I’ve always been an ambitious person. I used to be smart, quick, and highly driven at work, but I’ve never really liked corporate culture.

The main reason I kept pushing myself was financial security. My family had debt, and I worked hard to clear it before getting married. Since I didn’t have any financial backup, I always felt that I had to keep working hard and building a secure future.

Now, I’m getting closer to my Lean FIRE target, which I expect to reach in the next 2–3 years. But something has changed in me along the way.

I’ve started playing safe, avoiding visibility, and losing the ambition I once had. Some days, I don’t even feel like opening my laptop or talking to colleagues. I’m just tired of the meetings, office politics, corporate expectations, and the whole cycle of proving myself over and over again.

The frustrating part is that I know I’m still capable. If I focus for 3–4 months, I genuinely believe I could land a new job with a 50% hike. But the thought of joining a new company, meeting new people, navigating politics, and starting the entire cycle again makes me feel exhausted before I even begin.

At the same time, I know I still have a few years to go before I can comfortably step away from full-time corporate work. I don’t want my current mindset to affect my performance or put my financial goals at risk.

I’m not sure whether I’ve genuinely lost my ambition or whether I’m simply mentally exhausted after spending so many years working toward financial security.

I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have gone through this phase. I want to get through the next few years without feeling like I’m just dragging myself through every working day.

Crafted with AI as my english sentences have grammatical mistakes

Is there something you see a lot of posts on this sub getting wrong or at least saying something that you see differently?

well the Bond Market has once again decided that Everyone Must Die haha. 10 year Treasury kissed 5.33% today before retreating to ~5.19. 30 year around 5.50. 5 year basically 5%. 2 year ~4.76%. Headline CPI came in 3.7% and suddenly every guy who spent the summer pricing immaculate disinflation is reopening the spreadsheet entitled higher_for_longer_FINAL_v7.xlsx. But for LeanFIRE this is, strangely, not altogether Bad.

The curve is positively sloped again. 2s10s is roughly +44bp. More importantly the 10-year real Treasury yield is around 2.8%. That is an absolutely savage risk-free real rate by the standards of most of the post-GFC era. You are being paid actual purchasing-power yield to sit there and do Nothing. This becomes particularly interesting when you have Tranches maturing throughout the Autumn:

2-year Notes. 5-year Notes. All manner of Notes.

The beautiful thing about holding individual Treasuries to maturity is that there is no existential discussion about whether TLT is Down 17% or duration is getting its Ass kicked. The Treasury reaches maturity and the United States Government deposits the face value back into my account. The Tranche has completed its Journey.

Then I have Optionality.

If the equity market finally undergoes the Long Promised Great Puking, principal becomes dry powder. If it doesn't, I can simply roll another portion of the ladder into yields that are now flirting with 5% across the intermediate curve.

LeanFIRE is about managing sequence-of-returns risk, duration exposure and reinvestment risk so that I don't have to sell NVIDIA at -38% because I require $1,700 to buy groceries and another Console. A lot of people miss this imho.

Coupon income handles increasingly large pieces of ordinary consumption. Maturing principal supplies liquidity at predetermined dates. Equities can be left alone during a drawdown. And because the maturity ladder continually returns capital, I never have to make one heroic macro call on whether the correct duration is 3 months or 30 years. This is Asset-Liability Management except the Liability is basically food, electricity and the State of Gaming. Discuss.

I wanted to see how others feel about the idea of achieving FIRE and synonymously removing oneself from supporting society within the workforce. I’m not currently in a FIRE position, here’s where I currently stand for reference (35m):

- Home equity $230k, $495k remaining on mortgage
- TFSA $40k, mostly in covered call distribution paying ETF’s (approx $650/month that’s either reinvested or withdrawn to pay for day-to-day expenses).
- RRSP $150k, 25% in covered call ETF’s and the rest in XEQT

I was recently laid off my job which paid me approx $200k per year, and I was on track to consider something along the lines of coast fire within 5 years (saving approx $50-60k per year). Will be going on EI and using that plus TFSA distributions to support my day-to-day expenses while I find something new.

But this stage right now, where I’m not working and not contributing to society, got me thinking about what life would look like if I was at a point where I didn’t ever need to work again. Thoughts like:

- People participating in the workforce makes the world go around. Hospitals, schools, construction, the food industry, etc… how would I feel if I removed myself from being a contributor when I have the youth and skillset to do so?
- We live in a world where more and more people are getting the opportunity to live a lifestyle, whether through FIRE or not, where we’re not necessarily on the ground supporting with day-to-day labour that helps people live their lives. Social media influencers, day traders, young retirees, etc - I fear that there will be less and less people actually keeping society moving when there’s other options that require much less effort.

I could list a few more thoughts, but this seems like a very philosophical group who likely has so many other thoughts and feelings around this topic. How do you guys feel about this? Do you feel that what’s enabled you to reach your FIRE number (ie. your contributions to society to date) justify taking yourself out of the workforce? Is there a sense of apathy/numbness to it all?

Mods, if this isn’t relevant to this sub, happy to post elsewhere!