Recently hit financial independence; how much longer would you work in my situation? Forum

[nealric]

That budget seems pretty lean to me if there is any chance you will have kids in the future. Even if you don't have expenses directly related to them and don't pay for their education, kids have a way of rearranging your financial priorities. I ended up doubling my housing expense after I had kids. We had full intention of staying in our 1700sq ft house with kids until we actually lived that life.

Also, I'd think long and hard about what you will retire TO if you quit. You probably don't want to sit on the couch for the rest of your life. What is FI allowing you to do that you couldn't as a wage earner? Is that a zero income proposition, or could you see yourself earning some income?

[M458]

If the market drops 20-30% (or more) over next couple years, how will that affect your plans? I noticed in your FIREcalc that it has 97% equities.

[Anonymous User]

Am I passionate about it and would I do it if I weren't getting paid? Of course not

for me personally, that would be a massive red flag. obviously i am not typically though, based on this thread.

Not passionate =/= dislike. As I mentioned elsewhere, it’s pretty easy, low stress, and there are aspects I enjoy (but at the end of the day, it’s still just a job and not how I would choose to spend my time if money were no object).

[Anonymous User]

That budget seems pretty lean to me if there is any chance you will have kids in the future. Even if you don't have expenses directly related to them and don't pay for their education, kids have a way of rearranging your financial priorities. I ended up doubling my housing expense after I had kids. We had full intention of staying in our 1700sq ft house with kids until we actually lived that life.

Also, I'd think long and hard about what you will retire TO if you quit. You probably don't want to sit on the couch for the rest of your life. What is FI allowing you to do that you couldn't as a wage earner? Is that a zero income proposition, or could you see yourself earning some income?

Thanks, but I’m not concerned and have planned for the cost of a kid. We would foster to adopt, which would provide a stipend (offsets some, not all, costs) and free physical and mental healthcare until 18. We already bought a larger home that’s big enough for a family. We’ve discussed how we would handle college costs (pay for a portion at state school prices; think it’s good for kid to have some skin in the game and learn the value of a dollar). Those are the big ticket items, and we’ve also budgeted for other things like entertainment, classes/camps, babysitting, food, utilities, travel, etc.

And I would have lots of things I would want to do during FIRE as mentioned in some other comments. I would take classes to learn construction skills, computer programming, join a bowling league, play video games, go fishing, make new FIRE friends, etc.

[Anonymous User]

If the market drops 20-30% (or more) over next couple years, how will that affect your plans? I noticed in your FIREcalc that it has 97% equities.

I would lower spending, and use my cash reserves for at least 1 year of spending without touching equities. I would maintain lower spending for another 1-2 years after that, as needed.

Also, the estimated 90% success rate looks at all prior stock years, which include many substantial drops in the markets. Of course with sequence of returns risk, the biggest risk is with a substantial drop early on in retirement (which the cash buffer is supposed to help mitigate the risk of some).

[mwells_56]

I think the thing people are missing here are that OP's spouse is also a wage-earner. Even though they keep their finances separate, ultimately a lot of the expenses everyone's talking about will still be shared with an entire other person.

Personally, I wouldn't retire so early just out of sheer fear of market downturn, but that's just me. If any of your hobbies have the potential to earn income, that also changes the calculations a bit. You mention learning to "code for fun", would you try to take on freelance projects? I know if I were to retire early I'd do something like start a food truck, try to become a twitch streamer or youtuber, etc. You can always give a second, more "fun" career a shot for a couple of years and if it doesn't work out, go back to the law if you realize you need more cash. Obviously the longer you spend trying to make a second career work, the less likely it will be that you can return to a lucrative position, but if you've got a $300,000 cushy in-house job or whatever, I'd imagine your legal credentials are top notch and you might have some leeway there.

[Anonymous User]

I think the thing people are missing here are that OP's spouse is also a wage-earner. Even though they keep their finances separate, ultimately a lot of the expenses everyone's talking about will still be shared with an entire other person.

Personally, I wouldn't retire so early just out of sheer fear of market downturn, but that's just me. If any of your hobbies have the potential to earn income, that also changes the calculations a bit. You mention learning to "code for fun", would you try to take on freelance projects? I know if I were to retire early I'd do something like start a food truck, try to become a twitch streamer or youtuber, etc. You can always give a second, more "fun" career a shot for a couple of years and if it doesn't work out, go back to the law if you realize you need more cash. Obviously the longer you spend trying to make a second career work, the less likely it will be that you can return to a lucrative position, but if you've got a $300,000 cushy in-house job or whatever, I'd imagine your legal credentials are top notch and you might have some leeway there.

Correct, keep finances separate from spouse and spouse works full time in a six figure job.

Interests/hobbies have the potential of bringing in some money, but I’m not planning on it. If I get to, say, $1.7M, I might dabble in real estate and maybe use upwards of $300k towards it. Take construction courses, learn some plumbing, buy a fixer upper, do some of the work myself and otherwise be a general contractor. Then consider renting, managing Airbnb and using vacation property part time ourselves. Or could sell if numbers are better for that option. I’d really enjoy this (have always loved real estate), but need sufficient capital to pursue it.

[Bosque]

I think the thing people are missing here are that OP's spouse is also a wage-earner. Even though they keep their finances separate, ultimately a lot of the expenses everyone's talking about will still be shared with an entire other person.

Personally, I wouldn't retire so early just out of sheer fear of market downturn, but that's just me. If any of your hobbies have the potential to earn income, that also changes the calculations a bit. You mention learning to "code for fun", would you try to take on freelance projects? I know if I were to retire early I'd do something like start a food truck, try to become a twitch streamer or youtuber, etc. You can always give a second, more "fun" career a shot for a couple of years and if it doesn't work out, go back to the law if you realize you need more cash. Obviously the longer you spend trying to make a second career work, the less likely it will be that you can return to a lucrative position, but if you've got a $300,000 cushy in-house job or whatever, I'd imagine your legal credentials are top notch and you might have some leeway there.

While I get that on the spouse earning income, I also get the sense that OP is not really listening to advice. It seems that the OP has made up their mind, and is just looking for either validation that they are right, or praise? Not sure. Regardless, it doesn't seem like OP is listening to people's responses.

OP, for what it's worth, I think you would be making a mistake leaving before $2 Million given what you have said, but like almost all lawyers, I am conservative with my risk assessment. If you think you will be ok, and are willing to take the risk that your life situation changes in a way that a 40K spend is not sustainable (which, as others have pointed out, could include kids, death/divorce of spouse, major economic downturn, health issues, ect.), then that's your choice. But your budget makes me nervous.

Regardless, I would recomend looking up where you are on social security contributions. I wouldn't plan on getting social security, but it would be a shame if you were like a year away from full credits. You probably are safe already, but you should check to be sure.

[Anonymous User]

I think the thing people are missing here are that OP's spouse is also a wage-earner. Even though they keep their finances separate, ultimately a lot of the expenses everyone's talking about will still be shared with an entire other person.

Personally, I wouldn't retire so early just out of sheer fear of market downturn, but that's just me. If any of your hobbies have the potential to earn income, that also changes the calculations a bit. You mention learning to "code for fun", would you try to take on freelance projects? I know if I were to retire early I'd do something like start a food truck, try to become a twitch streamer or youtuber, etc. You can always give a second, more "fun" career a shot for a couple of years and if it doesn't work out, go back to the law if you realize you need more cash. Obviously the longer you spend trying to make a second career work, the less likely it will be that you can return to a lucrative position, but if you've got a $300,000 cushy in-house job or whatever, I'd imagine your legal credentials are top notch and you might have some leeway there.

While I get that on the spouse earning income, I also get the sense that OP is not really listening to advice. It seems that the OP has made up their mind, and is just looking for either validation that they are right, or praise? Not sure. Regardless, it doesn't seem like OP is listening to people's responses.

OP, for what it's worth, I think you would be making a mistake leaving before $2 Million given what you have said, but like almost all lawyers, I am conservative with my risk assessment. If you think you will be ok, and are willing to take the risk that your life situation changes in a way that a 40K spend is not sustainable (which, as others have pointed out, could include kids, death/divorce of spouse, major economic downturn, health issues, ect.), then that's your choice. But your budget makes me nervous.

Regardless, I would recomend looking up where you are on social security contributions. I wouldn't plan on getting social security, but it would be a shame if you were like a year away from full credits. You probably are safe already, but you should check to be sure.

Huh? I’ve explicitly agreed with some comments suggesting I stay longer, particularly given how low stress the current gig is. My debate has been about how much longer, and I’ve agreed with the ballpark of staying another 10mo minimum and potentially aiming for another year after that (assuming still low stress). So aiming for between $1.3-$1.7M.

Have I disagreed with some comments (e.g., people warning or telling me I’ll be bored, that my budget doesn’t sufficiently account for a kid, etc.)? Absolutely, but that doesn’t mean I’m not listening to feedback. If you simply wanted a doormat that doesn’t talk back, you’ve got the wrong person here.

Appreciate your comments on the savings amount. To clarify, $1.3-$1.7M would allow for $59k-$76k spending (not the $40k you mentioned). I think those numbers would provide plenty of cushion, though of course even more money is always nicer.

And thanks for your comment on social security. I have met my credits, and I’ve estimated 80% of the amount in my Firecalc projections.

[nealric]

That budget seems pretty lean to me if there is any chance you will have kids in the future. Even if you don't have expenses directly related to them and don't pay for their education, kids have a way of rearranging your financial priorities. I ended up doubling my housing expense after I had kids. We had full intention of staying in our 1700sq ft house with kids until we actually lived that life.

Also, I'd think long and hard about what you will retire TO if you quit. You probably don't want to sit on the couch for the rest of your life. What is FI allowing you to do that you couldn't as a wage earner? Is that a zero income proposition, or could you see yourself earning some income?

Thanks, but I’m not concerned and have planned for the cost of a kid. We would foster to adopt, which would provide a stipend (offsets some, not all, costs) and free physical and mental healthcare until 18. We already bought a larger home that’s big enough for a family. We’ve discussed how we would handle college costs (pay for a portion at state school prices; think it’s good for kid to have some skin in the game and learn the value of a dollar). Those are the big ticket items, and we’ve also budgeted for other things like entertainment, classes/camps, babysitting, food, utilities, travel, etc.

And I would have lots of things I would want to do during FIRE as mentioned in some other comments. I would take classes to learn construction skills, computer programming, join a bowling league, play video games, go fishing, make new FIRE friends, etc.

It's good to have a plan. Just saying that kids tend to rearrange the plans you thought you had.

[CanadianWolf]

Whether or not I am projecting does not change the findings of many studies which reveal that early retirement often leads to a decline in one's mental health. Negative effects on longevity have also been reported.

Additionally, OP may need to find health insurance.

[CovidLurker]

I guess my only question is do you want to like off 45K/year for the rest of your life? I understand that you've been aggressively saving for the past however many years to put yourself in this position, but with a budget of 45k/year...it's not even enough to go on nice vacations or take up expensive hobbies. In a HCOL city you'd be just...surviving...without a job. Maybe the golden handcuffs are on me, but I can't imagine that'll be an enjoyable life.

How much do you spend per year?

$45k/yr provides for international and domestic vacation, eating out, buying a new iPhone or game console, getting several massages, etc. $45k isn’t “just surviving”.

My rent alone costs $2500/month in NYC, so that alone is $30k a year - and that's a good deal! I get that you have a spouse contributing half, but even then that would cut my rent expense to only $15k which on your budget would leave me $30K in living expenses.

I actually budget with spreadsheets, and in 2020 I spent $60k total. That is extraordinarily low due to Covid and no traveling/vacations. I would guess in a normal year my spending is between 75-85K.

[Anonymous User]

That budget seems pretty lean to me if there is any chance you will have kids in the future. Even if you don't have expenses directly related to them and don't pay for their education, kids have a way of rearranging your financial priorities. I ended up doubling my housing expense after I had kids. We had full intention of staying in our 1700sq ft house with kids until we actually lived that life.

Also, I'd think long and hard about what you will retire TO if you quit. You probably don't want to sit on the couch for the rest of your life. What is FI allowing you to do that you couldn't as a wage earner? Is that a zero income proposition, or could you see yourself earning some income?

Thanks, but I’m not concerned and have planned for the cost of a kid. We would foster to adopt, which would provide a stipend (offsets some, not all, costs) and free physical and mental healthcare until 18. We already bought a larger home that’s big enough for a family. We’ve discussed how we would handle college costs (pay for a portion at state school prices; think it’s good for kid to have some skin in the game and learn the value of a dollar). Those are the big ticket items, and we’ve also budgeted for other things like entertainment, classes/camps, babysitting, food, utilities, travel, etc.

And I would have lots of things I would want to do during FIRE as mentioned in some other comments. I would take classes to learn construction skills, computer programming, join a bowling league, play video games, go fishing, make new FIRE friends, etc.

It's good to have a plan. Just saying that kids tend to rearrange the plans you thought you had.

Absolutely, I agree flexibility is key. No one can plan out their life to a T for several decades, with or without kids. I could see kids changing things in unplanned ways. Then again, having a kid could also promote more stability (may be less likely to uproot and travel the world with a kid vs. without).

[Anonymous User]

Whether or not I am projecting does not change the findings of many studies which reveal that early retirement often leads to a decline in one's mental health. Negative effects on longevity have also been reported.

Additionally, OP may need to find health insurance.

If one is simply sitting around all day and having no mental stimulation, yes there can be all sorts of problems that arise. As I already mentioned, I have plenty of activities that I would pursue in early retirement.

As for healthcare, I'm covered by my spouse. If anything ever changes there, I could turn to the ACA as needed (as many early retirees do).

[Anonymous User]

I guess my only question is do you want to like off 45K/year for the rest of your life? I understand that you've been aggressively saving for the past however many years to put yourself in this position, but with a budget of 45k/year...it's not even enough to go on nice vacations or take up expensive hobbies. In a HCOL city you'd be just...surviving...without a job. Maybe the golden handcuffs are on me, but I can't imagine that'll be an enjoyable life.

How much do you spend per year?

$45k/yr provides for international and domestic vacation, eating out, buying a new iPhone or game console, getting several massages, etc. $45k isn’t “just surviving”.

My rent alone costs $2500/month in NYC, so that alone is $30k a year - and that's a good deal! I get that you have a spouse contributing half, but even then that would cut my rent expense to only $15k which on your budget would leave me $30K in living expenses.

I actually budget with spreadsheets, and in 2020 I spent $60k total. That is extraordinarily low due to Covid and no traveling/vacations. I would guess in a normal year my spending is between 75-85K.

Well, we clearly have very different spending habits I spent about $37K last year, and typically spend closer to $40-$45K. Like I mentioned, this budget isn't just bare minimum survival. This lets me dine out with friends whenever we want, go out for drinks regularly, go to shows, travel internationally once per year, travel domestically several times per year, buy a new tech gadget, get several massages, etc etc. It's a really comfortable and pleasant life. And that's at my current $45K spending level - if I hit $1.3M, that would provide $59K (an extra $14K/yr to do whatever I want).

I personally don't even know how someone spends upwards of $85K in a year ($55K of non-housing related expenses), unless you've got a super fancy/expensive car, spend $5K per vacation multiple times a year, eat out at $200-$400 restaurants regularly, etc. That's not my lifestyle. I've got a paid off, not-fancy car with low mileage (don't like putting a lot of money into depreciating assets). We get good value when we travel. Try to save extra fancy/expensive restaurants for more special occasions. But to each their own. If that's how much you feel comfortable spending and are fine making the tradeoff to work those number of additional years required to support that lifestyle, more power to you.

[Anonymous User]

What’s ur housing plan and situation

[Buglaw]

Hard to accept that you live in an HCOL (high cost of living ) city yet budget just $44,000 per year all in including housing (which indicates that you have a mortgage). Since you & your spouse keep separate finances, is $44,000 just your share of annual expenses ?

If your current job is low stress & pays well (about $300,000), why are you considering retirement in your mid-30s ?

If you retire in your 30s, you are likely to get bored causing you to invest in a business to cure your boredom.

Investments don't always go as planned.

OP here. Yes, all finances are kept separate. The above budget is for my own expenses or my own share of expenses (including mortgage).

As for your question about why retire in my mid-30s - I'll flip the question to you. Why wouldn't I retire? Time and relationships are the most important things in life, so why wouldn't I take back my time to do what I choose if my investments can cover my lifestyle?

And perhaps you think you would get bored without a job. I don't have those fears, and have plenty of things I would want to do in retirement (take classes, learn coding, go fishing, play video games, join a bowling league, etc etc etc).

I don't understand separate overall finances for purposes of retirement planning in a marriage. It's not really how a marriage works. What if your husband becomes disabled and can't work? What if his area of employment all of a sudden dries up and he is no longer employable? You still need to cover his expenses/share of housing (and divorce likely wouldn't help you drop those expenses, if anything it gets higher). It's cool if you don't want to work, but I wouldn't say you are financially independent. When you're married, you aren't financially independent until you are both together financially independent. For financial purposes you are actually a unit and not two separate people.

As to retirement, I have seen a couple of people around this age do it. They both got bored and went back to work. If you said you were quitting to go to school to be a social worker, or devote yourself to a non-profit, start a startup, etc. I would be more compelled to think this was a good idea. But, doing handyman classes or coding (unless you are looking to become a carpenter or a coder) is unlikely to be satisfying enough. People generally need meaning in their life and overall purpose. I'm not saying working is the way to do that, but I doubt playing adult recreational sports or learning to fix things around the house will be enough for you for 60 years.

[Anonymous User]

What’s ur housing plan and situation

We own. Large enough for a family. Easy commuting and walkable location.

For finances of the house, I pay $1900/mo ($23K/yr) for all housing related expenses, including mortgage, prop taxes, insurance, HOA, upkeep, and utilities. A good chunk of this is a 2.5% 30yr fixed mortgage, so I don't have to worry about increasing costs for that portion (and don't plan to pay it off early given the low rate).

I also have about $200K of equity, so that's another safety valve that I didn't mention before. If we ever need or want to in the future, we can downsize and cash out quite a bit of funds.

[replevin123]

I don't understand separate overall finances for purposes of retirement planning in a marriage. It's not really how a marriage works. What if your husband becomes disabled and can't work? What if his area of employment all of a sudden dries up and he is no longer employable? You still need to cover his expenses/share of housing (and divorce likely wouldn't help you drop those expenses, if anything it gets higher). It's cool if you don't want to work, but I wouldn't say you are financially independent. When you're married, you aren't financially independent until you are both together financially independent. For financial purposes you are actually a unit and not two separate people.

As to retirement, I have seen a couple of people around this age do it. They both got bored and went back to work. If you said you were quitting to go to school to be a social worker, or devote yourself to a non-profit, start a startup, etc. I would be more compelled to think this was a good idea. But, doing handyman classes or coding (unless you are looking to become a carpenter or a coder) is unlikely to be satisfying enough. People generally need meaning in their life and overall purpose. I'm not saying working is the way to do that, but I doubt playing adult recreational sports or learning to fix things around the house will be enough for you for 60 years.

Generally agree with this. But to be fair to OP, spouse could also have $1M+ saved up.

[Anonymous User]

Hard to accept that you live in an HCOL (high cost of living ) city yet budget just $44,000 per year all in including housing (which indicates that you have a mortgage). Since you & your spouse keep separate finances, is $44,000 just your share of annual expenses ?

If your current job is low stress & pays well (about $300,000), why are you considering retirement in your mid-30s ?

If you retire in your 30s, you are likely to get bored causing you to invest in a business to cure your boredom.

Investments don't always go as planned.

OP here. Yes, all finances are kept separate. The above budget is for my own expenses or my own share of expenses (including mortgage).

As for your question about why retire in my mid-30s - I'll flip the question to you. Why wouldn't I retire? Time and relationships are the most important things in life, so why wouldn't I take back my time to do what I choose if my investments can cover my lifestyle?

And perhaps you think you would get bored without a job. I don't have those fears, and have plenty of things I would want to do in retirement (take classes, learn coding, go fishing, play video games, join a bowling league, etc etc etc).

I don't understand separate overall finances for purposes of retirement planning in a marriage. It's not really how a marriage works. What if your husband becomes disabled and can't work? What if his area of employment all of a sudden dries up and he is no longer employable? You still need to cover his expenses/share of housing (and divorce likely wouldn't help you drop those expenses, if anything it gets higher). It's cool if you don't want to work, but I wouldn't say you are financially independent. When you're married, you aren't financially independent until you are both together financially independent. For financial purposes you are actually a unit and not two separate people.

As to retirement, I have seen a couple of people around this age do it. They both got bored and went back to work. If you said you were quitting to go to school to be a social worker, or devote yourself to a non-profit, start a startup, etc. I would be more compelled to think this was a good idea. But, doing handyman classes or coding (unless you are looking to become a carpenter or a coder) is unlikely to be satisfying enough. People generally need meaning in their life and overall purpose. I'm not saying working is the way to do that, but I doubt playing adult recreational sports or learning to fix things around the house will be enough for you for 60 years.

"It's not really how a marriage works. ... When you're married, you aren't financially independent until you are both together financially independent." LOL, that's fine and dandy if you want to share finances in a marriage (plenty of people take that approach), but you don't get to dictate how marriage works for everyone else, let alone tell me I'm only considered financially independent if we both hit that status.

Keeping finances separate in a marriage also isn't that complicated. We keep finances separate, and then have shared financial accounts for shared expenses. We also have a prenup. In the unlikely event something were to happen to my spouse, they have their own very sizable nest egg to use. If that's not enough, we would consider options and I of course would support them as needed.

As for retirement plans, options are basically limitless. I'm not concerned with finding things to enjoy my time on. Not to mention, we may have a kid in the future and that'll occupy a fair bit of my time as well (at least for the first few years before school).

[Bosque]

What’s ur housing plan and situation

We own. Large enough for a family. Easy commuting and walkable location.

For finances of the house, I pay $1900/mo ($23K/yr) for all housing related expenses, including mortgage, prop taxes, insurance, HOA, upkeep, and utilities. A good chunk of this is a 2.5% 30yr fixed mortgage, so I don't have to worry about increasing costs for that portion (and don't plan to pay it off early given the low rate).

I also have about $200K of equity, so that's another safety valve that I didn't mention before. If we ever need or want to in the future, we can downsize and cash out quite a bit of funds.

Given the rest of your responses in here, I am skeptical that this house is really big enough for a family (or at least comfortably so), based at least on these numbers for how much you are paying for housing in what you describe as a HCOL area. I believe you think it is big enough, but kids take up way more space than you are likely envisioning. If you have any friends or family with kids, I would encourage you to get some advice on this from them in person (no need to mention finances, just on what sorts of things they didn't expect they would need before having kids)--statistically at least, you are much more likely to need to upsize before you can downsize.

"It's not really how a marriage works. ... When you're married, you aren't financially independent until you are both together financially independent." LOL, that's fine and dandy if you want to share finances in a marriage (plenty of people take that approach), but you don't get to dictate how marriage works for everyone else, let alone tell me I'm only considered financially independent if we both hit that status.

Keeping finances separate in a marriage also isn't that complicated. We keep finances separate, and then have shared financial accounts for shared expenses. We also have a prenup. In the unlikely event something were to happen to my spouse, they have their own very sizable nest egg to use. If that's not enough, we would consider options and I of course would support them as needed.

Also, this attitude is why I said you are not really listening. That's a pretty rude response to someone who was trying to point out a basic reality: regardless of how you set up your relationship and finances, are you just going to say "sorry 'bout your luck" and leave if your spouse loses their job? (If you are, you should know prenups don't protect you as much as you might think, and you would at the least likely need to pay alimony). You can keep fiances seperate all you want, but you are still morally responsible for the life of another person (as they are to you), so you should be considering what happens if they lose their job too. If they have their own funds, great! But you should be budgeting for your own FIRE number specifically looking at both those funds and the expenses they are covering, and not just handwaiving that it's not your part of the finances. Retiring early means you are stretching finances out for 50 years or more, so you want to make sure you consider everything.

Some of your tone might just be because you are anonymous on an internet forum, so to be clear I am not saying you are a bad person, and I hope this doesn't come across as combative. You just seem to be focusing entirely on the best case scenario, and not planning for the worst case. I think people responding are just trying to help you consider more closely some things that a person in your position often overlooks.

Ultimately, whether you are ready or not is something you only know, we only know what you tell us. But you asked a bunch of internet strangers what they would do based on a set of facts, and it seems like the majority of them would keep working based on those facts, at least for a few more years. You can do whatever you want with that information, but you seem to have the answer to the question you posed in the title of this thread.

[Buglaw]

Hard to accept that you live in an HCOL (high cost of living ) city yet budget just $44,000 per year all in including housing (which indicates that you have a mortgage). Since you & your spouse keep separate finances, is $44,000 just your share of annual expenses ?

If your current job is low stress & pays well (about $300,000), why are you considering retirement in your mid-30s ?

If you retire in your 30s, you are likely to get bored causing you to invest in a business to cure your boredom.

Investments don't always go as planned.

OP here. Yes, all finances are kept separate. The above budget is for my own expenses or my own share of expenses (including mortgage).

As for your question about why retire in my mid-30s - I'll flip the question to you. Why wouldn't I retire? Time and relationships are the most important things in life, so why wouldn't I take back my time to do what I choose if my investments can cover my lifestyle?

And perhaps you think you would get bored without a job. I don't have those fears, and have plenty of things I would want to do in retirement (take classes, learn coding, go fishing, play video games, join a bowling league, etc etc etc).

I don't understand separate overall finances for purposes of retirement planning in a marriage. It's not really how a marriage works. What if your husband becomes disabled and can't work? What if his area of employment all of a sudden dries up and he is no longer employable? You still need to cover his expenses/share of housing (and divorce likely wouldn't help you drop those expenses, if anything it gets higher). It's cool if you don't want to work, but I wouldn't say you are financially independent. When you're married, you aren't financially independent until you are both together financially independent. For financial purposes you are actually a unit and not two separate people.

As to retirement, I have seen a couple of people around this age do it. They both got bored and went back to work. If you said you were quitting to go to school to be a social worker, or devote yourself to a non-profit, start a startup, etc. I would be more compelled to think this was a good idea. But, doing handyman classes or coding (unless you are looking to become a carpenter or a coder) is unlikely to be satisfying enough. People generally need meaning in their life and overall purpose. I'm not saying working is the way to do that, but I doubt playing adult recreational sports or learning to fix things around the house will be enough for you for 60 years.

"It's not really how a marriage works. ... When you're married, you aren't financially independent until you are both together financially independent." LOL, that's fine and dandy if you want to share finances in a marriage (plenty of people take that approach), but you don't get to dictate how marriage works for everyone else, let alone tell me I'm only considered financially independent if we both hit that status.

Keeping finances separate in a marriage also isn't that complicated. We keep finances separate, and then have shared financial accounts for shared expenses. We also have a prenup. In the unlikely event something were to happen to my spouse, they have their own very sizable nest egg to use. If that's not enough, we would consider options and I of course would support them as needed.

As for retirement plans, options are basically limitless. I'm not concerned with finding things to enjoy my time on. Not to mention, we may have a kid in the future and that'll occupy a fair bit of my time as well (at least for the first few years before school).

I wasn't trying to be rude. But, what happens if your spouse can't work. His expenses don't go away. Those need to be paid for. Whether you account for them separately or not. Are you going to kick him out on the street and make him homeless? Are you going to divorce him because he can't earn what he used to? If not, then you aren't financially independent, right? Even if you want to (and have a prenup) I think you might be surprised as to what your spouse would be entitled to (at least in my state).

I'm also not trying to tell you, you won't be happy. Just that I've seen people try this and they weren't. Perhaps that's just the people I know. I personally find my kids incredibly meaningful. That would definitely be a super meaningful way to spend time (at least to me). I also personally would not ever want to try and raise kids on $40k a year.

[Buglaw]

I don't understand separate overall finances for purposes of retirement planning in a marriage. It's not really how a marriage works. What if your husband becomes disabled and can't work? What if his area of employment all of a sudden dries up and he is no longer employable? You still need to cover his expenses/share of housing (and divorce likely wouldn't help you drop those expenses, if anything it gets higher). It's cool if you don't want to work, but I wouldn't say you are financially independent. When you're married, you aren't financially independent until you are both together financially independent. For financial purposes you are actually a unit and not two separate people.

As to retirement, I have seen a couple of people around this age do it. They both got bored and went back to work. If you said you were quitting to go to school to be a social worker, or devote yourself to a non-profit, start a startup, etc. I would be more compelled to think this was a good idea. But, doing handyman classes or coding (unless you are looking to become a carpenter or a coder) is unlikely to be satisfying enough. People generally need meaning in their life and overall purpose. I'm not saying working is the way to do that, but I doubt playing adult recreational sports or learning to fix things around the house will be enough for you for 60 years.

Generally agree with this. But to be fair to OP, spouse could also have $1M+ saved up.

Yeah. I have no idea. But, that was my point. Unless they combined have enough money to live if he can't work, she isn't really financially independent. She is financially dependent on her husband continuing to work. Unless she would immediately remove him from the equation when he can't work anymore. Even if she did that, she would lose all the economies of being married (housing is cheaper, food is cheaper, tax code is better (especially for one working and one non-working spouse), etc.) that would drive her expenses up. Not to mention the legal costs of a divorce, etc.

[12YrsAnAssociate]

It's good to have a plan. Just saying that kids tend to rearrange the plans you thought you had.

100%. I put down a $0 for pre-college education because I live in what's supposed to be a good school district. Except it turns out our kid's public school was terrible. Half the class ended up leaving for private school or putting together a patchwork of tutors and other plans so that the kids could learn basic elementary school things.

[Anonymous User]

What’s ur housing plan and situation

We own. Large enough for a family. Easy commuting and walkable location.

For finances of the house, I pay $1900/mo ($23K/yr) for all housing related expenses, including mortgage, prop taxes, insurance, HOA, upkeep, and utilities. A good chunk of this is a 2.5% 30yr fixed mortgage, so I don't have to worry about increasing costs for that portion (and don't plan to pay it off early given the low rate).

I also have about $200K of equity, so that's another safety valve that I didn't mention before. If we ever need or want to in the future, we can downsize and cash out quite a bit of funds.

Given the rest of your responses in here, I am skeptical that this house is really big enough for a family (or at least comfortably so), based at least on these numbers for how much you are paying for housing in what you describe as a HCOL area. I believe you think it is big enough, but kids take up way more space than you are likely envisioning. If you have any friends or family with kids, I would encourage you to get some advice on this from them in person (no need to mention finances, just on what sorts of things they didn't expect they would need before having kids)--statistically at least, you are much more likely to need to upsize before you can downsize.

"It's not really how a marriage works. ... When you're married, you aren't financially independent until you are both together financially independent." LOL, that's fine and dandy if you want to share finances in a marriage (plenty of people take that approach), but you don't get to dictate how marriage works for everyone else, let alone tell me I'm only considered financially independent if we both hit that status.

Keeping finances separate in a marriage also isn't that complicated. We keep finances separate, and then have shared financial accounts for shared expenses. We also have a prenup. In the unlikely event something were to happen to my spouse, they have their own very sizable nest egg to use. If that's not enough, we would consider options and I of course would support them as needed.

Also, this attitude is why I said you are not really listening. That's a pretty rude response to someone who was trying to point out a basic reality: regardless of how you set up your relationship and finances, are you just going to say "sorry 'bout your luck" and leave if your spouse loses their job? (If you are, you should know prenups don't protect you as much as you might think, and you would at the least likely need to pay alimony). You can keep fiances seperate all you want, but you are still morally responsible for the life of another person (as they are to you), so you should be considering what happens if they lose their job too. If they have their own funds, great! But you should be budgeting for your own FIRE number specifically looking at both those funds and the expenses they are covering, and not just handwaiving that it's not your part of the finances. Retiring early means you are stretching finances out for 50 years or more, so you want to make sure you consider everything.

Some of your tone might just be because you are anonymous on an internet forum, so to be clear I am not saying you are a bad person, and I hope this doesn't come across as combative. You just seem to be focusing entirely on the best case scenario, and not planning for the worst case. I think people responding are just trying to help you consider more closely some things that a person in your position often overlooks.

Ultimately, whether you are ready or not is something you only know, we only know what you tell us. But you asked a bunch of internet strangers what they would do based on a set of facts, and it seems like the majority of them would keep working based on those facts, at least for a few more years. You can do whatever you want with that information, but you seem to have the answer to the question you posed in the title of this thread.

Re: size of house, we have plenty of friends with kids who have smaller sized houses than us. We would still have space to host family/friends when they visit, even with a kid. And my spouse and I are both analytical - we wouldn't upsize simply because we wanted to without careful thought to finances and whether we can support it.

And kinda strange you keep harping on rude tone. Someone told me how I'm operating my marriage isn't how marriages really work, and that I'm not actually financially dependent. That seems rather "rude" too, but you don't seem to care much about that.

Anyways, I have no problem with someone being direct and offering their honest opinion. I will respond in the same manner. Just because I don't agree with every comment offered (e.g., I disagree with your assessment that my house is too small for a family and let you know so) doesn't mean I'm not considering the feedback offered or that I'm being rude about it.

Re: spouse, I already mentioned we keep finances separate. If the shit hits the fan, they have quite the nest egg saved (not to mention there would likely be disability pay). After those options are exhausted and if not enough (highly unlikely), of course I would support.