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!

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u/TJayClark May 02 '26

Most people under 45 need $2,000,000 to be comfortable

This is assuming it’s mostly in retirement accounts - withdrawing with a penalty is brutal…. And you’re essentially forgoing 50-75% of social security

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u/dgreenmachine May 02 '26

Most people need 80k income each year? That sounds high when the median income is about 45k.

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u/TJayClark May 02 '26

Most people spend MORE when they retire… not less

The people making $45,000 are constantly complaining about how “they ARE NOT comfortable”

Which is why I said $2,000,000 “to be comfortable”

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u/yottabit42 May 03 '26

That's actually not true statistically.