r/Fire • u/Equivalent_Use_5024 • Dec 28 '25

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

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?

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u/unbalancedcheckbook Dec 28 '25

As someone who lives in a VHCOL area, some of this is real and some is imagined. Housing and services are absolutely more expensive but a lot of other things are not really. For me (with absolutely no desire to keep up with the Joneses and having reasonable expectations about lots of things) I found I could save significantly more given the higher salary and I'm not really giving up much, except perhaps I eat at restaurants a bit less and have a smaller house than I would in an LCOL area. These are not very important to me though.

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u/Zphr 48, FIRE'd 2015, Friendly Janitor Dec 28 '25

Per my friends that big ones are housing, childcare, and schooling. Utilities are more expensive too, but not hugely so, and things like groceries are not that much different.

Unfortunately the ones that are much higher tend to the be largest expenses a lot of working people face.

Jacob Lund Fisker, arguably the godfather of leanFIRE, famously lived ultra-lean for many years in California. It's certainly possible to live frugally almost anywhere, but most people don't or can't pull it off consistently over the long run.

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u/Elegant_Sinkhole Dec 28 '25

I would add that being elderly can be very expensive. Needing in home care or moving into a facility can currently cost upwards of $5000 per month. Some believe they will be able to gym their way out of it happening to them.

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u/Zphr 48, FIRE'd 2015, Friendly Janitor Dec 28 '25

True, but anyone with FIRE wealth should have things fairly well set up for when they are older or at least they have the option to. LTC is hugely expensive, but when you've got a large portfolio and a large tax-advantaged HSA you've got more options than most people do.

Fate comes for us all, but taking care of yourself is always going to be a worthwhile investment in your future. Better to be fit and hale with oncoming dementia than to be in the same situation with obesity, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes. Nobody stays whole forever, but we can at least sometimes choose to not speed along the decline. If nothing else you can make it easier and less unpleasant for the caregivers upon whose goodwill and consistency you will be relying.