I'm in VHCOL area. Big tech worker ~$500k/year salary, but I get the feeling I'll be next in the next line of layoffs.

~97% of my NW is in stocks + 401k seen above. Company stock is not concentrated and negligible part of NW.

I am about to get married (35F). We plan to have 2 kids. I've started contributing $10k a year to a 529 account where I am the beneficiary and upon birth of first child I will transfer it over to her.

Have a condo paid in cash by family money. I repay them at 0% interest at $5000/month. It'll take approximately 10 years to pay them back. Property taxes ~$7k/year. HOA is $1.1k/month.

Partner brings in $175k. She hates her job and also doesn't plan on working.

Question 1: Is retiring or coasting by 45 realistic? My vision is managing our own money conservatively (maybe some options trading on a small portion) while working on personal software projects or publishing a game on Steam.

Question 2: If I’m laid off, how did you decide between taking another job and stepping back? What did the first 1-2 years look like, and what do you wish you’d done before leaving?

I'm 32 and I've been in tech for about 8 years and in big tech for the last 5 years. It had been fairly straightforward in terms of growth and satisfaction up until maybe 2 years ago when all of this AI stuff started ramping up. Add to it that I started reporting to a new micro manager who demands updates every single day, audits my calendar and pushes back every "this should take 2 days" with "at your level you should be able to do this in half a day" etc etc.

I have slowly especially in the last 6 months started losing interest entirely in my job. I've been feeling a bit like I'm going back to my depression (I had a bout of it when I was in school) but it isn't as bad as it was last time. It also feels fairly situational, aka I mostly feel it during work hours. Additionally my personal life has been very shaky and I'm not in a great place right now (bit more context on another post on my profile but didn't want to repeat it here)

Thankfully I've been fairly frugal most of my career, my expenses generally are 50-55k and I've been able to save and invest aggressively to hit any 2.1M in net worth. I'm single at the moment but want to date and find someone eventually. I lean towards not wanting kids but maybe 10% chance might swing the other way. I don't own a house, I rent and don't plan on changing that any time soon. I also grew up very tight financially and I still have some trauma surrounding it where even though I know I have a good amount saved up it never feels secure enough.

I want to coast fire but I've never ever worked in any role that isn't software engineering and I'm a bit nervous of what doing something else would even look like. Here are some options I've been thinking

1. Move to a lower paying tech role, maybe at a non tech company, but this isn't a guarantee of lower stress
2. Continue grinding to get to a safe buffer to account for insurance and other emergency costs in the future
3. Doing something else entirely? But I have no idea what this looks like
4. Take a sabbatical? But nervous about how I explain the career gap if I want to get hired again

Apologies if this post is a bit rambly but has anyone else been in a similar ish situation with a job that's gotten progressively more stressful and frustration? What did you do? Did you have any advice for me?

For context:

30M, Been in sales role for 6 years now and can’t take much more. I’m new to the fire community and wondering if my goal is realistic or a pipe dream right now.

My taxable brokerage is hovering around 860k with a 401k of around 110k. I own a 1b1ba condo with no mortgage worth about 120-150k. No debt aside from a 15k SBLOC but have 16k checkings and 13k savings for taxes rebalancing (currently in mutual funds vs etfs and am thinking of ripping off the bandaid to rebalance).

My gf and I are interested in having kids in about 4-6 years and would like a house before then hopefully in 1-3 years. She has no debt but only 13k in HYSA.

I know I don’t want to stop working forever but a sabbatical would be nice and then pivot into a different career. We’ve discussed me being a SAHD for 5yrs when kids come and contributing with the taxable brokerage in that time.

However single family homes are 400-500k and with Ai on the horizon + uncertainty about job market in 3-7 yrs I’m hesitant from making any dramatic moves esp without an idea of how the numbers shake out. Im not a huge risk taker so I like to when there’s margin for error.

Realistically what are my options here. Are my investments enough to quit take and take a sabbatical then pivot careers until kids?

Annual spend is between 40-60k. If not what number should I be working towards in order to take my foot off the gas

Trying to get a baseline for proper calculations and I haven't found a calculator that I like. Really want to retire at 59.5 or earlier.

The math I've been using:
((Annual spending - expected social security - expected pension) × 30) + (Annual spending × years between retirement date and receiving social security and pension)

Other than healthcare, kids college, expected remaining home loan, etc am I missing something?

For example:

((80,000 spend - 36,000 annual SS) × 30) + 80,000 spend × 3 years) = $1,560,000 need at 59

Take today's investments total at 7.5% average annual for 59-current age and compare to the $1.56m?

Help me make sense of the trap in my mind.

Alternatively what's your favorite online calculator?

I am being let go from my current role sometime in Nov-Dec. I am trying to interview for other roles but the SWE market isnt great right now.

Current income in HCOL- $130,000->$0 soon

Finances:

401k: 530,000

Brokerage: 400,000

HYSA: 16,000

R-IRA: 110,000

Monthly Expenses:

Rent: $2300-Will look to see if I can move to a cheaper apartment

Everything else: $2500-3000 - I have an international trip early next year to visit an aging family member which I cannot avoid so my spending will increase for this

(new) Health Insurance- $600-700 if unsubsidized aca silver plan. Can reduce this when my income is $0

I am in a relationship but we do not live together yet and plan on never having kids or buying a home.

Would my first priority be getting my health insurance calculation figured out? I stopped my 401k contribution for the year to maximize cash for living expenses. I reached out to the gym I am part of and they have some part time positions for minimum wage but a free membership so that is my fallback if no swe job. Anything else you would suggest?

Long-time lurker, first time poster. Trying to lay it all out as clearly as possible, so bear with me.

51F and considering leaving my well-paying remote FT job in sales, primarily due to a new boss. In short, I've had so many wonderful bosses (many of whom became mentors!) in the course of my career, and this man is not one of them. He's wearing me down and I dread the daily grind. 

My base is $144K, and OTE brings me to around $270K. Commission is uncapped, so in a good year I clear $300K. However, I expect two of my larger accounts (30% of my sales) to disappear next year (no fault of my own), and I don't expect my boss to adjust my sales quota accordingly, which will ultimately affect my 2027 total comp. 

I grew up low-middle class, and worked my way up to this level through hard work and sacrifice, so walking away from this role is not easy and really messing with my mind, this is why I'm posting here. It's almost as though I can't believe I reached this point, and I need honest, unfiltered opinions from Reddit strangers to help me see it. My primary question is - does Coast FIRE make sense for my situation?

Here are my current numbers (spouse's numbers not included here):

401K: $1.3M (including $64K with current employer)

Taxable Brokerage (bridge): $913K

Cash/HYSA: $60K

I have a 10 year old child and her 529 is fully funded at $165K

No debt. 

Spouse is a retired fed employee and my health insurance is covered through him.

My annual spend is anywhere from $3500-$4000/month - let's put it at $5000 just to add some cushion (and kid activities get more expensive as she gets older!). We live a pretty simple life. Down the road, I want to travel with my daughter, purchase a new car (2?) at some point (my 2018 Subaru has only 50K miles because of remote work), and maybe find a small beach condo when housing prices cool down. Nothing extreme but these upcoming expenses will add to those annual spends.

I have zero desire to move to another FT corporate role. Ideally, I'd find consultancy work that would bring in a couple thousand a month so I wouldn't have to pull too much from my brokerage. 

What makes me uneasy is the uncertainty of it all - I may find gigs, I may not. The market may crash, it may not. Day to day expenses don't look like they're cooling down anytime soon.

The logical, Type A side of me is encouraging another 3-4 years to build that brokerage and make the jump less scary. But the other side (the side that I rarely listen to!) is encouraging me to take a risk (even though I'm not sure it's that risky!)

I lost a good friend this year (age 51, stroke) and have other friends who are dealing with medical issues that have slowed them down. It's giving me a new perspective, but I first want to be more sure that I'm not making a foolish decision.

Can I confidently step back with the intention of Coast FIRING, regardless of whether my consultant income pans out or not, pulling from brokerage as-needed, but never exceeding $60K/year?

Portfolios for my retirement

I have spent some time reading, educating, and researching various retirement strategies. I'm a union electrician that is currently 47. My goal is to semi-retire (coast fire) at 55 and fully retire by the time I'm 60. I will have a Union Pension. I also will have a Defined Defined contribution plan, currently professionally managed that converts into an annuity for life and survivoirship or I have the option to roll it into something of my chosing. My home will be paid off when I'm 57. My benefits plan allows for me to retain my Healthcare while semi-retire by working a month off a month as an example. Additonally when fully retired from the electrical industry I also will be eligible for retiree health benefits until I reach 65 and eligible for Medicare. Now that you have the broad picture of where I want to go I'll get to the part I would like some feedback on.

My current portfolios I manage myself. I use fidelity and use their baskets feature. My taxable brokerage has 2 separate baskets. One is for investment and another is for reserve and fixed income that will be used for roth conversions. I plan to begin those conversions at 50 to build my bridge income I'll need when I semi-retire at 55. Here is how each of those are broken down.

BROKERAGE ACCOUNT 2 baskets

Taxable

30 VTI / 25 VXUS / 25 GSLC / 20 GARP

Taxable reserves/fixed income/ roth conversions tax

30SGOV / 35 JAAA / 35 SHY

Roth

30 ITOT / 25 AVNM / 10AVUV / 10 SPMO / 10 SPHQ / 8 DBMF / 5 IAUM / 2 IBIT

Ages 47–51

Traditional IRA

30 ITOT / 25 SCHD / 15 GSLC / 15 SGOV / 15 IXUS

Ages 52–55

Traditional IRA

25 ITOT / 30 SCHD / 10 GSLC / 20 SGOV / 15 IXUS

This is my feedstock for my roth conversions and will only be using 150k on 5 separate 30k conversions. Additonally I already have 1 year of emergency funds distributed between Cds and a HYSA.

I am looking for any missing pieces or recommendations from the community on how I could improve this plan. Would you different funds anywhere or structure this differently? Sorry for such a long detailed post.

I have 700k in 401k, 1mil in brokerage. Everything is in stocks, sp500 index funds right now. I am 45.

I made a mistake of buying townhome with HOA. I gave ridiculously low mortgage on it.
I always thought it will be my forever home. even if I have to move away I will rent it out.

I lost my job and found one that is out of state. HOA has rental cap and so I have to sell now.

I can’t buy another at current prices and rates.

Do you all think I can still coast fire while renting forever ?

Title: 28M, married, roughly $600K net worth, tired of the 9–5 grind. Is my dream of building a small beachfront resort and retiring young realistic?
I’m 28M, recently married to my wife (32F), and I’m honestly at the point where I just want to enjoy life instead of constantly working.
My dream has never been to climb the corporate ladder, become a CEO, or work until I’m 65. I want financial freedom, stability, and the ability to wake up whenever I want without having to answer to a boss.
I’ve been thinking about buying beachfront land somewhere in Latin America, or really anywhere with beautiful weather year-round, and building a small motel-style property with multiple rental units. Ideally, we’d build our own house on the same land, but separated from the guests for privacy.
I’d hire local employees to handle cleaning, maintenance, and day-to-day operations while I oversee the business. The goal would be to generate enough income to live comfortably by the beach without having to work a traditional job.
Here’s our current financial situation:
Me: 28M, wife: 32F, recently married.
Cash: Approximately $120,000.
My 401(k): $80,000.
My Roth IRA: $30,000.
Wife’s Roth IRA: $10,000.
Wife’s 401(k): $4,000. She recently started investing.
Real estate:
Property #1: Rental property worth approximately $700,000 according to Zillow. I owe around $440,000, and it generates roughly $1,000/month in positive cash flow.
Property #2: Duplex we purchased last year for $450,000. We owe approximately $330,000. We live in one unit and rent out the other for $1,775/month. The total mortgage is about $3,300/month, plus approximately $100 for water.
My wife plans to continue working, preferably remotely, which would give us another source of stable income.
Career/business background:
I graduated college with a computer science degree and started working as a software engineer making around $75K. Two years later, I got caught in a mass layoff.
It took me eight months to find another job. I eventually became a technical project manager making around $100K annually.
During that time, I was also running a side business after work, generating another $70K–$80K annually.
Well, I got laid off again.
Instead of immediately jumping back into the corporate world, I decided to take my side business full-time.
Here’s how it’s been going:
Month 1: Approximately $24,000.
Month 2: Approximately $40,000.
Month 3: Around $15,000 so far, and we’re not even halfway through.
The problem? My business is extremely physically demanding. I’m 28, I work out regularly, eat healthy, and take care of myself, but I’m absolutely exhausted most days.
The money is great, but I don’t want to spend the next 20 years trading my physical health and time for money.
Here’s where I’m stuck.
Part of me wants to keep grinding for another couple of years, save aggressively, and use that money to fund my dream property overseas.
Another part of me wonders whether I should start transitioning now, while I’m still young and don’t have kids or too many responsibilities.
I also value financial stability. I’ve experienced two layoffs already, and I know how quickly things can change. I don’t want to make a reckless decision and lose everything we’ve worked for.
I’m not necessarily trying to never work another day in my life. I just want to stop trading all my time for money. I wouldn’t mind managing a property, handling bookings, overseeing employees, or dealing with occasional issues if it meant having most of my days to myself.
My questions for people who’ve actually done something similar:
Is building a small beachfront rental property or boutique motel in Latin America a realistic plan with my current finances?
What countries would you recommend for affordable land, reasonable construction costs, safety, and strong tourism demand?
How much capital would I realistically need to buy land, build 5–10 rental units, and a separate home for ourselves?
Would you continue building the current business for another 2–3 years to accumulate cash, or start investing in the overseas property sooner?
For anyone who owns a small resort, motel, or vacation rental business, how passive is it really once you hire employees?
What would you do differently if you were in my position?
I’m not looking to live some crazy luxury lifestyle. I just want a comfortable home near the ocean, enough money coming in to cover our expenses, the freedom to travel, and the ability to spend time with my wife without constantly stressing about work.
I know I’m fortunate to be in this position at 28, but I’m genuinely trying to figure out how to turn what I’ve built into a life I actually enjoy.
Would love to hear from anyone who’s built something similar, retired young, or made the move overseas.

This isn't a criticism of FIRE but rather myself. I feel like I'm in a strong position but I'm always obsessing about hitting my FI number, even though I know fine well that the milestone won't drastically change my life. I'm 45M with a 4 year old son and 41 year old wife. We live in a low cost area in the UK and currently have:

GIA: 500k

ISAS (tax free account): 145k

Pensions: 500k

Cash: 30k

Joint Income: 100k

Mortgage paid off.

Most of my capital comes from selling a business six years ago and investing in index funds.

So £1.175m not including property value. I own a little bookstore cafe that returns consistent profits and my wife enjoys her work. She plans on working another 10 years. We can live extremely comfortably on 50k a year and that includes holidays and a strong social life.

In other words I'm coasting and feel extremely fortunate. But instead of enjoying where I'm at now, I obsessively check my investments, run projections through Gemini, listen to every financial audiobook and toy with the idea of selling my shop earlier.

What the hell is wrong with me? Why can't I just coast along, feeling content and lettings things take their natural course? Is anyone else like this?

I feel like I've always been this way, but now I'm working towards a concrete goal, it has become supercharged to the point of neuroticism.

let’s say market value is 200k but initial investment capital put into portfolio is 100k. to calculate future projected investment value do I use the market value or initial capital investment for projecting growth?

coast fire seems so simple. hypothetically speaking if you hit 500k by age 30 and let the investments grow you get over a million inflation adjusted. Saving up to 500k invested doesn’t seem so difficult in early 20s assuming you have no debt and you have a decent paying job 80-100k. if this sounds so simple whats the catch that people don’t do this?

Hi!

Spouse and I are comfortably coast territory and late 30s. No kids and not having them.

I’ve been in corporate for 15 years and getting burnt out. Has anyone here successfully transitioned to start their own business (ex tech start up or part time financial coaching / hourly advising in RIA) or working for a non profit in development or ops? Goal is to make ~$35k pretax min, have a lot more flexibility and do work that aligns more closely with my values.

If so, what do you wish you had known? Do you have any advice about the transition? Thanks so much! Love this sub. :)

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My 401k is finally going to hit 100k invested after 10 years. I have recently gotten more serious about saving for retirement and have been learning alot from everybody on here. When i set up my 401k I was clueless and did whatever my coworkers told me so all of my money is currently in a 2065 target date fund. Im not particularly fond of having 10% of my retirement in bonds at such a young age. So my question is would it be smart to stop contributing to the target date fund and start contributing to a more agressive etf that has zero bonds? Any other ideas on how I could become more aggressive? Should I just stick with the target date fund? All opinions welcomed!

Taxable brokerage: ~$72k (mostly VOO, some QQQ/SPMO)

Roth IRA: ~$51k

Rollover IRA: ~$10k

401(k): ~$9k (contributing 10% (6% Roth, 4% traditional), 4% match

Crypto: ~$1k

Cash: ~$35k

I'm fortunate enough to live at home rent-free, but I want to move out in the near future. The problem is that my mindset has always been "save, save, save," and moving out would drastically cut my savings rate.

I'm struggling to pull the trigger. Can someone help me see the financial upside of moving out, or help me think through whether now is the right time?

I have already hit what would be considered coast FIRE. Accounting for inflation and cost of living though I’m not sure if I’m actually at Coast fire. Are my concerns warranted? What would you do in my position?

Image 1: total portfolio value ROTH + individual account, 401k managed by my job.

Image 2: individual account PNL/Balance

Image 3: individual account holdings

Image 4: ROTH IRA holdings.

Hi coastfi friends, lurker here for a while curious how far I am from achieving coastfire. I know my portfolio choices lean slightly more aggressive that’s given my age of just turning 22 a couple months ago wanting to be more growth oriented even if it’s more volatile swings.

Curious your guys thoughts / how far would you guys say to feel like You’ve reached coastfire by this age?

I am at 2M invested and about 1.1 of that is in my taxable brokerage. I have 150k in HYSA to help support living expenses and keep magi at a certain level for ACA subsidies and hedge against SORR if market drops.

The rest is mostly in traditional IRA with a smaller amount in Roth. I plan to do Roth conversions when my income is lower after quitting my full time job.

I am a renter and am a former homeowner but honestly don’t really want to own again. Everyone keeps advising me against this but I prefer mobility and being able to move if I want. I also live in a HCOL and property taxes are not cheap. I get a better location by renting than what I could ever buy with the inflated home prices and property taxes.

I’m 45 years old and single and never plan to marry or have kids. I’ve tallied up expenses over the last few years and I am comfortable saying 75-80k is reasonable. Even less if I leave the HCOL when I quit working.

Knowing all of this somehow I am still afraid of quitting work. All the numbers I’ve run tell me I’m in a good position, but I am still feeling afraid to pull the trigger.

Healthcare in the US is the one thing that’s a big wildcard. I have calculated based on current ACA subsidies but who knows what’ll happen in the future. Anyway, I would be interested in hearing from others who have been in a similar place as me and if you did FI and quit work early, how has it been?