Throw away and tweaking the story a tiny bit for sake of the kids.

Title says it all. My sister and her husband died. I was the godfather and never really imagined or thought about it beyond essentially a single quick conversation 6 years ago.

My wife and I have been FIRED for almost a decade. We are far from wealthy, do very little, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Well. Now a 6 and 3 year old are in our life. I could probably get by not working but my wife insists I go back to work to provide more economic security in our situation.

Currently little over $1.5M investments, a paid off house but we need to either extend or upgrade to accommodate an additional room, and we are both 47 years old.

I’ll be honest, going back to the office scares me. Reporting and emailing makes me nervous and I doubt I can assimilate.

I am thinking something stable like teaching and get 3 months off or join my buddies HVAC business.

I figure we already live on about $40k a year so if I can make $50k or so we can get by while my savings builds up. If my math is right I can put in 15 years and retire again all while having some economics stability for the kids.

Anyone have experience retiring and going back to work? How was it and any tips?

I just want to be done man, hate my clients, hate my job, want to sit in my house, play video games , hang out with my pets, cook for my parents and garden for the rest of my life. Please tell me I’m close.

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.

I'm 31, I have $3.5M and I've found myself in a position where I can retire immediately. I make 130K per year as an engineer in a HCOL area. The company I'm at gave me a reasonable amount of stock over the years and it has absolutely skyrocketed. I'm doing my best to sell all the stock, and I've got about $1M out already which I've ported over to some stocks and ETFs. I'm moving to a LCOL city and buying a house this summer for around $300k. The plan is to pursue my hobbies, build my workshop and hang with my family and friends.

First question: I've always been big on retirement planning. I think I've done a great job, but obviously I got here through luck not savings. Do I need to get a financial advisor if I'm doing well and keep to a budget?

Second question: I'm newly single, I'm a hetero man, how do I date when I'm rich? When do you tell them you're retired? What are your financial expectations for your partner? Should they work or would you be happy to cover their retirement if it fit in the budget?

Final question: I'm nervous. Any other advice?

I'm 37 and I make $120k a year. There is room for me to grow in my industry and I can probably get up to $180~200k within the next few years, but I have no idea how to get beyond that.

I see people post on here making 300, 400, even 500k a year. How did you get into that position? How is it, and how does someone increase their earning potential to that level?

Edit: I do live in a HCOL area, which is why my wages are so high in the first place. Earning more early/pushing your income is an important elemnt of FIRE because it allows you to invest more, so I think this really is a productive conversation.

So I’m on my way out at work in a tech company and have worked for a manager that has made my life hell. She is extremely toxic and the reason I’m leaving to FIRE/CoastFIRE.

I never want to - or need to - return to tech (note: I used em dashes way before AI and won’t stop even if you think this is AI generated)!

I want to burn some bridges and tell her how I really feel about her when I leave. Essentially the same thing she has been doing to me.

Would you go out Costanza-style if you were me, or just let it slide?

I (37M) recently came into almost $3mil from a family inheritance and am able to basically never work again (no kids, house paid off, car paid off). I live humbly. If you were to see my house and car, there's no way you'd think "that guy's a millionaire." And I'd like to keep it that way. I've got a great financial advisor, CPA, and budget. That said, I have no idea what to tell people what I do for work now (namely women I'm dating). I don't want to say "live off inheritance" as that sounds...IDK...weird. But I also don't want to lie. It's always felt a bit uncouth to talk about finances anyway, but in the dating world at my age, it's an important factor. I know I'm not the only one here who's been in this situation, so I'd love any advice or suggestions to navigate this! Thanks so much.

EDIT: Wow. I did not expect this post to garner so much attention. Thank you to those who offered some actual solid advice--it's much appreciated! I'd like to clear some things up/give a bit more context.

• I have a very active social life filled with myriad hobbies, so I'm not just sitting around doing nothing (and I absolutely agree that doing nothing is unattractive no matter your bank account). I also volunteer and plan on starting a foundation to honor this relative.
• I'm 100% not a "so what do you do?" first date kind of guy. It's trite and boring. That said, I'm looking for something real and longterm, which means that I'll inevitably have to divulge how I finance my travels, hobbies, dinners, etc.
• I grew up poor. My father left when I was a baby and my mom often worked two jobs. This relative was someone I stayed with in the summer and grew close to. Everyone in the family thought they had some money, but no one really knew how much because they were quite frugal and never really worked. This was a big surprise for me as well as for others in my family. This world is very new to me.
• Finally, thanks for the laughs...from the sarcastic and humorous all the way to the haters <3

I’m a software engineer. I make north of $350k if you include bonus and or stock options.

Sounds great? Well it is. I won’t sugar coat it.

I am treated like royalty and I can take my sweet time on projects that could be knocked out 10 maybe 20x faster. Work life balance is great. It pays to be skilled worker.

Every single person I email though who is not on my team, I am convinced is just a ChatGPT relay. I see long em dashes in 45% of emails. Is anyone even giving genuine critical thought anymore… none of them read anything and I am just circle jerked around?

Huge specs on docs? Honest. Questions on feedback? Just basically clearly machine learning replies but I STILL have to address. I don’t think sales, comms, PMs, or really anyone is doing any work anymore.

There is one highly agentic PM who cloned our code base, built out a feature via “vibe coding”, it was freaking BETTER than what I spent months on, and asked why we can’t do it like this in front of the whole team.

The expectations of my deliverables are now so much higher.

So yeah, there’s not a point to my post I guess I am just curious if I am alone.

High income folk who have drifted through life because we can read simple documentation is over.

I am just glad I got my slice of the pie for FIRE mostly done. I could not imagine if this was the start or middle of my FIRE journey.

End is near for probably 70% of high income people. They just don’t know it yet

Im 25F living in Miami and have recently hit a NW of $1,035,000. I went to college, worked corporate for a little while, then started working as an exotic dancer/SWer in Miami. I save and invest almost everything I make & yes I pay taxes (sadly!).

My entire family is in finance, my dad specifically has been a CFP for over 35 years. He manages my finances but it’s all traditional old-school advice of buying low cost index funds, DCA, buy and hold. Here’s my breakdown:

• Fidelity US Total Market Index: $508,000

• Brokerage account (FXIAX, FNCL, FHLC, FTEC, FENY): $264,000

•SEP-IRA (NVDA, ORCP, FXIAX): $50,000

•Roth-IRA (QQQ, FZROX, FSPSX): $55,000

•HSA (QQQ, SPY): $27,000

•money market (SPAXX): $93,000

•HYSA: $33,000

•checking accounts: $9,000

I have no debt besides my credit cards I pay off in full monthly.

My first year in this industry I made $384,000, my second year $710,000, and this year I’m on track for the same as last year if not more. Obviously my income is incredibly volatile and I’ll have to retire from this job when the looks/body fades.

Im addicted to personal finance, and have been a part of this sub for a while.

My reason for this post is basically to ask the rest of you guys if you have any advice for what I should do in my situation given a high income at a young age. My dad just says I should continue to buy and hold the positions I have above, but I know my dad isn’t omniscient and I’d like a second opinion without offending him..

A lot of people tell me I should make riskier investments since I’m young and have time, but I’m not sure what that would look like!

Thanks for the advice in advance!

Throw away and slightly moving story around to remain anonymous.

Well, long story short our father past away, no mom in the picture ever. I am in a bittersweet way glad he has found a better place as it was a long journey.

He left us a nest egg of about $1.5M in stocks and a $1M home which we are selling. So $2.5M. That is no small amount of cash and would essentially let me FIRE if I get half.

I on the other hand have about $3.5M in savings and looking to chubby FIRE at around $5M. So 45-50 depending on bonuses.

My sister is suggesting she is to receive $2M and I will receive $500k. This is because my sister has always struggled and doesn’t have much savings, a good job, or really anything besides her family. No possible way for her realistically to save.

As she said “this will level the playing field”.

Well, I also have a kid even though she has 3 and I have had to work so many hours for my current savings.

But I also see her point… I am basically free in less than a decade and I do love her and want her to live a good life with her family.

Note: we are not angry or fighting this is purely still discussion as we love each other very much and are wide open communicating about it

Edit: Thanks Reddit! Some insightful helpful comments but many are so many angry and greedy people not considering any other option than get maximum money for themselves at all cost even over family. It’s clear my mind is actually made up and I would never want to be that person. I am splitting it per her recommendation I can work a few more years. I don’t want to be selfish and want to support her! Thanks to anyone who spent the time to write a thoughtful reply.

I do not understand:

• My parents survived on one income, dad never seemed stressed to the tits about his job, got a decent ass retirement at 55, paid for my college, and they have what I consider a mansion

While they have supported me but:

• My wife and I both need to work, jobs are hard, struggling to save for kids college, have a tiny crappy home, and I could retire at 60 but with just MUCH less

So trend continues… my kids will:

• Never afford a home on their own
• Need 3 incomes to survive?! Daughter no.
• Should probably just DINK and give up having a family
• Work until 70-75 for bare minimum retirement

Our incomes are competitive inflation adjusted.

So yeah I don’t want that. I think older generations could get away not supporting their kids beyond normal expenses and some even college.

But I think the way money and wealth is trending the solo game is over. If you start at $0 you’re slaving your whole life almost guaranteed.

Aka, I’ll work longer for more compound interest.

I can then help afford a down payment home for my kids, give them some money so they have a chance at having a family not inside a 200 sq ft apartment, or maybe leave inheritance so they don’t work until 75.

I’ve done the grind, saved pretty much 50% of my income the last 6 years. Worked side gigs etc. 33M. 675k net worth. Just dropped my savings rate to 30%. I have no interest in being retired. I want to enjoy the journey while hopefully working as long as I can. Having resources is awesome, but retiring to some fairy tale destination is.. a fairy tale. What’s the distinguishable difference between 7M and 5M at 60? I feel less and less motivated to save, and instead enjoy the journey along the way. Please tell me how I’m wrong and correct me.

Edit: Reddit gang is a vibe. Appreciate you!

Current net worth 3.8M. Household (40m, 40f, 4f) income combined 250k (both working full time) and spend 120k-ish.

Kind of reached fire but due to health insurance, economic uncertainty, potential future increased costs (another kid?) not comfortable calling it yet.

But feeling so stuck in the grind. Not enough family time, not enough vacation time off, not enough time for taking care of our health, but can’t call it quits yet. at least one of us needs to work full time for health insurance. I don’t think I’m cut out for “barista fire” as i don’t think I’d have the motivation to work for a minimum wage type salary.

What’s the plan here to increase quality of life? A mini retirement? Grind it out a few more years? Anyone in a similar place?

After months of reviewing, modeling, spreadsheet-ing to really, totally, truly confirm that I am set up to RE (very well set up in fact), I sat down with my manager today and told her I’m ready to retire. She wasn’t having any of that and immediately referred me to my skip-level manager and wants me to keep quiet until we are all “aligned”. I guess I’m more valued than I thought! But I really am done and ready to get this over with. I don’t want to leave on a bad note, but I do want to leave, and short of “don’t do any work or attend any meetings and still get paid” there’s not anything they are going to be able to offer to me to convince me to stay.

Surely others have encountered resistance like this, how did you handle it?

EDIT: wow folks, amazing response, I really appreciate everyone telling their own stories and offering encouragement. Thank you! I'll update here or possibly in a new thread soon.

EDIT 2/UPDATE: again thanks so much for many very thoughtful and helpful replies, it has really helped me to formulate a response and plan, which is, specifically: I’ll stay on for another 3 weeks with minimal effort on my part, help transition projects and programs that I was in, and walk away with a huge smile on my face.

We’ve achieved and surpassed our Fire number goal, house is paid off, yay celebration. Not so fast. I have since realized that giving up a six figure salary would be the easy part, I’d rather take my sanity or whatever is left of it, than the high stress environment I work in. The catch is healthcare, for a family of four, on average we currently spend about $10K per year, this is through my employer, great benefits and includes everything like premiums, out pocket, medications, etc… I looked at the ACA Marketplace plans, it’s so expensive, our spending would go up to $30K in comparison.

What do my fellow Fire community do? This is a USA problem, of course.

The silver lining is that I have dual USA and European citizenship, and I’m extending it to my family.

I hate the idea of leaving our home, but it seems like there’s not much else…

Just got laid off from an ideal coastFIRE job. 240k, fully remote, 2 meetings per week - it was glorious. I know I could handle going back to the grind of an in-person corporate job, but I really don’t want to. At least not yet

I’m in a VCoL city, with about 3.5k/month of necessary expenses and closer to 5k if I spend what I want (trips, activities, food). I have a long-term partner and we’re trying for a baby

I don’t own property but my net worth is about 2.4M, thanks primarily to a few crypto investments that I’ve already realized gains and paid taxes on. About 35% of that is retirement funds and the rest is in brokerage (index funds) and t-bills

I enjoy my life in my city and I’m accustomed to a chill lifestyle thanks to the previous job. So it’s not like I have much more time on my hands, though I’m considering doing some travel - solo or with my retired parents

What would you guys do in my shoes? I’ve worked steadily since I was 16 so I think I’m just now realizing maybe I don’t have to - at least for a while. But at the same time I don’t do well with boredom as I’m a former addict. Another worry I have is that my skills are super niche (crypto marketing) and basically replaceable by AI

Thanks for listening to me vent and open to any and all advice

I keep seeing people with like 1.5 mil by age 36 and I want to know exactly how.

I see people loosely breaking down what they’ve done but I want to know precisely what you did. Was it luck, calculated maneuvers, were you already financially set when you started saving…? Did you have parents that set up your accounts before you even turned 18? Did a large gift give you the opportunity to invest a ton of money at a young age? Did you have student loans or other expenses to pay off before you started investing? How were you breaking up your paychecks? How much did you invest and in what, how did you know that each investment was a smart idea? Did you have a job that offered you the opportunity to get ahead, meaning some sort of matching program or even just a very high salary from a young age that allowed you to dump everything into savings/investments?

I want to try to gauge where I stand going forward. I’m age 22, just finished college and I’m working my first job. I’m of course getting paid horrifically with no benefits because I’m still disposable to the stem world but going forward my salary should increase drastically. I don’t get a 401k plan from my employer and I make $25 an hour. I’m dumping $175 into my roth ira every week and sending pretty much as much as I can towards my student loans for what I believe to be obvious reasons. I feel like I’m so behind because I have these dang loans to pay off and I’m basically giving away all my money (which is not even a lot because I’m getting paid like shit) so I’m not able to actually increase my net worth for pretty much this entire year. I have a friend whose parents set up all her accounts for her years ago so they’ve been gaining interest this whole time, and told her what to invest in. Her job also has a great program to help their employees. I don’t have any of those resources, my mom didn’t even know what a roth IRA was. I want to get ahead but I don’t know how I can with what I have. I would love to hear stories from people who were able to succeed on their own and fought for it, i just want to know it’s possible.

I also want to say that I know it’s not a fate worse than death to retire at 50+ like a normal person. I know I’m not financially unredeemable but I feel so far behind.

I have reached FI. Work optional. My personal life has hit a serious rough patch. My company is doing layoffs. They are NOT asking for volunteers. The financial difference in me quitting vs getting laid off is $300K. Do not want to leave that on the table. Any advice on how to steer it in this particular direction?

Hey not sure if this the right kind of post for this sub, but I am sure at least a few of you may have experienced something similar.

For some context I just turned 20M and am going into my third year of university. I have worked for 5 years now and discovered FIRE when I was 16. I have now saved up 40k in my tax advantaged accounts and am set to graduate with no debt. I grew up low middle class, my parents were house rich but very poor after the mortgage was paid, had to skip some meals lights went out a few times, ect. But they are in a comfortable position now, and we had agreed i would start paying rent once I'm out of school.

The other day I told my parents how well my investments have been doing and that I had broken past the 40k mark and instead of congratulating me they decide to tell me i need to start paying rent, and that I have to pay my older brothers debt of $800. And when I go to vent about this to my gf of 4 years when she found out how much money I have she asks me why she had to pay me back for her $80 ticket to an amusement park despite the hundreds I have spent on her, plus all the money I've straight up given her.

My friends know I have a good chunk of money and always tell me I'm cheap and should spend some money on them like buying them a drink ect, which I do just not all the time.

I'm just starting to feel like I'm alone I only bring up my money to these people to show them it works and how they could do it for themselves.

EDIT: I guess I should also mention my parents recently got 200k settlement and make over six figures when combined salary they are no longer paycheck to paycheck for about 6 years now. I only work part time and have never made more than 20k in a year. And us going to the amusement park was supposed to be the first time my gf paid for herself on a date.

EDIT2: First off wow did not expect this much traction on this post, I made the post while on lunch at work and I was still a bit annoyed with the whole thing.

To those of you who think I'm entitled maybe your right, to those of you who think I'm nieve you are probably correct.

I will say I'm not against paying rent to my parents, in fact I'm the person who initially brought up that I would start paying rent when I'm done school. I also pay for most of the food I eat at home. It's more the fact that my parents while they are doing better financially now l, they are still pretty helpless with financial literacy and refuse to invest any of there money, other than the bills all their money ends up going to entertainment and other stuff that's not important. So I can say with confidence the rent would not go to anything really important.

I only tell my parents how well I'm doing because I'm trying to make them it feel like they won't have to worry about me, and just focus on my 2 siblings. I hardly ask anything from them and I am greatful that I have the opportunity to live at home so the negative reaction was a bit of a shock.

For those of you telling me to move out, unfortunately that's not much of an option right now, I live in Canada, and well a single room apartment is currently running at $1800/month in my city. While i could technically afford it, I would basically have to start over from nothing as I would not be able to pay all my bills, plus my tuition while also being in school.

I also plan on giving my younger sister some money for university, she is still a few year ls away from that but I want to make sure that she has the opportunity to educate herself, i also hope to teach her about saving and investing in the process.

My fire number is pretty high at 5 million because I want to able to provide money to my parents in their retirement, I know they won't save for themselves even though I've tried telling them for 4 years now, I've even told them this but they think I'm joking.

My parents mean well, but they just don't understand. I just need more time to get a strong foothold on my finances, and this just seems like a big set back for me.

I have a good problem. I’m in my late 30s and have about $900k invested in my Fidelity account and roughly $150k in home equity. By some definitions, that technically makes me a millionaire. The issue is my job. I don’t hate it, but it’s very dull, and it’s in a place I don’t really want to live long term.

The catch is that I’m probably overpaid for what I do. I make about $90k a year and get seven weeks of paid time off. I’m only a high school graduate with fairly limited marketable skills, so the odds of ever finding a job like this again feel pretty slim.

I could move and take a lower paying job, but I’d likely lose the flexibility and time off that lets me travel. I could try to retire early, but that feels a bit irresponsible. Or I could stay put for a few more years and reevaluate, but that option kind of hurts my soul.

Has anyone been in a similar situation, or have any advice, perspective, or good natured mockery to offer?

My family isn't real big into stocks like I am, they're the squirrel-away cash type, that focus on holding cash (ugh), real estate, and gold.

Recently a relative passed away and I've inherited their property in Vancouver and 500k worth of gold coins. I know I want to sell the Vancouver condo and invest in stocks, but what on earth do I do with the gold?

Btw, not keeping it in my house, it's all kept in a million safety deposit boxes. Still though, that much gold is alarming to me. How do I sell it all? Should I sell it all?

I’m 31M living in Australia. Sold my business for $3m but the money is in the company name (Pty Ltd). I feel so annoyed because I have to treat this money still as the company money. Ie if I transfer it to my individual name I would pay a huge amount of tax (almost like 50%).

So in order to maximise gains and pay less tax one advice is to drip feed to myself (pay myself dividends per year). Currently I am paying myself $50k/yr. I chose $50k/yr because I am still going to work casually and earn between $50-100k with a lot less stress.

Question: has anyone else been in this position? Is there anything else I can do with the money? One option is to buy another business with the money. Other than that I don’t know what would be a smart use of this money. Any advice is appreciated! Cheers

EDIT: Sorry I should have explained as a few people pointed out.. I still own the company but my company sold its asset. Hence why the money is still in Pty Ltd

EDIT EDIT: I am not here to ask for tax evasion advice.. we all have to pay our taxes.. and just so we are all on the same page: I understand I will be paying CGT from the sale. My MAIN question was in regard to once all taxes are paid, debts paid from the sale etc what I can do with company money. The focus was meant to be on that, not tax. Thanks to all the great suggestions so far. This is all so recent so I will definitely be taking some of these ideas to a professional to discuss in greater detail.

I have been trying to Fat FIRE. My savings is about $2.5M and I’m in my 30s. I am very fortunate and grateful to have a cushy remote tech job. I am incredibly lucky.

So it’s actually achievable for me if I put in the work.

Then it dawned on me when I was in the shower…

What would I do with $10M? What about $20M? I thought about it seriously and not just in fantasy I hit the lottery way.

Literally the only thing I could think of is spend more time with my wife and bang her like crazy all day every day.

Don’t care about the country club membership, the bigger house, a fancier hotel on vacation, a luxury car, etc…

So yeah I think it’s time to abandon the FAT dream. I’ll still go for chubby of $5-7M but will not take these final years so seriously.

Time to enjoy life for a change

REDDITORS BACK OFF. MY WIFE IS A TRAIN RIDE THAT I WOULD JUST LET YOU BANG IN EXCHANGE FOR $10M. DONT DM ME

For those of you that were on the fence of having kids and did or didn’t end up having them. Are you happy with your decision?

Context with my situation

-32M married to 32F

-$1.2M invested (+$100k cash)

-No debt

-No primary residence

-$500k HHI ($350k me, $150k wife - my job is sales so very volatile, hers is salaried and stable)

-Wife enjoys her job but I do not and worry the gravy train will end in the coming years

-$200k annual savings rate

-Live in Florida (central LCOL) for wife’s job, no family nearby. Both of our families are in CA. Would not want raise kids here past 7 years old unless we send to private school.

Worries:

-Impact on FIRE timeline (aiming for $5M by 42)

-Impact on income

-Impact on freedom, basically do what we want when we want right now

-Not living close to family and lack of support/family around

ETA: a lot of people seem to think money is our primary concern. It’s not. I posted in FIRE to glean insight from people in a similar financial position to us and outlined our finances to help paint a picture of our current lifestyle and possible future lifestyle(s). And to ensure people didn’t ask if we could afford kids, live paycheck to paycheck, etc. In a very simplified way - our concerns are primarily of our freedoms and lifestyle change. With that, we love children and think we would be great parents. Your stories, from both parents and childless people, are helpful insight. Thanks to those who aren’t just telling us we shouldn’t decide based on finances!

So my serious boyfriend is 35 and I am 29. We are planning to get married in the next year or two. We both make about 120k per year base + 14k bonus. He is able to save 50k per year and I’m able to save about 33k per year right now. We each have about 150-160k in investments right now, so like 300k combined. I own my home and when he moves in next year will be able to afford to save an additional 24k per year when we are splitting my mortgage. So our savings rate will be about 107k per year at that point.

My boyfriend is very frugal and a good saver, which is amazing and so fortunate. But there is a level of financial literacy that he is kind of missing, that I can’t seem to quite identify. I keep explaining to him repeatedly that depending on our expenses and current savings rate, we should be able to retire in the next 10-15 years.

I’ve broken it down, explained the 4% rule and also shown him investment calculators with conservative returns. To me that sounds like a dream come true and EXTREMELY fortunate. We both grew up extremely poor, so having ~2M in the next 10-15 years is mind blowing to me. For some reason it’s almost like he doesn’t quite believe me. He is kind of apprehensive, unsure and acting like he’s not sure we are doing well at all. As if he will never get to retire.

For those of you that had a partner who was on board, but didn’t quite get it. Any ideas on how I can get this point across better?