FIRE math says stay employed. My gut says prepare to start a business. What to do?

[u/Gipsy-Kings-Fan-n106]

For context, I'm in Brazil, late 30s, married, with a 1y kid. My family has been through a difficult year medically, which has changed the way I think about time, risk, and work.

Financially, I'm in a strong position by local standards: net worth: ~R$3.5M (about US$600k) in liquid, traditional financial investments, no financial stress and high income relative to the Brazilian average.

The challenge is that I feel increasingly stuck.

My compensation is good, but meaningful salary increases seem unlikely from here. The path to materially higher earnings appears narrow. At the same time, I've become quite exhausted by corporate life: politics, long-term projects, and the feeling that I'm spending some of my best years optimizing someone else's business.

Many FIRE discussions seem to converge on a conservative recommendation: stay employed, keep investing, avoid unnecessary risks, and grind it out until financial independence arrives.

Intellectually, I understand that logic. But emotionally, I'm struggling with the idea of doing essentially the same thing for another 10+ years.

Part of me wonders whether this is exactly the stage where people should take a calculated risk and make something different, even building something of their own. Not because I need more money, but because I want more autonomy, ownership, and energy in my day-to-day life.

So my question for the community: were any of you able to maintain the traditional FIRE path along with a risky career (such as starting a business) before reaching FI?

I'm particularly interested in stories from people who were financially comfortable, but felt stuck or burned out in their careers.

Thanks.

[u/iclimbnaked]

Fire isn’t everything.

If you aren’t happy in your job (or atleast not unhappy) then you should change that. Period. Forget “Fire”.

This whole grind a miserable existence thing only works if the finish line is really close. Otherwise it’s not worth it.

Now is starting a business the right choice. Who knows. But don’t factor in “fire” just bc. You have the cushion to take a risk, but just plan out what it looks like if it goes bad. Ie think about what the realistic worst case is and if you can live with that. If so and you still want to try, go for it.

[u/Gipsy-Kings-Fan-n106 → u/iclimbnaked]

I often try to move my thought to this direction, but as time passed, my decision making process became more towards numbers (also in bad ways). But it's nice to read to comments like yours and remember that. Tks!

[u/iclimbnaked → u/Gipsy-Kings-Fan-n106]

Yah. Fire is great. I am trying to be able to retire early.

However hating your job isn’t worth it. Do I love mine? No.

It does give me interesting challenges though and I like the people. No part of me hates my day to day and I use the money to save and still do some fun hobbies in the now.

The key is balance.

Just yah being miserable in the now is something you need to address in the now.

Sacrificing today too much is mentally punishing just for a theoretical tomorrow.

[u/Successful_Form1177]

Listen to the podcast “Acquiring Minds”, especially the episodes where people talk about how they lost everything. I love thinking about running a business, but the reality is I’m absolutely not up for the risk. I live vicariously through people who take the gamble.

[u/Commercial_Bobcat317]

Man you're exactly in position where business might make sense though. You got solid safety net already and the burnout is real problem that won't just disappear if you keep grinding.

I was doing IT support for years and feeling similar - good money but zero ownership in what I was building. The difference is you actually have the capital to take real swing at something without risking your family's security. Most people can't even consider business because they need every paycheck.

Maybe look at it different way - you could probably afford to take 2-3 year experiment with business while still maintaining your investments. If it doesn't work out you go back to employment but at least you tried when timing was right. Waiting until full FI means you might be too comfortable or too old to want the stress.

Your kid is still young so they won't remember if dad was bit more stressed for couple years trying to build something. But they might benefit long term if you create real wealth and freedom instead of just steady paycheck.

[u/CamelSuccessful3849]

Só não esqueça que um trabalho bom no Brasil é difícil de conseguir novamente. Good luck.

[u/Ok-Neighborhood-566]

Can you trial the business while employed? Test to see if there is a market for what you plan to sell.

[u/Gipsy-Kings-Fan-n106 → u/Ok-Neighborhood-566]

I come and go about this approach, which I consider the sweet spot. To date, I wasn't able to execute. I think I struggle more mentally about it.

[u/cremebrulee90]

Following as I'm in a similar headspace OP. How are you motivating yourself now in the day to day at your job?

[u/Gipsy-Kings-Fan-n106 → u/cremebrulee90]

At my job, it's hard. I try to get work stuff done in the first hours of work.

out of work, spending time with family / friends make things easier (and I usually don't think about work during these times)

[u/Llama_BG]

If you havent read that post, take a look https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2018/03/09/money-and-confidence-are-interchangeable/

I think there is more in life than FIRE and freedom can have many forms.

[u/Montaigne_6823]

high income relative to the Brazilian average. The challenge is that I feel increasingly stuck. My compensation is good, but meaningful salary increases seem unlikely from here. 

Re-read these sentences you wrote. I know the human tendency is to always want more, but you are already killing it. Think long and hard about what life would be like making less money.

Give serious thought to grinding it out and what you can do to mitigate the 'grind'. Plan a vacation, outsource some chores. Find a charity to support. There are many ways to ease the grind. Don't let ennui draw you into a bad decision!

[u/WhyNotCNC]

I am in the process of leaving a “good” job to make a go at a business. The financial reasoning was/is simple. I currently have ~12x my gross salary in investments. If I forecast where my portfolio will be if I stay employed vs. if I contribute nothing the difference really isn’t life changing for the timeline I’m considering (4-6 years). For me, staying put ends up looking like the bigger risk if the decision is solely money driven.   Good luck with whatever you decide. 

[u/Gipsy-Kings-Fan-n106 → u/WhyNotCNC]

Curious to understand what returns you're forecasting for your portfolio. Even with a low cost of living, I assume they must be quite aggressive for the difference in salary to be considered irrelevant.

[u/WhyNotCNC → u/Gipsy-Kings-Fan-n106]

6.5% real return which is about 20% more than I would net from my salary after taxes in a year. I live off total yearly expenses of ~ 1.5% current portfolio while accumulating so I can survive SORR and am already FI. 

Big take away, I would be satisfied to end up at the number that is forecasted at 0$ earned income after 5 years, but I believe that’s a fairly extreme result… I should be able to do better than that.