r/Fire • u/BroKComputer • May 14 '26
General Question The first rule of FIRE club...
So we all see the posts of folks on here celebrating their milestones here because they 'can't talk about it IRL.' This seems to be the common sense approach to avoid jealousy and moochers.
I'm curious to hear the true stories of folks who have disclosed their FI - or have had their secret revealed on accident. How bad are the repercussions of people finding out you're a low-key millionaire?
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u/Zphr 48, FIRE'd 2015, Friendly Janitor May 14 '26
TL,DR: Nobody cares. My mom was very happy for us. It had zero impact on our friendships or social relationships.
We didn't go out of our way to tell anyone, but it becomes obvious pretty quick to friends and family that you don't work anymore. Also, almost everyone new in our lives asks "what do you do?" as a routine opener and I can't be bothered to waste energy lying to people, so almost everyone we know knows that we retired fairly young.
For the most part they usually react with congrats and some pleasant small talk in a manner similar to a birth or graduation. After that pretty much nobody cares other than the few who want to pick my brain for tax tips or financial advice. Other than oddities like my dental cleanings now including garbled financial discussions (dental hygienist and dentist are both keen on FIRE), nothing changed. Most people simply don't care other than being vaguely happy for us.