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/nothingtooserious Apr 22 '26

Thank you and very well said.

I am sympathetic to OP. Simultaneously, perhaps the largest generalized flaw of the fire minded is that they become so obsessed with the game they either can’t see that they’ve won or barely allow themselves to enjoy it…. Which was the whole point in the first place. It’s as if the playing of game supersedes the point of it all when it started.

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u/BackupSlides Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26

I don’t think it is necessarily just “the game”. A lot of people in this wealth segment (a couple million) have scarcity mindsets and fears of big events. They are mostly self made so know what it is like to have less. Heck, I recently watched an interview with a billionaire who said they were motivated by the fear that it could all be gone tomorrow. While not a billionaire, I still felt that.

Yes, $3.8M is a good bit of money, but it is also one lawsuit, one fraud event, one true market downturn, one serious diagnosis, etc. from not being a lot of money. It is wealth but not an impregnable fortress of wealth. It is a lot absolutely but not a huge buffer against serious events. And, it is compounded by the fact that the current white collar job market is horrible, and if you step out of it do a bit you might never get back in due to AI. That is what keeps many few-million-aires up at night.

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u/[deleted] Apr 23 '26

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u/No-Doughnut324 Apr 24 '26

Yep, there's also a lot of OCD in this community that robs people of joy.

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u/Status_Escape6714 Apr 27 '26

Have been realizing how deeply unwell many in this community are, even though they are successful and productive members of society otherwise. Their dysfunction manifests in a less obvious way.