Poll:How many FIRE devotees have kids?

[The Cosmic Avenger]

We have one kid, and we're definitely going to try to wait until that one is done with college before retiring. After that...well, it really depends on the markets, but I will definitely be at least cutting back by then!

[RetiredAt55.5]

I retired at 55 with our oldest son just graduated from college, our middle son in their 1st year of college, and our youngest a junior in HS.

We saved in 529's and ESA's for their college expenses (no financial aid).

I'll concede that retiring in one's 30's/40's with young children would be much more challenging.

[NYEXPAT]

Retired at 33. Now 66 with a 4 y/o and 13 y/o.

[brett]

Both children completed post secondary/university with no debt when we FIRED. Both working, on their own, supporting themselves.

We were in our late 50's and rattling around a large, empty home. First FIRE decision was to sell it.

What is so unusual about this? We know of others who have done the same. I do not think that it was/is a big deal.

[Jerry1]

I had kids early. I retired at 57 and both my daughters were over 30. One went to college and we paid full fair on that. The other did not but we bought her a house. So, they were not cheap. However, beyond being worth every penny, their cost were it not to have been there wouldn't have changed my retirement by very many years if any. Retirement came from good pay (a blessing) and LBYM's. It's like anything. You can spend a ton on your kids or you can be creative in order to give them a good life on a reasonable budget. Good choices provide better options. Not easy, but simple.

[Helena]

.

I was a single mother of a disabled son.

Thank God, I was able to retire comfortably at age 55.

My son was the main reason I planned to retire early.

He lived with me until he died suddenly and unexpectedly during a seizure six years after I retired.

.

[youbet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I think the article was about much younger early retirees, so I voted "it's complicated".

Yep. I have noticed most of the articles about FIRE seem to be referring to very early retirement.

[Gumby]

We have no children. The desire to be FIRE was not the reason, although I'm sure that not having them made FIRE easier for us. Hats off to those of you who did it with children.

[audreyh1]

We had no children and no question in my mind that it made the decision to retire very early easy. I don’t think we would have retired at that time with school aged children. Probably would have delayed us 15 years.

[Mdlerth]

We have five. Sent them all to college on our dime so they'd start off adult life debt-free. It seemed wiser than leading them to expect an inheritance.

It was expensive and exhausting so, naturally, it pushed our retirement out by some number of years, although I can't know how many and I'm not concerned about it.

I don't pretend to speak for anyone else, but knowing my own unique array of virtues and vices (plenty of these!) I am certain that the challenges presented by raising a passel of kids made me a more patient, more generous person. Not richer - not by a long shot! - but nicer.

So I won't retire as early. TS. I'll still be happy anyway.

[nhcycling]

3 great kids - 3 undergraduate college educations paid for and assisted with one w/doctorate degree and currently helping one get through med school. On track for retirement. Divorce was the financial killer, not the kids!

[Ronstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aerides None, but that was a decision we made before the FIRE efforts started to even form the outlines of a plan.

+1

[Koogie]

DW says I'm immature, if that counts.

[Which Roger]

Poll results are about 60% yes, 40% no. Does anyone here know how that compares to the percentage of the overall ER-age-or-older population that has never had children? I can find related statistics, but not an exact answer. My best guesstimate is about 80%/20%.

[Cobra9777]

I retired at 52 in 2013. At the time, our kids were 24 and 21. The youngest had one more year of college. They're now 30 and 27... one engineer, one teacher. We paid their college tuition/housing out-of-pocket and each got a new car upon graduation. We also helped both with the down-payment on their first home over the last several years.

We were never really the extreme LBYM types. The kids certainly got pretty-much whatever they wanted. We just consistently maxed out two 401Ks and then built up a good-size taxable account later when our income allowed. Megacorp stock options also helped. We also stayed at the same employers throughout our careers and left with a pair of small DB pensions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetiredAt55.5 ...I'll concede that retiring in one's 30's/40's with young children would be much more challenging.

+1

I don't think all the recent FIRE publicity applies to the typical retiree on this forum.

[ncbill]

IMHO it probably helps to have them earlier.

Nearly all those I saw at my college for the 25th reunion had kids more than a decade younger than mine, so even now those kids wouldn't yet be in college.

I'm sure there's a lot of OMY pressure when paying for undergrad is still in the future rather than in the past.

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

In 2001, when I retired, we had two children still living at home. That first year we re-licensed as Foster-parents, and we soon had three foster-children living at home with us.

For a time we had five children [one bio-son, one adopted son, and three foster-children].

[TDub]

Our boys will be 9 and 12 when we pull the plug. So looking forward to being more available to them before they leave for college. We'll be sure to secure a good minivan before the W-2s stop.

[LiveBelowMeans]

3 kids. We paid for all 3 out of state college tuitions. As of May of last year all are off the payroll and doing well. Life is good.

[Brdofpray]

Retired at 54 and moved to SC. After completing their educations, our two kids, and their families, followed us. DS is a dentist, and is our retirement dental plan. DD is a registered nurse, working towards her PA. This helps with medical issues. We didn't push them to these careers, they came to them naturally.