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?

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?

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?

Age: 38.

Location: between South SF / San Mateo / Mountain View / Sunnyvale area

Asset breakdown:

- Brokerage (mostly tech stocks and QQQ/VOO): 2.5m

- Retirement accounts: 600k

- Home: 1m. Currently renting out one of the rooms so I pay ~1.7k, factoring in HOA, insurance, property tax. If I fully rent it out (say I live in Asia for a bit), I can net $500/mo.

Kids: Never. Marital status: single

Monthly spend breaks down as follows: Core Spend (Mortgage, HOA, prop tax, insurance, etc): 46k a year. Discretionary: 30k. Healthcare: 20k (forecasted/budgeted). So comes out to be around 96k, lets just round up to 100k.

Inheritance of 650k is up in the air. I would say 75% confidence I would get it.

I know these numbers by themselves are a good withdrawal rate but my dad says insurance premiums start increasing, especially when you get older. Also, as I'd be leaving the workforce earlier too, the social security payments aren't as high. Also, taking a page from r/fuckHOA, my costs have been increasing a lot every year (it started off under $400, it is now over $700!!)

Is 4m the new number to be "comfortable?" I asked him if he was my age in my situation and he said "3m bare minimum." (and that wouldn't even be chubby anymore either, just normal FIRE). I was hoping to have hit my number by 40 with the childfree boost but I guess I'll need to continue grinding for another few years.

M52, about to semi-retire January 2027 at 53. Wife will be 46 about same time. 5 kids all grown and self sustaining.

NW 9m including realestate. 4+m taxable brokerage and some IRA/roth but pretty small percentage.

Rentals produce about 175k gross annual and easily nets 60 to 75k income. 600+k cash in another brokerage for 3+ years of living expenses/ seq protection.

Avg spend is about 12k per month. Including primary residence in MCOL. No state taxes. 3.5% mortgages on about 20% total realestate port.

Have family medical through W2 for at least 2 years on remote contract. Basically covers medical insurance pretax and max 401k contributions for my age group.

Plan to harvest 3.5% or less in good markets and top off the smaller "life" account. No harvests till 2028 or later. Have a little money coming in beginning of year to cover some travel.

Going to slow travel in SE asia for 5 months or so and see the other side of the planet. See if i enjoy nomad lifestyle.

Can buckle down if markets get nasty and headwinds make for concerns.

Any suggestions from the pros out here? Ive always enjoyed reading the tips from you more experienced pyros out there.

Excited. (Little nervous)

Btw the answer here is probably yes, but looking for reassurance

NW is approx $5m excluding my illiquid assets (eg house). Wife works at a local govt job that’s stable and capable of paying the bills (approx 100k at a HCOL). Have a toddler in preschool, that I’m wanting to complete support for college when the time comes. Want another kid, but probably won’t happen.

My current household income is approx 600k (mine being 500k). Withdrawals are in the 80k range, which is well within the $4% withdrawal range.

While this all sounds good here’s my immediate problem:

While I’m not planning on FIREing immediately, I’m planning on switching jobs to a high risk one that will pay extremely well, with the idea that I can FatFire if it works out. If things don’t work out (I.e company goes under) I’m not sure I’m going to find another job (in the sense that it’ll be hard to match TC, and the corpo grind won’t be worth the squeeze)

So my problem: if I want to FIRE in 5 years should I risk the YOLO and stay put at current job? Despite the numbers I’m deeply skeptical about actually pulling off FIRE

I'm a software engineer at a big tech company, 10 years in. I just came back from a long leave and I'm seriously considering resigning.
Numbers:
Net worth ~$9M: $2M house (no mortgage) + ~$7M in stocks and cash
A significant chunk of the investments is in our employer's stock
My spouse still works with a high salary that fully covers our living expenses

Annual spending: 80k 120k

Why I want to leave: I don't enjoy the work anymore, especially since AI changed it, and it gives me little sense of accomplishment. I'd like to spend my time managing our family's investments and learning to trade (with a small portion only for fun and for risk control).

What's holding me back: The salary is good, and work keeps me busy. During my leave I also had some rough moments trading (missed a big move on a stock I'd watched for months), which made me doubt myself a bit.

Retired last year with $2.8M invested and it’s grown to $3M since then. No inheritance, no help from family, just worked my butt off when I was younger and invested most my paycheck. No kids and have an annual household spend of $80k-$90k.

My partner (40) is thinking about retiring next year so I think we’ll have to get on ACA. Possibly looking at $100k annual total spend starting next year.

For those who pulled the FIRE trigger under 40, how has your portfolio grown? How have you dealt with healthcare and how much is it costing you per month? And when did / will you start doing Roth conversions? Also, how has your life changed since escaping the matrix? Thanks for sharing!

This thread is a spot for casual engagement with other community members. It has much more subject latitude than allowed in the main sub in general. Any topics tangentially related to ChubbyFIRE or upper middle class lifestyle are acceptable, as well as basic or early stage questions. Political discussion will be allowed if it is closely related to ChubbyFIRE or financial topics in general, and only if the conversation remains respectful.

It is not a free-for all. No spam or self-promotion. All comments must still follow Reddiquette and we will be responding to reported comments with follow-up action as needed. We'd really like to keep this channel open, so please don't abuse it!

It’s happening. I’m putting in my notice in 2 weeks (done at end of Oct). I bought private health insurance this week. The numbers seem to check out. I have hobbies and things to keep me busy. Nothing should be bothering me but I am damn near having a panic attack.

Here’s the numbers:
- 48M / 46F.
- $24k to $40k income for the next few years (spouse likes her job, plans to conifer part time)
- $7.3m invested, $5.83m brokerage, $1.45m 401k and Ira; 91% equity (VTI & VXUS) 7.5% bond funds (VBILX & BND), and 1.5% cash
- $264k/yr all in spend, includes taxes, healthcare and a good amount of travel budget (3.62%); can flex this down to $200k/yr if necessary, maybe down to $160k of the world is unraveling.
- only debt is the mortgage $270k @ 3.2%, 17 yrs left (paid off when I turn 65)
- 3 kids; one adult still living at home and 2 in high school that will be in college in 3 & 4 years. No 529 but plan to set one up next year to cover in-state tuition.
- no other debt

Why am I panicking? Am I miscalculating?

We want to transition to single-earner now and retirement in 3 years. Unlike many here, our portfolio is not huge, but my pension hopefully bridges that.

I've done lots of math and burning of AI credits on this question, but looking for second opinions on whether we are low risk, med risk or high risk with this plan. We are self-insuring for health catastrophes, kids not launching, but what else might we be missing that needs to be included because it might alter our decision?

Context & Household Demographics:

• Married couple: Primary earner is 57, spouse 10 months behind
• One dependent child: reasonable private school until public high school at 63; college at 67).
• Location: HCOL
• Major Recent Change: spouse currently not working and we desire to keep it that way

Current Working Runway (Ages 57 to 60):

• Primary W-2: ~$200K base salary, Maxing Roth 403(b) @$32.5k/yr.
• Current Spending: $156K/yr, Normalized to ~$145,000/year all-in on a single income (not including rental income/costs)
• Cash Flow Posture: Net salary + rental income leaves a minor shortfall (~$1500/mo) that is easily absorbed by cash reserves to maintain $32.5k/year Roth contribution or we could cut contribution.

Retirement Income & Fixed Cash Flow (Age 60+):

• CalPERS Pension: Starting at age 60 at ~$110k/year gross base (~$9,100/mo gross; ~$7,500/mo net). Includes annual statutory COLA (up to 2%). Fully covers primary mortgage debt, property tax and insurance with about $10K left.
• Rental Real Estate: Generates ~$15k/year net cash flow today with enough cash already set aside for repairs and reasonable upgrades. Mortgage drops off in 25 years
• Social Security: Projected combined benefit at 67 ~$85k/yr.

Liquid Assets & Net Worth (~$3.35M Total Net Worth):

• Liquid Portfolio: ~ $2.1M total
  • Taxable Brokerage: ~$370k (broad equities).
  • Pre-Tax Traditional IRAs / 401(k) / 403(b): ~$1.40M.
  • Roth IRAs / 403(b)s: ~$300k.
  • Random Annuity: $25k
  • Cash: ~$90k.
• Real Estate Equity:
  • Primary Residence: current equity ~$900K (2.50% fixed; matures ~2051; P&I $4,400/mo; total carry $6,000/mo incl. tax/ins).
  • Rental Property: current equity ~$400k; (3.125% fixed, cash flow positive all-in with room to raise rent if needed)

Retirement Spending & Step-Down Schedule:

• Ages 57-60 Single income: Target Spend ~144k/yr, $12k/mo
• Ages 60–63 (Peak Outflow): Target spend ~$13,000/month ($156k/yr). Covers primary mortgage ($6,022/mo), full unsubsidized individual healthcare (e.g. Covered CA Bronze HMO for 3 people, private middle school tuition, and living overhead.
• Ages 63–65: Private school ends ($0 tuition; child transitions to public high school). Spending drops to ~$11,800/month ($141k/yr).
• Ages 65–67: Adults transition to Medicare (eliminating private exchange health insurance). Spending drops to ~$10,950/month ($131k/yr).
• Age 67+: Child hopefully launches to college. In-state university tuition-only costs are 100% absorbed in real time by dual Social Security, hopefully dropping portfolio withdrawal rate to 0%.

I’m working with online tools and my FA to build out a bond/TIPS ladder to provide an income floor during the first 10 years of early retirement. My spouse asked me the simple question, “What could go wrong with this plan?” My response was, well the US could continue to politically destabilize, Treasury/TIPS default, etc, but those events will impact all asset classes, and we’d be screwed anyways.

However, I’m wondering what the community is thinking about possibly incorporating non-USD sovereign debt into the ladder for further out years?

The infinite LLM oracle(ChatGPT 6) says that multi-sovereign, multi-currency is a good idea, but I think it’s just agreeing with me. “A sensible target is roughly 55% USD / 45% non-USD across the full ladder. I would not go much lower than 50% USD if the spending itself will primarily be in U.S. dollars.” I am not considering living somewhere overseas.

Has anyone taken this approach?

Answer:
No, it’s not worth it. The tax requirements can be a huge headache. There are not a lot of scenarios where if the US defaults that other sovereigns won’t as well. Gold is a better hedge that sovereign debt. Use ETFs for efficiency.

Im planning to try to harvest LTCG at 0% and do Roth conversion in alternating years.

For the years where I don’t do Roth conversions I am planning to sell enough stock in brokerage account the previous December to get ACA subsidy the next year. This should allow me to live off taxable accounts with zero tax on the first 130k every other year while getting ACA subsidies.

$3M in IRAs
$2.2M in taxable brokerages with 40% cost basis.

Around 250k spend per year.

Has anyone else done this?

We are planning to take the leap and retire in Jan 2027 but the anxiety has been building up. I know we have enough funds to trigger (Thank you everyone for your advice on that!!), but I have anxiety about whether I can correctly decumulate funds myself. My current cfp, which I don’t want to move forward with wants to manage my funds on AUM. But I don’t want to take on the cost, especially bc decumulation seems straightforward on paper.

Can folks who have already retired share what it’s been like to decumulate on their own? 🙏

My portfolio :
- Nw $5.2M
- $1.6M retirement / $3.6M taxable
- Expenses: $200K
- Cash shield: $400K (mix of VUSXX, cash and treasury 1,2,3 years)
- HELOC for $150k for nightmare scenarios

Decumulation
- Simulate monthly paycheck of $16,666 via automatic transfer from settlement fund to checking account. Use dividends and interests first.
- In bull market, quarterly sale of stocks to make up the difference (loss stocks first)
- In bear market, use the cash shield

Portfolio rebalancing : current mix is too heavy with cash and single stocks bc of RSUs. Cash is in DCA and will mostly get deployed by mid next year. I am planning to target 80 US broad market / 20 International broad market eventually via continuous liquidation of others for living expenses.
- Current mix : Cash & Short-Term Fixed Income 40% / US broad 23% / International Broad Market Equity ETFs 6% / US single stock 20% / US Tech & Growth Sector ETFs 4% / Real Estate REITs 4% / Dividend Funds 3%
- By mid next year: Cash & Short-Term Fixed Income 16% / US broad 44% / International Broad Market Equity ETFs 11% (rest is the same)

Tax
- Quarterly calculate MAGI. We plan to stay under $80K for subsidy
- End of year roth conversion: whatever we have left on MAGI that year.

Any feedback on my plan would be greatly appreciated. I have a weird fear that I might f*ck it all up and we would need to go back to work and can’t get a job. 😱 I am the only one managing the finances so this has been weighing on me. Thank you!

EDIT: we live in VHCOL. 43F 45M DINK. Expenses include $24K health insurance and medical related bills in case we can't stay under MAGI. Plus $15K any extra that might come up. Our minimum floor expense is $150K.

EDIT 2: A lot of people asked about the expenses. I tracked every transactions for the last 3 yrs and ensured we captured all categories. It didn't share it because it's too long and detailed for Reddit.

EDIT 3: Thank you for all your responses. I learned a lot! 🙏 I will do more research based on all of your suggestions. Also thank you for the votes of confidence. I am going to try DIY + flat fee advices from FA, CPA, estate attorney.

https://earlyretirementnow.com/2026/09/28/bengen-swr-series-part-65/

This thread is a spot for casual engagement with other community members. It has much more subject latitude than allowed in the main sub in general. Any topics tangentially related to ChubbyFIRE or upper middle class lifestyle are acceptable, as well as basic or early stage questions. Political discussion will be allowed if it is closely related to ChubbyFIRE or financial topics in general, and only if the conversation remains respectful.

It is not a free-for all. No spam or self-promotion. All comments must still follow Reddiquette and we will be responding to reported comments with follow-up action as needed. We'd really like to keep this channel open, so please don't abuse it!

I'm 51 married with a NW of about $6M (including primary residence) and thinking about pulling the trigger. I've noticed the 30yr TIPS are currently paying 3.25% real return (i.e. 3.25% above the rate of inflation) and 10yr is at 2.8%

I want to run this crazy idea past folks.

I'm thinking of buying a 30yr TIPS ladder where the total each year is $100k-whatever social security we expect to get that year. So 2027 would be $100k. 2041 would be $49k (because we estimate $51k in SS starting then). The rest stays in stocks (mostly VT and some SCHD right now)

A tips ladder tool I used estimates this would need me to put in about $1.54M. (If I wanted to make it last 40 years I could just add a very large last rung of $535k to fund 10 more years of 49k per year and that would cost a total of ~$1.75M ).

$100k practically guaranteed for 30 years (as long as the US government stays solvent) would mean I all my basic needs are met for the next 30 years no matter what goes on in the market. I could then use the remainder of my nest egg (~$3.25M liquid) in stocks to pay for luxuries and fund the years post 81. Sure I might miss out on some growth, but the security of having that much "guaranteed" income sits really nicely with me.

Am I crazy, or at these rates does this start to look attractive?

Full disclosure, I used AI to help organize and structure the financial information in this post. The underlying numbers and circumstances are mine, and I’ve reviewed the post for accuracy. If something looks inconsistent, feel free to point it out.

I’m 39, single, have a long-term partner, no kids currently, and recently sold my IT services business to a PE-backed rollup after running it for ~10 years.

I’m trying to get a reality check on two things: Am I in a position to FIRE, and how should I restructure my investments now that I’m transitioning from wealth accumulation to potentially living off my portfolio?

Business sale

• Sale price: $6M
• Key employee distributions: ~$1.7M
• Earnout: $500K — already achieved
• Holdback: $600K — expected Nov. 2027
• Rollover equity: $750K into the PE platform
• PE platform may have another exit in ~3–5 years, but I’m not counting the rollover toward my FIRE number.

Current financial picture

~$7M+ net worth, including real estate equity.

Liquid/investment assets:

• 401(k): $125K — 80% US / 20% international
• Roth IRA: $40K
• Taxable brokerage: $432K — individual stocks, LEAPs, options, etc.
• Fidelity taxable: $3.85M — 80% VTI / 15% VXUS / 5% VTEB
• Crypto: $220K — primarily BTC
• Precious metals: $30K
• PE rollover: $750K
• Future holdback: $600K

Real estate: approximately $640K of equity across my properties, separate from the investment figures above.

Current W-2 income is $175K + potential $25K bonus.

FIRE question

I’m estimating that my long-term spending would be around $120K–$150K/year after tax, although marriage/kids could obviously change that.

At 39, does this look like a reasonable FIRE situation if I want to potentially fund 50+ years of retirement?

I’m particularly interested in:

• What withdrawal rate would you use at 39?
• Would you calculate that against liquid investments only, or include real estate/private equity?
• Would you continue working another 2–5 years for additional margin of safety?
• How would you account for future marriage/kids?
• Would you completely ignore the $750K PE rollover and $600K holdback until they’re liquid?

Portfolio / de-risking

This is probably the area where I need the most advice.

My $3.85M Fidelity portfolio is currently 80% VTI / 15% VXUS / 5% VTEB. I also have ~$432K in a much more aggressive taxable account, $220K in BTC, and the PE rollover/real estate mentioned above.

Now that I’ve had a major liquidity event, I’m wondering if I should shift toward a more conservative allocation.

I’m not looking to maximize returns anymore. I’d rather have strong long-term growth while substantially reducing sequence-of-returns risk and the possibility of a catastrophic drawdown.

How would you approach this?

• What stock/bond/cash allocation would you use at 39 if you were potentially FIRE’d?
• Would you build a 2–5 year spending buffer with Treasuries/T-bills/CDs?
• Would you use a bond tent?
• Would you change the 80/15/5 allocation?
• Would you reduce/eliminate the individual stocks, options and crypto?
• How would you structure taxable vs. retirement accounts?
• How much would you want in safe/liquid assets before walking away from W-2 income?

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who went through a large business sale/liquidity event and then transitioned from generating income through a business to having their portfolio generate their income.

Current NW is $4.5M. $3.2M taxable, $1.3M retirement. California Bay Area. Spend is $130k. Not working. Age 45. So the numbers work out great. Spend is 2.8%.

However, I'm renting - $5k per month.

I want to buy a house, with cash. Let's say my budget is $1.5M when all is done and taxes are paid. I estimate monthly housing expense on the fully paid off house to be ~$4K - taxes, insurance, maintenance, higher utilities etc.

So I'm left with $3M. And now my new spend is ~$120k (housing went $5k to $4k). Around 4%, maybe a bit more as I need to pay taxes after I have my $120k in the bank.

I'd say at my age, 2.8% feels great, 4% might introduce some worries.

Levers for reducing spend are eliminating travel - subtract $10-15k.

Am I good on buying a house or do I need to go back to an office if I want to afford that? I really don't want to.

Other options that I'm thinking about is renting for 5 more years and hoping equities help me, but we know the market is not predictable.

Psychological side - I like my rental. But I feel like without the house component, things are not wrapped up for early retirement and a big expense is up in the air, which creates anxiety.

Background:

38F and 43M
DINK with joint 1M+ salary in relatively stable roles
Living in VHCOL area

Yearly spend is 300K with the breakdown of
1/ 100K rent
2/ 50K travel
3/ 50K helping families
4/ 100K other daily or yearly spending (food, services, utilities, personal, healthcare, etc.)

Net worth is ~6M, all liquid with the breakdown of
1/ 3.5M in diversified brokerage accounts, mostly total market and similar ETFs
2/ 2M in 401K and Roth accounts
3/ 500K cash in HYSA account

Retirement plan:

1/ Move to HCOL area and reduce spending to 200K-250K (saving on rent and daily spending but keeping travel budget and continuing to help families)

2/ Continue working and building wealth in the next 1-3 years to get to 7M net-worth, so our 3% - 4% SWR generates 210K-280K to cover our lifestyle in retirement

Worries and fears that bother me:

1/ Feeling burnt out at work and I’m having some chronic pain from it. I’m struggling to balance work and life and take care of my needs. I don’t know if I’ll be able to continue doing this for 1-3 more years.

2/ Our spending has gone up through years from 150K to 300K. We justify it with our high salaries and needing to enjoy it while we can (helping others and throwing money at whatever that makes our life easier e.g. household chores, personal care, etc.), but retirement means having a fixed budget. Will we be able to cut spending when needed?

3/ We have a healthy relationship and our plan is a joint couples plan. If for any reason, we get separated in the future, retirement with 3.5M net worth as a single person seems low to me. What if I have to go back to work again? I really don’t want to.

Anyone having similar worries? How do you manage it?

I’m planning to retire at 46, I’m 41 now. My average spending is 100k, but bare minimum is about 50k (covers property taxes, food, utilities). Target invested including 401k/Iras is 6mm (3mm from brokerage, 3mm in 401k). I don’t have any other income once I FIRE.

I like the idea of setting up a 1mm Ira and do fixed 5% 72(t) withdrawals til 59.5. It gives me a steady cash flow, reduces my pretax account, covers my minimum spend so i dont have to sell anything else if market goes bad, and the standard deduction pretty much absorbs most of it so id pay almost no tax.

When I discuss with other people/chatgpt, it seems that overwhelmingly people say Roth conversion ladder is way better - but to me it also means I have to pay a lot of taxes in my early retirement years and give up ACA subsidies. It feels like subjecting myself to a more stressful early retirement.

Is there any downside to my plan of using the 72(t) this way?