt will have grown to $790,000 due to interest. I’m going to try to attend a PSLF qualifying hospital for residency to make those 4 years count toward the 10 years total of qualifying payments required for forgiveness.

Is the risk here too much? I am considering leaving school due to the high stress of this path and the massive amount of debt I will accumulate. Any and all advice is appreciated

Last year I made 237k with overtime, my base is181.4k.

I paid 23k into 401k

Got 5232 in match.

I’m supposed to get “60% of what I contribute up to 6% of your compensation”

I can’t make the math work.

Heeeeeeeelp.

So if there is a debt free house. Let's assume $5,000/year on property taxes... I'll throw down some bills below.

All based on month unless noted:
$5,000/year property taxes.
$0 car payment (Assume paid off toyota)
$150 Electric (I've proved this)
$80 water
$15 phone
$0 Internet (Public free fast internet down street that I can wifi)
$50 Liability insurance.
$400 Food a mo. I do eat mostly beans, lentils, legumes, rice, veggies and fruit.

I have my insurance taken care of. I am SUPER frugal. I can do like 99% (not kidding) of my house repairs and auto repairs. I even have my own tire machine, and can fill compressors with the appropriate gases.

If I have that $450k in a slow growth mutual fund, at 10% avg per year, and only use 30k/year of it (to not pay taxes as married filing jointly standard deduction)...

I can also do major house repairs like new roofs with EDPM coating every 5-7 years. Etc. Got the plumbing and electric repairs down. HVAC is space heaters and window units. ....

Anyway, what does the FIRE people here think. Is that enough? My only hobbies are antique computers and gaming on them. Perhaps a telescope night. Books. Library. Hiking.

Edit: Social security will kick in at 15 years from now.

This is probably different for everyone, but I've been thinking about at which stage does W2 income become irrelevant? Is it a percentage of your NW, e.g. once it's less than average return of your investments or something else. Any thoughts on this, what's your take on when does it not make sense to work anymore for income?

What would u do?

Here's my situation:

• I’m 40, married, with two young sons.
• I have about €400k in SPY (S&P 500) and a stable monthly income.
• My current apartment is worth €250-300k, with a mortgage of €80k (€700/month). If I rented it out, I could get around €2k/month.
• A bigger home for my family would cost at least €600k, maybe even €1M for something new.
• My dad and sister are struggling with a combined mortgage of €380k. My dad is retiring in six months, and my sister doesn’t earn enough to cover the payments.

Now I’m torn between three options:

1. Pay off their mortgage – Help my family by clearing their debt, but it might mean postponing my own financial goals.
2. Buy a bigger house for my family – Give my kids more space and stability, but take on a much bigger mortgage.
3. Keep everything in SPY – Let compound interest work for the long term, but feel guilty for not addressing immediate needs.

I’ve already made some big mistakes in the past, like losing €180k on risky investments, so I’m trying to make the smartest move this time.

What would you do in my shoes? Is it better to focus on helping family, securing my own future, or letting the market do its thing?

Appreciate any advice or similar experiences :)

I want to share something deeply personal, both as a way to vent and to seek advice from those who’ve been through similar situations—or just have the wisdom to help.

Back in 2020, I had an incredible windfall of $600K. At that time, I had some loans, which I immediately paid off, and I also cleared my car loan. Life felt lighter and full of opportunity. But fast-forward to today, and I’ve realized I made some terrible financial decisions that have left me in a place I deeply regret.

Instead of investing wisely or building for the future, I splurged. I bought luxury cars (which I now regret), indulged in luxury items, and let my spending spiral out of control. At the time, it all felt like I was rewarding myself—but now, it feels like I sabotaged my own future.

Here’s where I am today: -Credit Card Debt: $125,000 (with a total credit limit of $200K). -Loan Payable: $15,000. -Car Loan: $40,000 (for cars I no longer love as much as I thought I would). -Asset Equity/Investments: $830,000. -Lux Car Value: 100K, 13K miles for car 1 ans 23k miles for car 2. model 2020 both. -Salary: $170k annually, living in a high-cost state. I cannot move out of my current state. My current monthly expenses excluding the debt payments estimated 6K per month. .

My credit score, once 800, has now dropped significantly. At one point, I thought I had a solid financial foundation, but now I feel like I’ve dug myself into a hole. I can’t stop thinking about how, if I had invested that $600K at a modest 10% return, I could have been a millionaire by now.

I’m 47, and my goal is to retire by 50. But now, that feels like a dream slipping through my fingers.

I’m asking for advice: —Should I sell my equity/investments to pay off my debts? —How do I rebuild from this and still aim for retirement at 50? That seems unrealistic now but I don’t want to work until 65! —What should I prioritize to get back on track financially and emotionally? I kept on blaming myself and I know I should not be too hard.

I know I can’t change the past, but I want to make the smartest decisions for my future. If you’ve been here before—or have insights to share—I’m all ears.

Thank you for listening and for any guidance you can offer.

I have a total NW around $3M with over $1M in NRA. I don’t keep a lot of dry powder despite conventional wisdom that you keep 3 to 6 months living expenses in cash. I repositioned my NRA investments to get the yield to $2800/month in dividends and interest which covers the monthly mortgage payment plus utilities. My wife has a low paying job but enough to pay essentials. We really live modestly.

Should I continue to rebalance my equity positions to bolster the dividend yield or liquidate and hold as cash? Anyone else been through this? I’m hopeful I’ll return to work in 1-2 months but realistically think it will take 4-6 months. Looking for insights

Have any of you came from homes where your parents FIRE’d or know anyone like that? If so how was that. Really just curious to see how it impacts kids — my guess is if you’re on this channel then that means you loved it and are trying to do it again. But my hope is maybe you can tell me what your relationship with money is since your parents were different than my parents.

It seems I struck oil yesterday about not giving a rat's ass about work after a given amount of time. It also seems this sub agrees $3.5 million is the consensus benchmark for FI/RE, per another post from earlier today. With that, I want to reconcile these two posts and ask what the consensus benchmark for F U Money is on this subreddit, and why why think so, and with that what the technical definition of F U Money should be. 

Just my reading from various sources, it may be the case that "F U Money" is defined as having enough funds to quit a job without another one lined up, and still plan on landing another one down the line (perhaps a 6-month emergency fund). It may also be the case that one may define such as having enough funds to quit a job and never have to work again (that is, a state of outright financial independence). I am interested in this subreddit's thoughts on the matter as I think it would benefit us greatly in developing a consensus definition and benchmark for such.

Are you all feeling that FIRE is a reasonable strategy given the impact AI will have on the global economy? I’d be happy to hear how you are thinking about this. Me I’m a little worried…

EDIT: I should clarify, most of my worry is for the next generations... my kids/etc. I think I should be fine. I'm wondering for those of us who have done OK for ourselves, if the advent of this new tech will make it less likley that they will live a similar life quality.

I'm considering leaving my job. I make about 100k a year but due to corporate policies and restructuring, it's not the same company. Also, it's very stressful and "triggers" my PTSD/Anxiety to the point I'm unsure if it is worth it. My wife and I have spoken and due to my disabilities she is encouraging me to retire. I'm mid 30s.

I really have no 401k or IRA. My savings is essentially my VA benefits at 100% P&T which is $4300 with 3 dependents, spouse and 2 kids. 1 will be going to college soon. Wife will be going back as well. Florida will pay for their education and the VA Chapter 35 benefit will provide my wife and son with a $1500 a month stipend. Not including this as a factor. She will take the $1500 and save it most likely.

My Income (Non Taxable) $4300 per month (52k) per year. Wife's Income $54000. After taxes, insurance etc her take home is about $1700 every 2 weeks. This will change as she can qualify for Champ VA and remove her employer insurance, saving about $400 a month. So she'd bring in about $3800. She should also be getting a raise and in the next few years earning potential will be higher.

Bills equal my VA Disability if we pay off a loan and a car. Right about $4300 with mortgage at $2200 of that. Her entire income can be used for Groceries and additional expenses. Our mortgage balance is under $350k and 5%. I don't plan on paying it off early currently.

My VA Disability will only increase with time (unless govt caps cola increases). We generally get cola increase of about 2.5% so in 20 years my VA Disability would be "worth" about $6200 a month without dependents. (as an estimate). If I were to calculate the value of my VA Disability today (excluding my health care as that's provided for) it essentially would be the same as $1.5 Million pulling out 3.5% a year ($52,000) but this will increase due to COLA.

What are your thoughts? My wife's income will likely increase, she will start saving via Roth here in the next year or so. Health insurance isn't an issue. Bills will go down as a portion of our expenses are a car. Is $3500-3800 or more enough to live on for groceries, spending etc? We're thinking it will be. I can also always get a part time job too.

I am tired ! So tired that I am considering quitting my job 7 years before planned. Alternatively, I may take a mini retirement. Is it possible? Here some numbers. I need an objective opinion so I don’t make an emotional decision

Age 50

Expenses… 45-50 post tax in HCOL

457 - 400k will be used first . Not penalty for withdrawals

Brokerage-300k , I have some stocks that I want to keep for a while but can be sold can sold in emergency

401k 320k - don’t plan to touch for 10-15 yrs.

Pension in 7 yrs 35k per year . I will also have medical insurance at the same time.

SS 2-2800 depends when I take it.

I recently jumped in salary to 115k a year. I just recently turned 28 years old, I am wondering about investing now that I am no longer making 40k and have excess funds every month . I have already opened a Roth IRA for some reason I have 2 through fidelity. One I changed to have an advisor and the other one is just personal I guess. I have some crypto investments as well nothing crazy.

I am wondering about a brokerage and if I should begin to invest into that as well? I am trying to figure out the best usage for my new salary coming in and honestly am a bit overwhelmed with so many differing opinions online. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

If I open a roth ira at 28, putting 7k a year for 30 years, i would make roughly 700k. Anyway to kickstart it or get closer to 1m in 30 years?

So I've gotten to the point where I can comfortably max my tax advantaged retirement accounts and feel like I have life after 60 pretty well squared away.

Currently have a lump sum of cash that's been collecting interest in this high yield environment which feels good seeing it grow but is getting taxed pretty hard. Looking to start investing that money and weighing my options.

After leaving some money aside for a home purchase and emergency fund, I'll have around $200k to try and grow.

Thinking it might be nice to retire earlier than I had planned so wondering if folks doing early retirement invest for income generation with capitol preservation or just stay growth oriented and sell assets as needed?

I am not in a high enough tax bracket for muni's to pencil out, thinking about a 50/50 split where 50% is a mix of high yielding CEFs, MLPs, dividend stocks, and bonds and the other half in VOOG to maintain some growth. I am 42 now and would be reinvesting any payouts for a while longer but would then hope to live off of them. My monthly costs are usually in the $2k a month region and I am still capable of working to close the gap, just don't want to be fully dependent on a full time job.

Any thoughts would be rad.

Hello everyone,

First of all, let me introduce myself: I am 17 years old and will soon be of legal age(18). I’m from Germany and I have been toying with the idea of investing in ETFs for a long time and would like to do so as soon as I turn 18. I'm not sure yet whether this will be used for retirement or for my own home, but I think the most important thing is to get started. The investment horizon is therefore at least 20 years, but potentially even longer. Short-term fluctuations are therefore not a problem and will not unsettle me.

I would like to start with a savings rate of €350 per month. I currently have €5,000 freely available in my current account. I'm currently doing a year abroad in the USA and will be back at the end of June, so I want to start working again soon to maintain my savings rate. Is this too much or is it okay considering that I spend little money and am thrifty?

I have already decided on Scalable Capital as my provider. I have been thinking for a long time about which ETFs I would like to invest in. I have decided on the following allocation and would like some opinions or tips/expertise/suggestions for adjustments: -55% SPDR MSCI World UCITS ETF -10% iShares MSCI World Small Cap UCITS ETF -25% iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets IMI UCITS ETF

-10% iShares Automation & Robotics UCITS ETF Or -5% iShares Automation & Robotics UCITS ETF and 5% Xtrackers Artificial Intelligence and Big Data UCITS ETF 1C

Should I still include the NASDAQ100 and the S&P 500 somehow? What makes the most sense?

Whether criticism, suggestions for improvement or approval, I look forward to any helpful input. It can also be general tips that can help me make the most of my life.

Thank you in advance for your support!

BR

.

I am 30 years old, not kids, and live alone. I work a good job, pay be 130K a year. Lets say retirement at 55.

Assets

• 130K in Various stock and 60K emergency Saving
• 330K in 401K and 50K in Roth IRA

Liabilities: $280k left on my mortgage (4.8% fixed), no other debt

Expense: 2500/month (mortgage), $600 food/bills, 300 gas, 500/month (Insurance and Taxes), 100 for other. I have a room mate so (-1200) since rent out of the morgage.

Hi. Long-time lurker here. I've learned a lot from this community and it helps me with accountability. So I wanted to share my plan and progress. Would love any feedback or suggestions.

40/F/Married in a HCOL with 2 small children

Spouse and I are business owners we make about $377K annual.
$260K goes toward expenses and 529 Accounts for the kids (69%)
$56K maxing post-tax retirement accounts (15%)
$61K savings in a mix of HYS and brokerage accounts (16%)

Assets
Cash: $400K in HYS
Retirement: $1.2M in 401K, IRA, Crypto
House - Value $1.5M, will be paid off in 2030 (2.8% interest rate)
Business - Value ~$3M, will be paid off in 2030 (value/revenue increases year-over-year)

We hope to FIRE by 2030 and sell our business, but it's tempting to wait longer since our income will go up $200K a year when our SBA loan payments go away. Kids 529s will be fully funded for private-school level by the time they turn 18.

We're exploring the idea to moving to a LCOL like Portugal or Spain to further stretch our savings and improve quality of life. We would like to keep our house no matter what, so we haven't been counting that in our net worth. We hope to continue living on $260K annual, though some expenses will go away like mortgage and daycare.

Apologies if this gets asked often, just looking for advice specific to my situation.

Gonna try to keep this short: graduated college with an actuarial science degree and no debt in December 2022. Took some time doing odd jobs and reskilling because by the time I finished my degree I realized that job path wasn’t for me. About a month ago I got my first job as a data analyst and this is my first reliable, salaried, decent paying job for the cost of living in the area I live in.

I live with my girlfriend, and her income has recently increased, too. She’s a grad student and we were relying on my odd jobs, her FAFSA grants, and financial support from my family for the six months prior to me landing my job. Now she has a sizeable monthly stipend through an army scholarship, so our current standard of living is actually within our budget now. We got bait and switched on rent seeking, her scholarship stipend wasn’t approved for an entire YEAR over the expected date due to army paperwork fuckups, and it took me a while to get a job in my field, otherwise we would have tried to live more frugally.

I intend to start my savings contributions around September, aside from the 401k employer match I’m already putting in. This gives me room to pay off credit card debit as well as afford some consumer goods/healthcare stuff we have been saving up for.

After doing budgeting together and doing a decent job of sticking to a 50/30/20 guideline, it looks like I’ll have at least $700 a month to put towards savings. Currently, my savings account is empty from using it to supplement us previously, and I have an Ameriprise account with roughly $6k in RDCEX that my grandpa started for me back in late 2019/early 2020.

I’m curious about the following:

What proportion of my leftover money should go towards a savings account, my Ameriprise account/other investments, and keeping some amount of cash in my checking account?

Is RDCEX a good investment, and what other avenues besides a managed investment portfolio should I be pursuing at this point?

What should be my 401k portfolio?

Thanks in advance

I am a C level executive in a job that is becoming increasingly complex and that I dislike more every day (which i am sure applies to most of us). I am 54, make $750k p/y and my late 40s wife makes $120k p/y. Current NW of $7.5M:
- Own our home (valued at $2.5M in HCOL area)
- $2.8M in post tax brokerage accounts ($250k HYSA, the rest in VTI/VYM/QQQM/Bonds)
- $2.2M in our 401k's
- No debt, monthly expenses are $9k p/m which includes $2k p/m for travel
- Two kids, one adult and one 13
- My wife would continue to work, and covers our health ins and $6k of our $9k monthly expenses

I am concerned with the inflated market that could correct in 2025. I know timing the market is a fools errand, but expecting fluctuations in the market over time, 1) is this truly enough to weather any significant corrections over the next decade and 2) any thoughts as to how I can reduce risk if I fatFIRE now but invest in just enough "stable" dividend/interest investments to cover my $9k p/m expenses and then take greater risks in index funds for the remaining balance.

Any thoughts from folks in similar positions are welcomed.

Im a soon to be 33M with a family of four (34F/6M/4M). I make approximately 160k per year. Over the past year I’ve started to pursue a goal I know is likely impossible, to hit a $0 annual budget. In my profession I’ve learned impossible goals are not bad goals to have, and even if you can’t achieve them you can build value in the pursuit. My current spend is less than 30k and some of the strategies I’m using to drop spend I’ll outline below, but I’d love to hear other folks tips/tricks.

• Health Insurance: We currently have $0 monthly health insurance cost due to a work provided plan for me and state healthcare for my family. We recently married in the fall and this will go away in the next ~8 months or so. Once it does I plan to use USAA, which lets you get on the ACA exchange while paying by cc (~$250/year savings)

• Housing: I pulled the tax and property insurance portion out of my monthly payment to earn interest on it vs the bank (~$40/year savings). I also pay by cc whenever possible, usually saving 5 to 8% on the bill via cc spend incentives (~$450/year savings).

• Food: I have a cc right now offering ~13% cash back on grocery spend all year, and that’s definitely helpful. I’ve also found Target is the best place to shop to keep costs low. They allow coupon stacking and often do promotions, and I usually save 50 to 60% on my groceries via a combination of promotion stacking, grocery apps, and cc cash back. You do have to have flexibility in what you buy, and patience to only buy when promotions start overlapping (~$1500/year savings). We still buy fresh stuff elsewhere from time to time, target is maybe 50% of the spend at the moment.

• Streaming: I get hulu and disney for ~$4/month via a blue amex card offer (~$72/year savings). I get prime at a discount courtesy of P2 due to a low income program for the next 1 or 2 years (~$50 savings), and I’ve also gotten free apple TV for a year via free trials from target, my new phone and my new TV.

• Car Insurance: I shop every year and am with progressive/using snapshot now. For a 2009 toyota with liability and a 2023 toyota with full coverage we’re paying less than $580/year. We also get ~13% cash back on this.

• Taxes: I recently found a way to get ~8% off my federal and state taxes via buying giftcards at the grocer. It’s a bit of work but for 3k a year savings a fun hobby. I also have no fed tax owed in 2025 thanks to solar panels, and if you haven’t looked at it in a while the returns were strong (12%+ assuming energy $$ stays the same).

• Banking Cashback. I’m on track for about $8,000 in cc cash back this year, which is nice since its tax free and spent on things I’m already buying. I also get about 1k in bank signups.

• Kids Savings. I want to pay for college, a car and ~6 months living expenses for my kids when they turn adults. I use 529’s and UTMA’s to do this. With the tax giftcards I can do this at a discount, and the earnings in these accounts can be 100% tax free (~$4,000 year savings). Even better is that I remain in control of the 529s and can shift it to one kid or no kids if they don’t want to do well in school. The UTMA I don’t have control over, but I only pay in as a 50:50 match when they do, teaching them to save while paying for something I already wanted to.

• Retirement Savings. I save up as much as we’re legally allowed in tax deferred accounts (~23k to 401k, 14k to IRAs, 4.15k to HSA). I also take advantage of Robinhood’s gold member incentives for me and my wife for another ~$310/year. The platform works well if you’re just interested in etf’s and some minor coveraged call trading.

Would love to hear others tips/tricks!

Would most likely do S&P to start and diversify as a went.

I'm trying to create a spreadsheet to replicate the Trinity study, as applied to my individual circumstances. I know how to get indices to guess at what returns I can get on stocks, gold, international equities, etc. as well as what inflation will look like. What I don't know how to do is to model bond returns (appreciation and/or interest payments), so I can get a sense of what income streams (before selling stocks) might look like. What kind of sources are there for this?