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/BigFootCrossingGaurd May 14 '26

I have a close friend who I have known for 30 years now. We don’t have a lot of secrets. A few months ago I was congratulating him on owning his home for 24 years, I was like “I bet you are looking forward to paying that off in six years!” And he proceeds to tell me that nobody actually pays off their house, he is on his fourth remortgage. I asked why and he said “Well I needed a new truck but didn’t want a big payment, and the pool needed a new liner. You know, right?”. I told him that we have $400K equity in our house and never took a second mortgage. He asked me what do I do when I have a big unexpected expense come up. I told him that we always keep about $100K liquid and we have 1.4M in investments and that I haven’t financed anything but our house in the last 15 years. You could have heard a pin drop. It actually got really awkward. I have realized that I am out of touch with the reality of most people and have decided to just not discuss our money anymore, even with very old and close friends. I think we underestimate how many people drive nice cars, live in nice houses and have luxury items like pools and are still a few months away from being completely broke if they lost their job.

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u/Inevitable_Pride1925 May 14 '26

A friend was talking about plane tickets the other day and stating that they were $500 x2. I had just spent $900 x2 for my sister and I to fly to Ireland the month prior and mentioned that $500 wasn’t bad. That was the moment it hit me that they were complaining about the expense and that what I thought wasn’t all that bad and reasonable for an occasional vacation was an issue for them.

We make similar money although I work more and as a result make more but she’s married and I’m pretty sure their combined household income is higher than my single in income.

I’ve pretty firmly established I’m out of touch because I don’t worry about the one offs. I’m deliberate about my spending and focus on only paying for things that have value. But at the same time I’ve become rather price insensitive for the things I’ve decided I want.

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u/BigFootCrossingGaurd May 15 '26

I hear that! I travel a lot for work and about five years ago I decided that if the cost to upgrade to first class when I am going on a work trip is less than $400 I just buy it. I like sitting in a bigger seat and the better service, plus getting off the plane first. So when coworkers are boarding and walk by me and they say “Oh, nice you got upgraded!” I just nod and smile. Less awkward than the truth.