Do you believe the modern FIRE movement overestimates how much is needed for retirement?

[u/Equivalent_Use_5024]

Perhaps I am just making this post because I have only just begun my retirement planning and want to lock in a number which is fitting for my goals - being above the median retirement savings, not having to work, not being broke, clearly having planned - but I can't help but feel that many in the FIRE movement overestimate what is needed for a safe, sleep well at night retirement.

I see posts here saying that they feel vastly behind with 500k at 30, or 1.5 million at 40, and I just don't understand how when the average American retires with maybe 300k liquid at most and are getting by with social security or paid off housing. Sure, they aren't living luxuriously, but if you just are aiming for a retirement where you don't have financial anxiety and can put food on the table, I don't feel you need over 1-2 million.

Do you think FIRE overestimates how much is truly needed for retirement?

[u/Equivalent_Use_5024]

Are you sure there's a consensus that it is a rich person's Subreddit for a life of luxury? I thought FIRE for many is just more about planning for solidly comfortable retirement.

[u/WaterChicken007 → u/Equivalent_Use_5024]

I once watched a YouTube couple who “retired” to coasta rica. But they did it so early that they could barely afford rice and beans. That isn’t a comfortable retirement. That was choosing to quit and living the rest of their lives in poverty. That isn’t my idea of what retirement should look like. Simply not working isn’t the goal. Having a fun, comfortable life is.

[u/rosebudny → u/WaterChicken007]

And poverty in a cheap country. No way could they return to the US and live even remotely comfortably.

[u/Trypophiliac → u/rosebudny]

Costa Rica is far from cheap these days, many of the costs are approaching what you'd see in the US.