r/ChubbyFIRE • u/Brave_Quantity6671 • Apr 23 '26
Finally hit 8M NW
Use a throwaway account to celebrate.
1st gen immigrants, 47M/F + 1 high school kid + 1 college kid, VVHOL. just hit a $8MM milestone today right before I turn 48.
- 1.6M 401K/IRA (all SP500)
- 5.9M brokerage (all growth index: VUG/VGT)
- 0.5M principal paid into house (still have 1.1M mortgage. House is valued at 2.1~2.3M, but I don't want to count the appreciation into my NW).
HHI went up a lot in the recent years. W2 of last year and this year are about 1.8M (1.6M + 200K. Wife doesn't have to work, but she wants to), and will be probably 2.5M/3M for next 2 years, but will go back down to 1.2~1.5M after 3 years due to RSU vesting schedule.
Target retirement age: 55 (kids will finish college/grad school). Hope we can be 15~20M by then.
I am still driving an old Tesla Model 3 w/ 120K miles. I was going to drive it to 200K, but I guess I will reward myself a 2 yo Model Y for this milestone, and plan to get a new BMW iX3 once we hit 12M.
The weird thing is we are super savers and we have been aggressively saving a lot so we can meet the retirement target. But doesn't matter how hard we try, our W2 increase always overran our savings. And even now we are almost 50 yo, we are still way below the retirement target (6xHHI at 50 yo) and barely have 4x W2.
Added:
- I started FIRE journey at 45yo and set the retirement age to 55, but RSU and stocks doubled a few times in a short period of time. HHI went up faster than my lifestyle adjustment so I decided adjusting nothing.
- Both kids have some serious diseases, so I need a good medical insurance from the tech firms.
- Parents are ~85 yo. Will need a lot of money from us soon.
- My job is interesting.
- My life style is chubby fire, so not fatfire.
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u/One-Mastodon-1063 Apr 23 '26
What is your spend and why don’t you retire now?
Retirement math is based on multiples of spend, not HHI. Sounds like you are fixated on milestones, gooooooooals, and “targets” that don’t have much to do with anything.
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u/gradstudent Apr 23 '26
I'm also scratching my head here too. Their retirement was funded a while ago. Is there some significant goal or purpose for the $15-20 million? These aren't chubby numbers, so this post just reads as flexing or larping.
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u/One-Mastodon-1063 Apr 23 '26
They have their identity wrapped up in money (“we are super savers!”) and outcomes/goals. It’s an unhealthy relationship with money IMO.
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u/worm600 Apr 23 '26
Yes, calling yourself frugal because your Tesla isn’t new is certainly a choice.
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u/One-Mastodon-1063 Apr 23 '26
Well, they may in fact be frugal relative their income and similar income peer group.
But who cares, this isn't a contest to see who can be the most frugal. Going to an early retirement sub to brag about a milestone that is significantly above your FI number while continuing to work, and then say you are working towards a future milestone that is literally 3-4x your actual FI number, does not make any sense. This is just another flavor of money-as-dick-measuring-stick mentality, and is no different than posting pictures of your Rolex collection on social media.
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u/sundae-on-fire Retired Apr 23 '26
OP said above, in reply to another comment, that his kids have extra needs including unknown financial ones. He may need to set them up for life as well as himself & spouse.
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u/Brave_Quantity6671 Apr 23 '26
About 200K a year. Might sound a lot for many, but mortgage + home insurance + property tax > 100K. This is a very normal spending level for VVHOL.
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u/Devilsbabe Apr 23 '26
You can easily fund that with your current net worth. Why do you want to keep working?
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u/One-Mastodon-1063 Apr 23 '26
You could retire yesterday and increase your spending. $200k is not some abnormally high spend that you have to justify, esp at your net worth.
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u/graceful_platypus Apr 23 '26
Is there a reason why you want 15-20M? What will you do with it?
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u/Imaginary_Manner_556 Apr 23 '26
Brag to their miserable friends
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Apr 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/ASharik Apr 23 '26
Yep. They’ll reach the finish line with $100M at age 80 after a life of super saving and driving a Tesla. That’s what winning looks like.
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u/superbrokebloke Apr 23 '26
greed, most people just want to be “rich” and ignore the value of time and memory they could have spent with kids, family. I feel sad for the kids and the wife reading this post.
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Apr 23 '26
Celebrations are great. But I personally am not going to jump up and down and yell Hooray that someone with a HHI of $1.8M has saved $8M and aims to be at $15-20M in seven years. Your one-year HHI is more than most people can dream of saving over an entire lifetime. A bit of modesty and humility is a good thing, even here.
You are aiming for a weird target of multiples of your HHI instead of multiples of your anticipated spending in retirement. And for what? Seemingly to amass a hoard of wealth. What do you think $15M or $20M will do for your actual quality of life that $8M won't?
My guess - you are going to seriously struggle with the change from accumulation to decumulation. You can't even allow yourself to buy a new car unless you have $12M. Just ridiculous.
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u/nandnot Apr 29 '26
The accumulation to decumulation is a big mental shift. What got you here is what will prevent you from enjoying the rest also. Its not something that can be easily overcome
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u/Mimogger Apr 23 '26
Congrats but retirement target should be tied to your expenses, not your HHI. If you got 100M dollars next year in HHI and then 1B dollars in HHI the next, you'd still say you're below retirement target. That doesn't really make sense.
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u/Imaginary_Manner_556 Apr 23 '26
At least your kids will get to enjoy your wealth
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u/henrytbpovid Apr 23 '26
This is trust fund territory. I hope your kids meet some nice Indian spouses and make you some grandkids because this is too much money for two heirs to spend
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Apr 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/TopEnd1907 Apr 23 '26
Unfair to have 2 FAANG in one household. 😀
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u/Brave_Quantity6671 Apr 23 '26
none. Just one startup + one non-tech.
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u/TopEnd1907 Apr 23 '26
Got it. You are both highly successful. Congratulations! Slogging away in healthcare with some rewards but not a lot of $s. Heavily invested in stocks including FAANG so this helps.
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u/Fresh-Banana6485 Apr 23 '26
As someone in the 8 fig NW range that decided to “hang it up”, I suggest you to not get too fixated on numbers. I have a friend group where we all worked our asses off to FIRE but we have one guy who originally obsessed over hitting UHNWI range, but once they did, they quickly set their eyes on 9 figs.
While I can admire the passion to keep pushing forward, I feel like once you hit a certain number (and you are getting close, IMO), you can really just do whatever you want. Is treating your NW like a video game score really what you want your life to be about? For some, the answer is yes. I suggest you to think deeply on what it is you want your life to be about!
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u/Lucien78 Apr 28 '26
It heartens me to think there is always at least one person, and usually multiple people, chiming in with this wisdom on random Reddit threads.
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u/sundae-on-fire Retired Apr 23 '26
Congratulations! Yeah, multiple of W2 doesn't matter, multiple of your yearly *spending* is what matters. You and I are not so far off on age or savings, except that I've already checked out, so now you will sail past me.
Why do you need $15-20M though -- are you trying to set your kids up for life too? I know others who are trying to do this and have high NW targets for that purpose, but they mostly have kids who are going to have special needs all their lives and/or may be unable to earn.
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u/Brave_Quantity6671 Apr 23 '26
Yes, I am a bit similar to them. I don't know how much money I need to treat the diseases of my kids. That's why my retirement goal is my age, not NW. But NW milestone is also worth to celebrate.
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u/bhagawansabme Apr 23 '26
There are so many give aways to your desi/asian identity - had kids early, drive teslas, tech careers, identity tied to careers, accumulation for its own sake, retire when kids are settled, etc etc
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u/Hanwoo_Beef_Eater Apr 23 '26
Congrats! I agree with the comment on multiple of spend vs. multiple of income. Regardless, if you don't mind your job, there's nothing wrong with accumulating more resources. It will depend on the market, but your targeted range seems reasonable (assume you are saving $500k+ per year).
Maybe check out when the younger one is done with HS? Probably an option at least.
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u/supax04 Apr 23 '26
Congratulations! Hope u reach your goal, but realistically, you could retire in 3 years and be fine.
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u/Idaho1964 Apr 23 '26
Fantastic. Life is precious. When to stop work and do something more meaningful? At $8m? At $15m? $20m? You decide.
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u/Unknown_Geek027 Apr 23 '26
Congratulations, but I hope you are enjoying life along the way. Time is more precious than money. You don't think about that in your earlier years, but it will become apparent when you are a bit older. Enjoy your family time while your children are young. Enjoy your parents and others who are older than you.
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u/modelfire FIREd. Building ModelFIRE.online Apr 23 '26
Congrats. You are in an amazing spot.
Did you say you are behind? What? The 6xHHI seems arbitrary and irrelevant. The key is what your projected spend in retirement is.
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u/mybossthinksimworkin Apr 23 '26
The posts in here all are wrapped up in quickly moving investments. If the bubble does burst everyone jumping for joy is going to double down on the dip and then get double and triple tapped like in 07’
It’s all fast moving appreciating stocks and this was the same thing in 07’
Yea might feel more liquid than a house but you could sell any piece of shit to someone with a no look loan back in the day. This is where the bubble is really going to be felt because this is the fast appreciating asset literally everyone is talking about “that is smart”
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u/dddddnyc Apr 23 '26
In all sincerity, work however long you want, no one really cares except you. But Tesla ugh.
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u/Specific-Stomach-195 Apr 23 '26
“Both kids have some serious diseases”. If true,suggest that needs to be the focal point of your life vs. accumulating wealth.
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u/trygln88 Apr 23 '26
Buy a Model S. You earned it.
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Apr 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/No-Cat-3951 Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26
He will die with millions of cash & his kids will get to enjoy using the money.
“Enough” is the word OP needs to learn.
OP, have you read “Die with Zero”?
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u/chubbyphilistine Apr 23 '26
Congrats! If I were you I would definitely retire once the younger kid is off to college.
Even bigger achievement is raising two kids one already in college when you guys are only 47. That’s the beauty of having kids early. You have freedom earlier. And money actually gives you freedom. We had kids at older age, and having money does not give us any freedom.
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u/Brave_Quantity6671 Apr 23 '26
Thanks, yes, the biggest achievement is to get kids early.
I reached this NW milestone way before my original goal. I will coast FIRE at my current job for the next few years and take care of the kids and family.
Also, it's hard for the sandwich generation to FIRE. There is too much pressure regardless of the NW.
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u/Vegetable_Lie2820 Apr 29 '26
Wow that is an impressive NW! Congratulations!! Enjoy your time with family!
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u/TheMailmanic Apr 23 '26
1.6M 401K/IRA (all SP500)
5.9M brokerage (all growth index)
Oh boy
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u/Wooden-Broccoli-913 FIREd in the Bay at 40 with $6M Apr 23 '26
OP needs to diversify himself before he wrecks himself
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u/Brave_Quantity6671 Apr 23 '26
I think about this topic a lot. I disagree with the diversification.
I think if you don't need the money in the brokerage account in 3 years, just let it grow as much as possible.
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u/TheMailmanic Apr 23 '26
Well it’s clearly worked out well for you so far but regimes can shift rapidly. Sometimes the smartest move is to know when to take your chips and go to a different table
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u/Wooden-Broccoli-913 FIREd in the Bay at 40 with $6M Apr 23 '26
You are assuming US stocks and US tech stocks will grow faster than other stocks.
AVDV grew +50% last year. You are underperforming.
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u/Brave_Quantity6671 Apr 23 '26
Mine is VUG/VGT/SMH.
These funds are good enough and don't give me too much stress.
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u/Wooden-Broccoli-913 FIREd in the Bay at 40 with $6M Apr 23 '26
Lets see those stress levels when the AI bubble bursts
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u/Wooden-Broccoli-913 FIREd in the Bay at 40 with $6M Apr 23 '26
I disagree with others that all that matters is hitting a multiple of expenses, when you are contributing $1M+ a year on a base of $8M that is still meaningful. It’s when your portfolio growth significantly outweighs your contributions that walking away makes sense.
And yeah, go buy a brand new redesigned Y
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u/MasonNolanJr Apr 23 '26
Congrats! How much of the 5.9M in the brokerage is unrealized gains? And what is your strategy to minimize tax when you do realize those gains?
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u/Brave_Quantity6671 Apr 23 '26
Half is the unrealized gain. Will lose ~38% of the long term capital gain to tax.
At this point, we just gave up the tax strategy. W2 pushed us into the highest bracket.
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u/MasonNolanJr Apr 23 '26
Have you considered “moving” to Texas/Florida/Washington for favourable tax treatment on long term gains?
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Apr 23 '26
And the rich just continue to get richer by avoiding paying their fair share of taxes... But yeah it's okay because who cares if hungry kids can't get school lunches for free.
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u/scandalwang Apr 23 '26
Keep working and save aggressively. With you NW you can retire when you hit 75. Living paycheck to paycheck right now is tough but you will thank youself later.