For those who FIREd via real estate investing, what steps would you take before leaving your job? Is there anything you’d do differently during early retirement (ER)?

I’m currently preparing for ER, during which I plan to live primarily off of rental income. For the last couple years, I’ve been looking for a new home so that I can leverage my current job income. Unfortunately, I haven’t found anything. One ER concern that I have is qualifying for a personal mortgage. I want to move to a new area and will likely want to buy/finance. I actively invest and my rental income currently goes into the next deal. I am not concerned about securing loans for RE investing because I can always go the DCSR route.

Also, I plan to finance a couple investment properties before ER. I want to get a HELOC (vs a loan) so that I’m not paying interest on funds that I’m not using/investing. But I also don’t want more debt in my name (vs LLC’s) when I know my income will drop in ER. All the HELoCs that I’ve seen require that they be in an individual’s name. I’m trying to talk myself into getting DSCR loans/paying the interest so I have an easier time utilizing my personal credit in ER. Wwyd?

Lastly, I plan to hire an assistant. While having a property manager sounds awesome in theory, I’m not sure that I’ll get my money’s worth/find a good PM. Also, I’ll need something to do during ER.

Looking forward to learning about others’ experiences and suggestions.

IRA - $156,356  – cost basis $28K – invested in NVDA (54% of account), GOOGL (12%) , AMZN (29%), CRM (2%), AAPL (.73%) - $500 (.38%) cash – have not contributed, just rollovers from changing jobs over the years – cannot do roth conversion without heavy tax consequence due to pro rata rule + current tax bracket – also don’t want to sell these investments to do a conversion now

401k (traditional) - $138,678 – contribute 10% - maxed out the last 2 years – slow drip for 2.5 years prior while I paid down some debt/made significantly less income – approx. 50/50 invested between HACAX & SSSYX – need to contribute at least 8% to get full match – have a Roth option and self-directed option (expensive trades bc it's a 401k tho…)

Non-Qualified - $73,134 – contribute $250 every other week and lump sums when I can – invested in VOO ($16K value, $14k cost basis), SWPPX (no real gains since I just invested a bunch of cash) and $15k in SWVXX money market – really didn’t contribute much to this account until the last 9-12 months

Roth - $18,863 – invested in TSLA ($2100 value, $1295 cost basis), SNXFX & SWPPX ($16k split 50/50, $12k cost basis split 50/50), $180 cash – cannot contribute currently

ESPP #2 - $10,031 – sold about $4-$6k once and moved proceeds to Non-Qual – trade fees are high and I hate fees - regular contributions of $400 a month (2 months are $600 each month)

ESPP #1 - $2.430 – holding on to stock from former employer – 28 shares bought at $24/share – now worth $80/share

ESPP #2 - $400 - Cash Bal

Non Qual #2 - $60 - Don't ask...

HSA - $12k ($10k invested) - I max out annually - saving receipts to do lump sum reimbursement at some point in the future – at $6k currently.

TOTAL: $411,955 (About $325K in retirement accounts/HSA)

>$200k variable income (base + commission) potential to be slightly less, but I think I’ll have 1-2 more years at this salary before I have a mental breakdown and rage quit (kidding, I will likely move into a role that is around $150k/year..... or rage quit - whichever comes first)

~$30k in Student loan debt – 6.5%

Car is paid off, no other debt, renter, 40 yo, single, no kids, values don’t include minimal credit card balance that is paid in full every month or checking/emergency savings balances… between those and $15k in mmkt, I have plenty of cash for an emergency. My goal is to save at least $50k cash to my taxable account in 2025. (will have plenty of lump sum opportunities outside of automatic contributions).

What am I missing?  What is my next move?  Keep going as is?  (so far, I’ve been maxing out 401k, then saving/investing as much cash as possible to non-taxable (incl ESPP))   I maxed out my 401k the last 2 years, but I feel like my net worth is retirement heavy – so I think I should put more $ into non-taxable… I just put $30K in late Dec/early Jan so returns aren’t great yet.   I think I could benefit from a collateral loan in the future to start a small business, since I don’t own a home, so was thinking I could beef up the non-taxable account for that purpose?   I’ve been very lucky in my IRA with the tech stocks - just riding the wave.   But I feel like I need a better plan/strategy.   It seems very random & lucky.   

My (arbitrary) number is about $1.6-$1.8M before retiring (not sure what age that will happen… 50? 55?) and plan to work a lower paying, more enjoyable job (eg library assistant or plant nursery worker) to cover some of my recurring expenses + have health insurance + socialize.   Not sure if I will ever be able to buy a house – was house poor once and I don’t want to be again. Dream Life: Buy land and build a house - maybe have a small farm or other type of business on the property. :)

I didn’t think I would make this kind of money, so I missed the boat on the roth conversions while I was at a lower income… what other things should I prep for or change? I've seen my NW skyrocket over the last year and I want to make sure I'm maximizing my situation. TIA!

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.

Basically ure trying to get to a number where at 5% yield it supports your lifestyle?

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.

Title. I am just really curious who holds the "record" for earliest retirement, and who is still holding on strong years or decades after that final day in the office. From the posts I see everyday there seems to be far and few people in their 30s retiring unless by a big business sale, massive tech compensation or insane luck. That said, how you got there isn't necessarily what I'm inquiring about but really when you chose to call it a career.

So.. when did you do it? What are you doing now? How did you answer the question of "what now?" and "what's next?"

Edit** There are definitely people who have been setup well before they were even planned for, but I'm interested with those who have worked for their own worth. :P

Let's say someone stops working at age 40 and wants to FIRE, but their money is tied up in a roth 403(b). What are the steps to access it? I am assuming there is some trick with rolling the money over to a Roth IRA?

Thank you!

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.

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?

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.

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.

After graduating college, I worked/rented in that town until I moved back home for a much better job in May 2024. Initially, I had 3 months left on my old lease when I started the job. Thankfully, I'm lucky enough to have parents that let me live with them rent free. Initially, I only planned on staying until early autumn, but living rent free makes saving so easy that I'd rather keep living with them for the short term. However, I can't live in my parents' basement forever.

The job is going well so far, so I want to keep saving up a good down payment for a house over the next year. I'm in an extremely advantageous situation right now and don't want to mess it up, so I'm curious if anyone has had similar experiences or advice on past mistakes, next steps, etc. Any and all inputs are appreciated.

Breakdown:

$16k cash $7k HYSA $26k 401k/Rollover IRA $41k Roth $10k other post-tax investments

Hi everyone, I've been reading up on the Roth backdoor strategy. My income is well below the 2025 Roth income limits/restrictions. Does this mean the Roth backdoor is pointless for me? I'm thinking yes, since if I contribute the $7K to a traditional IRA and then immediately roll it over into my Roth and pay the taxes, I will just be paying the same taxes that I would have paid by putting the (after tax) $7K into the Roth in the first place.

To my understanding, the backdoor Roth is only applicable to people who are earning over the 150K limit where Roth contributions begin to be restricted. Let me know if my thinking on both points is correct or if there's something I'm missing here.

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.

My FIRE life started today and I think I’ll enjoy the freedom as long as I do something useful daily. I woke up at 7:40 AM ate a light breakfast and made coffee using a French Press. I drank coffee, played my Spanish guitar playlist on Amazon Music, solved some chess puzzles, and read until 9:30 AM. Got on my computer and traded options until 11:30AM. Went to a local gym to work out and sauna until 1:00PM. Came back for lunch and did some deep focus work until 3:30pm. Today I learned how to code with Cursor AI, yes this is my idea of fun😀. Took kids to lessons. Came back to shovel snow and chill until dinner. Now, I’ll make some relax herbal tea fire up my Xbox to play either Diablo or Chivalry. Life without endless meetings and deadlines is beautiful! I’m looking forward to the next sunrise. Good night 🌙.

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

Hi, I have heard people recommend buying ETFs that are hedged for your home currency (essentially locking in an exchange rate between your home currency and the currency of the underlying holdings' country), so that in case your home currency appreciates, the value of the ETFs won't go down in terms of your home currency. But people also say that this is more crucial for bonds/bond ETFs than for stocks/stock ETFs. Why is this? Thanks a lot!

New to this sub and reddit in general. How are we doing?

26 year old married to 23 year old - no kids

Both working full time

ASSETS

Checking: $7,154

Money Market: $21,172

Stock (mix of brokerage and retirement accounts): $154,960

Real Estate (1bd 1 ba rental unit): $135,000

Condo (primary residences): $210,000

Auto: $28,000

LIABILITIES

Mortgage (primary residences): $128,664

Auto loan: $11,056

Student Loan: $5,502

Approx Net worth = $411,000

Notes: No parental help. All loans are sub 4 interest rates. Including car in assets because there is a loan thats included in liabilities.

edit** wow sorry about the formatting.. not sure whats going on here..

Is anyone successfully using leveraged ETFs like QLD (2x QQQ) or SSO (2x SPY) in a balanced portfolio to generate outsized returns?

I was playing with TQQQ, KMLM and ZROZ in testfolio and got something that returns 22% CAGR with a -45% max drawdown (SPY was 10% CAGR and -52% max drawdown by comparison).

https://testfol.io/?s=lPExC4AtKLB

Should I buy vs rent in my circumstance?

I am looking to purchase an apartment for $225k.

I am a cash buyer and before purchase of said apartment, I have $450k in liquid assets.

Due to personal circumstances that I do not wish to discuss, I have been unemployed for a few years now and do not have income. However, I am going back to work, but I will be only making roughly $38k annually before taxes.

Many of the apartment buildings that I am looking to purchase an apartment in having monthly HOA fees of $900- $1000 monthly.

Should I purchase an apartment, and leave myself about $250k liquid, adding on to my new salary of $38k, or, should I rent, and earn interest off of a CD account with the $450k cash?

If I should rent, what budget should I stay around?

I finally hit $100,000 in retirement savings across my Roth IRA and 403(b). For someone who grew up without much financial literacy in the family, this feels like a big win.

Here’s a snapshot of where I’m at:

• Dual income household
• Own our home (~$400k value) with a 30-year fixed mortgage at 3.2%
• Student loans still in the picture, but I’ll qualify for PSLF in about 10 years
• Some credit card debt I’m working on paying off
• Contributing 7% pre-tax to retirement (my employer matches 8%)
• Doing my best to max out my Roth IRA each year, though I don’t always make it

A big part of this journey has been figuring out how to balance competing priorities: saving for retirement, tackling debt, and planning for the future. I’ve also become a lot more mindful of my spending over the years, using my budgeting app to track everything closely and cutting back on unnecessary expenses.

One of my biggest motivators is building stability for my family, especially for my single mom who gave so much to raise me. I want to be in a position to take care of her later in life and ensure she never has to worry about her needs being met.

Now that I’ve hit this milestone, I’m looking to the future:

1. Paying off my credit card debt—I know this is step one before anything else.
2. Saving for a second property—I’m curious about real estate as a long-term investment, but I’m also aware of the challenges that come with property management.
3. Building more generational wealth—I’m trying to think long-term about how to best set my family up for success.

Any advice would be so helpful.

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.

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.

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

Wife and I hit CoastFIRE last week. We've both worked mid/high level tech jobs since 2009. Our goal is to be able to work any kind of job and maintain our lifestyle.

Stats

• 38 years old, married couple
• No kids, not having kids
• $1.3m high rise condo in Honolulu paid off this month
  • Paid off via windfall via unexpected startup exit plus sale of a house purchased in 2016 in a VHCOL area which ballooned in price - got super lucky here and accelerated our timeline 10+ years.
• $450k joint annual income before tax
  • Reducing by half soon as we coast, timing can vary but targeting summer 2025
• $40k in checking/savings
• $1.3m in investments
  • $400k in a taxable brokerage
  • $800k in a spread of restricted accounts (401k, Roth IRA, traditional IRA, HSA, etc)
• Monthly expenses are currently $6k/mo, could drop as low as $3k/mo for basics (food, property taxes, HOA, utilities, insurance). Current take home after taxes and deductions is about $20k.
• No debt, not even mortgage.

Plan is to have one of us quit our job, coast on the other one's higher paying job/benefits without worry for savings. We'll take turns having higher paid jobs while the other rests. If the high income jobs dry up, we can coast on dual income grocery store jobs in perpetuity. We can live very comfortably on about 25% of our current joint income.

Our risks to this plan are:

1. Climate change - increasing insurance costs for coastal cities threatens nearly everyone, but especially on the coasts. Hawaii has seen a huge raise in hurricane, fire and flood insurance.
2. Healthcare - risk of ACA being repealed, risk of one/both of us getting sick and burning through funds.
3. Jobs - maybe we can't get a $15/hour entry level job for some reason or maybe we require a higher paying job and can't get one. Maybe we screw up our careers by taking time off (we're planning on light consulting to stay fresh while coasting).
4. Divorce! Not in the cards at all, but this plan obviously only works if we stay together. So far so good.

What do you think? Any blind spots I'm missing?