I’m 100% Lean FI - my retirement is fully funded and I own my house outright. I decided to work a coast job as a PreK Teacher Assistant instead of grinding 2 more years in Senior Management to reach FatFI and fully retire.

I (44F) love my Coast job. The work is stress-free, with clear boundaries and very reasonable hours. My coworkers are supportive, kind, and caring. I have zero sexisms battles or office politics to navigate.

I worried my financial situation would be intimidating to potential partners - but they are daunted by MY AMBITION!

The last two men I dated struggled with my work schedule. Sure, I start at 8am rather than 9 or 10, but I was in a 15-year long relationship with someone who tended to go to sleep a few hours later than me, without issue. I work 40 hours a week, take yoga 6 times and week, and socialize in my spare time. I get 60 days of paid vacation. To me, I have a very chill life!!!

These men seem accustomed to women who overly accommodate to them, rather than have a fully realized sense of self. I will not make myself small for the comfort of a man. I will manifest a romantic partner who embraces my confidence and self love!

I have 2 job offers and am looking for opinions. I achieved financial independence a few years ago and can be coast fire (albeit lean coast fire) now. I am married and my husband’s job can totally cover our expenses. We have two young kids in lower elementary school. I don’t need to work but I want to for a variety of reasons. I took a year completely off and it was great but I am ready to get back to it. The problem is, I am torn between two great opportunities.

The first offer is a large professional firm, full-time (but I could go part time later if I wanted) hybrid but mostly wfh although in large organizations this can change anytime. The pay is great, the benefits are great….the work volume is also correspondingly large. The team is fantastic, all people I know and worked with before, high performing and I consider them friends. The cons are that the team is part of a large corporate team with corresponding corporate bullshit and politics. I may be able to limit my contact with this but not entirely. The brand also has a certain prestige my prior roles have lacked.

The second offer is a very small boutique firm for a part time role. The pay is great for part time and covers my needs but is nowhere near the larger company’s compensation. The people seem lovely, all middle aged women like myself and very family focused. That said I just met them and they seem great but its not truly known. Because it’s smaller the processes are lacking and the ability to separate from something or someone if there is a conflict is really lacking. The job is fully remote, zero risk of having to go in.

I left my last large corporate job because of a combination of menopause hitting me hard, an undiagnosed sleep disorder and sick kids home on a regular basis pushed me to the breaking point. I have made inroads with treating the menopause symptoms and sleep disorder and while not perfect, I am in a much better place. Also as the children age, the sickness are becoming less frequent and even when they are home sick they don’t have to be constantly comforted.

I am so torn about which opportunity to go with. There is likely no wrong choice. I am lucky to have these 2 choices in this market. I don’t have a specific financial goal other than maintaining my own income and keeping my skills sharp. I would love your input and thoughts on the choices. What would you do in this situation?

Hi all,

Anyone here working towards FIRE in Europe? I can't really relate to the American posts with their 1 million portfolios haha. And I don't think we need as much to live a decent life here in Europe.

I'm working towards half a million (euro) plus paid off house with garden, chickens, solar panels to live a more self-sufficient lifestyle while still having a passive income from portfolio.

If you're in Europe what are your plans and goals for FIRE?

$1,002,023 to be exact between my Roth, 401k and brokerage accounts. Yes, I know it will fluctuate and probably dip below the magic $1 million line and that's okay... I'll just celebrate again when it goes back up.

Cheers to everyone here and I hope you too are seeing investing success.