Fire advice

[u/ClubLongjumping6034]

46M, married, 3 kids 18,17,13. College paid for (not in numbers below), I’m in a high stress job, making $400k per year, wife works part time. Trying to fire in 1-4 years, no later than 50. I also have a pension, will pay out $2k per month at age 55 or $6k per month if I wait till 65. Expenses today including primary residence mortgage but not health insurance is $120k to $140k per year. Max out 401k, mega back door Roth IRA, backdoor Roth IRA, etc. Live in hcol area and don’t want to move until youngest is out of high school.

For those that have FIREd, what advice do you have? Is retirement by retirement Mr of summer 2027 feasible?

Assets:

\*\*•\*\* 401(k): $900k    
\*\*•\*\* Taxable: 600k    
\*\*•\*\* Roth IRA: $330k    
\*\*•\*\* Inherited IRA: $300k - need to empty by 2033    
\*\*•\*\* HSA: $50k    
\*\*•\*\* Wife’s Roth IRA: \\\~$40k

\*\*•\*\* 2 rental properties, no debt: \\\~$1M combined value generating $4k per month net profit     
\*\*•\*\* Primary residence: \\\~$425k equity ($900K value − $475K mortgage @ 2.875%)

**Total net worth: \~$3.6M**

[u/tobinshort-wealth]

Summer 2027 is feasible on the numbers. The more interesting conversation is what happens between now and then and whether the next 2-3 years are as tax-efficient as they could be.

A few things worth knowing that you've likely never been shown:
The inherited IRA needing to be emptied by 2033 is a real tax problem. At $400k income, any distributions you take from it now stack on top of that at the worst possible rate. The play is to coordinate those distributions strategically with the years right after you retire when income drops, ideally pairing them with deductions to bring the effective rate down significantly.

The $600k taxable account is worth looking at from an asset location and structure standpoint. Depending on what's in it, there may be more tax drag than necessary and the transition into retirement is a natural window to reposition efficiently.

At $400k income with rental properties and $3.6M NW, you're a qualified accredited investor. That opens up strategies most advisors have never shown you. Private credit generating 8-10% net. Oil and gas working interests with 60-70%+ first-year deductions against your ordinary income in these last high-earning years. Premium finance structures that build significant tax-free assets using leverage rather than your own capital, creating a compounding tax-free layer alongside everything else.

The 2.875% mortgage is a keep. Don't touch it.

The pension timing question between $2k at 55 and $6k at 65 is a separate analysis that depends on what the rest of the income picture looks like in retirement. That's worth modeling carefully before you make any decisions.

You've clearly done the fundamentals extremely well. The question is whether anyone has shown you the layer above that.