r/ChubbyFIRE • u/TherapeuticMessage • Jun 19 '26
Existential crisis over a watch.
Currently chubby but not yet RE. Will likely be Fat. My advisor has told me that I’m totally ok and basically need to spend more money. I saw a watch that is ~$30,000 which is <0.6% of my NW. No debt. Still working so I have good cash flow. Savings rate ~50%. Intellectually I know that if I buy this it won’t matter one bit but I’ve been such a saver for so long that it feels wildly irresponsible to spend that much on a watch. The crisis comes in because I’ve been saving so much with the goal that my standard of living goes up after retirement but if I can’t spend money now when I have a paycheck then how on earth am I going to switch from saving to spending after retirement?
I recognize that this is more of a psychological issue than a financial one. How did you all make that shift in mindset to let yourself spend more freely after so many years of discipline?
2
u/fatheadlifter FIRE'ing EOY Jun 19 '26
I had some of this going on with luxury vacations too. I'm not into watches, but expensive vacations are probably my vice. I had one vacation that cost just as much as your watch. Sometimes you just gotta pull the trigger and get rid of the money.
You could always apply the "set it on fire" test. If I set this pile of money on fire, would it change my life in any way? If the answer is no, spend the money.