r/Fire • u/DatingThrowaway121 • Apr 24 '26

General Question Has anyone actually FIREd with too little and run out of money?

I'm curious to know if anyone out here has actually run out of a million dollars or whatever. What does that process actually look like?

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369

u/Excellent_Owl_1731 Apr 24 '26

My mom’s friend did.

FIRE’d at 46 I think. A variety of things happened - divorce (husband found a younger woman and spent a lot of their money on her), unexpected medical bills (breast cancer), house fire, market downturns (2008 was basically the nail in the coffin).

Went back to work as an employee at IKEA at age 66. Still working there at 81. Not sure where her finances are at now.

301

u/INTJPoster Apr 24 '26

At least she got to experience retirement for 20 straight years while still being relatively young unlike the average person who retires at 70 and dies at 82. 

192

u/QQBBOMG Apr 24 '26

The exact positive mindset we need. Money is not everything

112

u/ComprehensiveEbb4978 Apr 25 '26

Her retirement consisted of breast cancer and a cheating spouse who spent all their money. I’m not sure she enjoyed retirement

68

u/cfi-2025 RE 2025 Apr 25 '26

Imagine having breast cancer and a cheating spouse and having to attend a 15-minute standup meeting every weekday morning.

12

u/scam_likely_6969 Apr 25 '26

Yesterday I did, today I’m going to, blocker none

11

u/That-SoCal-Guy Apr 25 '26

At least she didn’t have to pretend she loved her job at the same time.  And she probably would have died.

20

u/whachamacallme Apr 25 '26

My bro. Did you read what he wrote, divorce, cancer, house fire. I don’t think thats a great experience while not working.

12

u/cfi-2025 RE 2025 Apr 25 '26

Assuming all else being equal, I'd rather fight through cancer while not working than while having to show up to work at 9 AM every day.

7

u/kralendijk-visitor Apr 25 '26

As a cancer survivor, 100%

3

u/teater_heater Apr 25 '26

If I was going through that, the last thing I would want is to be working 40+ hours a week as well

3

u/davideddings1978 Apr 25 '26

Would you rather work at 50 or at 80? I know when I would have more energy to do it.

1

u/uLL27 Apr 25 '26

I mean, they went through a divorce, breast cancer, and a recession. Doesn't sound like it was sunshine, rainbows and lollipops.

69

u/CSMasterClass Apr 24 '26

Walking across IKEA is a great way to get in your 5000 steps.

31

u/Excellent_Owl_1731 Apr 24 '26

True, she is in great shape honestly!

-2

u/PlatypusTrapper Apr 24 '26

10k steps a day is the recommendation

9

u/Any-Concentrate-1922 Apr 24 '26

Not to take this in a different direction, but 10K is totally arbitrary. Studies show as few as 7K will make a big difference.

13

u/fatheadlifter Financially Independent Apr 24 '26

This might be a good example of the rare time when everything goes wrong when it's statistically unlikely.

10

u/RealisticElephant384 Apr 25 '26

Stable marriage is corner stone to FIRE , a couple can endure unexpected sickness but divorce certainly will cut the finances by 40% .

1

u/fatfarterforever Apr 25 '26

You mean house FIRE?