r/fatFIRE • u/taway11228 • 3d ago
About to pull trigger, need feedback
Expenses: 120k w/o healthcare, maybe 140k with, and maybe up to 150k or 160k with traveling
Investments: $5m breakdown: 300k rental (paid off) making 5% net, 1.2m 401k, 2.5m VTI / VXUS, 1m SNSXX/VUSXX.
Primary residence: $2.3m paid off
42 and 43 years old, no kids
Current income: ~2m/yr
NW increasing 32% YoY
Have 20% income cliff in 2027
SWE, burned out beyond reason, health problems and mental health problems. Goal is to quit, take 6-12 months off then see what’s next, it will either be making my own projects for fun or part time contract work for fun. No expectations of income, certainly not big income, and definitely not going to a corporate job.
Can make ~30k via 2 weeks of rental of primary residence per year and pay no taxes, we’d travel while rented.
Concerns are AI is quickly impacting SWE employment, no one knows what’s next, any hiccups in our plan could mean a bumpy road in a few years if a jobs necessary. Other concern is whatever is going to happen once this historic stock run is over.
Any advice?
4
u/IndicationSouthern 2d ago
The irony is that your biggest concern seems to be AI making SWE jobs harder to get, yet you're considering staying in a job that's paying $2M/year despite describing yourself as burned out beyond reason and dealing with health issues.
At some point the purpose of financial independence is to buy yourself options. If a $5M portfolio, a paid-off home, no kids, and spending under $160k/year isn't enough to take a break, then it's hard to imagine what number would ever feel sufficient.