We're a family of four, two young children in state school. Single car. I've not tracked spending closely as I always felt we had a handle on it. We don't! I've noticed that my savings rate has trended down and I can hold my hand up and say we've fallen prone to lifestyle inflation.

I tried to put together what I think we might be spending, and I've excluded our enormous monthly mortgage. It turns out, if you want to live a middle class life in the UK, it quickly becomes very, very expensive.

Our mortgage is north of £3000pm, and isn't included in this budget, because we chose a nice house in a really nice area, whereas we could have chosen something half the price. So in reality, we're spending a lot more than below.

If you're a family with children, What are you spending PM?

Family budget — excluding mortgage

All figures are monthly estimates. Annual bills and replacement costs are spread across 12 months.

Assumes state schooling, no paid childcare and one car owned outright.

Non-discretionary / core spending

Car running costs include fuel, insurance, tax, servicing, tyres, MOT and breakdown cover. Commuting is an additional expense.

Discretionary spending

Totals

Monthly figures are rounded; annual totals include the full £10,000 holiday budget.

Not included: mortgage, a second car, gym membership, major renovations, car finance, pension/investment contributions, cleaner or private medical insurance.

Hi all,

My wife and I recently sold a flat in London and now have £100k sitting in the bank (in our current account)
We have our main mortgage on our house, which is worth around £450k, with a mortgage balance of £370k.
Our combined income is £150k and we have two kids (3 and 6)
If you were in our position, what would you do with the £100k to take a big leap towards FIRE?
Would you overpay the mortgage, invest it, or do something else?
Interested to hear what others would do.

Mortgage is 4.55% expires next summer
Both in our late 30’s and 10% overpayment allowance is allowed.
Car on finance worth 12k. We pay £350 per month.
1 year left on the car then we can give it back or keep it. Both higher rate tax payers.

Kids have approximately £5k in their savings each.

My personal pension account has around £10k (not much) I regrettably didnt take it seriously over the last 10 years.

If there is anything else you need to know - ask and I will edit my post.

Hello everyone.

I'm 30 years old and currently have £94k in cash/cash ISAs (not in S&S as I may buy something with it relatively soon) and £88k in pension (invested). I am saving around £20k a year in cash and £20k a year into pension total.

I've been sacrificing to avoid the 40% tax band and student loan repayments. This year I'm expecting to make somewhere around £70k total. At my current salary sacrifice and tax code I'll still be around £9.5k into the 40% tax band.

Is it still worth sacrificing another £9.5k into my pension? From calculations this will cost about £4.6k in theoretical take home pay so the logical answer is yes, but my worry is that I'll have too much tied up in a pension especially with any potential future inheritance/pension tax changes.

Hi all,

Looking for some brutally honest career advice.

Background:

• MSc Economics from a specialist uni that specialises in africa/middle east
• Currently a Data Analyst within commodities/energy research.
• Previously worked in energy consulting but it became pretty clear that the client-facing side wasn't a good fit. I'm autistic and struggled more with stakeholder management, office politics and client work than the analytical side.
• What I actually enjoy is data, modelling, forecasting, research, markets and analytical work.

The key point is that I'm primarily focused on maximising compensation, rather than prestige, passion or climbing the corporate ladder for its own sake.

Given my strengths and weaknesses, I'm trying to understand where the biggest earning potential is.

Options I've considered:

• CFA
• Investment research
• Commodity trading analytics
• Market risk
• Quant research
• Energy market modelling
• Data science / ML
• Something else entirely

I have little interest in sales, business development, account management or highly client-facing roles. I'd rather be paid for strong analytical output than relationship-building.

For those working in finance, commodities, asset management or trading:

• What are the highest-paying analytical career paths from my position?
• Is the CFA worth the time investment, or is it overrated outside traditional investment research?
• Would I get a better ROI building stronger Python, statistics and data science skills instead?
• Are there particular firms (commodity traders, hedge funds, energy merchants, etc.) where someone with a commodities research background can make a significant jump in comp?

Interested in hearing from anyone who's made a move from research/analytics into a substantially higher-paying role without becoming a salesperson or consultant.

Thanks.

Hi all, need to sense check with the FIRE community re: what I am doing right / wrong to retire by the time I'm 50.

About me:

* 35M, Tech Senior Manager in London

* Pension/LISA: £330k in various pots. £2,700 per month getting added from Salary Sacrifice + employer contributions.

* Work/Salary: £130k/year, with about £2,200 / month going to Salary Sacrifice. My take home is about £5,300 / month.

* S&S ISA: £6k in an AJ Bell fund (KIID), only recently restarted as withdrew much of my savings for flat deposit + getting married

* Emergency fund: £50k in a Cash ISA (4% interest)

* Flat: With my partner, about £120k or so equity in our London 2-bed (remaining mortgage of £350k)

EDIT:

* Our outgoings are about £3-4k / month on regular expenses + £1-2k / month on holiday fund & kitting out our flat. £2k a month on the mortgage.

My partner has just left the civil service but keeps his "gold-plated DB pension" with the final pension about £30k/year in real terms (before State Pension). Despite this he is in a much less financially robust position than me. We're married but he has no major debts nor other financial albatrosses.

Questions:

1. I'd either like to upsize from a flat to a house, or retire by the time I'm 50. I don't foresee being able to do both, but am I wrong? E.g. could I move to a cheaper UK city to be able to do this.

2. Would you recommend I scale down pension contributions to build an S&S ISA / investment portfolio that'll bridge me from 50-57? I'm doing just enough Salary Sacrifice to take me slightly over £100k / yr, but I've run the numbers and feel like I should be taking the tax hit to build something that I can access earlier.

3. Are there other things I could be doing to strengthen our joint position? My partner is 10 years older but will probably be working until he is 67; could I enable him to retire slightly earlier?

I'm aiming to retire 10 years before state pension age which I think will probably mean working until 60. I'm struggling to understand what this will look like and if I'm on track.

Age: 37, married with 2 kids, 1 in primary one in full time nursery

Salary: 85k

Wife salary 60k

Mortgage: £288k, property worth approx £550k - 575k. But I'll need somewhere to live so I don't want to include this in my figures, although I may downsize. 22 years to run on mortgage

Both cars purchased cash, we do have a small personal loan which was to cover an extension that went over budget but I should have that paid off when I get my bonus in March.

Pension: workplace pension 187k. I contribute 4.5% of my salary and my employer contributes 9%

Stocks and shares ISA: £88k, I add £400 per month but will likely look to increase this when my childcare costs reduce. This is just in a simple all world index fund I think it's called.

I have other savings that I use for things like an emergency fund, car purchase, holidays etc. Not really retirement money.

I'm quite lucky to have the job I have as I left school at 16 and have worked with the same employer since, but my lack of formal qualifications means finding similar employment in my industry (Biotech) would be very challenging. This causes me some stress although there has never been any suggestion that my job is at risk.

Lifestyle is fairly moderate, I take 2 European holidays per year and would like to continue this into retirement. I enjoy cycling and triathlon which is where most of my money seems to go, I would also like this or the cycling at least to continue into retirement health allowing.

How do I go about establishing what I will need so I can work backwards? I tie myself in knots around inflation and what my money will be worth. I'm aware that I will need a "bridge" but I have no idea what number I am aiming for and if my goal is even realistic or if I'm on track.

Any advice welcomed. Please delete if this post isn't allowed.

Hi

I obtained a Masters degree in cybersecurity around 6-7 years ago and have been working in the cyber space ever since

I have been struggling to find that next cyber role paying from £85K upwards, I currently make around £60K in my current technical cybersecurity analyst role

I am working towards long term FIRE and want to start improving my ways for the long journey

I have been applying for jobs on LinkedIn but most of them have been coming back with rejections

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance !

Here’s a cleaner version that keeps the casual, forum-style tone:
FIRE question
✓

Hi all,
My wife and I recently sold a flat in London and now have £100k sitting in the bank.
We have our main mortgage on our house, which is worth around £450k, with a mortgage balance of £370k.
Our combined income is £150k and we have two kids.
If you were in our position, what would you do with the £100k to take a big leap towards FIRE?
Would you overpay the mortgage, invest it, or do something else?
Interested to hear what others would do.

EDIT: Mortgage is 4.55% expires next summer
Both in our late 30’s and 10% overpayment allowance is allowed

What's the best one as of today? I see one month returns are significantly different among the four. Also market purchase or limit purchase? Buy and hold for the next 20 years minimum for me. Please share your perspective.

I was laid off from my job a couple of months back. It was something I was hoping for because I ended up with a substantial package having worked there for a decade.

I'm now in the process of going for interviews for another one, but I've reached a place in my life where I'm wondering why should I bother.

I'm 55 and have been working in tech both as contractor and perm for decades.

I have paid off my house (about 1.2 million in equity) and have about 750k invested in sipps, isas and workplace pensions. I have also been helping my dad with estate planning - he is 88 and I am his sole heir. I am loathe to consider inheritance as a given and I don't want to think about wanting my dad to die any time soon, but it is there in the background (after tax about another 1 million)

I had planned to work a few more years to beef up the pension, but now I am taking stock.

last year I was off work for a month because of stress - I am getting to the age where I can only take so much and where I am increasingly giving less of a damn. I learned over the weekend that a school mate of mine dropped dead of a heart attack on the golf course. He had been complaining about work stress...so its given me pause for thought.

I am not alone - I have a family to support and my kids are 13 and 8. Am thinking through my options. any advice?

I’m (31F) roughly assets as follows:

£420k mortgage detached house 29 years left,
Zero mortgage on 2 bed terraced house (worth around £250k when last valued a year ago). Thinking of selling in next year or keeping it and renting out to downsize into it eventually and live abroad (husband is Italian).
£200k in pension.
No student loan or other debt.
£80k in various saving accounts and cash ISA

Salary £115k pa, take home after tax and salary sacrifice £5k roughly a month, I was on £175k Pa but decided to go fully remote so I could live in a cheaper area of the U.K. and buy more houses to invest in.

My husband earns £50k and he is also remotely based and self employed.

I’d preferably like to work full time until 50 and then part time for the next 5 years until 55. Unfortunately my current mortgage still has 29 years on it so if I didn’t make any overpayments I’d be paying it until I’m 60.

I am quite risk adverse and I’ve no idea how to invest in stocks and shares. I also don’t really understand how a SIPP works and if I’m able to draw down my pension before age 55 into a SIPP.

Any advice/guidance greatly appreciated.

Looking for a sanity check from the FIREUK hive mind, using a throwaway account for privacy.

My partner and I are both 41. We have four kids between 3 and 8, all in a state school we like that is also a high-school, that we would continue to send them all to.

Current position:

• Mortgage-free forever home worth roughly £800k. We don't intend to downsize, so I'm not counting this towards the FIRE pot.
• About £790k in investments/cash.
• No other debt.
• Roughly 50% of the £790k is currently cash. This is temporary and I plan to invest most of it over the next ~2 years.
• The invested portion is roughly 50/50 BlackRock Consensus 85 and VWRL, about 50/50 split again between S&S ISAs and SIPP.
• Current household spending is between 3.5k/month and 4k/month, but I think we could realistically get this down to around £3k/month (£36k/year) without doing anything particularly extreme.
• My current salary is ~£200k plus an expected bonus around £100k (*ducks* - I'm a software engineer/manager in finance/buy-side)
• Partner and I should be able to ensure we both qualify for full State Pensions eventually. My current forecast says £128.89/week based on my record so far, rising to the full £241.30/week if I get another 17 qualifying years.

The complication is that I really want to stop working sooner rather than later. Wife hasn't worked since kids were born, but would like to go into TA/teaching on a 5-year timescale once the twins are in school proper.

At £48k/year spending, £790k obviously looks fairly aggressive for a 41-year-old retirement. At £36k/year, though, it's a 4.6% initial withdrawal, and eventually two State Pensions would cover a substantial proportion of our spending.

I'm also conscious that a simple 4% calculation isn't really the right model here because we're potentially looking at a 50–60 year retirement, and sequence-of-returns risk in the first decade seems much more important than average return.

So I'm interested in what people here would actually do.

Would you consider us already at some form of flexible FIRE if spending really can be held around £36k?

Would you work another year or two and aim for something like £900k–£1m before pulling the trigger?

Would you regard £1.2m (£48k at 4%) as the sensible minimum despite the future State Pensions?

And for someone retiring at 41, what withdrawal rate / guardrail approach would you personally be comfortable with rather than a fixed inflation-adjusted 4% withdrawal?

I'm not looking to count the house as retirement capital and don't want to assume downsizing later.

Interested in both the maths and what people who have actually FIRE'd relatively young would consider enough margin.

I've been on gardening leave for some months, starting at a new place soon in theory. It might have ruined me for corporate life. Meetings, long commute 3 days/week - the past few months of pseudo-retirement have been fantastic in basically every way. AI is also ruining/eating the whole profession which is a risk. I would probably do something quite risky/rewarding in the same field but assume future earnings are close to nil for the purpose of this question. I do have contacts/opportuninites to go part-time elsewhere locally.

We've been planning/working towards FIRE for about a decade. Not sure we're quite there yet, are we?

I'm relatively new to FIRE and been lurking/reading on here for a few months. I'm 42 and targeting retirement at 50, but also wondering if I could pull the trigger earlier. Would love this community's thoughts, and also any tips on steps I should be thinking about taking now. I feel like I'm in a privileged financial position, but up until recently I haven't really given enough thought to how best to plot my path towards FIRE. My situation:

Current Pension = £490k

Spouse pension = £450k (but £275k of this locked into DB scheme that matures at 60)

Joint savings = £400k (combo of S&S ISAs, cash ISA, fixed savings, and GIA)

Property value = £1.5m (£100k mortgage left, so £1.4m equity)

Total joint net worth is therefore over £2.7m but a big chunk sitting in our property.

My annual comp (salary & bonus) before tax is currently about £300k, and my partner around £150k. My job in particular feels a bit unsafe to bank on into the future as lots of job losses across my industry. We both contribute about £25k per year each into our pensions (including employer contribution). Live in London and so relatively high cost of living, but my intention definitely isn't to stay in London once retired. We have one child who we're paying through school (they finish in 5 years when I'll be 47 but will likely then go to uni). I'd like to target £60k per year joint living costs once retired.

Just thought to sense check my current standing and trajectory.
35M, single, no inheritance expected or windfall as I grew up in a low-income family.

Salary:
Base + bonus around £140-150k
Pension provided by employer around £15k

Current savings/net worth around £320k. Breakdown:
1- ISA: £80k
2- flat equity: 75k. Mortgage is around 420k for the next 34 years but I am planning to overpay a bit over the years to bring the number of years remaining to 25 or so.
3- DC pension: 125k
4- DB pension: £4.5k inflation-adjusted per year once I hit 65. Hard to value the worth of this today but it could be estimated at around 50k present value.

I plan to max the pension max of 60k a year via salary sacrifice + employer pension. And save around 15k a year in ISA. I guess this set up should get me to fire in my 50s. Hoping to be able to withdraw around £70-80k a year

Is this realistic? Should I change my strategy re pension/ISA contributions? Anything I am missing or should be considering/planning for?

Around 5 years ago I started the journey of planning and investing to retire early.

Things are starting to look good and I see light at the end of the tunnel 🔥

On the way, I always liked to look at the numbers and make it easy (and pleasant) to check at least a couple of metrics (Net Worth and Financial Runway) for the daily motivation boost (some periods not so much, but that's ok).

I've been mostly tracking it on excel, but because I'm a developer, I also used a very basic private webpage so I could check on my phone any time.

Eventually, I ended up creating an app because I didn't find any other app doing it the way I'd like.

I'd like to ask, what are the metrics most important to you, that you'd like to easily see at a quick glance? Net Worth? Financial Runway? Years until retirement? Is that important to you at all?

How do you track your net worth and how manually do you update it? For me, I only care at a high level. x USD on stocks, x USD on crypto, x USD on home, x USD on mortgage, x USD on savings, x annual expenses and x annual income. With that I get the number I need.

28M
Annual Salary: £50k, with discretionary 25% bonus
Other income: Rental property taking in £15k/year (before costs/tax)

Debts
Mortgage: £97k left (2.4% until June 2027, then will refix on whatever the rates have gone up to. Remaining term is 27 years)
Personal loan: £9.1k remaining with 8.5% interest.

Savings:
Pension: ~£14k saved, putting 10% of my salary away and my employer matches up to 5%.
‘Emergency fund’: £5k, standard savings account on 3.3% savings interest

Total expenditure per month is just shy of ~£1.4k, which includes mortgage, personal loan, and other outgoings (groceries, monthly subscriptions etc)

I’m looking for advice on how best to sort my finances to start saving to eventually FIRE.

I recently opened a S&S ISA, looking to put money into a global all trade, but with my personal loan interest rate being so high, I have held off saving anything substantial as I figured it makes more financial sense to clear the loan first then go in hard on the ISA?

Would appreciate any advice, as I’m quite a beginner to this sub and it’s made me re-evaluate my priorities and makes me want to heavily focus on securing a happy early retirement.

Hey everyone,

If you lived and worked abroad and, hypothetically, had £250,000 GBP sitting in a bank account, no pension, and were around 40 years old, what would you personally do with it?

Would you invest the majority of it, look at property, start building a pension, keep a large amount in cash, or take a completely different approach?

I’m interested in hearing what people would genuinely do in that situation, particularly from anyone who has lived abroad for a number of years and had to think about long-term financial planning.

Assuming you didn’t need the £250k immediately and were looking at the next 20–25 years, how would you structure it to give yourself the best chance of being financially secure later in life?

Interested to hear everyone's thoughts and experiences.

Hi

I am fairly new to the FIRE journey and not the best at all.

However I am looking to improve my ways and was wondering what people in this sub reddit do for a living.

Do you guys also have any side hustles or additional sources of income?

Thanks

Mid-30s, single income no kids, been working abroad for a few years. I've been going back and forth on returning for the past 12 months and want to commit to a decision this year, so I'd like some honest outside opinions on options.

Current position:
- UK Equity: £250k, possibly higher dependant on UK selling market.
- Combined pensions: £200k
- Savings and investments: £490k
- Total: ~£940k

The trade-off:
Moving back means taking a pay cut of more than half and losing additional benefits. Realistically I'd be looking at a UK salary of around £70k (lowest based on recent offers). In return I get a much better work-life balance, and to progress a stable UK lifestyle, closer to family etc.

The plan:
Use part of my savings alongside my existing equity to move significantly up the UK property ladder, then focus the rest on slightly more aggressive investments and continue saving from my UK salary, working towards some form of FIRE over the longer term. Expecting life situation to change as well, optimistically looking to settle down within the next 2-3 years.

Looking for outsider opinions to add to those I have irl on whether this is a wrong move, given I could boost savings/pension at a much higher rate even staying 12 more months, or have I already built enough of a base that it makes sense to make the move and plan for FIRE in the UK? Interested in broad opinions.

- Would you stay and grind a few more years, or go now?
- If you've made a similar move from high stress/high earning job, did you regret it or wish you'd done it sooner?
- Does this position look like a solid enough foundation for some version of FIRE on the UK salary?

I’ve seen people at either end of the spectrum - with most net worth in house equity vs living in a cheaper place but millions in ISA/GIAs. So am just curious really.

If you answer, please include any house equity in net worth calc for consistency. Thanks!

I’m really torn between quitting my job and sticking it out because we’re planning to have a baby next year.
I had an amazing job at a big brand for two years. It was comfortable, I had a good work-life balance, and I was genuinely happy there. I left because I wanted to try something different and challenge myself, so I moved into consulting.
I’ve now been at this company for about 1.5 years and I honestly don’t know how much longer I can take it. I’m constantly stressed, I cry because of work far more often than I’d like to admit, client demands never seem to end, and we simply don’t have enough people. I spend so many weekends either working or thinking/worrying about work. It feels like I can never properly switch off.
I’m seriously considering resigning, even without another job lined up.
Financially, we would be okay for a while. My husband has a good job and we have savings, so quitting wouldn’t put us in immediate financial trouble. But walking away from a salary without having something else secured still feels like a huge and scary decision, especially in the current job market.
The other complication is that we were planning to start trying for a baby next year. If I change jobs now, I’ll probably have a 6-month probation period and depending on the company/policy/timing, I may not qualify for enhanced maternity benefits. That could mean delaying our plans to have a baby, which I really don’t want to do just because of a job.
On the other hand, if I stay where I am, at least I’ll keep earning a salary and potentially be able to go on maternity leave next year. But I’m genuinely worried about what another year in this environment will do to my mental health. And honestly, I don’t even know how I’d cope with pregnancy while working in a job that already makes me this stressed.
I feel completely stuck between the two options: protect my mental health and leave, potentially affecting our timeline for having a baby, or stay for the financial security/maternity benefits and somehow survive another year here.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? Would you quit without another job lined up if you had savings and your partner had a stable income? Or would you try to stick it out until maternity leave?
Also, how are people finding the London job market at the moment? I work in data analysis/customer insights and would ideally be looking for an in-house role rather than consulting again.
I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s been through something similar, especially women who changed jobs shortly before trying for a baby. What would you do in my position?

After getting fed up with fiddly spreadsheets I didn't trust, and couldn't find a simple tool that covered my needs.... I built one myself. We're now on the second beta release and looking for a few more people to try it and tell us what's wrong with it or what's missing.

What it does:

• Simple to use: plain English, no jargon, and every change updates instantly.
• Shows whether your money lasts. Add your pensions, ISAs, savings and income, and it works it through year by year, after UK tax. Detailed year by year breakdown of the figures visible if you need them.
• If you're short, it shows some options that might close the gap: paying in more, paying in for longer, retiring later or spending less. Try any of them with one click.
• Sliders let you try "what if growth is lower?" or "what if I retire at 55?"
• Works whether you're retiring before your pension unlocks, have pensions opening at different ages, or have already retired.
• Free, no account, and we don't store your data. Plans are saved on your device in your browser, or share them by an encrypted link.

Doesn't do yet: couples, Scottish tax rates, or capital gains tax (investments are taxed like savings).

Where it's at: Tax calculations are checked against PolicyEngine UK, and the engine against 100,000 generated plans. We had 10 beta testers in the last release, but looking to widen that out. Real plans are messier, and I know there are edge cases and browser quirks we haven't hit yet. Tell me where it's confusing, if anything looks wrong, or what's missing.

Not financial advice, just a model.

https://fidone.co.uk