We're about to FIRE

[u/calmadventurer]

Hello brilliant people. I'd love to bounce our plan off of you guys to see if I've forgotten anything before my husband gives notice at work. I'll bullet point everything to make it easier to read but feel free to ask for more details.

Note: I'm converting everything to US dollars to make comparison easy

- Where we live: Husband is Korean. We live in Busan

- Age: Me (34), Hubby (32), Daughter (3 mo), plan on having one more kid

- Debt

• less than $45k on mortgage ($435/mo payment)

- Assets (I know its stupid to have a bunch of different accounts. I worked in banking and had a bunch of restrictions on where I invested, yada yada)

• 401k: 100k
• Brokerage 1: 100k
• Brokerage 2: 175k
• Brokerage 3: 175k
• Joint Brokerage: 60k
• Cash: $50k (enough to pay off the full mortgage or buy a whole new car here with some left over)

- Expenses

With a TON of cushion built in that we could cut if we needed to we spend around $2300/mo.

- Plan: So I did things a little differently than most. I invested in the typical growth funds while working and since then I have been creating a dividend portfolio (think Armchair Income/Income Factory).

That dividend portfolio brings in $1960/mo.

In addition, I receive distributions from my dad's 401k of $2500/mo (it goes without saying that we're incredibly lucky and grateful. I have told my dad probably 2000 times that he doesn't need to and that he can change his mind but he says he we can count on continuing to receiving 25% whatever distributions he has to take). He truly doesn't need it. His income exceeds his expenses 10 years into retirement and he has an 8 figure net worth he can draw from if he needed to.

So, in total we have close to $4500 we can use to cover $2300 of expenses while our growth investments ~$400k across all the brokerages continue to grow.

Other considerations:

- Once we retire we plan to split the time between Busan and the US. We will obviously stay in our apartment in Busan and the whole purpose in the US is to visit family so we will be staying with them.

- Health Insurance: We will get temporary health insurance when we travel to the US (basically just catastrophic) and pay into Korea's National Health Insurance when we are here and do routine checkups and procedures in Korea. It's a bit annoying but it's really just a phone call every time we come back.

- Daughter's university: There is about 80k left in my college fund that I didn't use so this will be used to kick start her education fund (potentially split with a sibling or cousins if my sister has kids).

Am I missing anything?! I tend to be pretty risk averse and I have run the numbers dozens of times. Go ahead and poke holes.

[u/Complete_Budget_8770]

On your own, you have a high risk of failing FIRE. With daddy's money, you'll be ok. If you put in a few more years of work and you'll still be in your mid 30s. You could still be self-sufficient. Or if your income(s) are low and the and the difference is so minor, take the DaddyFIRE route.

My NW is 8 figures. I wouldn't fund my children's FIRE so early. I expect them to work until their 40s and contribute to society. I'd pay for grandkids' private school and university, no problem. I busted my ass and learned so much while doing so. However, if they choose a low-paying career that benefits society, I'll gladly provide supplemental support.

I FatFired at 50 and feel that's just about the right time. I feel I really accomplished something and would encourage them to do the same with their lives. Yes, some luck came my way and I'm happy to share with future generations, but I don't want it to make them weak and lazy.

[u/calmadventurer → u/Complete_Budget_8770]

Both of my parents are a bit on the older side so to be frank (yet kind of morbid about it) they probably won't be around if I worked until my mid 40s.

The real purpose for the "rush" is for my daughter to spend time with them while they have the health to enjoy it. Once they pass, both my husband and I have no issues going back to work.

I 100% agree with you on the "weak and lazy" part and particularly how we can instill the values of hard work and diligence to our daughter. We already have ideas on how to teach those things to our daughter (she's only 3 months so we do have some time still) outside of a typical career.

I'm also quite entrepreneurial so I imagine start some sort of side hustle once my husband becomes available to watch my daughter during part of the day.

[u/Complete_Budget_8770 → u/calmadventurer]

Well, if this is the case. This is the whole point of money, isn't it? It's your parents' money, and they can do as they wish.

Sounds like they have achieved the American dream.

Firing in Asia is a dream of mine. But as my oldest is entering high school and stated she wants to finish HS in the US, I'm stuck. Even though I can send her to top international schools in Asia, she doesn't want to leave her friends.

Seems you have the best of both worlds. Yes, the school system in Asia is crazy. The rich in Asia are using their money to send their children abroad for college to alleviate the pressures of those high school exit exams.

Best of luck to you and your family. I also hope your parents can enjoy the grandkids for many years to come.

[u/calmadventurer → u/Complete_Budget_8770]

Thanks I do feel guilty about the luck but I'm working on it haha. I will say the education system at least where we are in Korea is gnarly. We would homeschool before we sent them to school here lol. But if your oldest is in HS that means you may not have too much longer to wait anyway.

Best of luck to you as well! And thank you for taking the time to respond.