FIRE Milestone — 25× Annual Expenses at 37, but Still Struggling to Pull the Trigger
37M, 36F, one 7-year-old kid. We’ve reached approximately 25× our annual expenses, and I’m looking for some brutally honest feedback from the FIRE community.
Both of us work in IT and are WFH from a tier-2 city, living with my parents. We only need to visit the office around 3 days a month for now.
Income & expenses:
Combined in-hand salary: ₹3.5L/month
Monthly expenses: ~₹1L
Current monthly investments: MF sip : ₹1.73L/month
Chits: ₹50K/month
EPF contribution: ₹47K/month
Current net worth: ~₹3 Cr
Equity — shares + mutual funds + Gold ETF: ₹1.15 Cr
Debt — EPF, FD, P2P lending, NPS, savings account: ₹1.30 Cr
Real estate: ₹55L
We already own our house in a tier-2 city, so there is no rent or home-purchase liability.
Based on our current expenses, we have reached approximately 25× our annual expenses — the traditional FIRE benchmark.
The problem is that I don't feel financially free.
The last 6 months at my job have been extremely stressful. At the same time, with AI advancing rapidly, I can see parts of my work becoming increasingly automated. My dependency on my current job has already been reducing, and honestly, I don't see myself staying in IT for more than another 6 months.
My wife is also considering working for another year, but neither of us is particularly excited about continuing the corporate grind.
There is another factor: my father's business.
I currently help him with the business, and things have been going well so far and profits are on par with my salary. However, competition is increasing and the business has been getting tougher month by month, so there is uncertainty there as well. My father also earns around ₹75K/month from rental income, and my parents are financially independent and don't depend on me.
The biggest thing stopping me from pulling the trigger is my child's future expenses — especially education and potentially marriage.
On paper, 25× says FIRE.
Emotionally, I'm not convinced.
So I'm stuck between two options:
Upskill and look for another software job, potentially giving myself another 2–3 years of income and building a much larger safety cushion to cover kids education expense
Quit IT, accept that I've reached FIRE, and spend my time helping with my father's business / pursuing other things.
I know 25× isn't necessarily enough if there are large future expenses outside the current ₹1L/month lifestyle, especially with a 7-year-old child.
So I'm looking for brutally honest feedback, particularly from people who have actually FIRE'd or are close to it.
Would you quit at this point, or would you continue working for another few years purely for the additional safety margin?
What am I underestimating?
Note : Edited my emotions with help of AI