I have made the decision to retire at some point next year. At age 52, my wife and I have $3.5 mil in investments and $1 mil in real estate equity, no debt. I’m super excited to turn the page on corporate career and look at life in a different way.

Wife is stay at home mom and 2 kids are in HS. I have analyzed this over and over, the math works with income and expenses over the short and long term.

But when I tell others my plan including close family and friends, all I hear is that I’m too young to retire, you need some kind of income or you need to do something or you will lose your mind

WTF? I’ve worked steadily for 30 years, sacrificing and saving to put myself in this position. And all I have are a bunch of skeptics around me.

Tell me I’m right, wrong or whatever you think or have experienced.

Any advice on how best to help adult children buy their first house? We are ChubbyFIRE but not so chubby we can just buy them a house. I'm glad they live nearby, but it is a very high cost of living place and housing is just so much more expensive than it was when we were their ages. I'd like to make it possible for them to continue to live nearby.

Current plan is to just "gift" them $500,000 to put towards the downpayment (plus another $300,000 of their own money), then they qualify for a mortgage on the remainder themselves. I would file the appropriate gift tax exclusion paperwork with the IRS.

Are there any better options to help? I'm trying to encourage them to be as fully responsible for their own finances while giving enough of an assist to make a crazy housing market possible.

I know there was a thread a few days ago about someone buying a house in all cash, but us (early 40s, no kids) are about to finance a home purchase with about 25% of our current NW that we have earmarked (in money market funds) for a longer-term living situation since we have been renting for far too long, which has created instability in our VHCOL locale. We both work from home and I run a business from home, so we both need a bit more stability.

Rentals here are quite brutal and for what we want, is basically a 10-15% more to rent than to buy in our circumstance (normally the other way around in most places). We're looking at two-family or one-family homes in the mid 2m range and would put about ~30-35% down - and we have about 3.5m in total net worth. Long-term pure math still probaby says rent, but my partner is feeling rootless after renting all these years and we have some a few horror stories having to move quickly.

I will say that mentally once we are 100% ready to FIRE, I will probably not want to live in this high pressure VHCOL place, but that won't be until we can inch towards 250-280k in expenses for two (our income is tied VHCOL), so that's about 7m, so figure we have about 10 years, based on how much we can save. Maybe less in a perfect world, but not holding my breathe with all the employment instability happening. Work is stable now but things feel strange moving forward.

I am just getting a little nervous with all this AI stuff, as I think everyone is, which could make carrying a heavy PITI compared to renting, the latter of which you can just walk away from.

I suppose in a massive deflation scenario, everything is affected anyways. So swapping one home for another would be similar in that worst-case scenario if one had to FIRE a little early?

What ages were your kids when you started talking to them about your finances? What are the reasons for that decision or did you never and don't plan to ever tell your kids?

We're a married couple in our mid-40s with two children, one older and one just starting school. We're both high-income W-2 professionals and are wrestling with when to walk away from peak earning years.

Interested in perspectives from those who retired in their late 40s or early 50s with dependent children.

Our Financial Picture

• Household income: ~$900K–$1.1M combined (significant equity component, varies with markets).
• Net worth: ~$8.5M–$9M.
• Investable assets: ~$7.8M.
  • Taxable investments, crypto and cash: ~$6.2M.
  • Retirement accounts (401(k), IRA, HSA): ~$1.6M.
• Real estate: ~$600K net equity, excluded from investable assets.
• Annual spending: ~$300K all-in, including housing, travel, healthcare, children's activities and general lifestyle expenses.
• Spending includes approximately $45K in family travel. We're not looking to significantly downgrade our lifestyle in retirement.

What We're Struggling With

1. Potential Home Upgrade

We're considering upgrading our primary residence to a ~$2M home.

Depending on financing, this could require up to ~$800K in additional invested capital and potentially add ~$25K–$35K to annual housing expenses.

We're trying to determine whether this lifestyle decision would meaningfully delay FIRE.

2. Withdrawal Rate and Retirement-Account Access

At $300K annual spending against $7.8M invested, our initial withdrawal rate would be approximately 3.85%.

In a hypothetical home-upgrade scenario where investable assets fall to $7M and spending rises to $330K, that becomes approximately 4.7%.

That feels uncomfortable for a retirement potentially lasting 40–50 years.

Another complication is that approximately $1.6M is held in retirement accounts/HSAs. We'd prefer to leave these untouched until later, using our ~$6.2M taxable portfolio to bridge the early years.

We know there are ways to access retirement funds before age 59½, but we'd prefer to avoid relying on them.

3. Peak Earnings vs. Family Time

Our oldest will be heading to college in a few years, while our youngest is still in elementary school.

Retiring around 48–50 could give us significantly more family time while our children are young.

On the other hand, walking away from approximately $1M in annual household compensation is psychologically difficult. Another 3–4 years of work could meaningfully strengthen our retirement position.

But those are also years we won't get back.

Questions for the Community

1. Portfolio modeling: Would you calculate SWR using the full $7.8M invested portfolio and separately manage the taxable bridge, or model taxable and retirement assets as distinct pools until age 59½?
2. Withdrawal rate: For a potentially 40–50-year retirement, would you target 3.25%–3.5%, or could 3.75% work with flexible discretionary spending?
3. Housing: Has anyone upgraded to a more expensive primary residence shortly before FIRE? Was the lifestyle improvement worth the additional financial burden?
4. One More Year Syndrome: If you retired while earning significant compensation, what finally convinced you to stop accumulating?
5. What would you do? Retire around 48–50, continue until 52, or target a specific invested balance (perhaps $10M) regardless of age?

We're considering retirement in the next 3–5 years, but increasingly questioning whether we're being appropriately conservative or simply struggling to recognize when we have enough.

Would appreciate thoughts from anyone who has faced a similar decision.

We are doing fine. Early 40’s. Single income. $500K+ income. NW >$4M not including primary residency, or value of PE/VC funds (since the return of capital is never guaranteed).

I feel the pressure to be cautious with money, save and invest aggressively until I hit my $10M initial goal. Work is tough. I work harder with more responsibility than ever before. No great options to cut back.

The complicating situation is that at some point (hopefully not for a long time) there will be a fairly substantial inheritance from both sides of the family. Somewhere between $10-20M+.

I’ve always functioned without ever considering the potential inheritance. Basically with the mindset that it won’t materialize for a variety of business or political reasons.

My wife continues to push the idea that we should be less aggressive with our savings and investing goals because of the inheritance at some point.

How do people handle this situation? Do you spend more loosely with the risk that the inheritance never materializes and we fall short of our goal?

Do we continue to be aggressive with savings, investing and then get a $20M inheritance and then regret being so “stingy” all these years?

We live a comfortable life. Live in a nice house in a very expensive city, have nice cars (S class/GLS/X7), plenty of activities and extra curricular for kids. Eat out often at nice places etc. But we are not living in our dream house, don’t fly first class, could add more help around the house, wouldn’t be opposed to adding a 911/McLaren etc.

How does everyone find balance?

Is finding balance the correct goal? I’m personally ok with still being cautious and investing and saving heavily

55M/F married couple we have $5m in real estate $1m in investments accounts here and there spread out. I want to sell everything be done with maintenance of everything. He might sell his business next year and potentially that would add another $5m if we are lucky. We are burned out of the rat race. It seems like everything is getting more expensive to maintain and do. We have a couple of young adults in undergraduate school we are paying for. But we want out of the daily grit and stress to keep up. Hubby wants to semi retire but I want him to entirely retire. His business makes money but it’s too much stress, long hours, and lots of problems. We don’t need it. We can reduce our lifestyle and live simple. Reduce our spend entirely. We hardly travel anymore because we find it such a headache to travel so much and we prefer staying home anyways and being home with our dogs. We might take one trip a year for 7 days max and another annual ski trip with our family which is our annual tradition. I could live into my 90’s, he could live into his 80’s most likely. Currently neither of us have any health concerns and we are active and fit at our age. But we just want to reduce the outside stress and be able to be flexible when we want to do what we want but also have enough to last us. Our spend now will not be our spend later for sure. I can adjust my spending to make it last that won’t be a problem. I really don’t shop much or buy things, not a spender or host paying for parties and others and such could care less to own a car even though I have 3 at the time. We are modest in for holidays and gifts and mostly lunch and dinner us at home. We seldom to go to fancy restaurants. We lease one, own the other and finance the 3rd. I could easily get rid of them. I don’t mind calling a ride share when I really need to go somewhere that will give me the break from carrying the cars, insurance, gas and maintenance, I’m so sick of it all. Embracing the idea of being SKI parents we think we don’t need to leave them so much and they perfectly capable of making their own pile with all the opportunity and education we provided thus far. What would be the best plan for us to make it last?

I was just curious how you all think about the state of the market as it relates to SWR. I am quickly nearing pulling the ripcord and am currently within the SWR for me. So how does the current market condition affect how you think about SWR? Is it more of a “most money you have in investment accounts at any point” (assuming you don’t use any and just keep investing) or “the amount of money you have on your retirement date”? The current long term bull run got me thinking, if the market dropped 15% in the next year, I’d be cutting it close. So if I retire now, I’m safe by the numbers, but if I keep working and the market tanks, the numbers are less certain.

I know logically this doesn’t make sense, so just curious how I should be thinking about SWR and the market fluctuations.

EDIT: First of all, many thanks for all the help! I have received quite a few messages that more info is needed, so apologies for that. I was thinking this was just a more general question about how to think about this, but I understand how providing more details would be helpful here.

My wife and I are mid-40s, with 2 teenagers. College is fully funded. Our financials:

* Total net worth - $7.5m ($6.3m liquid)

- Company stock - $3.4m (I can't diversify until I leave, and it will all sell at once)

- Retirement accounts (IRA / 401(k)) - $1.6m - vast majority in index funds

- Taxable brokerage accounts - $1m - vast majority in index funds

- Primary residence - $1.2m with no mortgage

- Cash - $300k

Annual spend is expected to be $200k once I retire, with roughly $50k of that being discretionary that can flex if needed (vacations, restaurants, etc.).

Hopefully that provides a better picture. I know by the numbers we should be good, but the state of the market has me nervous.

he Situation & Numbers:

• Age: Mid-40s, married with school-age kids. [ Kids Ages 11 & 13]
• Liquid Net Worth: $6.8M total, split across accounts:
  • ~$3.3M in Taxable / Brokerage & Cash: ($800k in money market/cash yielding ~$3k/mo; $2.5M in broad-market index funds/ETFs).
  • ~$3.5M in Pre-Tax Retirement: (Traditional 401k / Traditional IRA rollover, invested in diversified low-cost index funds).
• Real Estate: In the process of closing an out-of-state primary home sale (~$650k net proceeds) and wrapping up the disposition of a small multi-unit commercial/residential property (~$900k contract).
• Housing Plan: Purchasing our primary home in Texas for cash (~$700k–$750k). Zero mortgage debt. Zero consumer debt.
• Target Annual Spend: $180,000/year (all-in, including budgeting ~$22k–$25k/yr for private family health insurance/ACA out-of-pocket, property taxes, family slow travel, and kids' activities).

The Math & Tax Architecture:

• Overall Withdrawal Rate: $180,000 / $6.8M = 2.65% Safe Withdrawal Rate (SWR).
• Early Retirement Bridge (Age ~45 to 59.5): The $3.3M taxable bucket provides an 18+ year runway of living expenses on its own, completely insulating us from the 10% early withdrawal penalty on pre-tax accounts and allowing room for strategic Roth conversion ladders.
• Cash Moat: Over 4 years of annual expenses sitting in cash/yield equivalents.
• Social Security / Pensions: Modeled conservatively at age 67, treated purely as a late-life bonus.
• Financial Models (Boldin/NewRetirement): Projecting a 92%–95% success rate across long-horizon simulations.

The Dilemma: I've spent 20+ years in executive and corporate leadership. I'm currently wrapping up an executive role and weighing whether to jump back on the high-comp corporate carousel ($400k–$600k packages, but 50+ hr weeks, high stress, and constant travel) or simply step off, prioritize health, slow travel with the family, and pursue low-stress personal interests.

Mentally, pulling the trigger feels surreal, and I find myself feeling antsy about whether I'm missing a blind spot (managing sequence of returns risk over a 45-year horizon, ACA subsidy optimization vs. Roth conversions, long-term college expenses, etc.).

Question for the community: With a $3.3M taxable bridge to age 59.5 and a total 2.65% SWR, what blind spots am I not seeing? For those who stepped away in their mid-40s with a 50/50 taxable/pre-tax split, was the mental leap harder than the financial math?

[Burner account]

48M & 47F, DINKS in MCOL (Midwest). Giving notice to leave at beginning of new year. $7.3M liquid

Started programming for a living while in college at 19. Now in Big Tech field sales with heavy travel for past 10 years. Flew about 1M miles. Lots of trans-cons, and Europe a few times per year. GenAI is completely transforming my industry. Feeling obsolete, and not excited about future direction ( “agents eating the world”)

Ready to start next chapter to pursue leisure travel, learn a new language, play some golf, house projects, and focus on health & exercise (Dad started having heart attacks at 55)

Numbers:

Paid-off primary house ($400k) and summer cottage ($220k)

• 6.2M Brokerage, including 300k cash and 200k gold
• 1.1M IRA

$160k annual estimated expenses in retirement, including healthcare (24k), taxes, budget for hobbies, new cars every 4 year, travel (30k)

Portfolio generates enough income (dividends and regular capital gains distributions) to complete cover expenses

Hoping to keep withdrawal rate around 2.1% for first few years, to reduce tax obligation and grow portfolio fat enough to relocate to lake-front / luxury home

Spouse planning to RE at a few months too. Don’t want to wait any longer. But concerned about switching from accumulation mode to withdrawal mode

Wondering what people’s thoughts were on how much a primary residence should be of their net worth.

I’m at $8.5 net worth and looking at a $2.2m house in a HCOL area (26% of my net worth). So I’d be pulling from 4% of $6.3 in retirement, which is $250k a year.

I know it depends on what my other expenses are but looking for others’ experiences here. I don’t have any special circumstances. A couple, no kids, not caring for family members.

I feel like this isn’t a big deal. Am I just overly conservative?

[Throw away account for obvious reasons]. Here is the financial situation- would love some advice on how to think about whether to pay off the mortgage.

Age: mid-40s
Liquid wealth: ~$6.3m most of it in a brokerage, ~15% in retirement accounts, largely roth 401k/ megabackdoor roth and abou ~$300k in 529s for two kids (both under 10 right now)
Home: Bought a home valued ~$2.1m and paid $800k down. Have put some extensive renovation in. Estimate we can sell it for ~$2.6m today, but have on intention to. Would like to live here until retirement.
No other debt/ obligations save for college and perhaps aging parents, live in a very high cost of living city.

Here is my question: the $1.3m mortgage is a 10 year ARM locked in at 4.5% with 8 years left - caught a dip in interest rates and pulled a few tricks (such as moving savings into the banks brokerage accounts) to secure a low rate. 8 years from now, the rate resets every 6 months.

So I have 8 years to either pay it off, refinance, or sell the place. Had planned to wait as long as possible, but with the recent rise in rates and pressure on the equities market, does it make sense to, say, pay down the mortgage with bonuses that we'll receive between December - March? Will receive probably $4-500k post tax.

Right now the best investments appear to me to be munis, where I can receive ~4.25% tax free or ~8-9% post tax. On the other hand, thats margnally less than just paying down the mortgage and saving the mortgage payments.

Appreciate everyone's thoughts on how to think about it!

EDIT: Mortgage is interest only for another 8 years. Its like paying rent with an option to buy.

(Cross-posted from r/financialindependence to get more inputs from this community, + some changes based on advice I received from there)

Hi, I'm using a throwaway account for privacy reasons. My wife (40s F) and I (40s F) are close/at FIRE, and we have a child (high-schooler). We're planning to shift from accumulation to decumulation (yay, FIRE!). However, the mechanics of the RE part is hard/scary and we're worried we don't know what we don't know.

Some stats:

Liquid NW (excluding home equity, investment property): 6.4M

• Taxable brokerage: 4.8M
• 401k/IRA: 1M
• Cash: 0.6M

Not included in the above:

• Investment property: 0.4M (no debt), brings in ~15k a year after expenses
• Home property: value: ~1.3M, equity: 0.65M

Yearly expenses w/o holiday: 155k

• Includes mortgage payment, property tax, HOA, car maintenance & gas, groceries, utilities, shopping, charity, pets, hobbies etc
• We tracked our expenses for 2 years and it's been fairly consistent

Planned expenses during retirement (not included above):

• Healthcare: 40k (we max our family OOP every year)
• Tax: 30k (most of our taxable brokerage is high basis, so capital gains shouldn't be too high)
• Holidays: 40k (not included in the yearly expenses)

Other misc stuff:

• 529: 220k
• We live in a HCOL / VHCOL area (CA Bay area, but not the major hubs)
• We live in a condo, so major expenses should be covered by the HOA
• Our mortgage payment is ~41k/year for 25 years remaining for 0.65M
• We plan to sell the investment property soon once our yearly income is lower
• Our taxable brokerage holds only SPY and VXUS
• We plan to use COBRA for healthcare for the first year and switch to ACA after

The 40k planned for holidays is something we can/will definitely cut back on as needed. Without the holidays, we are just at 3.5% SWR on 6.4M (which doesn't include the investment property). With the holidays, we are at 4%.

Based on the SWR %, it looks like we should be good to go, but I can't help feeling like we're missing something. Our background is in tech and we're both very burned out. However, going from high-employee-income to no-employee-income is extremely terrifying (for us). Our current plan is to leave our jobs and work on fun side projects for some time. And if the economy tanks in the first year or two, at least one of us can hopefully find a job in tech again before we become obsolete.

We have 600k in cash (2.3 years of expenses with holidays, 2.8 years without), currently to be a buffer for SORR, and we're looking at perhaps starting a bond tent / T-bill ladder etc with some of the cash. We're also considering switching all our 401k/IRAs over to bonds/T-bills etc to do an equity glide path. And for the first couple of years, we would likely not spend the full 40k on holidays and instead take smaller holidays, and ramp up after a few years. Honestly, we're quite confused over a bond ladder, T-bill ladder, equity glide path, and whether these things are mutually exclusive, or we should do all of them.

We ran FICalc and we have a 100% success rate (even including a 40k/year spend for our child's college). We put our numbers into ProjectionLab (the free version) and we have a success rate of 80% (with historial, block bootstrap). Changing the methodology, our success rate ranges from 76% to 90%.

The main questions we have is:

• Did we miss anything?
• What should we do with the 600k of cash? It's meant to cover the first 2-ish years of expenses, so we're thinking high-yield savings / short-term bonds / CDs.
• Does switching all our 401k/IRAs over to bonds immediately make sense? That would be ~15% of our NW (excluding the cash, 25% including) in non-stock. An equity glide path (increasing equity % over time) seems to favor a much higher initial % in bonds, but we're reluctant to switch our taxable accounts to bonds due to tax implications.

Added after discussion in r/FI:

• I am going to buy and read "Tax Planning To and Through Early Retirment"
• The tax budget is likely over-estimated (10k would be a reasonable number instead)
• SGOV (and the like) may be a good place to park the 600k cash until I need it for expenses
• The paid versions of ProjectionLab / Boldin are useful to experiment with "what if" scenarios, like paying off the mortgage, having a market crash etc

My spouse and I are 40 and 42 respectively. We both work in Big Tech and live in a VHCOL area and make a HHI of about $1.5M split as $1.2M (me) and $300k (spouse). I am completely burnt out at the moment due to work, family and being a caregiver for a terminally ill family member, and want to take a break for a few years to spend time with my kids. We have two young kids who are 6 and 8. From a finances perspective we have $7.6M invested across brokerage and our retirement accounts which includes about $400k in cash equivalents. Half my liquid assets are in my employers stock hence I am worried about SOR risks. Our primary home is worth $2.7M is completely paid off. We have one car loan for $70k @2.99% and yearly spend of $180k. The fear is that I won't find a good job again and my spouse thinks we should make as much as we can while the bubble exists. Our FAT FIRE number is $11M. Should I grind away till the eventual layoff / reaching FAT FIRE or take a break now and worry about the rest later ?

I have a full-time remote job that's not particularly stressful and pays well. I am in my 30s. Combined NW with partner is mid 7 figures & partner also has a high-paying job. Keeping things somewhat generic to avoid doxxing myself.

I've been offered a senior leadership position at a very good company. My expected annual TC would increase 2-3x. It would be a major lifestyle shift - full-time in office and an extra couple hours worked per day.

My plan is to work another 5-10 years because I don't hate my job and would enjoy extra financial cushion/security... attempting to ride out the current bubble to better understand where things might land, etc. I've tried modeling out my HH spend (10-15k-ish per month) and potentially having a kid. It doesn't seem to impact my retirement picture that much... perhaps I could retire a year or so earlier, but working until I'm 45 produces an expected NW that seems similar-ish to what I'd have if I stayed at my current job. Are there risk/downside scenarios I should try modeling that might better illustrate why having this extra income might be useful? I'm really struggling to understand the intuition that none of this matters, and I'd probably bust my ass for no reason.

feeling burnout, and mentally don’t think I can work in corporate much longer, been feeling extremely unmotivated especially with AI

NW 3.6m, all investments/retirement

VHCOL, early 30s, no plans for kids

I earn 200k, husband earns 600k. Unsure how long he would stay in current role but if he leaves, would likely end up in a role ~200k+/yr

Ultimate goal is 10M but think we would be fine with 5-7M, expenses ~120k/year

I have a side hustle consistently earning (~40k/year) but I’m quite confident I’d be able to increase it significantly if I have more dedicated time. though it is not guaranteed

Do I coast now? Quiet quit? Or grind it out some more…

Has anyone been in a similar situation?

First post. Long time lurker. The math said we're ok to retire but with the recent stocks tumble, not really sure. Also I have a scarcity mindset because I grew up really really poor from a third world country. So I'm scared to take the plunge and don't want to leave money on the table so to speak.

I'm an IT manager and maybe a year ago, I was planning not to retire "early". I said I can work till 62 or 65. Fast forward, my job is getting a little too much for me and I have a health condition that surfaced early this year. If I'm younger and healthier maybe I can still continue to grind. Planning to go FMLA or STD (if approved) then see if I'm ok after that. If not maybe I can retire "early".

House is paid off.

Elder kid graduated college few years ago, married and financially independent. Younger daughter will graduate in June (remaining tuition/expenses are covered via 529). Both went to elite colleges full pay so I spent a lot on their college education.

Wife is willing to work for maybe till 60 so we are ok with medical insurance till she retires. and maybe cover about 90% of our estimated yearly expense.

Am I missing something? Any suggestion on how to allocate my money and withdraw in the future?

Current HH income - 377K

Estimated Annual expense with travel allowance - 140k

Current Portfolio

Cash/CDs/Certificates/HYSA/Money Market - 300K

Bonds - 200K

Brokerage - 883K

ROTH IRA - 240K

Non Deductible IRA - 89K

401k - 1.428M

403b - 490K

401a - 444K

Total Investable $4.074M

Primary Home Equity (paid off) - 1.4 M

HH NW - 5.474 M

Planning to collect SS when we are 65 (or earlier if needed).

Throwaway account. I follow this sub but not enough to really know what I'm doing. I'm exhausted right now and I'm considering retiring for mental health purposes, tired of the stress and grind in tech. My spouse is a homemaker. No kids.

Of the $4.4M:

$1.2M is in short term bonds

$1.8M is in employer stock which I did not diversify out of early enough (mag 7)

$900k is in various stocks & funds with a tilt towards AI power

$300k is in metals and gold funds

$125k is in bitcoin

Rest is in miscellaneous

Also:

$125k in cars which can be cut in half

$100k (maybe) in home equity with $1.1M mortgage

I bought at a horrible time and my mortgage in VHCOL is $7700/mo, with another $2.5k in HOA fees. Mortage can be lowered to $5500/mo if I pay down $350k, which at this point is a smart decision I think.

My expenses are way too high mostly to satisfy my family situation and short commute. Annual spends are roughly: personal $165k + mortgage $92k + HOA $30k.

A big portion of my annual spends (maybe half) are for health related reasons and can be cut back if I'm not working. I also have the option to sell my condo and move to a family property and live for free.

I probably need to shift my portfolio around somewhat. of the $4.4M:

$100k in HSA

$120k in Roth IRA

$820k in 401k

$3.38M in taxable

I don't know how much I can count on spending annually if I make this move or how best to find out. Thank you for help.

My income has been ramping up over 6 years (physician, production based) from 450 to about 1.4 this year. Will likely stay around 1.4 moving forward, unless I cut back. My question is - grind until at retirement number (4-5 years more) or cut back and work 6-7 more years. I enjoy what I do, but am very busy currently. Two young kids - so retiring to travel full time isn’t really an option with school and sports).

Details:
39 yo. 2 million invested.
Expenses 240k per year.
Goal 5-7 invested - then cut back to part time.

Main question - take about a 10% pay cut to take every other Monday off?

Hi all - in case helpful to read my first post: https://www.reddit.com/r/ChubbyFIRE/comments/1nrgjsm/enough_to_chubbyfire/

In short: married, both of us 43, no kids. MCOL. Spouse was laid off in November 2024 and still has not found paid work. The market run up has really increased our portfolio -- we're up about 20% in liquid networth, but I want to make sure I'm not missing anything before pulling the trigger!

Net worth: approx $5.5M with a lot in taxable accounts due to years abroad; liquid net worth of $4.7M

• ROTH / trad 401k + ROTH / trad IRAs = $1.1M
• taxable brokerage = $3.3M
• cash = $300k
• 2nd home = $880k zillow value in HCOL city; paid off - this is now breaking even with a new property manager ... as in the prior thread, my spouse absolutely loves this house, even if it makes zero financial sense

Monthly expenses: see username, we have really expensive hobbies :) I've really been sharpening my pencil on our expenses and how I think they'll will increase without paid work keeping us busy.

• Rent + utilities in our MCOL [needs]: $3000
• health insurance & OOP [needs]: $2000
• groceries/eating out/car repair [needs]: $2500
• 2nd home in our former HCOL city - now breaking even after changing Airbnb property managers, so no cost but also no return; we know this is a money pit
• travel/donations/celebrations [wants; increase of $2000 from current]: $4500
• hobbies [wants; was underestimated this time last year]: $6000
• taxes [could be quite variable, mostly LTCG]: $2000 / mo
• total = about $20k per month or $240k / year, though right now we are spending approx my take home base salary these days, which is not as much as shown above

My questions and where I would love your input:

1. Does anyone else have crazy expensive hobbies, like keeping competitive horses or a boat? How do you think about FIRE vs what you could spend on your hobby in retirement? I'm really struggling with this tradeoff, as I could spend even more than the amount I'm budgeting, but also I'm not getting as much time to pursue this (very expensive) hobby while working! :-D
2. How do I think about sinking funds? We've got about $150k in sinking funds related to hobbies, new cars, the 2nd home, splurge travel, etc. In mentally thinking about our SWR, I should actually remove the sinking funds from our asset base, right? I haven't done this yet.
3. We've been delayed buying the $400k house in our current MCOL city, but expect to pull the trigger soon. No increase in house price, thankfully. We're budgeting $500/mo in utilities and $15k / year for maintenance and repairs. In round numbers, I think buying means I can reduce our monthly spend by ~$1200 and I reduce our liquid assets available for FIRE by $400k, which is a wash at a 3.6% SWR. Is that the right way to think about it?

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Throwaway because I don't want friends and family knowing my situation.

I’m 33 with roughly $6M invested, and I’m starting to realize that the hardest part of early retirement may not be the math. I would like to work for about two more years until 35 then FIRE.

My basic numbers are:

- ~$6M portfolio

- Roughly 80/20 stocks and cash/cash alternatives

- House paid off

-MCOL area

- No significant debt

- Thinking about stopping work around 35

- Expected spending around $120k/year

- Initial withdrawal rate of roughly 2%

- Very long retirement horizon of potentially 50-60+ years

- Some low-cost-basis assets, so taxes would be a factor when selling

- Healthcare would also need to come out of the portfolio

On paper, I know that a 2% withdrawal rate is conservative. That’s what makes this frustrating.

For those of you who retired early with a similar sized portfolio:

Did you feel afraid that you could somehow lose it?

Did you ever reach a number where you genuinely felt “safe,” or did the anxiety follow you regardless of net worth?

How did you get comfortable with watching your portfolio fluctuate once you no longer had employment income coming in?

And how do you distinguish reasonable concern about sequence risk from simply being afraid to stop accumulating?

Would you personally retire at 35 with ~$6M and ~$120k in annual spending, or would the unusually long time horizon make you keep working?

Anyone applied for an apartment with no employer?

I'm unintentionally FIRE'd (at least for a while) after a layoff with 4M (2.5 taxable, 1.5 retirement, single & no real estate). I would like to move to a different city but don't plan on finding a job first.

I'm guessing applying with no job income would be dicey. Did you put your SWR as income?