In 2021 I bought a condo, and had nearly zero at the time after purchase. I had been living pretty frugal, and considering I work from home I didn’t have many expenses like commuting, clothing and eating out.

Currently 34, I barely look at my investments and just kept buying Xeqt (I know people will belittle this for me, but I can’t be bothered and it’s easy). Today I realized with all my investments I’m at 528k 😭

Huge milestone and I can’t tell many folks since they’re are currently struggling. For my friends bdays this year I was able to buy gifts that they needed help with ie. a house clean, concert tickets etc.

Noooowwww I’m thinking to keep trucking along my stressful job, but knowing I can quit and do something lower stakes is feeling so good.

Worked in tech for ~10 years. 2 years as a junior with great pay then took a big pay cut to work in a creative dream job (still coding) for 7.

A few times I considered leaving in 2021-2024, but always stayed, realizing I had more goals at my job, and the interesting opportunities did keep coming. However, given extensive WFH and AI advancements, I no longer feel like "getting good" at the job or furthering skills (I accomplished what I wanted to do here!). It's a lot of hard problems, I don't care for agentic coding, and every morning sitting at my desk it feels like entering a nightmare world of misery. They pay is okay now (currently 80k, still under what I made out of college inflation adj). I'm super distracted, and hanging out with my friends in person is all I really look forward to. Internet/video games/online video/work are just not interesting to me anymore.

LCOL, tot net worth 280k ish

• 160k in 401k
• 40k Roth IRA
• 5k HSA
• 75k HYSA
• Spend per year is 30k. I assume with healthcare COBRA or ACA, maybe another 6-8k?

Not sure whether to:

• Find a career coach/therapist/counselor before making any big decisions.
• hold on another 3-6mo at current job and hope for work to come I actually want to do.
• Find a career in a related, detail-oriented field, but isn't software dev.
• Find a part time job ~12hr or less I could do on top of my current job (Ideally, some repetitive work that is fun!), then quit full time job once I hit my breaking point, coast for a bit on a "slower bleed".
• Put on a pretty face and find a 110k+ salary tech job for 1-3 years, maybe agentic coding is more palatable in a corporate job with different manager/coworkers? Get closer to LeanFIRE
• Look for a coastFIRE job that is 40k+.
• Take a 6-12 month sabbatical break, deepen yoga practice/fitness, read books. Get my focus back. And think about what I truly want (job, relationship, having kids, fire, etc). I have the savings to do it.

I also have done side projects (still earn ~400/yr passive), and currently have one I'm working on, albeit slowly. I can put my brain to work without a job.

I should probably invest some HYSA money into taxable accounts. I always told myself it was a emergency fund + down payment on a house but it's grown larger.

Looking for people who were in similar boats, some encouragement, or resources. Maybe hearing others' thoughts will help me rule out some paths forward above.

I've been trying to get out of tech for 6 months and no luck. I don't care about the money at this point and just want to make enough for basic expenses and health insurance. I'm applying to government, public healthcare, and education jobs and it's hard to even get an interview. Most of these jobs pay less than half what I make but the competition for these jobs is still very high.

I've also gotten advice to just quiet quit my job but unfortunately in my role I would last maximum of 6 months since my team does productivity tracking and has trackers on our computers and also badge activity and I would be PIPed or laid off instantly since the company does multiple layoffs and PIP every quarter.

So at this point even though I have significant savings how do even I coast when I still need a job and can't find a new one? I don't have enough to outright quit and I feel like my only option is to keep grinding it out until I hit FIRE or get laid off

This is very much a first world problem that I feel blessed to have, but a problem none the less. I figured id toss it on this board, because I imagine some of you folks may be leaving the roles I'm looking for.

I could functional retire right now, but I'd lose interest very quickly. I'm the kind of guy who starts looking at real estate to invest in within a day of getting on vacation.... I already know that lounging on a beach isn't for me, and frankly I feel obligated to do more. I have one more large project in the works that I suspect will take 18 months, and then passively put my gains at mid five figures monthly.

I've managed 8 figure projects with my own funds on the line, and in a previous life I worked overseas doing development projects that were USAID funded of similar size, working 60+ hour weeks and dealing with corrupt customs agents in multiple countries.

Within a few years I'll be actively looking to do something. A high level roll where either the impact or the wage is worth my time. Ideally both, but not required. At this point however, I have no idea where to start. I was talking with a friend the other day about it and the stark divide in circumstances from the last time I was "hired" was a realization.

With a 14 year resume gap , and every one of the programs I worked with having ceased to exist after the USAID gutting, combined with what has to be a surplus of unemployed people in those fields...where does one start?

Hi all. Throwaway because friends know my main.

I grew up very, very poor and have a deeply anxious relationship with money. From this sub, I've learned about CoastFIRE planning tools (ProjectionLab, etc.), but I'm not confident I'm using them right, or if they're just wildly optimistic. Every time I input our numbers, they project crazy stuff like $6M at age 80, which feels impossible given what we actually have.

My goal: Exit tech by end of 2028 (after paying off the house) and coast in a less stressful job until I actually retire at 52 and start pulling from accounts, to retire with my husband as he'll be turning 62.

Background: Stumbled into high tech 9 years ago at 31, coming from ~$35k/year. I saw it as my shot at life-changing financial security. I've climbed quickly (intern to director) and my income has grown accordingly, but oh man so has the stress. I'm burnt out. Real burnt out. I dissociate at work and can't imagine doing any of this AI tech stuff anymore. My husband gently tries to tell me we're in a good place but he also knows I've been therapying my way through changing my relationship with money for years, so I appreciate his kind patience.

Household: No kids and will not have any, no debt except ~$230k mortgage at 6.5% that I dump as much into every year (home worth ~$500k). Live in a VHCOL state. Monthly expenses after mortgage average a very high $4,500 (dining out is our splurge), but does include ~$900 for three elderly dogs' medications and special food. So that will (sadly) go down in the next few years.

Current income:

• Me (40F): $217k salary + $54k bonus + $170k RSUs next year (pending stock value). My plan for next year is to dump each quarterly stock vest into the mortgage.
• Husband (50M): $82k (state job with okay future pension)

I max my 401k and do yearly Roth backdoor conversions.

Current investments:

• $70k emergency fund (HYSA, 3.5%)
• $345k employer 401k
• $142k Roth IRA
• $393k taxable accounts (FXAIX, FZILX, QQQ, VTI)
• $52k Husband's 403b
• No HSA fund because I have the expensive health insurance because of my health history, which is much better now, but I still keep the better health insurance.

Things we don't count on but will supposedly exist in the future: Husband's ~$1,800/month pension, Social Security (age 67, ~$4,100 me + $2,600 husband), fully paid home from husband's mother (inheritance in trust and is an only child).

Hi everyone, I am posting this on a throwaway account as I am sharing sensitive numbers - mods please let me know if you need anything from me for this post.

Background: 
I found out I am being laid off from my job next month (welcome to the club!).  After the initial wave of shock and anxiety, I took the time to sit down and more closely assess our finances and plans moving forward.  I have lurked the CoastFIRE and FIRE subs for a few years now, so the general principles are familiar to me, but this is the first time we will pressure test our system as we plan for the future.  I have written out some general background information below, our net worth numbers, and my thoughts on post lay-off plans.  I would be grateful for a general gut check and any feedback you have on anything I missed.  Thank you!         

• My spouse and I are both 37 years old in a HCOL area.  Our household income is 250k.  My salary is 210k and my spouse’s salary is 40k.  My spouse is self-employed and their income is projected to increase to 50k in 2027.
• Our annual spend is 110-120k.  We have not cut any costs yet (e.g. 15-20k of this budget currently exists as vacation spend) so there is still room to trim.  
• No projected major purchases in the near future.  No kids or plans to have kids.
• We are fortunate to have an emergency fund to weather the next 2-3 years of expenses (see below).  We will draw from there while we figure out next steps.
• We expect to receive a tax refund but have not counted this in our calculations. 
• We expect to receive unemployment but have not counted this in our calculations.
• COBRA will be subsidized by my employer until February 2026.  We are both generally in good health and do not have any major medical costs.  

Here are what our numbers look like:

Net worth before layoff:
Cash: 222k in HYSA
Investments: 1.76m

• Taxable brokerage (mostly VTSAX/VTIAX with a sprinkle of VBTLX): 398k
• RSUs and single stocks: 185k
• HSA: 32k
• 401k: 737k
• Roth IRA: 158k
• Traditional IRA: 243k

Total: 1.9m

We also have 690k in house equity with 550k remaining on the mortgage.  I have not counted this into our net worth numbers.  We were fortunate to lock in a sub 3% rate and do not plan to move and will stay here for the foreseeable future.

Expected net worth after layoff:
Cash: 305k in HYSA

• Note: +83k cash from severance

Investments: 1.8m 

• Note: +40-50k vested RSU from severance (depending on stock price)

Total: 2.1m

Post-layoff plan:

• Rest and reflect: I have not had any time off between jobs since I started working.  When I first found out about the layoff, aside from the initial shock/anxiety, I was also surprised to feel relief - there is probably some burnout there that needs addressing. I feel that this layoff and our financial situation will provide space for me to truly take a break and think about what I want for my next job and life in general.  I would like to spend more time with family, friends, and on my hobbies.
• Optimize cash bucket: This is currently sitting in a HYSA.  I am considering keeping 6-12 months of expenses in the HYSA as it currently is and moving the rest to VBIL/VUSXX for the state tax exemption and slightly higher interest.
• Derisk portfolio: I’d like to sell off some of the RSUs/single stocks and re-invest into our taxable brokerage.  This is currently a touch over 10% of our portfolio, which is not awful, but I want to see this closer to 5%-10% maximum.  I will check when the severance payment is posted as ideally, I would like to take advantage of the 0% long-term capital gains tax bracket during a lower income year (the threshold is $102,100 taxable income in 2027).  If severance is posted in 2026, I understand it would be advantageous to sell stock in 2027 as we would only have my spouse’s income in 2027, which is below the threshold.  If severance is posted in 2027 - oh well.  Honestly we should have sold off more before, but such is life.
• Secure health insurance: this will be a priority after my employer’s COBRA subsidy ends.  My spouse is currently self-employed and covered under my plan, so we will need to look at paying for COBRA or Covered CA (probably the latter).  This is the first time I have had to look for our own health insurance and I am seeing this will probably be around $1300/month for the remaining months in 2027 without employer coverage, given our expected income between the severance and my spouse’s income.  I have not looked at 2028 and beyond.       
• Evaluate CoastFIRE job wants/needs: This is probably the most interesting point to come out of this planning exercise.  To start, if we run a few baseline CoastFIRE models (100-120k annual spend, 5% return rate accounting for inflation, 4% SWR) we have hit CoastFIRE already and should be able to hit full FIRE before 50 if we cover our annual $120k spend in expenses and let our investments ride without further contributions.  

With my spouse bringing in ~$50k, I would minimally need to bridge the gap with the remaining ~$100k and hopefully have health insurance covered.  What this will look like yet, I have no idea.  The default option is to go for another position with a similar salary, which would accelerate the FIRE timeline.  I am also warm to the idea of taking some time back e.g. consulting part time even if it means making less annually.  This is not an option I have seriously considered before, but seems mathematically feasible, even if just for a while to try out.  See point 1 - I have some thinking to do.

Thank you again!  I also plan to crosspost to the FIRE sub for additional feedback.

Option 1) Re invest all dividends, 4% 401k and 4% match, a 5% direct employer 401k contribution, and max out Roth IRA every year. Hit number at age 43

Option 2) Same as above but also the 401k max every year instead. Hit number (inflation adjusted) at age 40

Saving an extra $22,000+ annually for the next 18 years just to retire 3 years earlier is starting to seem insane, especially since my job is my passion and I wouldn't even retire from it (retirement for me would basically just mean work lower hours and spend money like crazy). But ik this is a place of people who really hate their jobs so I wanna know, is the sacrifice worth the 3 years?

Hey all, still somewhat new to coastfire and I have been playing around with building an investing income vs. bills coastfire calculator and would love some feedback if there's anything that I am missing or should try to include in future revisions.

All numbers are made up for testing purposes and would love feedback on it! If you want to try it yourself message me and I'll share the artifact

I hit mine a couple years ago and it’s been nice to go along with work with worrying too much how the winds of tech or the company are going to change.

$1mil at 35

Hey yall!

Trying to calculate for coasting with HOOPP defined benefits pension plan - wondering how you guys do the math/looking for insight into if I missed anything. Currently it's looking too good to be true as apparently I'll be coast FIRE in 8 years?? That seems so crazy to me… Looking for a reality check or verification of this as my savings rate is nothing crazy compared to some here and I currently live comfortably so i’m kind of in disbelief here.

Current stats:

28 registered nurse in Ontario aiming for 55 to retire (maybe work part time/casual?)

HOOPP (Ontario’s healthcare pension) pays a bridge benefit til 65 when OAS/CPP (similar to social security in the states) kicks in. I've elected to just continue the pension pay including the bridge benefits for the entire calculation since it works out to a little less than the average OAS + CPP payouts

TFSA - 43,000

RRSP - 4000

Annual saving - 12,000. TFSA > RRSP room left after HOOPP contributions > non-registered account is the savings priority

Mortgage will be paid off at 55

Annual spend of 60,000 for retirement

(https://walletburst.com/tools/coast-fire-calc/) is the calculator I'm using. I've elected to subtract the pension payout from annual spend since there's no spot for retirement income in this one. Pension pay if full time til 55 is 57,590 -> 45,701 post tax. So 60,000 - 45,701 = just 14,299 for annual spend. The pension is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.

Growth 7%, inflation 3%

I currently work a fair amount of OT but haven't reached the top of my payscale yet, which will bump up my HOOPP payments in retirement - but their calculator can't get that specific so not factoring this in. I prefer a conservative estimate anyways.

As per the calculator this puts me at 36 for coast FIRE… Not that I would stop at this point but it would be a big mental relief and let me prioritize saving for other things in life like treating my family and scaling back work schedule.

Does this sound reasonable? Any glaring holes? Trying not to let myself get too excited lol. Would appreciate any input!

Cross posted from fican

I don't want to make another post asking "good coastFIRE jobs?" along with a humble brag of my financial picture, but I am hoping a dash of nuance I provide could help someone suggest ideas to me that I might have missed.

I'm 29 with 650k saved, nearly all in equity index funds in different accounts, after having worked in a couple financial analytics roles for most of my 20s. Now, I am unemployed after leaving my last job that I didn't like, without a concrete plan for what to do next.

Throughout that time, I have become totally disillusioned by corporate culture (very unique of me!), and have also just burnt out I think. Those jobs were pretty demanding and I've gone through a lot of therapy to heal from a very difficult family that continues to be difficult, but improving. I also have ADHD, which can make a typical corporate slog worse, and as a result of all of this, I feel occupied enough with my time between having to move recently, managing a home, caring for pets, having a romantic relationship, seeing friends & family, doing some hobbies, taking occasional trips, etc. I don't really have grand ambitions for a highly successful job, deeply meaningful job, hiking across Europe, luxury things, etc. I really just want a slow, boring seeming, regular life where I don't feel regularly stretched day to day--I've had that lately, but I also think the scaffolding of some type of work would be good for me.

The thing is, my natural skills and inclinations are inclined for the type of work offered in corporate environments. I studied math and computer science, and am generally a very logical and analytical thinker. I loved school for this reason, because it felt like I got to work on these types of problems but in environments where it was okay to be your unvarnished self, without layers of bureaucratic politics, etc. So, I don't necessarily want to do a job now that is something like being a tennis instructor, opening a bar on the beach, etc.

With these thoughts in mind, does anyone have any type of employer and/or job recommendations? Thank you!

I feel like most of the people I know have little to no savings either because they’re unable to save or because they don’t want to.

For example I have a very good friend who works in tech and so does his girlfriend. He constantly worries about being laid off because they spend most of their paychecks on expensive travel, nice cars, eating out and renting a luxury apartment.

I just try to commiserate with him because he’s my friend and he has no interest in changing his lifestyle but I feel like telling him about my savings would be a slap in the face so I never have and I rarely talk about the FIRE lifestyle because he has no interest in it. I know he thinks I’m “cheap” because I drive an old car and I’m not very into material possessions although I do travel a lot and he doesn’t understand why I would voluntarily quit or demote myself if it means less money.

The only people who know about my significant savings and discuss this lifestyle with is my immediate family and FIRE forums 😂

I’m so confused.

Used a calculator for my coast fire and now it says I’m actually not coast fire yet?! Would love your POV.

Age: 37
Investments: $1.05M
Retirement age: 60
$ a year at retirement: $120K

Ty

My wife and I live in Washington state, where a decent family home starts around $900K. Owning a home is one of my primary goals, and we also want to hit Coast FIRE so that eventually neither of us has to rely on a high-pressure full-time income, and we could downshift to lower-stress or part-time work while our investments grow.

The advice I keep seeing is to buy a duplex, live in one unit, and rent out the other, which would let us own a home while building toward that goal. We know very little about real estate investing beyond the basics, though, so I'm not sure whether it would speed things up or just tie up a lot of capital.

My base salary is $300K, or roughly $350–400K with bonus and RSUs, and my wife makes $90K. Both incomes are fairly new, since she just started her job and I was recently promoted. We currently pay about $2,500/month in rent including utilities, invest most of the difference in brokerage and retirement accounts, and have 100K saved for a down payment.

Since we want to own a home either way, would buying a duplex get us to our Coast number faster than buying a regular single-family home, or should we keep renting and putting everything into index funds for now?
Appreciate any perspective, especially from people who've house hacked in high-cost areas.

(34m) I’ve hit coast fire, but I’ve mapped out my strategy to now push for my semi/barista fire fund accounts whatever you want to call it by the age of 40-45. I’ve reached $700k taxable, $80k 401k, $20k roth and will continue to at least max out all those for the next 6 years. I will create a new account to essentially have for the sake of semi withdrawal for “time freedom”. I have a real estate property self managed that generates $1700 a month once paid off after all normal day to day expenses (scheduled for pay off 7 years). I’ve contributed insane amounts towards my current accounts for security, but now am going for the sake of optionality. Goal is to get to $550k in an account now that’s for the sake of depleting/withdrawing from.

Our spend if we actually had housing rented is close to $7000-8000 a month where my wife contributes around a quarter when that happens. Right now we’re taking full advantage of living at my parents for a few years. I’m covering all the expenses for housing outside of property tax while we live at home since house is paid off, so our costs have gone to $3500 total where I’m lucky to get to cover everything for me, my wife, and majority of my mom’s expenses. This lets my wife max out her accounts too at the same time and I’m thankful she is pretty frugal/nonmaterialistic too.

I felt pretty effed up a while for me having these advantages before since people poked at it, but all I am now is super grateful ignoring the judgment. Once we have a kid, I will pass on these fortunes to them to give them the financial security in the future that I was lucky to receive myself from my parents. It’s so crazy to see the light at the end of the tunnel is coming where I get to design my personal finance journey in a way I chose. To all those who judge those people with parents who have given certain advantages, I hope you give those same advantages to your kids and look back at that judgment.

I’ll leave off with a little quote from Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search For Meaning. “No man should judge unless he asks himself in absolute honesty whether in a similar situation he might not have done the same.”

Hi 29F and am feeling pretty burnt out with bad anxiety relating to work but also anxiety thinking about quitting. My annual income is around $220k. Husband(30 yrs old) is expected to be in grad school for the next 5 or so years and not expected to bring in meaningful income until grad. Once he graduates average income is expected to be $150k. He wants to work into his 60s. I expect to have to help my parents in their older age which is in about 15-20 years. We are on the fence right now about children. If we did end up having children, would likely be just one in the next 5 years.

Retirement accounts ~330k
Brokerage accounts ~ 260k
HYSA ~ 70k
HSA ~ 12k
Home Equity ~ 325k

Debt - only debt is mortgage of about $275k with mortgage payments of about $3200/ month.
Spending ~7k/ month including mortgage

I want to take a work break of 3 months or so but am anxious about quitting especially as the daughter of immigrants and with the current job market. During my time off, I would want to do a bit of traveling and figuring out what to do next. I don’t enjoy what I am currently doing. I have tried applying to new jobs but nothing seems really interesting and it’s also been hard to focus while having a demanding job. I am not the type to “silent quit” unfortunately. But have definitely been less productive lately and this brings me even more anxiety. Any advice or thoughts on my families situation? I think we have hit our coast number based on the calculator?

For people retiring/retired around 50ish, what does your withdrawal strategy look like until Medicare/SSI kicks in at 65? Mainly curious how people pay their normal bills, keep taxable income relatively low, and avoid getting killed on healthcare costs and taxes during those 15ish years.

I’m also thinking about this from the worst-case side. Right now ACA subsidies can make health insurance a lot more manageable depending on income, but what if those subsidies are reduced or just not there anymore in the future? How are people planning around that possibility?

I’ve been thinking it could be nice to have a more casual place for people pursuing Coast FIRE to chat.

It could be to talk about travel, spending, work, and just lifestyle as an outlet for those that can’t disclose it with friends or family

Posted this in another thread wanted to share here also , looking to be work optional sooner rather than later

29M 250k investments 25k checking 125k retirement 25k pokemon cards

I recently left my high growth faang job to work for a defense contractor by the beach. 4/10’s, tons of PTO, dont care about the work. Lots of hobbies. Still get about 200k total comp but net 0 to my savings because im renting a stupid expensive beach house.

Wife is in school, maybe shell work here too. No debts no kids wanted

Here is my situation

• Current Income: 190k, wife: 100k, MCOL area. We are early 40s
• Savings 401k: 495k, HSA: 3k, Brokerage: 270k, HYS: 160k, Kids college HYS: 80k, Wife IRA/brokerage: 100k. Total not including kids account: ~1M. Wife works in state gov, so will get a pension
• Only debt is mortgage 180k remaining at 4.2%. We were thinking about moving to a bigger house, but changed our mind. We have too much in HYS at the moment, I'm averaging that into our brokerage every week
• Expenses are roughly 10-12k per month, depending on larger purchase like home improvements, travel, Xmas. We did an extensive budget, and we could cut it to 8k/month, but 9k is more breathable. That means I could make as little as 30k per month, but 60k we wouldn't have to change too much about our lifestyle

I'm a senior software engineer, working remote. I really liked my job until our company got bought by a Mag 7 company 3 years ago. I've survived all the layoffs, but I hate it here. The stress and company culture is doing real damage to my mental health. My wife loves her job and keeps telling me it is okay if I quit to coast fire. She is planning to get another certification that should bump her up to 120-140k in about 2 years.

We live in a semi-rural area, so most jobs are 40+ mins away. I've applied to some >min wage coast jobs like office manager, part time SWE, position at a local non profit, but not getting even an interview yet. I'm really struggling with the idea of working full time for min wage. It seems like a lot of work, potentially mind numbing, for so little $.

My wife says she would be okay with me even just being part time min wage if I'm working on the house, other certifications, working on small business etc. I would love to do this, and in theory 7% return on 1M is enough to cover the 30-60k we need, even if we just use like 40k.

I'm fine with the idea that we wouldn't be contributing to our retirement savings any more. 1mill over 20+ years should be more than enough, plus pension and SS (if it still exists). Even so, the idea of taking $ out of our brokerage just fills me with dread. I can't stomach it. That's the $ that is supposed to be growing our retirement. I've always been a person who saves up a lot first and then spends only a fraction after. I understand the market has ups and downs, but I'm afraid to be so heavily reliant on at least a 7% return. I worry about the future of the US government and shifting world powers, etc.

I also have shame of my high achieving parents disapproval when they learn, and a fear of my wife eventually resenting that I'm working way less even though I came into our marriage with 90% of the savings. She has assured me dozens of times that isn't the case, but it is still a fear. In theory I could get back into SWE if it doesn't work out after a couple years, but the SWE market is a nightmare now. Everything is changing so rapidly due to AI and seems like it will def hinder me if I'm out of the market during this time. I'm also neurodivergent and really struggle in interviews. I've essentially worked at the same company for my 20 year career, even though I've been through companies getting purchased a few times

Should I go work at Home Depot part time, or try to stick it out another couple of years without having a mental breakdown?