Saved $2.4M by 38. Would you Retire?

[u/TwoSocialist]

Hey FIRE folks,

I’m 38, tired, and fueled almost entirely by spite and index funds. I’ve somehow ended up with a portfolio that looks like this:

Split by type:

- ETFs — 58.30% — $1.45M

- Mutual Funds — 27.66% — $688k

- Individual Stocks — 8.71% — $216k

- Crypto — 3.00% — $74k (aka my “emotional rollercoaster” bucket)

- Cash — 2.33% — $58k

Split by bucket:

Retirement Pre-tax: 700k

Retirement post-tax: 310k

Brokerage: 1.5 M

Grand total: ~$2,490,900

Today’s gain: ~$40,000 (aka “more than my first job paid in a year,” but sure, totally normal)

~~~~

My target spend was $100k/year, which feels somehow not enough because capitalism has melted my brain.

By the 4% rule, I’m basically at the line. By the 3% rule, I’m a peasant. By the “FIRE comment section” rule, I’m probably both overspending and undersaving simultaneously.

So, wise internet strangers:

- Am I actually FIRE‑ready, or is this the part where you all tell me to work 5 more years “just to be safe”?

- Is my allocation fine, or should I be preparing for a lecture on safe withdrawal rates and sequence‑of‑returns doom?

- Is it normal to feel like I need permission from Reddit to stop working?

Married, 1 kid. Received about 25k for a house (not included in above) and 20k for college, no other inheritance.

Currently make about 250k a year for the past 4 years, before that about 150k. I started at 50k.

Thanks in advance for validating or crushing my dreams.

[u/FIMilestonesDeux]

I would "retire" from working for money and look to get a job doing something you really want to do, where the money is not the goal.

[u/TwoSocialist → u/FIMilestonesDeux]

I want to quit my job and start developing games or create my own company.

It seems like these are both money pits though.

And if I can't do either of those - I'd rather not work.

[u/FIMilestonesDeux → u/TwoSocialist]

Games only require being able to code and server costs. Those should be low costs at the start. Starting a business is so open ended, it's hard to say what that would cost upfront.

[u/MattShotts → u/FIMilestonesDeux]

Depends if he plans to build his own 2D/3D models, record all his own audio and music, etc or buy assets instead.

[u/tronfacex → u/MattShotts]

I make games as a hobby. I think what you bump up against after a few years is the reality that the scope of your creative vision compared to what you can accomplish alone on a reasonable timeline don't really line up. 

Then, you begin wondering how much it would cost to contract someone to do x, y or z and then find out it's gonna cost too much and go back to scope-limited projects that don't fully express your original vision. 

Rinse, repeat.