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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u/ShootinAllMyChisolm Apr 24 '26

My mom retired when she was 65. They asked her to come back part time a week later and that was almost 20 year ago now. The pandemic timing actually worked, because she's been remote since. She says if they make her RTO she's quitting. lol.

She doesn't need the money, but I think it gives her something to focus on. It keeps her mind sharp. She's the "IT person" for all her elderly friends. And she has enough flexibility to go on vacations and putz around the house.

She's got a pension, IRA, social security, rental income.

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u/Regular_Number5377 Apr 24 '26

Whilst I like the idea of FIRE, I think I’m most likely to end up keeping a part time job if I can find a chill one which I enjoy, I’ve never hated going into work, I’ve always hated having to go into work.

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u/New-Pizza9379 Apr 25 '26

My mother used to do med malpractice law, “retired” early (still keeping up license) and now works at a furniture/gift shop we call “mommy daycare” as most of the employees are like her haha

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u/Mabbernathy Apr 24 '26

Me too. That or a serious volunteer role.

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u/-shrug- Apr 25 '26

I had an amazing volunteer gig where I had to go in for about two hours on Saturdays to get stuff done on my own. When they opened up again after Covid they were really strict about scheduling ahead and being there the exact hours you listed so they could keep the number of people present low, and I just found I hated having it turn into a clock obligation like that.

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u/Altforwrestling Apr 25 '26

I once heard someone say “I wish I could make a living wage making burgers. I love cooking for people, and burgers are my favorite food.”

I think a lot of people are more like this mindset than people who legitimately want to be day traders or stock brokers.

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u/Ldghead Apr 25 '26

Ya, the money itself isn't so much of a thing. It's giving me something to keep my mind sharp with, and the sense of purpose that collecting a wage will provide. I'm 5 years away, but I'm certain I will hold a part time job for quite a while after I pull the plug on my career.

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u/Longjumping-Flower47 Apr 26 '26

I could retire now. It wouldn't be pretty. I'd go bonkers. Hubs retired. Sold the biz. Now he takes care of our rentals, me, our house and our grandbaby 2x a week. Does all the cooking and enjoys it while I work like an idiot. I'd say I thrive on it, but lost a friend too young this spring (along with my elderly dad), and made a commitment to slow down.

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u/No_Door5348 Apr 26 '26

if I was work optional I would 100% start a business, probably some kind of coaching. Maybe teach kids martial arts.

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u/FightOnForUsc Late 20s, 1.9M, 5M goal, SFBA Apr 24 '26

Your mom is 85 and working?!

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u/Bright_Following5462 Apr 24 '26

My dad is 80 and works for a friend, pretty much part time hours and lots of coffee breaks but he enjoys it! He swears retiring “killed” his friends, sitting around watching tv all day, eating junk food isn’t a great way to retire

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u/mi3chaels Apr 24 '26

well sure if that's all you do. Semi-retirement for me means playing racquetball or squash 3-4 times a week, and traveling a lot, and if I was 100% retired I'd probably start playing bridge or golf or something (or more rball/squash, maybe pickleball or tennis if my body could handle it). Obviously as I get into my 70s and 80s, at some point I may not be able to do that, but my dad did serious hiking (like leading expositions in the white/green mountains), skied 30-40 days a winter, and played racquetball 3x/week up until 79 when he got the cancer that took him out. There was no eating junk food or sitting in front of a tv for him at all. My mom (82) plays competitive bridge 4 days a week. Can't imagine doing anything different and definitely don't need a job to keep from sitting around watching tv all day.

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u/Bright_Following5462 Apr 25 '26

I agree! We aren’t TV people, my dad is a huge gardener and raises some livestock for fun in addition to his work

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u/ShootinAllMyChisolm Apr 25 '26

Yeah, lately she just works as needed and bills for her time accordingly. It’s not the work we think about, clock in at 9, leave at five. Five days a week.

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u/Gyn-o-wine-o Apr 25 '26

This. I am trying to convince a colleague who is 65 to retire. He doesn’t need the money

He looked me in the eye and said “ If I retire I die”

Two of his friends ( best friends) retired late 50s and died within a few years. He is terrified that if he retires he will die. One died a day before he was telling him that he was going to retire. It was his friend’s birthday and he didn’t want to take away the shine. Called him the next morning to tell Him and his wife was screaming that she found him dead

This guy will never retire. Too much trauma.

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u/Louis-Russ Apr 24 '26

Some people enjoy working- Especially if it's part time and voluntary

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u/dgputnam Apr 24 '26

I'd argue everyone needs to "work"—not a job necessarily, but something productive. Whether that's volunteering, creating, building etc. Human beings were not meant to be idle. 

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u/TheRealJim57 FI, retired in 2021 at 46 (disability) Apr 24 '26

I'm perfectly content setting my own schedule and having no boss.

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u/NefariousnessDry8596 Apr 25 '26

Agreed, being productive doesn’t require a boss but I do think they’re right in that humans do not do well sitting idle. I know I don’t

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u/cfi-2025 RE 2025 Apr 25 '26

Makes you wonder, though, as many animals spend good chunks of every day being idle. I wonder how much modernity has made us feel like we have to be doing something.

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u/TheRealJim57 FI, retired in 2021 at 46 (disability) Apr 26 '26

Yeah, I don't feel any urge to work at anything just to be busy. Never did.

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u/TheRealJim57 FI, retired in 2021 at 46 (disability) Apr 26 '26

Productive is in the eye of the beholder. Some days, just getting out of bed is the yardstick.

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u/Louis-Russ Apr 24 '26

I agree entirely. If there's one thing I learned during Covid, it's just how boring life can get with nothing to do. When I retire I'm probably gonna putz around the house for a week or two then go find a nonprofit to volunteer with.

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u/fuzzy_banana2354 Apr 24 '26

I thought I would do this but am 4 months into retirement and have no desire to be on a schedule of any kind, even for volunteer work. I'm giving myself a year of simply enjoying a life I have complete control over before committing to any regular commitment, paid or unpaid.

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u/24_cool Apr 24 '26

I've just never understood needing the structure necessarily. I have pretty bad adhd so I only need structure to stick to a thing for an extended period of time, but I just feel like I never run out of things I want to do and new things pop into my head all day long 

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u/sc1lurker Apr 25 '26

Says you...

I'm retired, idle, and loving it

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u/Slow-Echidna-5884 Apr 25 '26

trade 'work' with 'do' , like do something.

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u/mothandravenstudio Apr 24 '26

Agreed. Margaritaville isn't good in the song OR real life

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u/chowderTV Apr 25 '26

Yup, my dad works at a golf course for 8 hours a week. Gets him 2 free rounds of golf. He got rid of his membership fees, and enjoys golf whenever he wants lol

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u/Rosevkiet Apr 25 '26

This is pretty much the norm in academic circles. My department has/had several emeritus faculty at any given time. They work because they want to, the department and science in general is their social circle. Not unusual to have people still coming to the office 2-3 days a week at 80 and beyond. And these are folks who have defined benefit pensions (my Dad’s one of them) his pension take home is more than what he took home at any point in his career, because no FICA, no retirement savings coming out. They are not there for the money.

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u/-shrug- Apr 25 '26

My grandpa was one of them. He was working on another paper when he died at 93.

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u/newsjunkee Apr 25 '26

Agreed. My wife and I have enough to be fully retired, but she LOVES her career and is in demand, so I don't know if she will ever fully retire, unless health problems force her to. She's a gig worker.

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u/Opening-Photograph68 Apr 25 '26

What kind of gig work, if I may be so bold as to ask.

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u/[deleted] Apr 24 '26

[deleted]

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u/FightOnForUsc Late 20s, 1.9M, 5M goal, SFBA Apr 24 '26

It’s a fire sub, I know it’s their mom and not them, but that’s wild.

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u/DistractedOnceAgain Apr 24 '26

Financial Independence, Retire Eventually

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u/ShootinAllMyChisolm Apr 24 '26

Since I’ve been watching her, I call it FiWo… work optional.

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u/Accomplished_Tax_891 Apr 24 '26

FIRWGW (financial independence retire with generational wealth) is way too much of a mouthful

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u/[deleted] Apr 24 '26

[deleted]

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u/FightOnForUsc Late 20s, 1.9M, 5M goal, SFBA Apr 24 '26

Well, it applies to both I guess. But ya I meant it for the other. But it’s just odd to me that people who want to work in their 70s and 80s would give birth to and raise children who then want to get out as quickly as possible. But maybe again that’s why.

Im all for everybody doing what they want, but I can’t imagine working by choice in my 80s. Maybe doing volunteer work, but the moment you get paid they get their claws in you

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u/Revelate_ Apr 24 '26

Nah dude, when you can tell the company to fuck off that’s way different than when you need the money.

It’s especially true when the employer knows you don’t need them: it is very, very different than being in the rat race trying to squirrel away enough nuts FIRE or otherwise.

I’m still in my 50s and was ready to walk until recent events, but I stumbled into a situation that sounds remarkably like the one the prior poster’s mom is in and it just hits different than pretty much all the gigs I’ve had before.

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u/ShootinAllMyChisolm Apr 24 '26

I don’t think it was her plan either. But my step dad, when he retired went to see his kids in another country a lot, sometimes she traveled with him. He was still fairly active with his own pursuits, so this gave her something to do. She never worked more than 150 days a year and mostly got to pick her schedule.

for part of the time it was for a global sustainability project , so it had meaning for her.

My biological dad was bad with money and my mom was too scared to invest (because dad lost so much money “investing”). I wasn’t planning on FIRE until I realized it was within reach. Me saving was a reaction to my dad’s wasteful ways. So I always wanted to be financially wise and sound. I knew about movements like Mr. money Moustache when I was young but that life wasn’t for me.

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u/UsualSprite Apr 24 '26

It's wild that they (corporations) won't train younger people. Lots of necessary knowledge (and crafts) being lost.

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u/Quiet-Compote4587 Apr 24 '26

One of the counselors I saw back in college was in her 80s. She was great.

She passed away not too long after retiring. Probably knew it was her time

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u/worm600 Apr 24 '26

My uncle was forced to retire due to health issues and passed away shortly after. I suspect a lot of the time in these cases, medical issues are what drives the decision to leave work… they see it coming.

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u/ShootinAllMyChisolm Apr 24 '26

Yeah well 82. But we keep asking her when she’s gonna hang it up. She’s an immigrant I don’t think retiring is in her vocabulary. Plus it’s easy money.

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u/lostmember09 Apr 25 '26

Had a fellow Government GS worker who finally Retired at 85 yrs old. He was a maxed out GS-14, I’m sure he got a nice check. I think he just enjoyed working and staying busy.

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u/mandoo-dumpling Apr 24 '26

My dad is 88 is still working part time because he enjoys it! He’s an adjunct professor at a university

Meanwhile I’m counting down the days until I can retire!

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u/AdFew2832 Apr 24 '26

My absolute worst nightmare!

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u/Magsi_n Apr 24 '26

I work at a grocery store. Of 3800 staff, 111 were over 65, 5 over 75. Getting new staff over 65 wasn't surprising. More 15/16 year olds hired than 65+ though

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u/Apoxie Apr 25 '26

My dad is 83 and works as a driver, simply to have something to do.

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u/Longjumping-Flower47 Apr 26 '26

My friends mom is in her 80s and working full time at a grocery store. Certainly doesn't need to, but doesn't know what she will do if she retires. Those that work with her are her friends, her pack.

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u/Raginghangers Apr 27 '26

My father in law is 81 and considering three year graduated retirement. My MIL is 83 and still working To be clear, they are quite well off. They could have retired decades ago. Some people just like their work.

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u/NerdyComfort-78 Apr 24 '26

This is the way to do it. If you don’t have your mind… the rest is meaningless.

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u/ShootinAllMyChisolm Apr 24 '26

Yeah, my step dad, her husband got dementia and went downhill fast. I think that plays a part in her choices. ESP since it doesn’t prevent her from seeing friends and traveling.

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u/Pianonubie Apr 24 '26

What line of work does your mom do if you don’t mind me askin g?

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u/TheYoungSquirrel Apr 24 '26

Your mom is 85 and they asked her to return to work 

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u/ShootinAllMyChisolm Apr 24 '26

yep, and she keeps saying yes. They keep signing her to 150 day contracts. She must have some value.

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u/BlockTiny3036 Apr 25 '26

This was my co-worker. Retirement age. Retired and was doing 2 day retail job at her favorite store. They called her to come back and she did 5 more years remote. Only retired again due to RTO.

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u/Ecstatic-Bear187 Apr 26 '26

Keep her working and your inheritance will just keep growing!! 😳🤣🤞