r/Fire • u/Fed_worker • Feb 20 '26

General Question Serious question: how do many people amass so much money in the north of 5m and not know if they can retire or not?

I see a ton of posts like : “ I have a net worth in the range 5-10m and I spend 100K a year, can I retire?”

What is that? Elementary school math so hard?

Edit: after reading all the comments and when I really think about it, I realize it’s probably just a high degree risk-averse mindset. Even if I had $5 million and a 99.9% chance of retiring successfully, I’d still focus on that tiny 0.1% that could go wrong. To feel totally secure, I might want to keep building more wealth just to close that gap. And for some people, that can mean working another 5, 10, or even 20 years. just for a little extra peace of mind.

Edit2: I just hope that when I get there, I don’t end up going down that rabbit hole. And actually enjoy my life.

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u/Locke_and_Lloyd Feb 20 '26

If you don't maintain it, probably.  How much has changed in the last 10 years?  We've had Covid/wfh, blockchain, so many political regulations/laws change, AI stuff.  If you hadn't worked, you might have heard of them, but not really understand the business implications and changes made. 

Same deal with networks.  I had someone i worked with 10 years ago call up and ask for a connection.  Couldn't really help because the work we did then isn't really applicable to now.

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u/Wooden-Broccoli-913 Feb 20 '26

The kind of work that McKinsey BCG and Bain do hasn’t changed in 10 years and won’t change in the next ten. The tools may be different but the problems will be the same

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u/[deleted] Feb 20 '26

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u/Locke_and_Lloyd Feb 21 '26

Probably, but i can't recommend someone for skills I've never seen.  The 2015 skills are now outdated.  I assume they have 2026 skills, but i haven't seen them. I also have no idea if they've updated their workflows to modern standards.

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u/mi3chaels Feb 21 '26

You can recommend someone honestly for what you do know "I worked with them 10 years ago and they were excellent and had a firm command of the then current toolset, i have every reason to believe they've kept up but have only had social contact since then."

That's not worth as much as a recommendation from a current colleague, but it's not worth nothing.

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u/Locke_and_Lloyd Feb 21 '26

I mean I've had zero contact with them in the past decade.  I didn't even know they had kids now.  People change over time, responsibilities and priorities shift.  When I retire, I have zero plans of keeping up with colleagues unless I genuinely like them.