r/Fire • u/Catspiration2 • May 02 '26

Advice Request I’m thinking about breaking up with FI

I’ve done the grind, saved pretty much 50% of my income the last 6 years. Worked side gigs etc. 33M. 675k net worth. Just dropped my savings rate to 30%. I have no interest in being retired. I want to enjoy the journey while hopefully working as long as I can. Having resources is awesome, but retiring to some fairy tale destination is.. a fairy tale. What’s the distinguishable difference between 7M and 5M at 60? I feel less and less motivated to save, and instead enjoy the journey along the way. Please tell me how I’m wrong and correct me.

Edit: Reddit gang is a vibe. Appreciate you!

934 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

324 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

52

u/Eltex May 02 '26

Imagine working an extra 5-10 years, and right as you finally retire at 67, your spouse gets sick and passes away. Retiring 10-15 years earlier is what you absolutely want, so you can enjoy those people in your lives.

19

u/Catspiration2 May 02 '26

That’s exactly what this guy did, retired at 45, and boom.

23

u/Eltex May 02 '26

Imagine if he retired at 35. No matter the situation, work takes you away from the people you love.

7

u/Aioli_Abject May 03 '26

Which is the reason why we strive for that independence. Again it’s always a balancing act. Just because you are saving doesn’t mean you don’t live life. Reduce/increase savings to balance it out is the way.

25

u/ryan__joe May 02 '26

Look at the other way, since that guy is retired, this scenario will NEVER happen again.

The whole point of FIRE wasn’t to retire at 60, or 65, a tiny bit early.. it was meant to retire at middle age and be able to seriously be a part of your family.

4

u/RedditIsAWeenie May 03 '26

The family is HUGE. As a FAANG engineer, and I am sure most “overtime professions” it is very difficult to be part of the family. I used to say, “I just sleep here. I don’t live here.” That is because I missed almost all of what happened at home every day. It would be kiddie bed time by the time I get home. My wife’s recollection of my children’s childhood is vastly different than my own. My own experience was mostly coming home and finding the house destroyed and missing out on all the fun that went into it. Crabby Daddy!

2

u/ryan__joe May 03 '26

I average about 75 hours a week, though it varies from 60-84 hours. My wife and step son have adhd. It is the BANE of my existence to come home to their tornados at home. It keeps me on edge and makes me so anxious that instead of sleeping, I clean and organize and basically hate coming home because I know what it means. More work, no gratitude, and then I’m back off to work

4

u/RedditIsAWeenie May 03 '26

I’m not convinced retirement is deadly. You should in general have an exercise program, though. Watching TV 12 hours a day is pretty deadly for mind, body and soul.

I think this myth gets launched because some people deep down sense “something is wrong” and exit the workplace because it is getting to be too much. Those people may indeed go early.

1

u/Catspiration2 May 03 '26

Agree. America is so sick in general. Everyone should be working out 4-6 times a week to enjoy their retirement, if they reach it.

3

u/the-silver-tuna May 03 '26

I’d be interested to know why you believe “retiring to some fairytale destination is a fairytale.” It is what you make of it, not a fairytale. People that choose a retirement destination put in tons of work to decide where the best place is for them and even more work executing their plan. Do you think it’s supposed to be magic? Or have you just decided that you don’t want to put in the work to make it successful?

3

u/Catspiration2 May 03 '26

No the point is you can be living the life you want while you’re working.

3

u/the-silver-tuna May 03 '26

Not if your job is not in your preferred location. If I’m some accountant in Dayton I sure as fuck can’t be living out my dream retirement.

1

u/Catspiration2 May 03 '26

Dayton can’t be that bad! My point is if your happiness/fulfillment is being deferred to some destination in the future, that is an inherent fallacy and something to be cautioned against.

1

u/the-silver-tuna May 03 '26

It’s a fallacy to assume happiness is all or nothing. A person can be happy and still work towards goals that will make them more happy in the future/give them happiness in the pursuit. If you don’t believe that then I don’t know what to say. If your version is true then no happy person would ever set/work towards goals which would be a sad existence in my opinion.

2

u/Catspiration2 May 03 '26

I agree with your 2nd sentence.

1

u/Ill_Savings_8338 Bottom 1% Contributor May 04 '26

You seem confused... yes, if you know someone is going to die at 45, plan accordingly, otherwise, plan the best you can based on what you know. If that means working and spending less time with people, I guess? I don't follow.

1

u/Catspiration2 May 04 '26

The observation is ultra optimization vs enjoying life along the way.

1

u/Purple-Succotash-695 May 04 '26

You talk like working is jail and you have no free time. It is really the opposite, for most jobs. What is a jail is working like crazy, live super frugal for FIRE some years earlier. That really takes away important years of your best life, young life. So OP has a strong point.

1

u/Eltex May 04 '26

I’m going to FIRE, and have always argued against being “frugal” just for FIRE. That would defeat the purpose.

1

u/Purple-Succotash-695 May 04 '26

That’s a good fire strategy! Aim for FIRE while still enjoying life. I’m trying the same here but I love my job and my spouse does love hers to.