Any other attorneys considering FIRE / early retirement / part time? Forum

[jotarokujo]

fire is less common here than it is among tech and finance people because people who went the law path specifically chose a suboptimal profession in terms of earning in favor of substantive preferences

[Anonymous User]

This may belong on a separate thread, but given the discussion above, what are coast-fire options for lawyers? Doesn't seem like there are very many part-time roles in the legal profession with healthcare, etc.

[Anonymous User]

This may belong on a separate thread, but given the discussion above, what are coast-fire options for lawyers? Doesn't seem like there are very many part-time roles in the legal profession with healthcare, etc.

for litigator: solo and take on a case if the client(s) comes knocking.

[Anonymous User]

This may belong on a separate thread, but given the discussion above, what are coast-fire options for lawyers? Doesn't seem like there are very many part-time roles in the legal profession with healthcare, etc.

For coast-fire, what about Axiom-type roles?

[Anonymous User]

To get this thread back on track - would be really interested in seeing how folks are pulling this off in ultra high COL areas. I'd love to do FIRE, but it just doesn't seem possible in my market (Silicon Valley) without 2 biglaw incomes (primarily due to the absurdly high COL - paying $4500ish/month on a mortgage really cuts into my ability to save and pay down debt).

FIRE-minded since law school graduation. SINK, lived in HCOL area but chose the cheapest studio I could tolerate. Ready to FIRE by year 7 of biglaw.

W. Somerset Maugham once said: "There is nothing so degrading as the constant anxiety about one's means of livelihood." That's how I see biglaw and its job insecurity as a senior associate. Being constantly insecure about one's job is no way to live. Conceptually, I see FI as an insurance/security for the future. It makes biglaw more tolerable while building a bigger nest egg, which is totally optional.

[Definitely Not North]

To get this thread back on track - would be really interested in seeing how folks are pulling this off in ultra high COL areas. I'd love to do FIRE, but it just doesn't seem possible in my market (Silicon Valley) without 2 biglaw incomes (primarily due to the absurdly high COL - paying $4500ish/month on a mortgage really cuts into my ability to save and pay down debt).

FIRE-minded since law school graduation. SINK, lived in HCOL area but chose the cheapest studio I could tolerate. Ready to FIRE by year 7 of biglaw.

W. Somerset Maugham once said: "There is nothing so degrading as the constant anxiety about one's means of livelihood." That's how I see biglaw and its job insecurity as a senior associate. Being constantly insecure about one's job is no way to live. Conceptually, I see FI as an insurance/security for the future. It makes biglaw more tolerable while building a bigger nest egg, which is totally optional.

Awesome. What was your NW target?

[Anonymous User]

To get this thread back on track - would be really interested in seeing how folks are pulling this off in ultra high COL areas. I'd love to do FIRE, but it just doesn't seem possible in my market (Silicon Valley) without 2 biglaw incomes (primarily due to the absurdly high COL - paying $4500ish/month on a mortgage really cuts into my ability to save and pay down debt).

FIRE-minded since law school graduation. SINK, lived in HCOL area but chose the cheapest studio I could tolerate. Ready to FIRE by year 7 of biglaw.

W. Somerset Maugham once said: "There is nothing so degrading as the constant anxiety about one's means of livelihood." That's how I see biglaw and its job insecurity as a senior associate. Being constantly insecure about one's job is no way to live. Conceptually, I see FI as an insurance/security for the future. It makes biglaw more tolerable while building a bigger nest egg, which is totally optional.

Awesome. What was your NW target?

I was in the LeanFIRE crowd, so my initial NW target was merely 800k. I've already passed the 1.5x mark a while back so I'm pretty comfortable these days to see how long I can last/tolerate biglaw.

[Anonymous User]

I was in the LeanFIRE crowd, so my initial NW target was merely 800k. I've already passed the 1.5x mark a while back so I'm pretty comfortable these days to see how long I can last/tolerate biglaw.

Sweet, another LeanFIRE lawyer checking in. I hit $1M this year (though its gone back down to like 985k or something over last few days). About 70% of this is in taxable brokerage, and the rest is semi-illiquid (401k, roth ira, HSA, Series I Treasury).

AA is 96% stock (in VG Total US and Total World) and 4% is my cash/treasury. Also have a 60k personal line of credit in case I need emergency funds.

Did 4.5 years of biglaw and quitting in February. Going to take a sabattical for a bit and figure out what I want to do work wise after that. 32 years old and single. Annual spending has averaged 36k/year for last 4-5 years, so not that worried about finances. Need to figure out healthcare during the sabattical though.

[Anonymous User]

I was in the LeanFIRE crowd, so my initial NW target was merely 800k. I've already passed the 1.5x mark a while back so I'm pretty comfortable these days to see how long I can last/tolerate biglaw.

Sweet, another LeanFIRE lawyer checking in. I hit $1M this year (though its gone back down to like 985k or something over last few days). About 70% of this is in taxable brokerage, and the rest is semi-illiquid (401k, roth ira, HSA, Series I Treasury).

AA is 96% stock (in VG Total US and Total World) and 4% is my cash/treasury. Also have a 60k personal line of credit in case I need emergency funds.

Did 4.5 years of biglaw and quitting in February. Going to take a sabattical for a bit and figure out what I want to do work wise after that. 32 years old and single. Annual spending has averaged 36k/year for last 4-5 years, so not that worried about finances. Need to figure out healthcare during the sabattical though.

Damn, way to go! Would you mind sharing how much you saved each year in 4.5 years of BigLaw to get to a million?

Also, what are your sabbatical plans? What you've accomplished is truly amazing!

[Anonymous User]

I was in the LeanFIRE crowd, so my initial NW target was merely 800k. I've already passed the 1.5x mark a while back so I'm pretty comfortable these days to see how long I can last/tolerate biglaw.

Sweet, another LeanFIRE lawyer checking in. I hit $1M this year (though its gone back down to like 985k or something over last few days). About 70% of this is in taxable brokerage, and the rest is semi-illiquid (401k, roth ira, HSA, Series I Treasury).

AA is 96% stock (in VG Total US and Total World) and 4% is my cash/treasury. Also have a 60k personal line of credit in case I need emergency funds.

Did 4.5 years of biglaw and quitting in February. Going to take a sabattical for a bit and figure out what I want to do work wise after that. 32 years old and single. Annual spending has averaged 36k/year for last 4-5 years, so not that worried about finances. Need to figure out healthcare during the sabattical though.

Damn, way to go! Would you mind sharing how much you saved each year in 4.5 years of BigLaw to get to a million?

Also, what are your sabbatical plans? What you've accomplished is truly amazing!

This is how much I invested in new funds each year:

2017 $ 78,585 (Note that I had 40k in savings already when i started biglaw in the fall).
2018 $ 127,591
2019 $ 127,400
2020 $ 144,725
2021 $210,155

This is how much market gains I got each year:
2017 $ 6,415
2018 $ (18,716) (only year with a net loss on investment returns).
2019 $ 64,795
2020 $ 88,831
2021 $152,587

Networth by year end (31st of each year):


2017 $ 85,000
2018 $ 193,875
2019 $ 386,070
2020 $ 669,067
2021 $ 993,550

I am just going to decompress and travel for about 6 months for my sabattical.

[Anonymous User]

I was in the LeanFIRE crowd, so my initial NW target was merely 800k. I've already passed the 1.5x mark a while back so I'm pretty comfortable these days to see how long I can last/tolerate biglaw.

Sweet, another LeanFIRE lawyer checking in. I hit $1M this year (though its gone back down to like 985k or something over last few days). About 70% of this is in taxable brokerage, and the rest is semi-illiquid (401k, roth ira, HSA, Series I Treasury).

AA is 96% stock (in VG Total US and Total World) and 4% is my cash/treasury. Also have a 60k personal line of credit in case I need emergency funds.

Did 4.5 years of biglaw and quitting in February. Going to take a sabattical for a bit and figure out what I want to do work wise after that. 32 years old and single. Annual spending has averaged 36k/year for last 4-5 years, so not that worried about finances. Need to figure out healthcare during the sabattical though.

Damn, way to go! Would you mind sharing how much you saved each year in 4.5 years of BigLaw to get to a million?

Also, what are your sabbatical plans? What you've accomplished is truly amazing!

This is how much I invested in new funds each year:

2017 $ 78,585 (Note that I had 40k in savings already when i started biglaw in the fall).
2018 $ 127,591
2019 $ 127,400
2020 $ 144,725
2021 $210,155

This is how much market gains I got each year:
2017 $ 6,415
2018 $ (18,716) (only year with a net loss on investment returns).
2019 $ 64,795
2020 $ 88,831
2021 $152,587

Networth by year end (31st of each year):


2017 $ 85,000
2018 $ 193,875
2019 $ 386,070
2020 $ 669,067
2021 $ 993,550

I am just going to decompress and travel for about 6 months for my sabattical.

This is fantastic, thank you for sharing such detailed numbers.

How'd you keep your living costs so low (housing, food, etc)? And more importantly, how'd you avoid keeping up with the BigLaw jones-es?

[Anonymous User]

This is fantastic, thank you for sharing such detailed numbers.

How'd you keep your living costs so low (housing, food, etc)? And more importantly, how'd you avoid keeping up with the BigLaw jones-es?

I keep rent low (has been $1000-$1200 for my portion). Didn't have student debt. Those are the big keys. Still leaves $1800 for discretional spending. Idk how you have time to spend more than that. I guess if you're into clubbing and getting bottle service or something. I'm not materialistic also so don't really buy things I don't need (i.e. had an Iphone 6 until like 2019 and now have an iphone 11..will upgrade once this stops working or gets stolen). Never felt urge to keep-up with the jones because I was always FIRE oriented and knew the best thing I could buy for my self is freedom/time.

[Anonymous User]

This is fantastic, thank you for sharing such detailed numbers.

How'd you keep your living costs so low (housing, food, etc)? And more importantly, how'd you avoid keeping up with the BigLaw jones-es?

I keep rent low (has been $1000-$1200 for my portion). Didn't have student debt. Those are the big keys. Still leaves $1800 for discretional spending. Idk how you have time to spend more than that. I guess if you're into clubbing and getting bottle service or something. I'm not materialistic also so don't really buy things I don't need (i.e. had an Iphone 6 until like 2019 and now have an iphone 11..will upgrade once this stops working or gets stolen). Never felt urge to keep-up with the jones because I was always FIRE oriented and knew the best thing I could buy for my self is freedom/time.

Way to go, and congrats! If you end up starting an Attorney FIRE blog, you'd definitely have me as a follower!

[Anonymous User]

I was in the LeanFIRE crowd, so my initial NW target was merely 800k. I've already passed the 1.5x mark a while back so I'm pretty comfortable these days to see how long I can last/tolerate biglaw.

Sweet, another LeanFIRE lawyer checking in. I hit $1M this year (though its gone back down to like 985k or something over last few days). About 70% of this is in taxable brokerage, and the rest is semi-illiquid (401k, roth ira, HSA, Series I Treasury).

AA is 96% stock (in VG Total US and Total World) and 4% is my cash/treasury. Also have a 60k personal line of credit in case I need emergency funds.

Did 4.5 years of biglaw and quitting in February. Going to take a sabattical for a bit and figure out what I want to do work wise after that. 32 years old and single. Annual spending has averaged 36k/year for last 4-5 years, so not that worried about finances. Need to figure out healthcare during the sabattical though.

Great to hear and thanks for sharing the numbers! What I don't understand is why you want to "work" (as in "work wise") after your sabbatical? If it were me, I'd just keep working and saving at such a nice salary then take an indefinite sabbatical / never work again.

[Anonymous User]

Great to hear and thanks for sharing the numbers! What I don't understand is why you want to "work" (as in "work wise") after your sabbatical? If it were me, I'd just keep working and saving at such a nice salary then take an indefinite sabbatical / never work again.

I mean if its not already clear, I absolutely despise my job. You're always going to have 'one-more' year syndrome. I already exceeded my expectations by lasting this long. Also I don't want to fully retire, but I'm ok doing some interesting work that afford flexibility (location/schedule, so I can work remotely while traveling) for like 20-50% of my current pay.

[Anonymous User]

Love this thread. I am an FI-minded midlevel biglaw associate in a secondary market, and reading the posts above is super motivating. Just wanted to say thank you for sharing!

[The Lsat Airbender]

This may belong on a separate thread, but given the discussion above, what are coast-fire options for lawyers? Doesn't seem like there are very many part-time roles in the legal profession with healthcare, etc.

local government

[omar1]

What are people investing in? Do you buy individual stock? ETFs? I'm just curious, since there are a lot of posts stating "I invested 250k and end of year two it reached 330" etc... sorry I'm a newbie at this.

[Sackboy]

What are people investing in? Do you buy individual stock? ETFs? I'm just curious, since there are a lot of posts stating "I invested 250k and end of year two it reached 330" etc... sorry I'm a newbie at this.

That is generally what people invest in. Most everything else is degen gambling. And, these returns are historically unusual. The past 10 years have been a bull market. Average long-term returns are around 11%/yr. over the past 40 or so years, IIRC. Don't expect your portfolio to grow 30% a year.

[Anonymous User]

What are people investing in? Do you buy individual stock? ETFs? I'm just curious, since there are a lot of posts stating "I invested 250k and end of year two it reached 330" etc... sorry I'm a newbie at this.

Index funds: 1/3 SP500, 1/3 midcap, 1/3 tech sector

[Anonymous User]

I'm at 40% VTSAX, 40% VTIAX, and 20% bonds. Have like 10k in crypto, but I'm not adding any more to that.

[nealric]

What are people investing in? Do you buy individual stock? ETFs? I'm just curious, since there are a lot of posts stating "I invested 250k and end of year two it reached 330" etc... sorry I'm a newbie at this.

I generally follow the "bogglehead" approach, which advocates a simple portfolio made of broad-spectrum index funds. You will never beat the market, but you will always match it.

My 401k is 80% S&P 500, 15% total bond market, 5% Emerging Markets
My taxable account is 100% VTI (vanguard total stock market)

In 2021, my money made more money than I did.

[Anonymous User]

I'm 32-year-old seventh year. Currently sitting at about $1.2M. I think about FIRE, but it still seems far away -- would feel financially comfortable hanging it all up if I had $3M in 2020 dollars in the bank. ($3.15M in 2021 dollars lol). That will take maybe seven more years.

I'm in 90-95% stocks, mostly VTI/VTSAX and a few other random things.

[Anonymous User]

Sucks about VTIAX (VG Total International) under performing for like last 10 years compared to VTSAX (US Total). Notwithstanding that, I stuck to my 70-30% US-international allocation and calculated I would have made a significant amount more without international, but at this point, its too late to change it too. Hope that in the long run we see a reversal with International outperforming US. It's crazy with all of the people who stuck closer to world cap and have 40-50% international.

[Anonymous User]

I'm 32-year-old seventh year. Currently sitting at about $1.2M. I think about FIRE, but it still seems far away -- would feel financially comfortable hanging it all up if I had $3M in 2020 dollars in the bank. ($3.15M in 2021 dollars lol). That will take maybe seven more years.

I'm in 90-95% stocks, mostly VTI/VTSAX and a few other random things.

There's this quote from a Reddit comment that I like and think it is apt in response to your comment. The quote captures how I feel about biglaw in January 2022, and it's not even 2 weeks into the new year. It probably depends on your own situation, e.g., if you have an SO with 4 kids, you'd probably want 3M to feel safe, but if you're just single, no kids, 1.2M is more than enough.

"I think the main thing . . . to focus on now is accumulating enough assets to enable you to live even a meager lifestyle without working. Once you achieve that goal you'll probably find that your mental attitude changes significantly. Work will seem easier in the sense that you don't need it nearly as much; you can now survive without working. The pressure you place on yourself will diminish significantly. What you'll probably find is that you'll keep working so you're able to fund a better lifestyle in retirement. So you'll soldier on, and then at some point the scales will tip. The bullshit at work will supersede your desire for more, and you'll say, 'Screw it... I'm outa here.' When that time arrives you'll know it."

https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinanc ... etirement/