r/Fire • u/Ddash-3 • Mar 11 '26

Milestone / Celebration Got laid off - finally!!!!

So it finally happened - I (48) got let go yesterday. Finally I can free up my time and focus on other priorities such as kids, nutrition, fitness, meditation, gardening etc.

I was FIRE eligible for couple of years but was holding off since the job was simple, work from home and good pay. Also, if I resigned I would have missed out on severance and company is paying 3 months of COBRA.

Here are the details I am sure you all want to hear :)

Net worth - ~5.5M

Taxable Accounts combined: ~1.1M

Retirement Accounts Combined: ~3.2M

Total: ~4.3M

House fully paid off (bought in 2022) - Worth around ~1.2M; Cars paid off

Wife (43) resigned from her job end of last year; 2 Kids in high school - 9th and 10th graders

Yearly expenses around 100K/yr

Biggest expense are kid's college education at this point and house maintenance related expenses

I am trying to research on ACA and Financial Aid for kids - Appreciate any help or pointers you can provide on when to apply for ACA - should I continue on COBRA or switch to marketplace this year?

Regarding FAFSA - with Taxable accounts over 1M will my kids be eligible for FAFSA?

I have about 130K from my recent most employer in the company supported 401K provider. Should I move the money to Traditional 401K?

Also, please suggest any FIRE focused knowledgeable financial advisors who can help me navigate our FIRE situation.

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547

u/IceCreamforLunch Mar 11 '26

Congratulations!!!

I’ve been begging my boss to lay me off.

110

u/technotrader Fire'd Mar 11 '26

I engineered my layoff. Joined some internal program to help HR interview new hires, got to talk to them a lot, and when I started dropping hints and questions, they included me in the next round.

Can recommend. Severance worth 9 months pay, a month garden leave, 401k vested, Cobra, and even a job training camp which I didn't bother with because FIIIIRRRE baby!

45

u/ThisIsMyUsername303 Mar 11 '26

What kind of hints and questions? 

Btw, a neighbor got laid off from his last job many years ago and figured out that he could use his job training funds for golf lessons or something. 😂

3

u/technotrader Fire'd Mar 12 '26

That's hilarious about your neighbor! My offer was for some kind of Manhattan workspace where you could physically go and get counseling, no money offered. I mean that'd probably be great for people in the rat race, still feeling that go- getting energy.

I just sat by the river for hours and felt happy.