u/Head_Valuable8345

27M, no debt, no real estate, and recently crossed around $250k net worth between brokerage, retirement accounts, and cash.

I know this isn’t a huge number by FIRE standards, especially compared to some of the posts here, but it still felt worth marking. A few years ago this felt pretty far away, so it’s nice to see the progress.

Mostly just living at home with my parents, keeping expenses reasonable, saving and investing, and trying to avoid lifestyle creep where I can.

I’m definitely nowhere close to FI yet, but it feels like a decent early checkpoint.

Married couple in California, ages 52 and 50. We have about $6.7M in investable assets and a primary home worth around $2.5M with a $500k mortgage left.

Current annual spending is around $200k including mortgage, but if we retire, I think it could realistically become $250k/year because of healthcare and travel. If we pay mortage off it drops to roughly $220k.

On paper, the math seems okay. But emotionally, I’m struggling with the decision. My job is stressful and working another 2–3 years could add a lot of safety. At the same time, part of me worries we’re just stuck in “one more year” mode.

Would you retire now with this setup, pay off the mortgage first, or work a few more years to create a bigger cushion?