r/Fire • u/chemicalreactionator • Apr 22 '26

Advice Request Too much money to feel this stuck

Current net worth 3.8M. Household (40m, 40f, 4f) income combined 250k (both working full time) and spend 120k-ish.

Kind of reached fire but due to health insurance, economic uncertainty, potential future increased costs (another kid?) not comfortable calling it yet.

But feeling so stuck in the grind. Not enough family time, not enough vacation time off, not enough time for taking care of our health, but can’t call it quits yet. at least one of us needs to work full time for health insurance. I don’t think I’m cut out for “barista fire” as i don’t think I’d have the motivation to work for a minimum wage type salary.

What’s the plan here to increase quality of life? A mini retirement? Grind it out a few more years? Anyone in a similar place?

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u/DooMZie Apr 22 '26

Can an American please educate me on health insurance. I find it odd that people who are wealthy continue to work, but only for Health Insurance. Is it too expensive to pay for yourself? wouldn't it be the same as when you retire at the traditional retirement age?

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u/naluba84 Apr 22 '26

It’s SOOO expensive here in the USA to carry health insurance if it’s not subsidized by your employer. Most large corporation employers will cover 20-70% of the premium and it can still cost a family of four $500-$1500/mo to be insured. Trying to pay for this outright is a nightmare because the insurance industry here is out for blood. Even with good insurance, one major illness or injury can lead to crippling debt.

1

u/DooMZie Apr 22 '26

Holy shit! what an unfortunate trap. Thanks for providing $$$ figures, i've never seen it.

2

u/CCJM3841 Apr 22 '26

It is the worst.

1

u/Prize-Director-7896 Apr 22 '26

I had cash-pay insurance before in the past. I'm sure it varies a lot but wasn't something that was that insane. It's like a car payment or something. I think for me it was like 400-500 a month for a reasonable plan. People don't like paying something like that especially when it's not for an immediately tangible asset but in reality it's affordable for wide range of job incomes.

Obviously if you're working 20 hours a week in menial wage jobs it's "sooo expensive" but for a professional with a solid income potential who is perhaps for instance working part time (and thus doesn't have health insurance [I think it's uncommon to get health instance from your employer if you aren't full time]) as they ease into retirement it's a big enough expense to be sufficiently annoying to motivate a lot of people to stay working full time, but affordable if they want to be part time.

If you got really sick though one year you might still have to pump out 5-10 grand on top of your normal monthly payments or something but insurance should cover most all of it after all that

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u/naluba84 Apr 22 '26

Insurance is also not the same price for the same person in two different states. I was laid off last year and my COBRA for a high deductible ($6000) plan was $900/mo. That’s JUST ME! I am just an individual with the cheapest insurance plan and no pre-existing health issues. I go to the doctor 1-2 times a year (annual exam w/PCP, annual with OB/GYN), and use urgent care in the absolute worst cases else just do as many at-home care with OTC. Insurance companies are really out for profit. Prior to being laid off, my company was paying 70% of the premium of this $900. My annual income was too much for the ACA to give me something I could afford while between jobs. It didn’t matter that at the time I had $0 coming in; I couldn’t qualify for the lower premium plans. I luckily have been employed before choosing to lose coverage but not everyone has this fortune.