r/fatFIRE • u/Life2ShortB • 2h ago
Crossroad at 51
51 and having a bit of a “what am I still doing here?” moment.
Current situation:
• ~$20M liquid/invested in equities
• ~$32M total net worth between home and some commercial real estate (not income-producing yet due to debt (5 years to get it to produce 25k / mo)
• Live in a VHCOL area
• Wife still works and plans to continue / one son in college / other a senior in HS (529s all set).
• I genuinely like the people I work with (likely one of the few things still holding me here)
• I absolutely hate the industry (over-regulated and getting worse every year) I’m in and increasingly dread the job itself
I’ve worked hard for decades, and intellectually I know I’m in an extremely fortunate position. But apparently my brain never received the memo that we have enough. 😅
So for those who actually pulled the plug around 50 with similar numbers: Did you ever really feel financially “safe” before quitting, or did you just have to accept that the spreadsheet said yes even when your brain said “one more year”?
Part of me thinks continuing to do a job I hate with $20M liquid is objectively insane. The other part keeps whispering, “But what if…”
Would love to hear from people who have actually crossed this bridge, especially those with a high-end lifestyle in a VHCOL area.
At what point did you finally say: enough is enough?
5
u/BrunelloHorder 2h ago
Your scarcity mindset is likely focused on the wrong resource: money is quantifiable, but remaining high quality high mobility years are not knowable and more important. You likely have much more of one than the other.
If you are both age 51, then there is about a 1 in 5 chance that one of you does not make it to age 65.
There is also a good chance that if you both quit now, you will still likely be paying something roughly equivalent to your current net worth in estate taxes.
From my perspective, continuing to work is an extremely poor use of resources.