FIRE by 40? 2M in a HCOL area possible?

[REWahoo]

So just a quick update here, I ended up taking the severance. It just made sense:

1. I could probably get a job back in industry if somehow I start doing cocaine, making it rain, and lost all my money
2. I'm getting paid to do something I've been wanting to do forever, take an extended time off.
3. I don't have to go to work, no more meetings where i'm questioning my life choices
4. I can see how my cash flow holds up to not working.

An additional note, my portfolio has skyrocketed back up with the fed-fueled money injection and i bought another property for "passive" cash flow, my nw sank to 2.8m in March during the plummet:

NW = 3.3m -> 3.7m -> 3.85m (when severance check comes in).
Cash = $425k -> $300k, bought a property
Stocks = $755k -> $975k
401k/IRA = $630k -> $715k
HSA = $6.5k -> $7k

Properties
Prop 1 - val - $425k, paid off, rent: $2025, HOA: $295; cash flow = $1550/mo
Prop 2 - val - $740k (owe $315k), rent: $2550, HOA: $485; cash flow = $300/mo
Prop 3 (Primary) - val - $600k (owe $220k)
Prop 4 - val - $300k (owe $180k) rent: $3600, cash flow = $1400/mo
Prop 5 - val - $560k (owe $360k) rent: $5250, cash flow = $1800/mo
New Prop 6 - val - $465k (owe $280k) rent: $4000 cash flow=$1500/mo, target rent raises to hit $3,000/mo conservatively.

So total conservatively around: $6,550/mo

Dont' really know what the next few months will hold for me, but hoping to enjoy this time off Who knows? I might like it.

Less than a month into this sabbatical/Early FI, I received an opportunity to interview for a new role... Even the thought having to prep for this interview gives me anxiety. Any advice would help!

Read your 8/21 post above. You started snorting coke? Really?

 

[RunningBum]

Less than a month into this sabbatical/Early FI, I received an opportunity to interview for a new role. If I get the role, it would pay around $500k/yr. With that said, every bone in my body says I should I relax and enjoy where i've gotten to. I LOVE not having to worry about work, the Sunday dread, the everyday dread, and have kept myself way more than busy with my daily activities. For those already FIRE and overly ambitious folks, how do you relax and focus on what you love rather than what makes you the most money? Up to this point, I've been hyper-vigilant about making money and having all my decisions, even sometimes at the sacrifice of health and relationships, focus on the accumulations of wealth. Even the thought having to prep for this interview gives me anxiety. Any advice would help!

Seems to me that with more money comes even more responsibility, expectations, and pressure. Since it sounds like you have enough money already, why would you do this and continue to put your health and relationships at a lower priority?

Another way to look at it is to see your lifestyle as it is today. Say you work 2 more years and put away another 1/2 $million. Would your lifestyle improve with that extra money, enough to warrant 2 more years of work? I find in my own case that there's very little extra I would want and enjoy with more money, so it wasn't work it for me to work any longer.

 

[HI Bill]

When is enough enough? My initial post target was $2M + primary real estate paid at that time = ~$2.6m. I’ve passed that and I’m still working. I could honestly just pay off my primary and just have an outgoing of $2,000 and be pretty well set; I don’t spend much except for food or travel. Main things that stop me:

- These are my prime earning years, shouldn’t I continue to work, it seems I’m leaving cash on the table?
- Do I want a better forever home? I could work 5-10 more years and I could live in a $2M home and have way more money.
- Not married and don’t have kids, but haven’t ruled them out.

Was thinking time for a sabbatical? Maybe time for some soul searching?

DISCLAIMER: I wrote this before reading the entire group of posts, so it's obsolete.

Great job to date! The generally accepted maxim to the question when is enough is enough is "When you have enough, and you've had enough." Obviously, this is something that only you can answer. If you want a better forever home, is the sacrifice of 5-10 more years of your life worth it? I worked 5 years longer than I wanted to (moving RE from age 50 to 55) to be able to afford a great 'forever' home. Now that I'm four months away from 55, I'd say it's totally worth it.

Contingencies. 40 is really young to stop. I didn't marry until 47. If my wife had wanted kids, and we hadn't wanted to travel extensively, then we might have had one! Your desires, what you value, and your activities are likely to change throughout your lifetime. You're in a great position to FIRE should you choose, but will you regret not increasing your budget, buying that better home, or not being able to do things you'd like to do because you don't have enough income? If I were you, with the little I know, I'd continue to at least 45, since you've already expressed a desire for a better home.

Good luck!

 

[refi]

Read your 8/21 post above. You started snorting coke? Really?

Welp, no coke, no hookers, though have I thought about it? Maybe

Seems to me that with more money comes even more responsibility, expectations, and pressure. Since it sounds like you have enough money already, why would you do this and continue to put your health and relationships at a lower priority?

Another way to look at it is to see your lifestyle as it is today. Say you work 2 more years and put away another 1/2 $million. Would your lifestyle improve with that extra money, enough to warrant 2 more years of work? I find in my own case that there's very little extra I would want and enjoy with more money, so it wasn't work it for me to work any longer.

Yea, that's the dilemma, I think another $1m would give me a little more security, I'm generally risk adversed, but you do bring up good points. With the market fluctuations, I'm up to $3.9M now. I ended up doing the interview and am expecting around a $500k/yr offer. Decisions around the corner! At this point, i'm leaning to take and see if I like it, if i'm stressed out, I'll just call it a day w/ a little more money in my pocket. I'll see if I made the right choice!

Again, don't know if this is the right board for this post as it's more an on-going update. @Mods, let me know if this goes elsewhere.

 

[Music Lover]

Less than a month into this sabbatical/Early FI, I received an opportunity to interview for a new role. If I get the role, it would pay around $500k/yr. With that said, every bone in my body says I should I relax and enjoy where i've gotten to. I LOVE not having to worry about work, the Sunday dread, the everyday dread, and have kept myself way more than busy with my daily activities. For those already FIRE and overly ambitious folks, how do you relax and focus on what you love rather than what makes you the most money? Up to this point, I've been hyper-vigilant about making money and having all my decisions, even sometimes at the sacrifice of health and relationships, focus on the accumulations of wealth. Even the thought having to prep for this interview gives me anxiety. Any advice would help!

I have nowhere near as much as you and I retired a lot older at 53. Two things to consider:

1. Every year you continue to work is probably the healthiest remaining year left in your life.

2. You can always earn more so one of the keys to a happy retirement is knowing that you have enough.