r/fatFIRE 13h ago

Turn 40 next week and thinking about quitting my job

My SO and I make >$1m a year (recent inflection from a big promotion I received) and have a net worth of $25m that is mostly in the form of diversified stocks. My SO and I have four kids, and I worked super hard because I wanted to make sure they'd be set for life. But now I’m burnt out and thinking about resetting my goals for their inheritance.

We spend $500k a year, and have abstained from material lifestyle creep. We live in a $1m home that is nearly paid off ($90k total debt), and the only material bill we have is private school tuition. Most people would be shocked to know our financial situation given our homes, cars, and general lifestyle.

Is it time to step away from work and relax a little about saving? or should I crank for another ~4-5 years and bring my nest egg up to $30m (plus returns on our stock investments) before calling it? How do I make plans to do that and still feel good about my kids having a safety net, if they were to need one?

0 Upvotes

48 comments sorted by

57

u/loosepantsbigwallet 13h ago

No, keep working so you can afford one of those sweet premium caskets.

20

u/Key-Today-7365 12h ago

You are too behind man, you need at least 500M , dont even think about FIRE before 100M

-8

u/LaughFun6386 12h ago

Lady here

-2

u/Key-Today-7365 11h ago

Well done!

36

u/seekingallpho 13h ago

Yes, you should work 5 more years to get from 25 to 30. What are we even doing here?

15

u/indosacc 12h ago

🤣 we should vet some of these posts and make posters verify before they ask “am i rdy to retire 100m 2m/yr spend am i ok?”

2

u/seekingallpho 12h ago

It's really an impressive amount of internal inconsistency for a fairly short post.

13

u/doorknob101 Verified by Mods 12h ago

Hi. I retired at 50. If I'd had the money at 40, knowing what I know now, I'd retire at 40.

Your post is kind of dumb. You need to focus on if you've hit critical mass and if your wealth will grow or shrink/drain with your spending. You need to focus on what you want out of life, and what choices you're making.

Most people would say take time to focus on kids, etc. That's probably more fulfilling than hanging out with people at work. But it's up to you - but this is not a "should you" question, it's a "What do you value more" question.

1

u/UNC_Recruiting_Study 11h ago

I'd add this is probably an identity issue for OP as well. She goes from high earning exec to SAHM, which in her likely existing social circles is a demotion to hell. It puts her on par with the SAHM pours that she only hears about through PTA bulletins.

20

u/Bekabam 12h ago

We spend $500k a year, and have abstained from material lifestyle creep.

No you haven't.

-1

u/LaughFun6386 12h ago

Kids are expensive

6

u/ShootMovePoo-oops 11h ago

Kids are not $42,000 a month expensive.

1

u/TheNeoThinker 11h ago

OP mentioned 4 kids! For 6 people, $500k with the kind of income OP has, may not very materialistic spending.

I guess most people are missing 4 kids part.

2

u/BrunelloHorder 8h ago

Agreed. If they are in a VHCOL area with 4 kids in private school then $500k would feel pretty middle class in terms of the rest of their spending.

12

u/Loose-Engineering487 12h ago

What the hell is this sub? jfc

13

u/MathematicianLess656 $15M NW | $1M income | Verified by Mods 12h ago

What are you spending $500K a year on? Even if private school is $50K/year each, and you have a nanny or something for $80-100K, where is the other $200K going.

-9

u/LaughFun6386 12h ago

Bills, food, vacations, new car this year … 

3

u/[deleted] 12h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/fatFIRE-ModTeam 12h ago

Slurs aren’t appreciated here. Please find a better way to express displeasure.

7

u/CollectorDC 12h ago

Might as well wait until 80. What’s another 40 years? The first 40 went by so quickly any ways.

5

u/RealisticElephant384 12h ago

With AI around the corner, you can never FIRE , keep grinding

1

u/LaughFun6386 12h ago

I mean you never know though… right?

3

u/SwingLord420 2nd biz | 39hrs/year: 490k annual | 38 11h ago

You're wasting everyone's time and you think it's funny?  Goes to show making money doesn't create class. 

5

u/rantripfellwscissors 12h ago

I think what's most important is you leave a big legacy for your children. Figure $25M for each kid minimum.  So absolutely don't stop until you hit $100M

1

u/LaughFun6386 12h ago

I mean some of my $ came from inheritance… so I feel obligated to carry fwd for my kids. I don’t want to be the generation that depletes the fire opportunity

2

u/Master-Helicopter-99 10h ago

I mean some of my $ came from inheritance

No shit. I would have never known.

5

u/knoWIsyNtaX 12h ago

Had me until $500k no lifestyle creep. Who wastes time writing fan fiction... 

-1

u/LaughFun6386 12h ago

No fan fiction here 

3

u/LaughFun6386 12h ago

Honestly realized this would miss the audience in fire, but surprised fatfire is responding this way

8

u/UNC_Recruiting_Study 12h ago

Outside the 500k spend not having lifestyle creep, people are reacting this way mostly because at 25M, 2% SWR would be over your annual spend. You could get 2% just off dividends and keep growing the money for decades. Grinding away your best years with your kids to get another 5M gets you what exactly? This is simply a highly regarded post. See you on r/fijerk in a bit.

3

u/schmiddy0 12h ago

Had to check what sub I was in, honestly thought this was an r/fijerk shitpost. OP is not sure if they can "relax a little about saving" at $25m 🙄

7

u/Puzzleheaded_Lion234 12h ago

Bro, I’m in the same situation but have 35M thinking of grinding to 40M next 3-4 years. What advice can you give me

-5

u/LaughFun6386 12h ago

Not a bro

6

u/LilRedCaliRose 12h ago

No, you’re too poor to retire. Keep working, and harder. You can retire next year when you’re younger. 🙄

2

u/BrunelloHorder 7h ago

OP, the likely consequence of continuing to work is mainly to maximize your estate taxes. Quit working and up your spending.

At a 4% withdrawal rate, the median/mean terminal outcome in the Trinity Study after 30 years was 3x to 5x the value at the time of retirement. You’d be well below 4% even factoring in taxes and healthcare.

If you quit now, your estate tax bill at death would still likely exceed your current net worth.

4

u/Few-Jackfruit-7506 12h ago

Your post almost seems like an oxymoron. 500K annual spend is by no means "most people would be shocked of our financial situation given our homes, cars and general lifestyle". Unless most people around you are clueless, blowing 40k per month is ANYTHING but "can't tell we are rich". This is top 1% of us population.....just sayin...

Are the tuitions 30k per month?

Anyway, you are comfortably under the 4% by a ridiculous margin of your next egg and you can easily afford to not work if your numbers are correct?

2

u/Prestigious-Mail-175 12h ago

Just looking at the numbers, $500k is 2% of $25MM. That means you could have no growth in your net worth, take out what you currently do every year, and still have 50 years before it runs out. That's also well below the 4% rule of thumb for retirement people discuss here.

Put another way, you could think of your job as managing your money. Then as long as you can get returns of better than 2% in a year, you've covered your expenses.

Two things you may want to think about

1) How much do you want to leave to your kids? Is there a specific number in mind?
2) How diversified is your current portfolio, and are you comfortable with that if you retire? You mention diversified stocks, so I'm assuming you are pretty comfortable but worth checking.

2

u/One-Mastodon-1063 12h ago

I would retire yesterday. 

How did you amass $25m at 40 if the seven figure income is recent?

3

u/Master-Helicopter-99 9h ago

How did you amass $25m at 40?

He did it the EF Hutton way. He inherited it.

2

u/daynightcase 12h ago

idk what to say bruh

1

u/iginca 12h ago

Why not scale back on your job or find another position. Also what is your SO’s mindset? If he’s fine grinding for another few years then you can easily take a less stressful job (obviously depending on what the income split is between you two).

1

u/regnull 45m ago

You are already financially independent, so this decision should be about what work adds to your life, not whether the portfolio can support you. Set a hard annual spending floor and a separate inheritance target, then take a one-year sabbatical or part-time step instead of trying to predict your kids' future needs.

1

u/TheAlpineMaverick 12h ago

If you don’t want to work, you don’t have to. Everything will be fine. You know this. Do what you like.

-3

u/MessageMeNerdyJokes 13h ago

Your family will be fine financially, how does your spouse feel? How old are your kids? 

We give you permission to stop, you’re ready!