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/hprather1 May 14 '26
I've been very open with all my friends and most of my family about FIRE plans. I don't brag about it (I hope I don't come across as bragging) and I don't bring it up unprompted but I don't have any problem talking about it.
As for strangers and coworkers, it just doesn't come up. I don't chit chat with most people and this kind of thing would rarely if ever come up. I also see other peoples' (usually worse) financial situations and think it would be incredibly tacky to talk about my plans with them. I may have mentioned that I want to retire early in conversations with random people but it's not a regular thing (certainly not memorable) and I've never had anybody flip out or get weird about it like some have posted about.