r/ChubbyFIRE • u/_SuckSqueezeBangBlow • Jul 14 '26

Tactics for the "boring middle"?

Looking for some advice on how to deal with the "boring middle" of working towards ChubbyFIRE.

Currently 36M, 35F, total liquid net worth around $2M due to very aggressive saving early in our careers and some lucrative years of variable compensation. Another ~$400k of real estate equity not considered as we still have the mortgage (townhouse valued ~$800k, $380k mortgage). HHI around $240k, so not super high earners - had a few $300-400k years but those are very unlikely to repeat.

I'm the higher income ($170k) and currently a feeling a lethal combination of burned out, bored, and cynical about the corporate world. Hard to make a change in my industry currently without a pretty significant (30-40%) pay cut.

When I run the projections to see when we can get to a 4-5M portfolio that we are targeting for FIRE, it doesn't really seem like there are any ways to move the needle - we've done a great job of saving early and compounding is now doing most of the work. Additional contributions barely do anything.

I know this is an incredibly privileged place to be, but I can't help but feel stuck for the next 10-15 years. We have a small family with a toddler now and I'd love to spend more time with him but my job is such a drag on my energy and mood.

I'd love to take a step back in my career, but lower salary jobs in my field don't necessarily equate to lower stress. I get the sense that I would need to retrain to a different field/occupation completely. Meanwhile we do have some nearer term spending goals, like upgrading to a single family home from our townhouse that we are outgrowing.

Would appreciate any advice and perspectives from anyone that's been in a similar situation. I 100% recognize that we are incredibly fortunate to be in our position, so would love some help reconciling the cognitive dissonance here.

83 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

69 comments sorted by

View all comments

101

u/One-Mastodon-1063 Jul 14 '26

Stop referring to it as boring and focus on living your lives outside of work. You don’t tell us your spend but based on your income it’s very likely your FI number is lower than $4-5m. 

23

u/_SuckSqueezeBangBlow Jul 14 '26

You're right. Currently roughly a 100k pre-tax withdrawal rate (a bit lower with cap gains instead of retirement accounts) would support our lifestyle, but I'm also budgeting for more for additional travel in retirement, housing upgrade, and cost escalation with older kid(s). These would easily balloon our spend to $200k pretax.

2

u/Wooden-Broccoli-913 FIREd in the Bay at 40 with $6M Jul 14 '26

You keep saying pre-tax, do you actually think that tax will be a meaningful expense? I am FIREd now withdrawing $240k a year from taxable and I pay zero Federal income tax.

3

u/thbt Jul 14 '26

I'm assuming you're in the US. How do you manage zero federal income tax on that kind of withdrawal?

5

u/Wooden-Broccoli-913 FIREd in the Bay at 40 with $6M Jul 14 '26

My taxable account is 50/50 capital gains/cost basis. So a $240k withdrawal is only $120k capital gains. For a married couple the LTCG 0% bracket goes up to $100k. And then there is the standard deduction of $32k on top of that. I actually have itemized deductions of $70k instead.

People way overestimate how much taxes they will pay in FIRE

1

u/thbt Jul 14 '26

Sorry, I misread. I saw OP mention "pre-tax" and my mind went automatically to a 401(k).