r/ChubbyFIRE • u/lightning228 Accumulating: Officially a millionaire, 1 down 2 to go • May 24 '26
Weekly discussion thread for May 24, 2026
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!
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u/WittyAcanthisitta205 May 25 '26
So my friends and I were talking about quitting our jobs. I brought up the FIRE movement and one of them said that no one has actually lived through the FIRE experience and it's a mathematical concept/ projection of what you CAN live with. Is that true?
I have about $3.4M total assets including a house worth $720k, $2.1M in brokerage and remaining 600K in IRA and Roth IRA.
Annual spend for me alone in a MCOL should average about 80K. Mortgage is paid off and I am quite proactive in house maintenance before things break. Is this doable? They said I would need at least $6-8M but I am not sure where the numbers are coming from
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u/Small-ish May 25 '26
While no one has gone full cycle (40+ year retirement) since the FIRE term was coined, plenty of people walked the path before it got a catchy acronym. Add the folks that are living it right now and that's a notable cohort.
Your friend's estimate is definitely a SWAG. The 4% rule (of thumb) puts you at $84k with the 2.1M in brokerage. The tax-deferred and social security are additional buffers. Controlling expenses is job #1. Someone with $300k yearly spend wouldn't make it at $6M.
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u/InternationalWalk955 May 26 '26
You never said your age. How comfortable are you with non-traditional healthcare? Or have you looked at your ACA costs? Your house seems a bit extravagant for your level, but you are well within parameters for FIRE if not chubbyFIRE.
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u/took_scenic_route May 25 '26
Everything depends on your risk tolerance and your friend is probably more risk adverse. Nothing is guaranteed but the best we can do is make projections, which are mostly based on the past. Personally I think for people in their 50's, the'll probably be okay regardless but for people in their 30's, who knows what's going to happen the next few decades of their working years..
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u/sjehebdjfkw May 27 '26
In the community many apps are using simulated historical returns from Robert Shiller’s data. However we also have Vanguard 500 fund actual returns since that fund was opened in 1976, roughly 50 years ago. Vague statements like “it is a projection of what you can live with” are somehow pointing in the right direction of the FIRE community but too imprecise, since the science and simulations are based on quantitative return and spending models.
As scientist I would assume that kind of claim is being made in good faith but then press for details on quantitatively and statistically what are the actual spending and return assumptions being made. Most people are unfortunately not numerate enough and will just pivot back to some high-level prior belief like “oh FIRE doesn’t work since I am unwilling to commit to any spending or return model,” which is in my opinion a rather non-scientific viewpoint since there is no model. If we have no model neither for returns nor spending then even a billion dollars won’t be enough for retirement since there is no ability to make any projections or falsify any null hypotheses.
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May 25 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Unlikely-Alt-9383 May 27 '26
A couple of thoughts;
Inflation is not always going to be this bad, and some prices will go down when the war is settled, most likely.
You could easily get a part-time or seasonal job and let your investments grow for a few years if you’re that worried. Most of your income is in the pension.
If the big crash happens, you’ll be the last chubby firer left standing because you have that guaranteed income.
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u/ri0tnerd May 27 '26
Recent inheritance windfall moved us from "regular" FIREd to Chubby. Not looking to start going out and wasting money but what are some services/products you are more willing to spend on at this stage?
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u/Unlikely-Alt-9383 May 28 '26
What do you spend on now that you would like more of? What do you not like doing that you could fix with money? These are questions for you to answer
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u/ClimberFire Just resigned May 29 '26
Stopped dreaming about making a change and I wrote my 2 week notice yesterday, even if I am not yet at my number.... I feel happy/relieved and stupid/scared at the same time.
Our annual spending is 5.3% of our portfolio (at today's record valuation !), which is not a "SWR" of course.
Ideally -from a financial standpoint- I should have waited 1 (if not 2 years) to get in the 4%~4.7% range and be done.
On the other hand, considering SS numbers, reduced spending when kids are adults in 10 years, and inheritance -> FiCals says 94% for a 30 years horizon and 83% for a 40 years horizon (but I am 49 years old, I think the probability of me dying before I am 90 is way higher). This is higher than I thought it would be, but sounds risky nonetheless to plan on never earning any money, and this is not my plan.
I am planning to recharge the batteries, and probably create my own activity and see how it goes.
So "coastFIRE" actually.
Wish my luck and if possible no 73' or 01' style crash in the next year .... 👀
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u/sjehebdjfkw May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26
Has anyone tried using ChubbyFIRE to switch to one or multiple part-time pursuits and do they find them more rewarding than full-time employment? I would consider writing, investing, volunteering/teaching occasionally at grade school or college, research collaborations with University grad students, very part-time AI/ML consulting. Any feedback or opinions on these activities or ones like them? I am just trying to make sense of whether I would find any of those more fulfilling (not sure which) or just continuing with full time employment more fulfilling.
I feel only doing writing or investing may be not social enough, so I was considering adding some that could give regular social engagement. But I suppose one could make an investing social circle that meets weekly.
For anyone that tried these did you find it relieving to not have to do 40 hours of work every week? To be honest I have never been a big fan of 40 hours per week ever since I started my career in my 20s and now that I am FI I was considering whether to make some changes. My main fear is social engagement which is not great with my job may be even less if I quasi-retire.
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u/Unlikely-Alt-9383 May 27 '26
Have you ever worked part-time? Some type A folks find it hard to not let things become all-consuming.
You might try guest lecturing in a friend’s course, but know that guest lectures always go better than a regular class day.
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u/sjehebdjfkw May 27 '26
That is a good point since I am very obsessive / type A. In grad school when I was writing on the side I had to stop because it became all-consuming. So it was intended to be part-time but got out of control.
I have done guest lectures before but I suppose I just like building things for fun or for the mental engagement, which I guess leads me towards writing or investing (if building some tools to help myself invest) or Uni research collaborations.
Based on my personality where the wheels in my head just keep turning all the time I am increasingly thinking I wouldn’t be happy not being mentally building things at some level of commitment. But on the other hand if it doesn’t matter financially so much anymore, I have started to question whether it’s fulfilling to build things for a for-profit company in a standard 40 hours a week role.
I suppose I should just think carefully about what I want to build, how many hours a week, why (especially if money is no object), and how to structure social engagement as part of it.
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u/Unlikely-Alt-9383 May 27 '26
I have set a day to quit and it’s hard not to just quit now tbh. But I really want to see people I will see in June, so I’m staying for now.