u/Extra_Spread6697

I am at 2M invested and about 1.1 of that is in my taxable brokerage. I have 150k in HYSA to help support living expenses and keep magi at a certain level for ACA subsidies and hedge against SORR if market drops.

The rest is mostly in traditional IRA with a smaller amount in Roth. I plan to do Roth conversions when my income is lower after quitting my full time job.

I am a renter and am a former homeowner but honestly don’t really want to own again. Everyone keeps advising me against this but I prefer mobility and being able to move if I want. I also live in a HCOL and property taxes are not cheap. I get a better location by renting than what I could ever buy with the inflated home prices and property taxes.

I’m 45 years old and single and never plan to marry or have kids. I’ve tallied up expenses over the last few years and I am comfortable saying 75-80k is reasonable. Even less if I leave the HCOL when I quit working.

Knowing all of this somehow I am still afraid of quitting work. All the numbers I’ve run tell me I’m in a good position, but I am still feeling afraid to pull the trigger.

Healthcare in the US is the one thing that’s a big wildcard. I have calculated based on current ACA subsidies but who knows what’ll happen in the future. Anyway, I would be interested in hearing from others who have been in a similar place as me and if you did FI and quit work early, how has it been?

My long time friend makes plans with me and then cancels last minute. These last 2-3 times it’s been the same lame excuse that I don’t even find believable. I’ve been suspicious for over a year now that he has been lying to me when this happens and I am really aggravated about it and want to bring it up without sounding accusatory but also letting them know this is bs and I don’t believe them and it’s really affected the friendship. I almost expect them to cancel on me every time and no longer even want to put forth an effort bc of this.

For reference I am female, he’s male, we’ve never dated although his long time girlfriend has allegedly been jealous of me many years ago from what he told me. We are in our late 40s so at an age where silly jealousy should be a thing of the past.

What’s the best way to bring this up? I really don’t know if it is something to do with his relationship or if he just decided he didn’t want to drive to hang out or something else, but I do have a very strong suspicion that his excuses are lies and I just don’t get why he can’t just be honest. Why go out of the way to make plans only to cancel half an hour before?

I have realized I am absolutely completely burned out and the stress has caused physical and mental issues that make it difficult to keep pushing through and going to work.

I hate admitting this as someone who’s always been a high achiever and who has always just kept pushing but I realize I cannot continue like this. I am in my 40s now and with life and work compounding constantly, my body and mind cannot take the stress it once did when I was younger.

I have never taken a leave before. I live in CA and was told by a friend that we have state disability and to check with what my company policy is for taking leave. I know about FMLA as well but I don’t qualify yet as I changed jobs early this year after being laid off (another big part of my stress) and the new job has been intense and incredibly difficult to manage my health with the stress

Any advice on taking leave if you have done it before? I know I’ll need a doctor to prepare the papers and I mentioned my stress to my primary doc when i had an annual exam recently. He told me my blood pressure and weight has gone up since last year, along with some other things, and that he recommends I talk to a therapist. He said he has signed people out on leave before but also told me if I return to the same stressful situation then it might just be a temporary fix.

Female 43 yrs old. Single. I’ve mentioned i conversations to a few people about financial freedom and being able to stop working like a corporate slave and instead have freedom to own my time and choose to work part time or a different career if I want to.

Something I’ve noticed especially with older folks 55+ is they’ll laugh and say things like “you’ll be older than us once you can retire” or “you’ll be working for a lot longer to get there, I’m still working” and act like the idea is completely unrealistic. I don’t share my actual numbers with anyone, so maybe that’s why, or maybe it’s because I’m a female and single. Just curious if anyone else has noticed this if you’ve talked about FIRE.

Female 43 yrs old. Single. I’ve mentioned i conversations to a few people about financial freedom and being able to stop working like a corporate slave and instead have freedom to own my time and choose to work part time or a different career if I want to.

Something I’ve noticed especially with older folks 55+ is they’ll laugh and say things like “you’ll be older than us once you can retire” or “you’ll be working for a lot longer to get there, I’m still working” and act like the idea is completely unrealistic. I don’t share my actual numbers with anyone, so maybe that’s why, or maybe it’s because I’m a female and single. Just curious if anyone else has noticed this if you’ve talked about FIRE.

I am 44 have been tired and burned out for over a year now and I am so not motivated to work these corporate jobs anymore. I have noticed every Sunday I have anxiety and unhealthy coping behaviors with having to go back to work Monday morning doing something I don’t want to be doing. I’ve gained weight and have been drinking more to deal with the anxiety and I realize it all is unhealthy. My boss isn’t awful but he’s super nitpicky about things and it’s just added stress I don’t need.

I recently calculated where I’m at with my fire numbers and according to everything, I am pretty much there if I keep spending in check. I met with an advisor who said I could just work part time for a few more years just ti have a little extra money, but I don’t need to keep working full time. I’m basically staying for health insurance because I’m a little worried about the US healthcare system costs. Thankfully I am healthy and don’t have expensive medical costs right now but I think the fear of having something happen and having to pay so much more for health insurance is keeping me stuck working jobs I don’t want to be in anymore.

Also think I still have a fear of running out of money even though projections are 90% telling me I’ll be ok.

Anyone here who has gone on the fire path, how did you know it was finally time?

Laid off after almost 5 years in last place and started a new job a month ago. I forgot just how stressful it is to be new. I also haven’t experienced such a chaotic and unorganized onboarding process like this. Is this what companies are doing now?

This has literally been a throw straight to the deep end situation. I had to present to a c level audience on day 3 after barely even having time to learn what’s going on with the presentation.

I then had my male boss criticize my outfit after the meeting, claiming that it wasn’t his version of professional. I was wearing black slacks, a cashmere blend top with a black blazer over it, and black samba sneakers. Literally never had anyone comment in my 20 year career about my fashion choices and everyone wore outfits like this at the company I was at previously. I found it a bit odd and almost mansplainy to even make such a comment.

I almost regret going back to a job like this after being laid off, it’s just been such a stressful month.