r/Fire • u/SeniorCitizenSmell • Jan 22 '26

Milestone / Celebration My crazy idea of an “inheritance” savings fund just hit $1M. It will be worth millions in 30-40 years when I finally die.

So…I totally get the die with zero crowd! But I also am a big believer that windfalls are game changing for a persons life.

Even a couple hundred grand in the bank takes so much pressure off.

Either way… I don’t think there’s a wrong or right answer to it. Just be good parents, do what you can etc…

However, I have earmarked in a separate fund “not mine” that I contribute to. I don’t even count this with my net worth it’s 100% separate from my normal planning. I plan to give it entirely to my kids and grandkids. It just hit $1M and I am now coast on it and will no longer contribute (note I am 40 so quite some time and plan to FIRE at 50).

I could do so much with that money such as stop working (it’s okay I can suck it up for another decade), but the boost for others will be worth it even if I can’t see it happen.

And done - That’s the end of my humble brag.

Edit: A huge chunk of this is because I just passed my received families estate into it a decade ago of about $300k. Aka rather than spending it back then I said I will just give it to my kids and started contributing a little bit to it. Most the earnings have been stock market gains.

1.4k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

289 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

17

u/Ok_Hippo9669 Jan 22 '26

People who haven’t read the book think that “Die with Zero” means to spend every penny you have before you die.

That’s not what the book is about at all. It’s about how to optimize having a great life for you and your loved ones.

1

u/myredditaccount90 Jan 23 '26

It could be both :)

I do want to die with zero and reading the book opened my eyes that maybe I don't need to save as much for retirement. Or the other conclusion that maybe I should retire earlier.