In 2012, two months before my 35th birthday, I engineered my layoff from a 13-year career in investment banking. At the time, it felt like the riskiest thing I had ever done. Was I really going to blow up my career right as my earning power was about to compound?
It did not seem wise. And if I could do it over again, I probably would have worked five more years until 40 to save and invest more. To extend the drudgery, I would have pushed harder to relocate to another city and turn the last stretch into an adventure.
But now that I’m 14 years into FIRE and almost 50, I’ve had a change of heart. Retiring at 35 is not nearly as risky as it feels in the moment. Nor is the path to get there as hard as it sounds — saving and investing over 50% of your income for 13 years after college, or 17 years after high school, is doable when you’re young and have few obligations.
If things don't work out after one to three years at age 35, you can always go back to work and find another soul-sucking job that makes you question your purpose in life every single day. Turns out grinding 60 hours a week is a surprisingly effective spending deterrent.
Two Friends Who Proved The Downside Was Small
One friend retired from banking at 33 to become a baker. She had to wake up at 6am and get yelled at by the head chef daily. She figured that if she was going to get yelled at either way, she might as well get yelled at in finance and make 8X more. So she returned a few years later, despite having a portfolio worth about $2 million to live off.
Another friend wanted to be a photographer. She was at Facebook making about $300,000 a year, but she couldn't stomach what the algorithm was doing to kids' brains. So she left and freelanced for a year. The money was terrible, but she had savings and went off to explore Cambodia, Taiwan, Vietnam. She actually saved money while abroad because the cost of living is so much lower.
After a year, she realized she couldn't make it as a professional photographer and went back to big tech for the big bucks. The money was just too good to ignore, despite having enough. Kids be damned!
Both friends were in their early-30s. Both found work within two years of taking their leap of faith to experience FIRE and their passions. Neither of them is on the street.
Retiring At 50 Is Brutally Hard Because Of What You Have To Lose
I'm in the last year of my 40s, and I feel melancholy that time went by so quickly. I would give up almost everything to rewind time by a decade.
If I were still in finance today, I'd be strategizing right now on how to negotiate a severance and collect all my deferred compensation next year at 50.
But frankly, I don't know if I'd be able to pull the trigger based on what's in front of me.
With 15 more years of work experience, I assume I'd have made Managing Director by now. That means a base salary of around $500,000, plus a discretionary bonus somewhere between $0 and $2 million for the average MD.
Walking away from potentially $2.5 million in total compensation is much harder than walking away from $500,000, even after adjusting for inflation. The golden handcuffs don't loosen with time. They tighten.
Lifestyle Inflation Is The Real Handcuff
If I had been making $1 million a year on average for a decade, my lifestyle would have inflated to match. Bigger house. Two kids in private school. A stay-at-home spouse. Hiring gardeners, house cleaners, trainers, and maybe even chefs. Because why not? I’m bringing home the toro sashimi.
The pressure to keep providing for that life would be enormous because there's also university tuition coming up and the desire to create multi-generational wealth. Trying to fund it without a W-2 income and the possibility of a big bonus would feel almost impossible.
When people depend on you, the instinct is to grind harder, not less.
This is partially why I'm so fascinated by the rise of stay-at-home boyfriends and stay-at-home husbands who don't work at all. I would have thought the desire to provide was baked into every man's DNA. Guess not.
Rewind To 34, When I Had Almost Nothing To Lose
Now let me rewind to when I was 34 and plotting my escape.
At the time, I had no children and a working wife. I wasn't providing for her or for two little ones.
Both of my parents were healthy, alive, and recently retired with government pensions. I felt zero stress about coming up with $10,000 to $20,000 a month for elder care.
I was also only two years into writing Financial Samurai, which I felt had tremendous upside. There were no bloggers writing about finance who had actually worked in finance. All of them were focused on budgeting and saving instead of pushing readers to earn and invest more.
It's still rare today. The few finance people who do write about personal finance are usually still working at an RIA or a fund, using the content to attract customers. So it's not really geared toward the FIRE community.
Most importantly, at 34 I knew I could get back into finance within a year or two if I needed the money. I also knew I could land some lower-level finance role at a tech startup if I really wanted to. The downside risk of not finding work was low.
At 50, The Job Market Doesn't Want You Back
At 49, it is far harder to find a well-paying job in this economy once you lose one.
AI has compressed the demand for knowledge workers. And at 50, there are simply fewer roles available at your level of experience and comp than there were in your 20s and 30s.
So if I fired at 50, I would need to be absolutely certain I was never coming back. The boats would be burned. No alternative but to live off investments and earn some side hustle money if needed.
That certainty is a much heavier thing to carry at 50 than the casual “eh, I'll figure it out” you get to say at 34.
Example Of FIRE At 35 vs FIRE At 50
| Description | Retiring at 35 | Retiring at 50 |
|---|---|---|
| Comp you're walking away from | ~$150,000 | ~$350,000 |
| Dependents | Usually none | Kids, spouse, aging parents |
| Ability to get rehired | High, within 12 months | Low, and at lower pay |
| Lifestyle inflation | Minimal | Fully baked in |
| Years of expenses to fund | 50+ | 35+ |
| Regret if it fails | Lost a year or three | Lost your last high-earning decade |
| Emotional difficulty | Feels terrifying, is manageable | Feels rational, is nearly impossible |
FIRE Gets Harder As You Age, Not Easier
Conventional wisdom says that as you age and build wealth, retiring early gets easier. I'm no longer sure that's true.
The older and wealthier you get, the more you have to lose.
You also accumulate responsibilities. If you have a family, you carry more concern for your children than you ever did for yourself. Given the economy and the direction AI is heading, you naturally start thinking about generational wealth so your kids will be OK even in the worst-case scenario.
Unfortunately, FIRE makes building generational wealth harder, not easier. Do you really want to be that selfish to only think about your own freedom when your children will graduate school in an economy that does not welcome them?
Right now, because I have no realistic employment options, the path of least resistance is to stay retired. Ironic, but true.
Back in 2023, I did work part-time at a fintech startup for four months. It was a good experience that boosted my confidence that I could get hired again if I really wanted to. But that clock is now expiring, as that was three years ago.
That same four months also reminded me exactly why I left in the first place. I'm not built for meetings, commuting, and giving up my time for someone else's dreams.
But I'll admit it. After buying my house and living paycheck to paycheck for six months, it felt really good to have steady active income again. If I'd been making two to five times that amount, leaving would have been way too hard.
Being Honest About Your FIRE Odds
The conclusion I've come to: if you want to FIRE, do it young (under 45). It's easier to pick yourself up off the road after getting hit when you're young and still have Wolverine-level regenerative powers. After 45, the recovery just isn't the same.
If you can, take a paid two or three month sabbatical to test the waters first. A one month sabbatical is simply not long enough to give you a real taste of what retirement is actually like. Besides, the first month of a sabbatical is usually paid, which can give you a false sense of security.
If I were sitting in a Managing Director seat today with two young kids at home, there's maybe a 20% chance I'd muster the courage to negotiate a severance and walk.
The other 80%? I'd tell myself to suck it up and grind at least until my youngest graduated high school in 2038. My daughter is six, so that's 12 more years. I'd be 61.
And being honest with myself, I'd probably feel pressure to work four more years to cover college too. The most expensive private universities will cost over $160,000 a year in tuition alone by then. So call it 65.
That's not early retirement. That's just retirement.
Hence, the best time to take the leap is the moment it scares you most, not the moment it finally feels safe. Because if you wait for absolute certainty, you'll likely never try.
Reader Questions
Do you think it's harder to retire early at 35 or at 50? Have your golden handcuffs gotten tighter as your income has grown?
For those of you who left a high-paying job in your 40s or 50s, what finally pushed you over the edge? And for anyone who went back to work after retiring early, was the return easier or harder than you expected?
Finally, if you're a parent, has having children made you more likely to keep grinding or more determined to get out?
Negotiate an Exit
If you're thinking about leaving a job you no longer want, don't quit. Get laid off instead. Negotiating a severance is what gave me the financial runway and the peace of mind to walk away in 2012 with deferred compensation plus a six-figure check. Pick up a copy of How To Engineer Your Layoff to learn how to negotiate a severance yourself. Use code “saveten” to save $10 at checkout.
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Everything I write is based on firsthand experience since 2009, because money is too important to be left up to pontification.
Wife and I are 41, live in the SF Bay Area, we’re both burned out. We prioritized investing in our 20s and 30s, so have $6M in investments, $3M in our primary residence – which strangely doesn’t feel like a lot around here. We work in tech (but non-technical roles, so the pay is good, but not what most consider ‘big tech’ comp).
Every December, we fantasize about dropping out and taking completely different jobs (e.g., working at smaller, local businesses that don’t require commuting but provide basic benefits – e.g., my wife would love to work as a kindergarten teacher – like her mom, who worked in elementary schools her entire life, she can’t get enough “little kid energy”). We enjoy working, just not ‘grinding’ which seems very much the Bay Area way, and the idea of fully retiring doesn’t appeal to us. The pain is real and is taking a physical toll with poor sleep and a lack of personal time. How do we ‘pull the trigger’?
My wife did this very thing. She was a nurse for about 10 years. Once our oldest daughter started school my wife quit nursing and became a para at our daughter’s grade school. She was so good at the para job the school offered her a teaching position. She’s been a teacher for about 4 years now and said it was the best decision she ever made. She too loves the little kid energy.
It’s very individual and context dependent. I took a buyout at 54 and had a 6 month sabbatical. I decided I still wanted to work and pivot industries and joined a small private company. Landed at 85% of my previous comp (because of the industry switch) but 3 years later got promoted and am actually well above previous comp in a much better growing industry that I find fascinating.
My kids are all out of university and work is truly optional. But we’re traveling and enjoying the life we want even while growing our investments. It’s freeing to enjoy your work and life.
Nice! With the kids already all grown up, you’re free to do whatever you want.
I retired at 51, not really by choice. The original plan was to retire at 55, when our kid graduates college. However, my employer offered us old-timers a voluntary package that didn’t feel entirely voluntary, so I took it. And yes, I know that I have very little chance of getting rehired in big tech.
Where my thinking differs from yours is on the question of lifestyle creep. Knowing that we wanted to retire relatively early, we have kept our lifestyle reasonable. Despite solid incomes, we stayed in the home that we purchased for $350K 15 years ago. We recently had to replace both our cars, so we purchased good quality pre-owned vehicles. We do love to travel extensively, but this is an easy financial lever to adjust as needed. Otherwise, we’ve been saving and investing aggressively, to the tune of nearly 30% of our income.
We had a 15-year runway to FIRE, and it was cut short by four years. Between keeping a tight control on lifestyle creep, and frankly the outstanding market returns over the past few years, leaving four years early at 51 didn’t feel all that risky.
Sounds good. How did you think about spending time and money on your children? If you have any? That’s where a lot of the lifestyle creep comes in because you want everything for your kids.
That’s a great question!
We have one kid, who just started a 4-year program at an out-of-state college, and his full tuition and expenses are held in CDs so there is no risk to his future. While he was growing up, we were able to put him in the sports, music lessons and activities that he wanted, and I never felt that any of this was prohibitively expensive. When he got his driver’s license, he got a good quality pre-owned vehicle, same as my wife and me. And of course, the travel… We’ve been able to take him on truly memorable family trips across four continents in the past ten years.
But these are all point-in-time expenses – A summer football camp, a pre-owned car, the cost of a summer holiday in Europe. In my mind, lifestyle creep means taking on a larger mortgage, buying a vacation property, or being locked into payments on a nicer car. These are expenses that you can’t dial up or dial down based on your financial situation, and we have diligently avoided taking on such financial commitments.
I always love reading your perspectives and reasoning. Personally, it was easier for me at 53 than trying to do this in my 30s. At this point in my life, I just have more knowledge and wisdom, and feel more confident in my ability to make this happen. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that my kids are now out of the house.
In addition, I paid off my house prior to doing this, which was not an option in my 30s.
Everyone’s mileage will vary, and can also see doing this earlier as you wrote about.
> Comp you’re walking away from : ~$150,000 : ~$350,000
I would like to see an article addressing closer to average earnings.
How about people with pay of 40,000 that didn’t rise from their 30s to their 50s?
Harder to FIRE on lower income, but also easier to leave a lower income job.
But FIRE is mostly a math issue done over a long enough time.
Your thoughts?
Great topic. Agree FIRE in 50s is harder, but I had a late start. Worked in service industry in my 20s. Went to college non- trad, and didn’t graduate until I was 29. First ‘real job’ at 30. Had kids at 33 and 35. Essentially, no savings until 45 when I transferred into IT management through networking not knowledge (lol) Self paid college for both kids (no 529) as I went. 1 yr left for youngest and will FIRE at 57. Large public pension, house paid, inheritance (unexpected), and of course, other investments. Excited! Key for me has always been focus on getting kids set up well for the world, taking it day to day, so I don’t have the concerns you mention for 50s FIRE. Just low key life. Family, friends.
I’m 38, NW about 2.5m. 500k real estate equity, 2m in the market (1.4m after tax; 600k retirement). Had been thinking I would retire around 40 with $3m net worth. Just had first child 5 months ago and now wondering if I should hold on until I’m 45ish with closer to $4-5m net worth to cover increased costs associated with having a child and partner on one income. After having some time at home for paternity leave it has been much harder to want to continue working and I really enjoyed the time at home with my daughter. I think if I wanted I could retire now as my finances are a little unique that I do have 2 investment properties in addition to my primary residence that typically net around $50k a year allowing me to save a large portion of my $225k salary but I would feel the need to cut back on some discretionary expenses. I’ve also never had off more than 2 weeks at once since my first job at age 16 so I don’t know how I’d feel after months and unfortunately I cannot take a sabbatical from my employer (work in healthcare). I’ve also been toying with the idea of trying to get a few more rentals over the next few years and have that be my “job” once I retire as I do enjoy fixing things up, reselling, renovating, etc. For now I plan to continue on to at least 40 and see how things progress.
It’s tough bc the first 5 years of a child’s life is the most precarious and important for development, then they are off to school full time.
Maybe max out all vacation days and find a new job with more flexibility days the next 3 years? You won’t regret spending more time with your little one.
Then go back and grind when they are in school FT.
Getting a more flexible part-time job is also a great idea, I have put out some feelers.
Yeah, it’d be nice to ramp down for a few years until the kids are off to school. Unfortunately, I work in AI, and the job may just not be there in the same form in a few years…
I’m 38, NW about 2.5m. 500k real estate equity, 2m in the market (1.4m after tax; 600k retirement). Had been thinking I would retire around 40 with $3m net worth. Just had first child 5 months ago and now wondering if I should hold on until I’m 45ish with closer to $4-5m net worth to cover increased costs associated with having a child and partner on one income. After having some time at home for paternity leave it has been much harder to want to continue working and I really enjoyed the time at home with my daughter. I think if I wanted I could retire now as my finances are a little unique that I do have 2 investment properties in addition to my primary residence that typically net around $50k a year allowing me to save a large portion of my $225k salary but I would feel the need to cut back on some discretionary expenses. I’ve also never had off more than 2 weeks at once since my first job at age 16 so I don’t know how I’d feel after months and unfortunately I cannot take a sabbatical from my employer (work in healthcare). I’ve also been toying with the idea of trying to get a few more rentals over the next few years and have that be my “job” once I retire as I do enjoy fixing things up, reselling, renovating, etc. For now I plan to continue on to at least 40 and see how things progress.
I thought for sure I’d be retired by now – mid-forties, kids’ 529 plans are done, enough in retirement accounts that I can stop contributions and get to my goal with a conservative 5% real return, and enough commercial real estate income to cover my share of our old burn rate- but then I got talked into a big house with a view and a big mortgage to go with it, and most of our taxable investments are illiquid in VC funds, so I’m still grinding with no end in sight. I’m thinking once I have 3x annual expenses liquid in my brokerage, I’ll just retire. My spouse wants to keep going for another decade, and was the driver of the big mortgage, and we are stretched thin right now, even with a ton of outside help. Retirement sounds so nice. I won’t retire until I have 100% certainty because AI can do most of what I do, so my big income years are fleeting.
Hello, 49 turning 50 in December. For me 50 seems easier than it would have been @ 35. My finances are much stronger and I feel better financially educated to plan for a workless future. ~$5.5MM net worth 50/50 split between retirement/taxable accounts, + $550K rental property + $1MM business equity (my portion with partner). Home is paid off with $0 debt across the board. Bring in blended ~$400K/yr (biz income, investments, etc). Wife works for our business which would stop once we sell. 2 daughters, 12 & 13. I feel very comfortable planning for passive income to support our lifestyles but what holds me back: 1) the one more year disease (I would like to hit a $10mm nw, even thought I don’t need it), 2) rising cost of healthcare insurance, 3) kids competitive activities & other expenses that I never planned for or even knew about when younger. We live in Florida, relatively frugal but live a good life. $150K in 529 accounts although my kids can get full academic rides to FL state colleges when the time comes. I had set a target to retire @ 50, so sometime in 2027, sell the business, and live off passive income. I feel afraid to do so but I don’t really understand the root causes of my fear. Not because I will not feel marketable any more. I left corp America 10 years ago to go self employed. I outlined some holdbacks, but beyond those the overall state of the world scares me. I don’t love what I do any more, my business is a retail based business that will never be worth a crazy amount of $, but 15-20 work hrs/week for a steady income and some mild to moderate headache is not all that bad. Maybe actually pulling the trigger as planned @ 50 and allowing time to settle in to the new environment will take the fears away. Definitely could not do this @ 35 though. I feel it has taken at least 10+ years of following you Sam, and other FIRE sites to learn, steal ideas and guidance from (thank you!) to get to the here & now.
Hello, 49 turning 50 in December. For me 50 seems easier than it would have been @ 35. My finances are much stronger and I feel better financially educated to plan for a workless future. ~$5.5MM net worth 50/50 split between retirement/taxable accounts, + $550K rental property + $1MM business equity (my portion with partner). Home is paid off with $0 debt across the board. Bring in blended ~$400K/yr (biz income, investments, etc). Wife works for our business which would stop once we sell. 2 daughters, 12 & 13. I feel very comfortable planning for passive income to support our lifestyles but what holds me back: 1) the one more year disease (I would like to hit a $10mm nw, even thought I don’t need it), 2) rising cost of healthcare insurance, 3) kids competitive activities & other expenses that I never planned for or even knew about when younger. We live in Florida, relatively frugal but live a good life. $150K in 529 accounts although my kids can get full academic rides to FL state colleges when the time comes. I had set a target to retire @ 50, so sometime in 2027, sell the business, and live off passive income. I feel afraid to do so but I don’t really understand the root causes of my fear. Not because I will not feel marketable any more. I left corp America 10 years ago to go self employed. I outlined some holdbacks, but beyond those the overall state of the world scares me. I don’t love what I do any more, my business is a retail based business that will never be worth a crazy amount of $, but 15-20 work hrs/week for a steady income and some mild to moderate headache is not all that bad. Maybe actually pulling the trigger as planned @ 50 and allowing time to settle in to the new environment will take the fears away. Definitely could not do this @ 35 though. I feel it has taken at least 10+ years of following you Sam, and other FIRE sites to learn, steal ideas and guidance from (thank you!) to get to the here & now.
Hello, 49 turning 50 in December. For me 50 seems easier than it would have been @ 35. My finances are much stronger and I feel better financially educated to plan for a workless future. ~$5.5MM net worth 50/50 split between retirement/taxable accounts, + $550K rental property + $1MM business equity (my portion with partner). Home is paid off with $0 debt across the board. Bring in blended ~$400K/yr (biz income, investments, etc). Wife works for our business which would stop once we sell. 2 daughters, 12 & 13. I feel very comfortable planning for passive income to support our lifestyles but what holds me back: 1) the one more year disease (I would like to hit a $10mm nw, even thought I don’t need it), 2) rising cost of healthcare insurance, 3) kids competitive activities & other expenses that I never planned for or even knew about when younger. We live in Florida, relatively frugal but live a good life. $150K in 529 accounts although my kids can get full academic rides to FL state colleges when the time comes. I had set a target to retire @ 50, so sometime in 2027, sell the business, and live off passive income. I feel afraid to do so but I don’t really understand the root causes of my fear. Not because I will not feel marketable any more. I left corp America 10 years ago to go self employed. I outlined some holdbacks, but beyond those the overall state of the world scares me. I don’t love what I do any more, my business is a retail based business that will never be worth a crazy amount of $, but 15-20 work hrs/week for a steady income and some mild to moderate headache is not all that bad. Maybe actually pulling the trigger as planned @ 50 and allowing time to settle in to the new environment will take the fears away. Definitely could not do this @ 35 though. I feel it has taken at least 10+ years of following you Sam, and other FIRE sites to learn, steal ideas and guidance from (thank you!) to get to the here & now.
Im 46, I had planned to retire last year but a massive renovation that has gone on 3 years and 3x over budget has completely sucked all my confidence along with about 1 million in cash that would be generating income. I’m a technology manager and am in fear of loosing my job. I have been grinding for 32 years, basically sacrificing my life to retire early but now with AI, I’m afraid I will never get another high paying job.I would be walking away from 360k base salary and 40 to 50k bonus.
I have a daughter in college and two kids in high school. I have about 200k in 529 savings but it went incredibly fast with my oldest who is graduating this year.
I am confident my skills have eroded so much and AI is so much better at coding than I ever was that I will never get another high paying job at my age.
I have two second homes, one in Scottsdale and one in Leavenworth. Lifestyle creep is real. It’s also incredibly hard to go back to extreme austerity. I plan on selling my Scottsdale place but I will take a big tax hit.
I love the house I renovated but feel like an idiot for blowing up my financial security. I feel like its way harder to let go now, mainly because it would be a big Lifestyle hit and I am worried about my 3 kids making it in a world of AI.
Thank you for your honesty and sharing how you feel. I hate remodeling with a passion now that I’m 49 years old. And I never wanna do it again. But I will tell you this or hope #: you’re gonna feel incredible once the remodel is finished forever. It always feels terrible during the process, but once it’s over, you will appreciate the Remodel like no other. And once that. Startz, you’ll be able to rebuild your cash to feel more secure every single month. And once your oldest has graduated from college, at least that expense is done.
A good mindset to have would be to just hang on until all your kids graduated from college or just hang on until AI takes over and you get a servant package. Either way you have assets to sell and you had a great ride. And I’m guessing your net worth is in the multiple millions. So hang tough! Everything will be OK.
And if you need someone to go through your finances and help you come up with a plan, you can Google my personal finance consulting page with the details.
I just got done speaking with a reader last week, and I’ll be speaking to another reader next week. What you are going through is actually quite common, so know that you are not alone.
Isn’t this pretty simple? You own three homes. Sell two of them. If college payments are burdensome, choose a different college or payment arrangement. None of this appears to be related to AI.
Very timely article for me. I’m 45 and “retiring” at the end of next week. I’ve spent nearly 25 years grinding up the corporate ladder. I have been very fortunate (and worked extremely hard) particularly during the last 10 years to significantly increase my net worth to a point where objectively I should be able to sustain my lifestyle forever and the same for my daughter for her lifetime. Despite this instead of skipping out of the door, I am still anxious about handing the golden lottery ticket back on the way out. This article is absolutely correct that in 2 or 3 years time it will be very difficult for me to rejoin the workforce and the opportunity cost of me not working for the next 10 years is realistically the ability to double my net worth. Sam, I recall that in one of your articles a few years ago you concluded that around 45 was the ideal age at which to retire…really hope that you were right!
It’s a really trippy decision for the complexity of the result of your decision to FIRE which to everything you’ve worked towards equals “nothing” in comparison to staying the course at your job which results in the experience of everything you know with the added bonus of extra money in the bank. It was almost impossible for me to understand what that “nothing” meant and how meaningful having my life to experience more purely, a full day, is like, the way I want to live it not for the extra money or sense of self I established working at a job for such a long time. It felt a little sad working but it also feels sad after FIRE too but if you have a loved one, or aspects of life that are pulling at your heart and mind to explore, you only have one shot at this to embody a life lived fully. Good luck with your decision, it’s a difficult one.
I FIREd at 60 with a 7 and 10 year old. Everyone around me us saying it is early to retire anyway.
FIRE’d at 37 with 2 kids below 3 and spouse (who retired 5 years before me). Best decision ever. The early years with your children and time now with your parents and loved ones while they’re fit and healthy is time you’ll never get back.
At 38 I retired from the military reserves and vested into local gov pension. Two pensions I can’t yet collect, but 1.5 mill and two young kids. I resigned my job, while my wife worked. Best 2.5 years of my life. No regrets! I get paid to take care of my parents and receive disability. Bought my house in during the Great Recession, which is why I can live a relatively low cost of living lifestyle here in the Bay Area.
After 2.5 years of daddy daycare, my youngest started school. Net worth climbed to 2.7 mill and I unexpectedly found myself back at work at 41. I was not looking, but opportunity came knocking. It’s flexible, with benifits and rewarding. My wife decided to resign, because public school isn’t designed for two working parents. 100% of my income from work gets saved and invested.
It’s nice to work because Its fun to challenge myself with projects, talk to adults on a regular basis and serve the public. I also know I never want to get promoted and deal with politics or drama. Knowing I can leave moments notice to pick up my kids or see their school assemblies makes it very easy to stay.
If I can convince my employer to give me a three month sabbatical every summer, I don’t know if it’s worth leaving this job until the kids go off to college. Maybe if the kids really get into sports or something competitive where I would shuttle them to all the practices.
I had this idea that we could do home school for a year and live in different countries every 90 days or so ( visa dependent) till we got sick of it. If I get the sabadical then I could work a few more years :)
If we didn’t have kids, there is no way me and my wife would be working. We would constantly be traveling.
Thanks again for VCX.
I can understand what you’re saying. It’s sadly true that there are fewer job opportunities in one’s 50s especially now more than ever with AI. The way we process and act on risk also changes with age too. Great food for thought. Thanks!
I had a different path. I worked my way through a university degree in Anthropology working about 20 hours a week to pay the bills. After graduation, I was still working part time (go figure… lol). I was in my mid-twenties living in Seattle in the early 90s… what was there not to like? Playing disc golf during the day, shooting pool and drinking beer at night with buddies. Wash, rinse, repeat. Eventually I got 2nd part time job in the early morning as a Barista. A few months later, I got accepted into graduate school at the University of California… Santa Barbara… lol (big party school at the time). Short story long, I hated grad school and dropped out. But I had started an espresso business at the local hospital to earn money and I loved it! Did that gig for more than a decade. working full time, not making a much money, but living in Santa Barbara… what’s not to like? Eventually my wife and I started having kids and I said to myself, I don’t want to be slinging espresso drinks when I’m 40. So I went back to night school at the City College at age 33 with a wife and two young sons. The espresso business was running itself by then, we had about 10 employees and a manager – all college kids. I worked about 12 hours a week. When I finished night school about 2 years later, I got an entry level job in network administration with a local firm. Total income was about $65K in 2001 between the job and the espresso business. About 4 years later I started my own tech firm. Worked that business for about 20 years. Sold it in 2022 for $3M and had about a $5M net work and retired at 59.
Got to love your journey! Thanks for sharing. It’s really cool to see how different people go through life and end up where they are.
Now my days are spent figuring out what to do with VCX and legacy planning… lol
Wow, what a great story! Thanks for telling us, congrats on it
It was an unusual wild ride to be sure! lol
This post hits home. 41 years old, married, 2 young kids, making the most I’ll probably ever make again in tech. $8.6M net worth in cash and stocks. Tired of being stretched thin. Worried about AI and the job market for my kids. I feel like I’m playing FIRE on easy mode and each quarterly vest is an easy way to build FI for my kids. I bought your book and started reading it so I’m starting to think about negotiating my own layoff.
At $8.6M Net Worth, you should retire forever tomorrow. I’m 60 with a NW of $6M (retired a year ago) and I don’t have a care in the world when it comes to finance.
But he’s so close to $10 million! Just one or two more good years and he’ll be there.
Ah, the one more year syndrome in effect!
He’ll hit $10M no matter what after he’s already retired. I was at $5M last year when I retired. Now I’m at $6M and I’m spending money like a drunken sailor… well not really, but we bought a modest second home in Wyoming and we’re still investing. Well actually, I’m working the next 2 or 3 years to actively DIVEST. We hold several illiquid private investments (my old tech company is one of them). That’s my day job now… lol
Most likely, but no guarantees. We could easily correct by 20% and he could be down to $7 million.
So to feel good about $10 million, you probably need closer to $13 million-$15 million. And that is the money psychology of it all.
This seems to be a common thing where people have more than when they retired with. Hard to believe when I haven’t experienced that for myself. I’m sure I’ll look back on all this in 5-10 years and think to myself, why didn’t I quit sooner.
We also have some illiquid private investments that I don’t include in our net worth (part of the reason why we have as much as we do). For your illiquid private investments, does divesting those take a lot of work?
Thanks for reading. That’s the thing, once you work in tech or know about AI, he started realizing how devastating it could be for our young children. So then you start calculating how many millions you need to save up for each child for them to be OK.
41 is still pretty young. But if you are truly tired and wanna do something else, I would set the age to pull the rip cord at 44 or 45 at the latest.
Thanks. Leaning towards sticking it out through the year since the holidays tend to be chill and then start my layoff negotiations in January. Gives me some time to finish reading your book and come up with a plan.
It assumes you have even the option to FIRE. At age 35 yes I was sick of the corporate world but after bills, 401k contribution, and treating ourselves to one vacation a year and eating out maybe 2-3 times a month, I was happy to be able to put away another $250 a month. 200k in savings at age 35 with two young kids and a mortgage, FIRE not an option.
I would have needed 2M to even sniff the 20x annual expenses rule, or the even 5% rule. I would say to have the option to FIRE at 35 is really only a choice for single or those who started early in finance or tech. I was gainfully employed as an engineer from age 24, But making 40k starting salary back then will not get you to FIRE by age 35 unless you want to live in a SUV. By age 45 maybe.
I kind of agree with you. But if you start early enough and you have that fire mindset when you’re in your teens or early 20s, I think it’s possible to get out by 35 or 40. Because you will naturally just live within your means and try to save whatever you have.
My base salary in 1999 for my first job is $40,000 a year living in Manhattan. That’s like $23,000 a year living in Dallas. It was not a lot of money, but I forced myself to share a studio with a coworker and save every other paycheck. The food came from the Company cafeteria, and I just went on a mission to save and invest as much as possible.
The thing is, I knew from the very first month of work that I couldn’t sustain getting into work by 5:30 AM and leaving after 7 PM for 30+ years.
So the pain gave me motivation to find a way out. And maybe that’s the thing. If you get a decent job, that’s not very painful, you kind of just go with the motion and don’t do anything extreme to change your life in the future.
Related: https://www.financialsamurai.com/achieving-financial-independence-on-a-modest-income/
I had a $500K inheritance, 2 rentals and underpriced Intel stock to sell at 53 years old. It seemed doable so I took the leap. Got my Real Estate license, sold my stock and bought more rentals That was 19 years go. Smartest move I ever made.
Your examples of folks FIRE-ing at 35 include people who failed at doing it and went back to work. So, I’m not sure if that counts as retiring early.
True. The two are more examples of people trying something else and doing something they were passionate about. But they decided forget it, but at least they tried.
I also share my example. The people I know who retire early or down Shift never end up doing nothing. Instead, I end up finding something they are passionate about doing and will continue to do it as long as they think it’s rational.
I FIRE’d at 35 when my son was 7. Never looked back. It has been well worth it to have the extra time with him over the last 8 years. I didn’t work for awhile, but got bored. I finally found work I have a passion for and that fills my days while my son is at school. No idea how long I’ll do it, but I guess as long as I still enjoy it. We don’t need the money, (we have more now than we did when we FIRE’d) but it does provide an extra sense of security. I agree with FS – take the plunge when you’re young and still have the “I’ll figure it out” mindset.
That’s great and I hope your relationship with your son is stronger than ever. When he’s an adult, I think he will appreciate your effort in time you spent with him more than anything.
$5.3mm in brokerage + $1.2MM in real estate equity. Texas residence. $350-400K annual spend including 3 kids private school. Impossible, right?
How long have you been experiencing the one more year syndrome? Nothing is impossible. I believe you can break free from work eventually.
I’m 34 and the idea of retirement is enticing. I do feel the weight of wanting to provide fully for my family, and I wonder if I would ever really stop working. My current idea of how it will go is thus: I’ll work full time until I know my family is financially free. Then I’ll only do work that is most worth my time (most enjoyable projects, most profitable, easy money). Ideally that would look like 3 or 4 hours of work per day. Enough for extra fun money, and significant charity. Assuming AI doesn’t take my job before then ;)
3-4 hours a day is a great balance.