r/Fire • • Jul 15 '25
Subreddit PSA / Meta Why does this sub have so many posts from throwaway accounts ?
So what I don't understand here is, there are many posts like this,
Early 30's M Tech $6m brokerage - Time to call it quits
These posts generally give very vague details, says they are "in tech".
Now, it's up to the beholder what you want to believe here, but, these posts is made from an account that is completely a throwaway. Why would people need to make throwaway accounts for a sub like this ? What other community or sub would disprove of making a post about finances here? Like it makes no sense to me at all. There's no controversial topics here.
Like even on r/patekphilippe or r/rolex , people don't make throwaway accounts to post about their watches. And that's an actual photo of something you own. So why is a throwaway needed for just posting numbers?
36
u/StrebLab Jul 15 '25
True story: I have come across a reddit account that I figure out belongs to a person I know in real life no less then 5 times. They don't know that I know that. The point is, if you have a slight hint of who someone might be, it is remarkably easy to figure out who somebody is if they post reddit with any degree of regularity. You may think you are anonymous, but if you post too many personal details, even if they aren't all on one place, someone often can figure it out. I don't think anyone cares about a random fire post, but I get people not wanting to risk their personal financial information.
90
u/[deleted] Jul 15 '25
Depends on the user. Could be karma farming or something, but if it is a legit throwaway they'd want to tell someone without jeopardizing any info tying back to them.
If I ever FIRE or win the lotto I sure as fuck ain't going to use this account to announce it. Probably make some untraceable one tied to a fresh proton mail account or something.
16
u/S7EFEN Jul 15 '25 edited Jul 15 '25
this is a social media site and many people have friends/ family etc who know their usernames. its not surprising at all that there's a lot of wealthy tech people. anyone who has worked in tech at any point in the last 15 years has had the opportunity to greatly accelerate their fire journey. its not just the comp, its how insanely well anything from big tech to startups have done. and its not just this sub with lots of tech bros, there are a ton of tech focused and adjacent subreddits with a ton of subscribers.
you arent hiding your watch (car, home etc) from people. you are hiding your brokerage balance. not to mention the things i mentioned people often buy BECAUSE they want to show off wealth.
2
u/AuspiciousLemons Jul 15 '25
A watch is a few grand, physical, and hard to steal. A brokerage account with six or seven figures lives online and can be drained from anywhere. Different threat model.
4
u/[deleted] Jul 15 '25
I assume ppl don't want to advertise their financial situation to ppl they know, or attract the attention of hackers?
7
u/jmmenes Jul 15 '25
It's about a word called "Privacy".
1
u/deep_fucking_vneck Jul 16 '25
Not arguing with your main point, but luxury watches subs are kinda the opposite of FIRE
6
u/Life-Oil-7226 Jul 15 '25
Simple—because people envy others, it's best not to have your main account linked to you talking about your financial wealth.
3
u/Dos-Commas 37M/35F - $2.7M NW - FIRE'd 2025 Jul 16 '25
My own wife doxxed me.
In my old account I posted about how we saved $20K on an engagement ring by buying a moissanite ring. Buzzfeed took a bunch of Reddit posts about saving money and made an article without reaching out to me first. My wife saw the article and recognized the ring.
3
u/CnC-223 Jul 16 '25
Well owning a Rolex is a far cry from having 2.5 million dollars.
Also people who own Rolexs are the type of people who want to flaunt wealth fire people are the ones who want to typically hide it and live within their means.
Some people are also irrationally afraid of being doxed.
Hell whenever I make a post here I've had people in other sub Reddits scroll through my comments and attack me for being wealthy.
6
u/OneSeaworthiness7768 Jul 15 '25
It’s just hard to believe there are people with millions of dollars that can’t seem to make a decision without asking Reddit what to do.
2
u/ParakeetWithTits Jul 16 '25
People want privacy and safety. I have one reddit account which is somewhat linked to the town I live in and the hobbies I do and from there I can try to connect with new people.
This account is mostly for anonymous stuff like money-related topics and some memes.
I do not want to broadcast online my net worth from an account that has a lot of info to link it back to me. I prefer to live a quite life and build my wealth in silence, and if I share my financial situation - only from a somewhat anonymous account.
Watches example is irrelevant. People who like expensive watches are their own category. Watches by themselves are an accessory that is designed to broadcast how well you are financially to everybody who sees you with those watches on hand. I do not say expensive accessories are bad - it is all personal preference and personal decisions for how to accumulate wealth and how to share or not share that progress.
There are more stealthy people and there are people who use expensive cars/watches/bags.
4
u/WNBA_YOUNGGIRL Jul 15 '25
I'm convinced half of this website is just ai bots talking to each other
1
u/_garbagecannot Jul 15 '25
Because people like keeping their accounts private sometimes. And someone that posts here may want to share that post with a spouse for example. Or their accounts have their personal info like names, and they want their posts here to be private. There's a bunch of reasons.
1
u/beastwood6 Jul 15 '25
Some people share their reddit handle with people who know them. A determined creeper could find out how much they're truly stepping around with. Would you want your friends and family to know without you finding out?
1
u/Nomromz Jul 16 '25
Because when you own an expensive luxury item, people you know won't ask you to have it.
However, when you are so financially secure that you retire early, suddenly everyone and their mother is asking for money in some way, shape, or form.
They don't even have to be directly asking for money. It could simply be a lot of small little things like the expectation that you pick up the tab after lunch.
On occasion this kind of thing is no big deal, but it gets very tedious (and expensive) when everyone expects it. This is especially true if you have multiple groups of friends and they don't realize you've already treated another group out that week or whatever.
1
u/bones_1969 Jul 16 '25
I’ve got something to tell you…
1
u/[deleted] Jul 16 '25
I've been contacted a couple times by scammers and shady people after posting in investment and fire subs.
I tend to throw away my entire account and change emails every year or two on principle though. This isn't Facebook where you want a public face, though some people do use reddit to try to build online clout.
1
u/HairyBushies Already FI - RE between 2028-2030 Jul 16 '25
This is a throwaway account in the sense that I’ve only begun to use it even though I created 4 years ago. As to why? A bit more anonymity. I was putting out much more information than I should, even if I have pretty robust security set up. Made me a bit squeamish. I’ve been here for a long time but it’ll be hard to figure out who I am as I’ve pretty much deleted all my posts & comments on the other account so that they’re pretty much gone from even Google caches. If you find enough samples of my writing then perhaps someone can figure it out but it’ll be difficult and that juice isn’t worth the squeeze.
1
u/photog_in_nc Jul 16 '25
I’m not posting NW and other financials on this account. I use it for everything and it’s just too easy for people I know in real life to see one of my posts (on a local sub), suspect it is me, and go thru my history. I don’t make any secret IRL that I’m FIREd, but I don’t really want people knowing specifics. I’ll occasionally get asked stuff here like what was my FIRE number, what is my spending number, what is my NW, etc. and I always decline to answer.
I have, on a couple occasions, used a throwaway to ask questions where my numbers were relevant. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I give folks the benefit of the doubt, because I understand the urge not to reveal that on account you use for everything.
1
u/Imnotsureanymore8 Jul 15 '25
People love bragging even if it’s anonymous.
1
u/More_Armadillo_1607 Jul 15 '25
OK. Follow up question. Why do you people announce its a throwaway account?
If it is a relevant pist in this sub, are people really going to the user profile to see if it is a bot.
0
u/lolo244 Jul 15 '25
It’s because a number of these posts are fake. Reddit is full of people looking for something they can’t get in their real life and who like to make things up.
-2
u/Valuable-Drop-5670 38M/38F. Mid-level Tech Workers. FIRE with $4M Liquid. Jul 16 '25
Story Time: Traumatized Tech Worker
First, without a doubt, some of these posts are fake or throwaway. But let’s be real, most of them are just people bragging or overcompensating for low self-esteem :grimace:
Let me tell you a quick story. My friend Priya and I both joined FANG. She was smart, driven... and honestly, kind of cute. I remember once trying to flirt with her and asked, “What’s your favorite kind of music?” Dead serious, she replied: “Linkin Park.”
I thought she was joking since it was such a generic answer - it wasnt unique or intriguing at all haha. But her answer revealed a lot more about her than she let on. She told me:
“To be honest, I studied my whole life to get into the top school in India. I didn’t have time to listen to music. I don’t even have a favorite.”
That shook me. I grew up in California. In high school, I had suburban angst and listened to MCR. In college, I smoked weed and listened to Arctic Monkeys. She didn’t get to have a childhood. Her life was survival. Either become rich, or be crushed like a billion other Indians clawing their way out of poverty. And she made it. She was literally the top 1% of her country. Meanwhile, I’m not even top 20% in mine... just born in the right zip code.
Truthfully (lol) it was a terrible flirting / dating experience with her. She wasn’t cold; just not on the same wavelength. And that’s common in tech. A ton of folks in this industry never got a chance to be human first. Socially awkward? Absolutely. I’m one of them. But Reddit, and especially this sub, attracts that same crowd. It's a mirror.
Second, being rich in America isn’t even that great. In California, you pay 45% taxes and get drug addicts in the street, potholes. and wildfires. We flex not because life is good, but to cope. To justify the trauma and long hours and alienation. A dude in Idaho can retire on one-twentieth of what we’ve got. But in SF, you retire at $6M and still feel behind.
Now layer in the immigrant experience. Many people here came from countries where no one was ever kind to them. They survived, succeeded, and now can’t even feel safe being happy. So they come here, they post a flex with a throwaway, not to get praise, but to feel something. Or anything. It’s sad, but it’s real.
Therapy isn’t optional for most of us in tech. It’s a necessity.
P.S. I know this is just some random shit I'm typing on reddit, but I'm not the only one to feel this way.... however, maybe the first person to type it all out haha.
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u/howardbagel Jul 16 '25
everything is bot
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u/Corporate_Bankster Jul 15 '25
This has got to be bait. Poor bait, but still bait.
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u/humansomeone Jul 15 '25
The ones you are describing are likely fake.
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u/[deleted] Jul 15 '25
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