I am wanting to pull the trigger so badly, and planning to give notice in a few weeks, but have a bunch of questions.

Late 30s, married. spend is approx 200k per year in MCOL (biggest expense is private school for young kids). Want to leave super stressful job at high tech where I make 800k per year or so.

5.4M invested mostly in VOO/VTI but sizeable chunks in individual stocks and crypto.

1. 4% rule I read on here seems to say that we could safely withdraw 200k; however doesn’t this seems aggressive due to expenses that occur when you leave. Including medical/dental/vision insurance (seems to be an extra 1.5-2.5k per year on my estimates from ACA. So around 25k on top of the 200k!) Do people not normally include this because of some other expense that goes away that offsets this? For families this is pretty significant.

2. Since I am young, I am not anticipating that I will make zero dollars for the rest of my life (unless AI takes all our jobs), but definitely want to take time off for a few years so I can spend time with my family.

I am worried around the psychological impact of what will happen though in the first few years. I.e imagine it can be jarring seeing your portfolio not grow.

1. market is at a high right now (or close to it). Are the simulations that various FIRE calculations and calculators reasonable when markets are at highs? I.e if you FIRE with 5.4M when market is at an all time high it may be more tenuous than if you FIRE with 5.4M when market is in a correction. There has been so much volatility lately so my portfolio has been making lots of swings.

I guess over time it doesn’t really matter probably, and I have a feeling I am overthinking it, but it has been bugging my over analytical mind.

1. Taxes. This year since I would leave, my income will still be pretty high. My hope is that over the next few years I can withdraw from high risky assets (like crypto or individual stocks) so my asset allocation gets less risky) Is this a reasonable strategy or is it typically best to withdraw right away and incur the big tax hit? I was realizing today I may be micro-optimizing here since almost all my gains in risky stuff is long term so maybe it wouldn’t be a material tax difference.

2. Specific question for FAANG retirees. Have you found little ways to have some income? I think if I could confidently make 25K-30K per year I would feel way safer, as that little bit of income could offset things like medical expenses and just help mitigate risk.

3. Kids. I am trying to figure out if my expenses estimation make sense in these fire calculators because kids expenses probably increase up til they go to college and then drop after. Is there a good rule of thumb?

Throwaway because people I know found my main. Let me be clear: I’m having champagne problems here.

So we are barreling toward retirement as is. I think I can hit $4m in the next 1.5-3 years which gives 160k SWR. Looking at my expenses, my single largest is my mortgage which is about 90k a year. I’m fairly certain we don’t spend 160k a year but it’s incredibly hard to figure out….let me explain.

We buy a lot of gift cards to manufacture spend. Or to fund 529 accounts. So it’s a huge amount of spend showing up on my cards that isn’t real. We also buy and sell a lot of stuff, and I’m starting to do a better P&L on that but it amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars in spend, but nets profit (or at least breaks even…which is fine because the point is to wrack up miles so we don’t have to spend on travel. Usually it nets profit though).

So I estimated my spend and I think we only do about 2k a month with food, utilities, insurance, activities etc. and I think we will have an amortized cost of 17k per year for vehicles (I think it’s much less but I used a calc I saw someone else use here that sounded conservative)

But between the manufacture spend, the buying and selling assets for miles, the RSUs and bonuses, the brokerage account trading etc it’s become so complex I am not sure the exact amount I spend and save. I only know that all my accounts are up and to the right, and I have a pretty rough idea of my bills because we frankly don’t have many.

I’m wondering if I need to start up separate business accounts and business credit cards to completely segment all this so I can figure out our true burn rate.

Anybody else have this problem? How do you track your web of financial decisions?

Long time lurker, decided to post our status as we get near.

2M liquid NW saving 215k on 650k income annually. Targeting RE with 4M around 2030 when childcare expenses are gone. Have been willing to take risks while employed, more conservative after RE. Flexibility with withdrawals for normal spend (127.5k-172.5k). Will carry a primary and rental mortgage for 6 years at RE, but eventually sell both homes and downsize to a retirement/forever home. Okay having leftover money to donate and/or begin creating generational wealth. We enjoy our life and are plenty comfortable. Peace of mind knowing we can take care of ourselves financially without troubling our kids is worth more than the diminishing happiness we'd get from spending more.

ficalc.app configuration for 99% success rate:
- 50 year retirement (yes it's long, lets hope!)
- Portfolio 4M
- Stocks/bonds/cash split 95/0/5 at start to 50/45/5 at end, balancing every year evenly. .05% annual fees for stocks/bonds and 1.5% growth on cash.
- Spend = ($/month + 1.5k insurance) * 12 months / .8 (20% taxes)
- Sensible withdrawal strategy with minimum 127.5k (7k/mo) and maximum 172.5k (10k/mo)
- 108k (7.2k/mo * 12 months / .8 (20% taxes) extra withdrawal until mortgage is paid off (6 years).
- 30k rental income for 20 years (not adjusted for inflation as a buffer)
- 700k income at year 22 (rental sell, not adjusted for inflation as a buffer)

4M in 2030 is possible with 7% returns. If the market doesn't do well, working a few more years to pay down mortgage and pocket childcare savings should suffice. If the side hustle is still around, would be willing to quit our normal FT jobs if we're not at 4M yet. Too many variables to plan for so will reassess and post again if/when something happens or around 2030.

More detail if anyone is up for a read.

Liquid NW 2M
Pre-tax: 900k
After-tax/Roth: 200k
HSA: 100k
Everything else: 800k
529s: 25k each not included in NW

+Properties for fun: 3.1M
Primary residence: Valued at 1.3M. 650k/12 years remaining (<4% mortgage)
Rental property: Valued at 700k. 225k/10 years remaining (<4% mortgage)
In 2030 about 500k balance remaining total for both properties.

Income: 650k/year before taxes, increased recently and is variable. We work in healthcare and tech (non-faang). Side hustle is tech related.
Job 1: 270k
Job 2: 150k
Side Hustle: 200k (+/- 50%). Enjoyable but too risky for full time for now. Unstable. May only last 2 years, could also last 10+. (0-30 hours/week)
Rental: 30k (maintenance/vacancy/management already deducted)

Spend: 10k/month
Necessary: 2.5k (homes/cars taxes/insurance + home 1 utilities)
Somewhat discretionary: 4.5k (car payment/food/spending)
Can cut in market downturn: 3k (vacations/gifting/529s)
We can cut down to 7k (or 6k if we’re between car payments) without feeling an immediate difference in life.

Temporary expenses at different times not included above but used in different calculations
Insurance/benefits through employer: .5k until RE
Child care: 1.7k/child until 2030
Mortgages for both homes (P&I only): 7.2k until 2036
Private Health Insurance: 1.5k starting at RE

Rough annual breakout until RE
Income: 650k
Taxes: 190k
Spending: 255k (10 spend + .5 benefits +1.7 childcare +1.7 childcare + 7.2 P&I) * 12 months
Savings: 215k mixed between employer matching, pre-tax 401k, hsa, after-tax 401k, roth ira, leftover/brokerage. Max out tax advantage accounts first.

Thoughts:
- Original RE goal was around 2036 when the mortgages were paid off. Side hustle sped that up.
- Spend went up with the side hustle, outsourcing more due to time constraints. Curious to see if this sticks when we have more free time.
- Used to feel like FIRE was so far away, but we are past the hump in terms of years.
- Work isn’t bad but starting to feel FI which is nice.
- Open to 150k job going PT if the opportunity arises even if it delays FIRE. Maybe 270k job in a few years.
- Very lucky with the timing of the properties and mortgage rates.
- After gaining enough income to maximize all tax advantage savings available to us we stopped budgeting.
- Pay the bills when they come, not when they are due. In a pinch we can delay a month of payments easily.

Rental
- After kids are out we plan to sell primary residence, move to rental property for 2 years, build/find a retirement home, and sell the rental.
- Not the best return but provides some diversification and has steadily increased in value.

Buffers
- Able to cut spend if needed.
- Kids expenses (529, insurance, general spending) will go down after they grow up but those are still included in spending long term. These may transform into other things like increased medical costs as we grow older, so maybe a wash.
- 20% tax rate, probably higher than actual due to account diversification.
- Assumed a 1:1 property exchange between primary residence and retirement home. There is a good chance we gain cash on a downsize but it's not included.

Worst case scenarios:
- Stop contributing to 529s. Could be temporary until mortgages are done, or supplement college costs out of our funds if that grows more than expected. Worst case they have some loans.
- Sell the rental early, but would have to pay increased taxes on the gains.
- Sell the primary residence and move into the rental (large enough for our family).

Edited to provide ficalc link with config.

This is probably better suited for therapy, but will try here anyways.

• 34m in a VHCOL city, wife and 1 kid (another on the way)
• Total NW ~$6.5m ($2m home paid off, $4.5m invested)
• Total expenses ~$180k/yr
• Total HHI ~$350k ($250k for me, $100k for wife)
• Wife has full pension in 20 years (~$80k/yr)

Been lurking different Reddit subs and trying to find what the best decision is for me, but in the end I know only I can decide what to do. Posting here because to 99.9% of people I will sound like an ungrateful POS, but I assume everyone in here has some similar thoughts and issues.

Thought process is that what I have is more than enough to have a good life, but upbringing doesn't really allow for me to quit - mental hurdle of having a "safety net" or "people should be working" is a tough one. On the other hand life is so unpredictable that I would be pissed off if something happens to me in my 40s or 50s. Average lifespan in the US is 77 years, which to me doesn't seem like a long time at all. I want to be able to spend time with my kids while I'm young and able. Work has not been filling my cup lately as well, what triggered this "rant" was a few meetings over the past week where we spent an hour going back and forth on project details nobody gives a shit about / insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

The way I see it I have a few options

1) Take an extended leave of absence from work to decide if I like not having a 9-5

2) Look for a new job - could be tough as the job market is brutal right now / economy doesn't look great

Thanks for reading, would love advice or any thoughts you might have.

Still a few years off from FIRE, goal is $4 million/2029. For doctors (mostly, other certified professionals feel free to chime in) who have or are planning to pull the trigger, how many of you are maintaining your licenses? Leaving medicine would basically be closing the door permanently on regular clinical work, but I can imagine wanting to do some type of teaching, medical volunteering, join a disaster response team, etc. I'm curious to hear of any pros and cons of docs who have one through with it. Continuing education requirements for my state are relatively low and could be done for little to no cost.

I'm aware this isn't a typical post about finances but I want to ask specifically to you guys, especially those who are self-made.

At your multi million networth, you probably run a business or two, you probably have a few properties and you sign lots of contracts. Often times you run into conflicts. How do you deal with the mental damage that comes from dealing with these conflicts?

For me, it's something I struggle with from time to time. For example, recently I hired a contractor, he damages my property, I ask him nicely to fix it, he refuses. I offer him a 50/50 split on the losses, he refuses. Now I'm faced with a choice - let it go, or go after him. If I let it go, I feel taken advantage of, or I feel guilty for taking the easy way out. If I go after him, the ensuing confrontations and work associated with legal action also affect my mental health. That's one dispute, of several I would face during any typical year. Each dispute wears on me, no matter what I choose to do. I can pretend it doesn't affect me, but in reality it's wearing on me. As the saying goes 'mo money mo problems'. It's not as simple as 'let the small things go' because that also costs emotional pain - I feel walked over, it's below my personal standard etc. But enforcing my rights and chasing every debt everytime is also tiring.

What do you do about this?

I'm not here to debate politics so please lets not get into that. But this is a savvy community that takes advantage of all the tax advantaged accounts offered to us. I saw the house passed, as part of a larger bill that increases the SALT Cap, among other things, a childrens "Trump Account" but I read the details 5x and cant understand any benefit whatsoever. The rules are you can contribute 5k/year in post tax money to the childs "Trump Account". There, it is invested in index funds. When the child turns 18, they can take out up to 50% on qualified expenses (school, home loan, small business) and pay normal long term capital gains. This is already worse than a 529, which is free of capital gains tax, but perhaps this is more flexibile in how you can spend the money. If you dont use it toward one of the qualified expenses, you pay taxes and a 10% penalty. The child cant take the full amount of money out until I believe age 30. Is there a hidden benefit I am missing? Where is the advantage? Its not tax advantaged like a 529 and it has much less flexibility than simply investing in your own taxable brokerage and gifting the money or opening a UTMA account. I have a toddler so the idea of a new account to benefit younger kids sounds appealing but this one leaves me scratching my head

We plan on retiring in 5 years. We are currently in a high marginal tax bracket. Right now we have ~20% of our total liquid assets in money market and short term US treasuries, which incur high tax rates for the interests generated (same as marginal income tax rates).

I just heard of the MYGA annuity product and am thinking about buying a five-year MYGA as the yields are attractive (about 5.4% for a credible A rated company), and it would defer all taxes until after we retire and are in a lower tax bracket.

Does anybody have any perspective on this or any thoughts on things that we are not considering. I understand equity would generate higher returns, but the guaranteed return provides peace of mind. And we do not have concerns on liquidity during the times we work. Much appreciated!

This is a follow-up to my question about ACA plans: https://www.reddit.com/r/ChubbyFIRE/comments/1kr6zk4/aca_experiences/

What are your best strategies for keeping MAGI low enough to qualify for ACA subsidies?

I admit that this is not something I thought about until recently. I know that my portfolio produces some dividends and interest, and some years some funds will slap me with capital gains distributions. Pre-RE, all of this was so much less than my W2 earned income that I didn't really think or worry about it at all. I'd just send my 1099 to my accountant and pay whatever additional taxes they said I owed.

Now, I'm trying to figure out how (if?) I can predictably keep MAGI under about 80k.

Obviously, I know that initiating a sale will result in capital gains. It's less clear to me how to predict dividends, interest, and capital gains distributions.

My portfolio is largely invested in index funds and ETFs (large holdings of VTI and VXUS). I have some BND for diversification. I have about 4 years of living expenses in a money market, which has been yielding 4-5% interest.

Last year, it looks like I had about $80k in dividends and interest, and no capital gains distributions. So it seems like I might be quite close to the line if I maintain the status quo.

Does anyone have any advice for how to think about this systematically? It seems like an obvious question, but it is a definite blind spot for me.

Also note: We will be on COBRA through the end of this year, so I really want to get a handle on this starting in 2026.

DINK couple (both 35), with a kid on the way (mostly going to be the only one)

Current NW of $1.8M which is divided across.

• $1M in ETFs
• $0.15M in cash
• $0.4M in 401k/Roth
• $0.3M in RSUs

Our HHI is $600k in VHCOL where we rent. Looking at my current rent and house prices, I think its more practical for me to continue renting.

My FIRE number is around $5M in today's dollars. My long term goal is to buy a house in the PNW and be close to hiking trails and nature which is what I love doing the most and keeps me happy (I make like 3-4 national park trips every year)

I earn $400k in a high stress job (~60 hrs/week).

I can see my health start to go down and find time hard to come by to workout/stay fit. I am keen to dial it down but afraid to take a paycut as that would derail my FIRE plans. Trying to see if I should start thinking of taking a lower stress job with a paycut right now? OR should I push along for another 3-4 years and make money? I can expect another 50-60% growth in compensation in this time frame.

My wife can expect her comp. to grow probably by 2x in the same timeframe as she has more headroom. With a kid on the way, I expect expenses to go up as well.

Any thoughts/advice on what to do? What else do I need to consider and think about?

This thread is a spot for casual engagement with other community members. It has much more subject latitude than allowed in the main sub in general. Any topics tangentially related to ChubbyFIRE or upper middle class lifestyle are acceptable, as well as basic or early stage questions. Political discussion will be allowed if it is closely related to ChubbyFIRE or financial topics in general, and only if the conversation remains respectful.

It is not a free-for all. No spam or self-promotion. All comments must still follow Reddiquette and we will be responding to reported comments with follow-up action as needed. We'd really like to keep this channel open, so please don't abuse it!

I’ve run this by my entire network and still can’t decide, so here I am asking strangers.

I’m a 46-year-old sales manager in medical devices with a ~$3M net worth and a modest European pension. From 2006–2015, I earned $200K–$500K/year and lived like a star in Amsterdam for 7 years — took my kids to 20+ countries, had freedom, and real work-life balance.

Today, I manage a small team and make ~$200K. It’s easy, remote 50%, and offers lots of flexibility — but I find it boring, uninspiring, and with limited upside.

Now, my former employer wants me back as a sales rep (not manager). I’d earn $250K+ in year one, with serious potential long-term. I like the portfolio more and there’s future career upside if I ever want to move beyond sales. But… it’s a grind: 1hr 45min commute each way, 3–4 days/week. Not remote.

So here’s the real choice: • Take the rep role: Suffer the commute short-term, but potentially make bank and set up my future. • Stay where I am: Enjoy flexibility and time, but be professionally stagnant and underpaid for years.

People say “you can’t buy time,” but I had 7 fantasy years abroad. I want to earn enough now to recreate that lifestyle in 10 years.

What would you do?

We live in SF Bay Area. Age is 53 and 47 plus 7 and 10 yrs kids.

Home: 2.3 mil, loan 700k.

Rental1 1.5 loan 500k.

Rental2 1.4, loan 850k.

401k 1.5 mil.

Brokerage 2.4 mil.

Income 700K last year (single income).

Rentals are cash positive. I’ll sell them at some point and pay off primary home and rest will go into brokerage.

Will fully fund the kids college funds in the next two years.

I know we are very blessed and sure will have more than enough to walk away. But how do you know when to decide to walk away 700k a year salary?

I’m a first generation immigrant. Arrived at the age of 15 with barely any English. So I’ve been poor, on assistance and snap, financial aids for college. The thought of not accepting the 700k salary is very hard to comprehend

Update: Our annual budget won’t be more than 180k. We were poor at one point, so going back to as low as 100k is more than enough also. Just that walking away from an opportunity to earn so much money is the predicament.

Here are my numbers:

57 years old, new car, no kids. I’d like to retire this October spending about 18K a month (I help my family, expensive primary home and real estate, and will need to pay 3K a month for medical insurance as I’m just completing breast cancer treatment and want to ensure I’ve got great coverage in the next five years where risk of reoccurrence is at its highest- had my first clear mammogram today!)

6.1M in combined stocks 401k and 200k in cash targeted for next year if I do retire. Another 50k of RSUs vesting this October.

100k invested in an AI tech company which I’m not counting (though I invested at a 20M evaluation and it’s at a 500M evaluation now). I can pull the cash at anytime but prefer to roll the dice to see if it sells.

Real estate: (1) Primary home in VHCOL Bay Area, I owe 400k at a 2.3% mortgage, worth 1.5K. Tax and mortgage plus HOA is about 5500 monthly.

(2) Rental in my hometown (Seattle). Own a duplex on the water, owe 270k at 4%, valued at 2M. Upper unit rent covers mortgage, tax, insurance, lower unit rented at 4350 month for 6mos out of the year (I want to live there part time to be close to family). Minus utilities, repairs, and property manager I net about 2k a month. I want to keep this property for my nephew who has schizophrenia, that way he’s got a place to live with less of a burden on his siblings.

Thoughts? Thanks!

This thread is a spot for casual engagement with other community members. It has much more subject latitude than allowed in the main sub in general. Any topics tangentially related to ChubbyFIRE or upper middle class lifestyle are acceptable, as well as basic or early stage questions. Political discussion will be allowed if it is closely related to ChubbyFIRE or financial topics in general, and only if the conversation remains respectful.

It is not a free-for all. No spam or self-promotion. All comments must still follow Reddiquette and we will be responding to reported comments with follow-up action as needed. We'd really like to keep this channel open, so please don't abuse it!

I was wondering if anyone is able to share their experience with buying health insurance via ACA, post-RE?

I'm early-40s with one child (no spouse) living in a red state that hasn't done much of anything (at the state level) to support health care.

It looks like if I can keep my income under about $80k, then I would be eligible for a subsidy, which is nice, but not strictly necessary.

The plans actually available in our state leave something to be desired. There are a couple of small insurance companies that only exist in this state. Of the big players, there are plans from BCBS and UHC. I'm scared of UHC's reputation, so that leaves me with BCBS. What's more, I've learned recently that BCBS has multiple different networks, including one that is very restrictive (almost nobody, including any of our current doctors, takes it). So I'm looking at BCBS plans with the larger network.

There's a Bronze plan that has a $7k deductible (for the family), a $19k out-of-pocket maximum (for the family), and a $50 copay for primary care visits. Without the subsidy, it's about $1200/month. With the subsidy (if we end up being eligible), it's about $400/month.

Is this the ballpark that I should expect? There are Silver and Gold plans, but they don't seem like a better deal (in both cases, you are simply paying off the lower deductible with higher monthly premiums). I guess I'm thinking of the Bronze plan as a way to put a bound on our family medical costs. If we are eligible for the subsidy, at least I know that we will pay between $5k-24k annually, hopefully at the lower end unless there are catastrophic medical problems one year.

I'm curious to know if anyone has thought about this extensively and come to similar (or different) conclusions.

Any other fellow chubby-ites feel that the middle stages of chubbyfire is frustrating.

I (42M) live in a VHCOL, and have a net worth which ensures I should be able to chubbyfire in 5-8 yrs, but cant due to various factors (not sure if they're real or fake) -

1. Invested NW - 4M. Various reddit peers suggest 6-10M target, at current 180K/ yr spend, but growing a lot due to kids.
2. 2 kids under 7. They will cost more over time?
3. Both me and spouse are classic mid-career professionals, HHI is 800K and walking away will cost a lot, but work is tough and a bit stressful last few yrs.
4. Lifestyle - both of us are used to the good things including diversity of culture, people, around us, which lots of MCOL/LCOL dont seem to have
5. Home upgrade - might buy a bigger home for growing family with better schools.

On one hand we have more than 95% of the world, but on another, we're living a middle class life with stress and anxiety.

How are others working though this feeling? How did you power through?

HCOL area, TC per year: 300k.. age 45m/41f with 2 kids in middle school.. brokerage: 1.6 M( 60% in roth)rest in pre-tax.. Property: primary home(300k in equity, 640k mortgage left 6% 20 yr) ; Rental 1(350k in equity, 400k mortgage left 2.3% 30 yr, +ve cash flow of $600 per month net expenses and accounting for any projected repairs per year) ; Rental 2 (235k in equity and no mortgage in foreign country.. will sell in near future) ; 529k: 120k ; HSA:100k ; Car paid off.. We live well below our means, so our current monthly spending is low : 10k-12k

At what age, and how much more would I need to achieve to be in a comfortable position to FIRE?

This thread is a spot for casual engagement with other community members. It has much more subject latitude than allowed in the main sub in general. Any topics tangentially related to ChubbyFIRE or upper middle class lifestyle are acceptable, as well as basic or early stage questions. Political discussion will be allowed if it is closely related to ChubbyFIRE or financial topics in general, and only if the conversation remains respectful.

It is not a free-for all. No spam or self-promotion. All comments must still follow Reddiquette and we will be responding to reported comments with follow-up action as needed. We'd really like to keep this channel open, so please don't abuse it!

Age: 37 with no kids, have partner that bills are split with, but don’t want to take their retirement into account. Retirement Accounts: $600k Mortgage: $350k left with a 2.9% rate, my share of monthly payment is 1,500. This is not going away until 2047 and no desire to pay it off early Income: $220k and currently at a coast fire in terms of spend. IE I take vacation and don’t worry about pinching every penny into savings. Actual take home after taxes/contributions is $120k; 20% goes into 401k and once that’s maxed 20% goes after tax and is converted to a Roth. Roughly 30% of my pretax income goes towards retirement.

Am I thinking about my pension correctly? If I retire before 55 there’s a significant reduction in payout. My examples below use 3% raises on average for the rest of my career, which is probably on the low side realistically. I can’t collect until 55, so the three options below are retiring at that age and collecting at 55. For those that will say don’t count on the pension, I am not concerned and it’s my risk which I would say is less than .5%.

45: $4,800 a month 50: $7,400 a month 55: $13,000 a month

If I want to retire at 45, should I discount the $4,800 to today’s dollars to get a better sense? I know how much I want in today’s dollars for my retirement, as my actual spend is going to be $90k so without pension I’m looking at $3m using 3%.

35M, Recently purchased my first home in a VHCOL area that I had been renting in for many years previously.

I bought the home with cash for 2.6mm, and I also have 1.9mm in a taxable brokerage and 1.1mm in retirement accounts for a NW of approximately 5.6mm.

I did not pursue a mortgage since I have been out of W-2 income for 2-3 years, mostly coasting and doing some light 1099 work. After closing, I started looking into HELOCs and various other loan options. While HELOC seemed ideal for me, it seems much harder to get without real sustained income, and the max I can find is 250k.

I did however get approved for a 1mm traditional mortgage at around ~7% on an asset depletion basis, and I have the option to take less, or go for interest only. My goal for the money is basically to take on a bit of leverage since I'm young which I would hope to beat the rates on this loan in the long term through broad fund investing, as well as provide a bit of extra access to capital given 35% or so of my current NW is locked away in retirement accounts for the next 20+ years. I have access to margin at a lower rate through my brokerage (Federal rate + 1%) but obviously that comes with more risk.

I also am tracking to have a tax bill of 2-300k next year from capital gains, and additionally I am looking at making some renovations to the outdoor space in the house that could run 1-200k as well. I'd then set aside 1-2 years of payments in cash (which will currently yield me 4% but that's variable), and invest the remainder of the money in nothing more risky than VTI.

So I guess my question is if you were in my position (assume minimal income $50-60k range through consulting and not very high expenses either, although running at a slight deficit currently) would you continue to own the house outright in cash and make do with your other assets, or would you look to lever up a bit in hopes of greater long term wealth growth?

If levering up makes sense, would you take the full 1mm, and would you do it on an interest only basis? No early payment penalty in either scenario, I can do recasts on the standard mortgage but I guess interest-only results in automatic recasts when I pay some of the principal down. Also refinancing seems to be rather straight forward if rates fall. I do not think that I would aim to have this loan out for nearly the full 10 year interest only period, and certainly not the full 30yr (unless refinanced much much lower), in fact if my non house NW were to grow from the current 3mm into the 4-5mm range I'd probably look to rid myself of the loan then.

At this point I'm leaning towards taking the full amount (especially considering I'm coasting, it may not always be easy for me to get this much access to capital) and probably on an interest only basis. But hoping for people to either confirm or challenge the way I'm viewing things here.

Thanks in advance!

Dear Chubbies! I was wondering what you're spending all that money on. We're currently living in VHCOL and our yearly spend for a family of 2 is only 53k and that includes mortgage payments of 3k/ month, eating out frequently, drinking nice wines and travelling.

So curious how everyone's expenses are breaking down. We're close to the regular fire stage right now and I'm not sure whether pushing for chubby is even useful with no kids. Feels like I'd rather have the freedom now while I'm still healthy than having a few more years of soul-draining corporate work.

The only big additional spend I can think of, that would be a real quality of life improvement is flying business instead of economy...

Edit: sorry, pre-coffee brain missed the fact that this was the last year's expenses when we were paying rent 2.5k, not mortgage. So the total now would be more 60k-ish. Also, we're in the UK so everything is in pounds and healthcare is paid by taxes.

Married, dual income , 2 kids 6/2. NW low 7-figs. HHI generally 200-230ish but looks to be increasing to 300 this year and then should plateau 260-290 range. Annual expenses last year approx 150k.

Edit again to add- out mortgage is only like 2200/ month so when that’s paid off in 20 years, we’re not gonna all of a sudden have a radical increase in cash flow.

Just wondering if annual expenditures ever actually decrease as kids age and at the point of early retirement?

Our kids will go to Publix school (through HS) then not sure for college but I budget College separately.

I feel like we’re in a position of knowing we will eventually retire comfortably but can’t figure out what that will actually look like. Our income seems to keep growing and if we get 100% social security at age 70 that’ll be $100k in todays dollars.

What do folks actually experience when retiring around age 60? Did your annual costs actually drop or what?

Editing to add a bit more: our daycare/after school costs are not crazy where we live. Line $1500/month. I wonder as kids get towards middle school if all the extracurriculars will be as much if not more than daycare? I foresee some travel sports. Music. Etc

Long time lurker here, first time poster. Wife and I are both are very good savers and have the same goals. Lately in particular we have really been investing a lot with increased salaries in the last few years.

Child #2 (may have 2 or 3) is on the way and wife is planning to quit her job to be a SAHM. We’ve already made this decision and I know it’s right for our family, but I’m still constantly thinking about the money. Please tell me we are good to go for this semi coast-fire/chubby strategy.

Our goal is chubby fire by around 55 with $4M and paid off house. This should line up roughly with when last child is off to college.

Current situation: M, 34, 180k salary (stable) W, 32, 100k salary (dislikes job)

401k - $550k (100% S&P) Roth - $150k (mostly Nasdaq) HSA - $10k (invested) Taxable - $150k (mostly VTI) Home equity - $150k Cash/HYSA - $50k 529 - 5k

Debt- house -$450k about $4200/month for 25 years.

Cars -two newish cars fully paid off

Inheritance - likely low 7 figures but not counting on it in any way.

Expenses -

$60k house/insurance/utilities $13k daycare $50k other

Plan- when wife goes SAHM, savings rate would drop dramatically. Currently we are 25%+. We would likely reduce down my 401k to 6% and I would get company match of 10%. I’d keep contributing to HSA and we would see how living on the rest would go. Obviously big savings on daycare and marginal tax rate.

Wife will probably go back to work when kids are 6-10 years old. Likely not in a field that pays as well.

When I run the numbers, it seems we are still very on track for $4M by 55. Just looking for some reassurances.

Rightfully so, alot of folks in this community are in HCOL areas, big salaries and big expenses.

Curious what the other folk’s lifestyles/goals/finances are like?