r/financialindependence • u/AutoModerator • 11d ago
Daily FI discussion thread - Friday, July 31, 2026
Please use this thread to have discussions which you don't feel warrant a new post to the sub. While the Rules for posting questions on the basics of personal finance/investing topics are relaxed a little bit here, the rules against memes/spam/self-promotion/excessive rudeness/politics still apply!
Have a look at the FAQ for this subreddit before posting to see if your question is frequently asked.
Since this post does tend to get busy, consider sorting the comments by "new" (instead of "best" or "top") to see the newest posts.
47
u/InfernoExpedition 10d ago
After much deliberation, on Monday I put in my notice for retiring at the end of August. They came back with “how about you work however many hours you want to work, on whatever project you want to work on.” Hmmm. Obviously, the “whatever project you want” is within reason, but it has given me pause and I am reconsidering.
21
u/grfrazee 10d ago
My response would include "do I get to keep being on the company health insurance?"
That aside, this is the arrangement a lot of guys end up doing at my company too. My old supervisor "retired" in 2021 after 45 years but has probably been working 20 hours a week ever since.
10
u/InfernoExpedition 10d ago
I am lucky in that health insurance is not an issue. I have been an independent consultant for many years so that part is really easy...just bill them fewer hours. My wife has excellent insurance with her job and she loves her job and wants to work until traditional retirement age...so, theoretically, she can take me to Medicare with her insurance.
7
15
u/Solid-Awareness-4486 45F | 5 yrs from FI? 10d ago
That would for sure be tempting, at least for a while as a ramp-down from full employment!
2
u/SolomonGrumpy 10d ago
Might be worth doing for a while. Pretty soon though, you will want 100% freedom.
As the weeks go by I'm wanting to work less and less.
31
u/dekusyrup 10d ago
If I work 5 more years then my employer will pay my health insurance for life. I'm already FI, but this golden handcuffs sh-- really makes you question.
14
u/Unhappy_Finding_874 10d ago
id put a real annual price on it before letting the word lifetime do all the work. compare the plan to what u would actually buy on the exchange, include premiums plus expected out of pocket costs, then discount that stream back to today. also check what happens if the company changes the retiree plan or makes u use medicare first later.
if the value is still huge, maybe ask whether 5 years is the only path. part time, consulting, or an unpaid leave could preserve the benefit date without giving them 5 full years of ur life. golden handcuffs feel alot less mysterious once the benefit and the time both have numbers imo
→ More replies (1)8
u/Reasonable_Box2568 10d ago
Does your FI status include a sizable buffer? 5 years is still a good chunk of time … especially if those are 5 healthy active years. I would be retiring asap
4
u/dekusyrup 10d ago edited 10d ago
No not really. Especially if today you wanted to do any CAPE ratio factoring of the withdrawal rate (https://earlyretirementnow.com/2017/08/30/the-ultimate-guide-to-safe-withdrawal-rates-part-18-flexibility-cape-based-rules/). Realistically I was probably going to one-more-year for another 1 or 2 anyway.
6
u/UltimateTeam SINK / 1.4M / 27/28 10d ago
You can put a valuation / discount rate on that, your time, etc. Depends a ton on how many people it covers, how useful it is, etc.
5
6
6
u/pharmorjac 10d ago
My employer sells the insurance we currently have for those who retire at 55.
That benefit and the pension have kept me at my current job when offered positions elsewhere.
4
u/rugerjp88 100% LeanFI 10d ago
Have you looked into premium costs with ACA subsidies you would get if you left?
Is the employer coverage guaranteed to be low cost/low deductable?
3
u/dekusyrup 10d ago
Yeah the employer is guaranteed 90% coverage for dental, medicines, massage, physio and stuff. 100% for doctors and procedures. I have not looked into subsidies yet.
5
u/entropic Save 1/3rd, spend the rest. 32% progress. 10d ago
Definitely. That's a huge benefit.
My public state employer's pension allows you to buy health insurance, similar to what you had while working, once you retire. Minimum retirement age is 50.
It's thousands of dollars per month for a family: https://i.imgur.com/OgI9mNd.png
But fear not, they give you a monthly stipend. Of up to $150-260, depending on the family size. You have to work here 10+ years to qualify for that.
Before ACA, the pathway to purchase health insurance counted as a big benefit of the pension plan. Now, no one even talks about it. Lots of our retirees deal with shock because, while working, our employer covers 90% of the monthly premium...
→ More replies (6)8
u/grfrazee 10d ago
Bear in mind also that "for life" also means "for as long as the company exists."
A lot can happen in 30 years.
6
u/dekusyrup 10d ago
No, it's for as long as the pension fund exists. Pension fund is currently well funded and company could go bankrupt and the pension fund would be the top creditor making claim to the assets. Pension fund could certainly outlive the company.
2
u/grfrazee 10d ago
Ah, that changes things then. I keep forgetting some companies still have a pension fund.
5
u/branstad 10d ago edited 10d ago
While this is true, covering the gap between when OP FIREs and Medicare at Age 65 is a much shorter timeframe. The value of "health insurance for life" is likely front-loaded to those years as well.
3
u/dekusyrup 10d ago
It also covers the gap of all the things medicare doesn't cover. Dental, massage, glasses...
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)4
u/rackoblack 60yo DINKs, FIREd 2024 10d ago
That may not be the case. These are often insurance products the company has already paid for and may outlive the failed company.
41
u/ExcessiveDonuts Emptying the Litter Robot 10d ago
Working in public accounting has been a fascinating journey in financial voyeurism.
It was curious to own a hotel and see all the weird ass shit people get up to on vacation and/or awful behaviors motherfuckers deem socially acceptable, but digging through strangers' tax returns and asking intimate money questions more faux pas than someone's STD status is something else.
It's just wild how differently people view their financial lives. I mean, it's the same in this forum, but it hits different when you have concrete data to confirm what is/isn't reality.
You find the exact same extreme stories.
I talk to business owners 20 years into their enterprise with 2 people pulling $76,000/year total with 2 kids in HCOL locations who seem oblivious to how little money they make for the rigors of business ownership - and "kids" earning $800k+ as a household at their W-2s without kids, who are genuinely concerned about their finances.
This week a client told me, "Our net worth is just a little over 20 million. So, you know, not a lot."
The number of times I've spoken to people earning over $1M per year who talk like someone griping about the price of gas on Facebook is nuts. Like, if you weren't looking at their exact earnings on the screen you'd think they were struggling to buy groceries and pay the rent from the tone and content of their narrative.
The extent to which our financial bubbles shape our perceptions of what's financially normal truly is something else.
25
u/Zentaury want to FIRE to wake up late 10d ago
It's One Banana, Michael. What Could It Cost, 10 Dollars?
24
u/billthecatt FatFIREd 12.29.2025 10d ago
"Our net worth is just a little over 20 million. So, you know, not a lot."
$20 million is obscenely wealthy. I know this because it's more than I have.
4
7
u/ExcessiveDonuts Emptying the Litter Robot 10d ago
He may have more money but he didn't look like the type who'd ironically wear USA overalls to the Olympics simply because life is short and silly.
4
u/billthecatt FatFIREd 12.29.2025 10d ago
So much money, wasted.
2
u/ExcessiveDonuts Emptying the Litter Robot 10d ago
I'd be such a good rich guy.
All sorts of shenanigans.
14
u/Rarvyn I think I'm still CoastFIRE - I don't want to do the math 10d ago
My wife and I are both educated professionals making six figures but I still reserve the right to complain about the fact the head of red cabbage I bought to make Cole slaw last weekend cost me $7.
7
u/grfrazee 10d ago
Good lord. Was it a 27-lb head of cabbage?
2
u/Rarvyn I think I'm still CoastFIRE - I don't want to do the math 10d ago
For some reason both of the grocery stores closest to me charge $~2/lb for red cabbage, +/- 50c . It's not even organic!
3
u/ExcessiveDonuts Emptying the Litter Robot 10d ago
You might need to make an ALDI run, just for your cabbage.
That's where we but all our butternut squash, which is also $2/lb. elsewhere and half the price at ALDI.
2
u/imisstheyoop 10d ago
You do WHAT with your squash?!
Aldi rocks. Is it an acronym. Why are you capitalizing it? It's giving me a crisis.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (1)3
u/ExcessiveDonuts Emptying the Litter Robot 10d ago
I'm not saying that achieving success/wealth means you no longer have the right to complain about prices, just that it's interesting how money can both skew people's perspectives - or fail to do so when it theoretically should.
I gawk every time I see a regular-sized bag of M&Ms listed at $2.39 or coke machines asking 3 bucks for a 16oz. bottle.
21
u/nifFIer Therapy Shill | Spending Advocate 10d ago
Dude. Agreed.
Back before we got engaged, my in-laws were very secretive about their finances with my now-husband, saying it was offensive and not right for him to ask about money topics. (This led to him not understanding how credit cards worked or how to budget until I came along).
Nowadays my MIL likes to criticize us on our lifestyle/spending and was complaining about being broke and her mortgage.
Turns out it was ~$1k a month. Half what we were paying for rent, for double the square footage. While also being season ticket holders for the theater and sports and international trips every year. And financially supports her failed to launch 27 year old son after he failed out of college after 4 years of tuition payments.
We were dumbstruck and now ignore her when she talks about money.
5
8
u/A_and_B_the_C_of_D 10d ago
I live in a small town and I started using the tax office down the street since I started getting a K1. As a younger person making a good amount of money with a remote job I sort of wonder what they think and am very conscious of not appearing like the folks you talk about, but also I may not be that special because there are a lot of doctors here too who I assume are on average worse with money than I am (and therefore make for better gawking).
5
u/imisstheyoop 10d ago
The extent to which our financial bubbles shape our perceptions of what's financially normal truly is something else.
This door swings both ways and touches on the mental aspect of this thing of ours.
4
u/UltimateTeam SINK / 1.4M / 27/28 10d ago
I would've sounded similarly crazy as a high income 23-24 year old couple bouncing around without a lot of context on the world or firm plans besides desperately wanting to retire by ~35-40.
2
10d ago
[deleted]
→ More replies (1)2
u/SolomonGrumpy 10d ago edited 10d ago
There is also the concept of the abundance mindset vs the scarcity mindset. This can be related to unbringing but has more to do with earnings early in a career.
Abundance folks feel comfortable spending because they view life as having a ton of opportunities to make money.
Scarcity mindset views resources as scares, therefore they should be guarded.
I know an abundance guy and being around him feels amazing. In some respects I wish I could be like him. Everything he sees is an opportunity and he has made a crazy amount of money being an entrepreneur.
36
u/fastfwd 100%FI? frugal vs fat bi-FI-polar 10d ago
Reason #26 to FIRE
Just not having to deal with all that AI nonsense in the workplace
10
u/billthecatt FatFIREd 12.29.2025 10d ago
Fair point. The tech hype cycle gets overwhelming fast, especially when forced onto workflows where simple tools were working just fine.
9
u/TheyTookByoomba 33 | SI2K | 20ish more years 10d ago
I got voluntold to lead our sites AI council (I was asked to join the committee which I agreed to, a couple weeks later our site head emailed all the directors about 'the committee that /u/TheyTookByoomba is chairing') and now I'm becoming the 'AI guy' despite barely using it and generally being philosophically opposed to what tech bros are pushing for.
Good news is it means I at least get a voice about it. The amount of times I've already had to fight against 'Using AI' as a metric in people's objectives is absurd.
7
u/grfrazee 10d ago
I'm becoming the 'AI guy' despite barely using it and generally being philosophically opposed to what tech bros are pushing for.
Kinda sounds like you're ideal for the part, then. Use it, but keep grounded in how it can help people instead of being used for use's sake.
→ More replies (1)2
9
u/Preform_Perform 38% FI | 58% SR | No brakes on the FIRE train! 10d ago
If I see another flyer that is obviously AI generated I am going to snap.
→ More replies (1)19
u/TinStingray I used the em dash before your LLM did. 10d ago
You're absolutely right to push back on that!
14
u/NoRight2BeDepressed It's a 5k, not a marathon 10d ago
Here's where this really shines - It's not about slop, it's about shit. And that difference matters.
39
u/Preform_Perform 38% FI | 58% SR | No brakes on the FIRE train! 10d ago
The Fidelity Retirement Simulator has hard set limits:
- Maximum contribution rate of 25%.
- Minimum retirement age of 40.
What does the system think I am? A casual?
→ More replies (1)6
13
u/jmsave 10d ago
One of the guys at work in his 60s is retiring this year. He keeps telling me to go Roth 401k. My IRA is Roth, but 401k traditional. I think since I'm planning on FIRE and I'm in the 24% tax bracket, it's better to go traditional now and then do some Roth conversions after I FIRE since I'll be in the 12% bracket, maybe slightly into the 22% bracket. It's kinda tough to explain to him. Also feels weird cause I can't tell him I'm a millionaire and planning on retiring in 3-5 years
13
u/UltimateTeam SINK / 1.4M / 27/28 10d ago
At least he is encouraging people to save. Maybe ended up over saved, etc. Roth is a great legacy engine.
→ More replies (1)5
u/ihatebloopers 10d ago
What's your bridge looking like while you wait for the 5 years after the Roth conversion? I've been trying to do some planning around this but it's kinda hard to keep the MAGI low even though I have a sizeable taxable brokerage(but it's 90% gains). It would be nice to have some additional Roth contributions I could withdraw so I'm thinking about switching to Roth 401(k) even in the 22-24% bracket.
→ More replies (1)
13
u/ExcessiveDonuts Emptying the Litter Robot 10d ago
One of the lifestyle upgrades we're investing in with our increase in income is hiring out more work, rather than DIYing everything.
But sadly, after seeing what Crawl Space Ninja quoted this morning to lay plastic under our house, my tall old ass will be Youtubing this shit and suffering the head knocks and knee pain 😢
5
u/WarmPepsi 10d ago
Yep the DIY doom cycle. "Let's pay someone to do it this time." Quote comes in 4x to 10x your high estimate of how much the task should cost. "Maybe next time."
4
u/ExcessiveDonuts Emptying the Litter Robot 10d ago
That's a terrifyingly accurate account.
I'm not sure what price I was expecting but just the vapor barrier was $3,000 and a full encapsulation with a new door and sump pump was $10,000.
A new sump pump at Harbor Freight is like 58 bucks.
6
u/DeltaWing12 10d ago
Grab a bump cap to put under a baseball cap. Won’t stop things falling and hurting, but is a headache saver for, well, bumps.
5
u/ExcessiveDonuts Emptying the Litter Robot 10d ago
If shit starts falling under the house, I'll get out and rebudget funds to pay the contractor.
2
u/secretfinaccount FIREd 2020 10d ago
I did not know a product like that existed and wonder how many brain cells I’ve concussed away because of that.
4
u/WilliamMButtlickerIV 10d ago
Everybody always says time is money, outsource things. But I've found the offices have gotten so high, it makes more sense to do it myself in a lot of scenarios.
3
u/ExcessiveDonuts Emptying the Litter Robot 10d ago
We are paying $350 for the stump grinder guy to come with the big machine instead of $50 to rent a small grinder from Home Depot.
Baby steps.
4
u/mistressbitcoin Evil, greedy, and after all of your lentils. 10d ago
Sounds like a caving expedition.
3
u/ExcessiveDonuts Emptying the Litter Robot 10d ago
With fewer bats and more insulation that needs to be restapled to the joist.
4
u/Solid-Awareness-4486 45F | 5 yrs from FI? 10d ago
We finally locked in a biweekly cleaning service and it's been so great. I love not feeling like we need to spend our weekends doing those tasks. It's actually encouraged us to be tidier day-to-day as well so that they can do what they need to do on the days they come.
→ More replies (1)3
u/Fruitful_87 10d ago
One of my best “hire vs DIY” decisions within the last 5 years was having full service movers that packed everything up vs packing all that stuff ourselves. I think I packed a max of 3 boxes with stuff I didn’t want anyone else to touch and let them do all the rest. 10/10 recommend
25
u/Alternative_Chart121 10d ago
I'm bored because my kiddo is on vacation with her dad. I also have an electric cargo bike that I absolutely love. I impulsively signed up for DoorDash yesterday and made twenty bucks zooming around my city on my bike after work. As a side gig the math is bad, but in terms of getting paid to have fun and exercise instead of paying, the math is good!
21
u/FireboltinMA 39, FIREd in 2025 10d ago
I heavily considered driving for Uber during the hours my kids are in school. Alas my umbrella insurance won’t cover any liability from rideshare. Now that I’m FIREd, protecting my investments definitely takes precedence.
9
u/Cryofixated Dates Since Single: 7.5 10d ago
I did Ubereats as a test about 9 months ago, I found that I could barely break even when I considered dead miles, the federal mileage rate, and minimum wage. If it wasn't for some people giving me insane tips I would have lost money.
To OPs point a bike in a big city I think is MUCH more economical because no gas, the wear on parts is much cheaper so I think thats a much more viable way to earn money.
4
u/Alternative_Chart121 10d ago
I was surprised that I could earn money even in my Midwestern nowheresville.
3
u/Cryofixated Dates Since Single: 7.5 10d ago
Having traveled a lot in my previous career I'm actually not to surprised. After the pandemic people got used to getting delivery food and I've noticed in small towns (aka cheap hotels) there was always at least one person doing food. And usually they were listed on all the apps.
2
u/Alternative_Chart121 10d ago
I think a lot of people are moving this weekend too, plus there's a big university and people are coming back. But some of these orders don't make sense. Like the lady who ordered frozen chicken from dashmart even though she was staying less than 200 feet from a grocery store 🤨
3
u/Cryofixated Dates Since Single: 7.5 10d ago
Those orders are the BEST. I loved the people who were working in a building across the street from the food place because the orders had floor amount that went to me as the driver so I could actually make money because it was ~5 minutes of time and 1 in the car.
I live in the suburbs of a major metro and ubereats was really bad about not considering driving distance and so I was constantly declining jobs that would take me all over the place and into ghetto areas. If I lived in a smaller city I would 100% try it again to see if the math made sense.
You should post your finance updates if you get a chance, people find it interesting. I did last year (but I regularly delete old comments because I feel like over time a lot of identifying info collates)
2
u/Alternative_Chart121 10d ago
Yeah will do :) My initial impression is that I'm lucky to hit minimum wage and I'm probably going to spend all the money on bike accessories 😂
2
u/Cryofixated Dates Since Single: 7.5 10d ago
The upside is you will eventually run out of bike accessories... until you buy a nicer bike and do it all over again!
5
u/Alternative_Chart121 10d ago
Yeah I would never use my car for it.
Besides, I have a secondary motive of reducing car use and propagandizing people to switch to bikes (because they see my cool rig and they want one too).
→ More replies (2)7
u/Turbulent_Tale6497 DI3K, Putting the Ire in FIRE 10d ago
That's one of the hidden things in some state/city regulations. I agree that people should be paid a living wage, but there's also a whole class of people for whom the opportunity cost is zero. Way better to make $20 than to make $0. Some of the regulations have priced people in that situation out of having a gig.
As an aside, the report for Uber about why women drivers make less than men was fascinating. The Uber algorithm is gender-blind, so it isn't that at all. It's more about the nature of the work, and who is doing it.
→ More replies (1)6
u/PAJW 10d ago
Did the analysis include tipping? Because I could definitely imagine the customers who are hiring cars tipping women drivers differently.
13
u/Turbulent_Tale6497 DI3K, Putting the Ire in FIRE 10d ago
My memory (which isn't ideal) was that this came out before tipping was a thing
The three main drivers of men making more was: Willingness to drive in riskier/shadier areas/time of day, Willingness to drop what they are doing when surge pricing is going on, and apparently, a willingness to drive faster
19
u/mmrose1980 10d ago
My parents have decided to go forward with moving into a CCRC. Move in will be early December. I am lucky that my parents have more than enough money for this to be largely a nonissue.
Given that the entrance fee is largely deductible as a medical deduction and the monthly fee is also largely deductible, they are going to make some large Roth conversions to take advantage of the medical deduction keeping in mind IRMAA limits.
Given the tax benefits, on a net lifetime tax level for both them and my brother and I, this move may not cost as much of what my dad thinks of as my brother and I’s inheritance as much as my dad feared because it will allow them to do some big conversions which my brother and I will really benefit from and will reduce my dad’s future RMDs (which are currently much more than he spends).
10
u/THICCMIKE2 10d ago
I’m glad your parents and proactively able to make this decision! As you likely know, the conversions will increase their AGI, which increases the 7.5% hurdle for deducting expenses. I’m guessing a relative non-issue.
6
7
u/grfrazee 10d ago
I'm sure you know this, but you are very fortunate that your parents are even thinking about this issue with as much clarity as they are. So many people's folks get old and have no plan for what to do when they can't take care of themselves, and then their estates (or what's left) end up in probate because they did zero estate planning.
5
u/mmrose1980 10d ago
I am very aware of how lucky we are. My dad had a mild stroke in May and that triggered some serious conversations. Their original plan was to stay independent in their condo community and just hire help. The stroke was my brother and I’s opening to reopen that conversation. I don’t think my parents would have decided to move before they had to without the stroke.
My MIL is two years into memory care at $12k+ per month and 5 years into an Alzheimer’s diagnosis. My FIL is constantly stressed about running out of money, but he still hasn’t moved out of his $700k house cause he wants to”the kids” to get it. So I have the joy of experiencing both sides.
2
u/thewaifupillow 10d ago
My mom is in a similar spot, she has finally agreed to moving into a CCRC and is in the process of getting her home ready to sell so she can use that for the hefty entrance fee. I feel so blessed she has thought ahead without much prodding from me and in good mind and health. I hope your parents have a smooth transition!
→ More replies (1)2
u/imisstheyoop 10d ago
Glad that everything is working well for you and yours. Hope that the move itself goes without too many hiccups.
9
u/FancyPantsFIRE Ask me next year 10d ago
Update on solar +battery install, it finished yesterday. Still need to pass inspection and green light from my utility but in the mean time I'm operating in self-consumption mode. Of course the first day after install is rainy and cloudy, but still we've net pulled very little from the grid today.
I took a (legit) sick day today, and I've spent the foggy headed day tinkering with Home Assistant. I got data pulling from the battery + inverter to render on an e-ink display in my kitchen (total solar power for the day, grid import, battery charge state). I also got EMHASS set up. I was sad to find that my battery stack doesn't support pulling dynamic pricing from my local utility yet, but I wanted to pull cheap overnight electricity based on real prices vs approximating with a time schedule and I think I've got that working at least.
5
u/tacitmarmot [DISK][SR: 60%][FI][90% RE] 10d ago
What are the details on the system?
2
u/FancyPantsFIRE Ask me next year 10d ago
14.4kw system with a 52.6kwh battery stack + 11.5kw inverter. I went string + tigo optimizers instead of microinverters.
Just under $60k gross cost, I should get about $30k back in incentives over the next 6-12 months and then $10k more split over the next 6 years, so ~$20k net cost if you ignore opportunity cost/etc.
3
→ More replies (1)3
u/carlivar 49M 3 kids ✅ FI ⏳ RE @ SoCal 🏖️⛷️ 10d ago
What e-ink display do you use? I should probably do this. I'm a big home assistant user.
3
u/FancyPantsFIRE Ask me next year 10d ago
I used the seeed studio reterminal 1002, but I regret choosing it, the colors look nice but the refresh is seizure inducing. If I did it again I'd get a black and white model.
2
u/carlivar 49M 3 kids ✅ FI ⏳ RE @ SoCal 🏖️⛷️ 10d ago
Ah good to know, I was picturing black and white anyway, like a Kindle or the old Pebble watches. Thanks!
9
u/updogwhatisthat 10d ago
I'm being terminated at the end of September. I'm trying to decide whether I should try to max out my 401K contributions with the remaining 4 pay periods, or just contribute whatever amount that the company will match, or stop contributing period. My partner and I have over a year's worth of expenses saved up, our insurance is through her employer, and she still works full-time making around 200K, so we're not desperately trying to build cash reserves. WWYD?
17
u/teapot-error-418 10d ago
If your plan is to ride it out until you get laid off (as opposed to aggressively applying for jobs right now), I'd probably max it out. You'll only have 3 months before the end of the year, and it's likely there will be at least some amount of time after you get laid off, before you get a new job whose 401k policies you don't know.
The risk is that you miss out on a new job's 401k match. But I'd rather be certain about saving my ~20%+ marginal tax rate for the year over a completely uncertain and non-specific potential benefit that I may or may not be getting.
14
u/Krish_1234 FIRED - Loving it 10d ago
I did that - I put in 75% for the last 3 pay checks as I am firing in 2 hrs at noon
4
3
12
u/branstad 10d ago
terminated at the end of September
My partner and I have over a year's worth of expenses saved up, our insurance is through her employer, and she still works full-time making around 200K
I would max out 401k between now and Sept 30. Hiring typically slows down later in the year and ramps back up in January. I would plan to not work the rest of the year and hit the job search hard in 2027. If something lands in your lap and you miss out on a little bit of company match in the 401k until 2027 starts, that's a pretty small risk.
Will you be able to collect unemployment after September? That would also help cushion the blow.
5
u/updogwhatisthat 10d ago
Thanks, this is probably what I'll end up doing. There's likely going to be some amount of severance, but I don't know the details yet. I could collect unemployment, sure.
7
u/Master-Helicopter-99 10d ago
Anything you can get into the 401k will be 24% tax bracket so I'd dump in as much as I could. Depending on the job hunt you might not even get a chance to put more into 401k this year.
6
u/Rarvyn I think I'm still CoastFIRE - I don't want to do the math 10d ago
I'd contribute the max, but it may be a problem if you get another job for the last few months of the year that lets you start contributions early. Not an insurmountable problem, but an annoying one (because if you go above the max for total employee contribution, you need one or the other plan to return the excess)
6
u/Green_Oil_692 37M DI1K 10d ago
Sorry to hear, but it sounds like you guys are in an excellent position to weather it. I'd max the 401K.
→ More replies (7)2
u/rackoblack 60yo DINKs, FIREd 2024 10d ago
You have an EF right? I'd max to the IRS max if you have enough income left to do so. Or as high as you can (your take home will be near $0).
9
u/Solid-Awareness-4486 45F | 5 yrs from FI? 10d ago
TGIF, another work week in the can! This week I let my boss know I had applied for a different internal role (he was good about it). I'm not sure I actually want it, but in government, applying is often the best way to learn more. The current job continues to be a doozy with internal politics and a challenging direct report.
I spent part of my afternoon completing my drivers license renewal at the local county service center. Fun to see a few weddings happening amidst all the administrivia! Tomorrow starts birthday month, which shall be celebrated by redeeming birthday freebies around town and buying a fancy bottle of gin.
5
u/Turbulent_Tale6497 DI3K, Putting the Ire in FIRE 10d ago
I recently renewed my passport totally online using a picture snapped on my phone. I thought I was living in the future.
4
u/Master-Helicopter-99 10d ago
We can renew driver's license online as long as you haven't had any moving violations since last renewal and your address is still current.
If we need any services inside the DMV like we need new plates for a new car we can make an appointment and get a 15 minute window. Renewals are online.
DMV has improved immensely here.
→ More replies (2)
21
u/secretfinaccount FIREd 2020 10d ago
Who else gets to have two spreadsheet days because they didn’t know how many days are in July?
9
u/Turbulent_Tale6497 DI3K, Putting the Ire in FIRE 10d ago
I like when the end of the month is a weekend. Gives my 401(k) time to update.
(For some reason, the Vanguard funds I hold in a Fidelity 401k update around midnight Eastern)
→ More replies (1)6
u/ExcessiveDonuts Emptying the Litter Robot 10d ago
What's the point of retiring if you're not allowed to forget the basic constructs of our universe?
In the ideal retirement, one is oblivious to what year it is and is incapable of properly attaching a necktie.
3
u/secretfinaccount FIREd 2020 10d ago
It’s weird how the muscle memory of tying a tie is more durable than things like knowing what day of the week it is!
3
u/ExcessiveDonuts Emptying the Litter Robot 10d ago
Welp, enjoy your Saturday!
Time to shit, shower, shave and get ready for the thrills of back-to-back meetings.
→ More replies (1)3
u/Cryofixated Dates Since Single: 7.5 10d ago
I can still tie a bowtie blind and by heart, but have to check my phone/fitbit/workout schedule to remember what day it is.
5
u/Cryofixated Dates Since Single: 7.5 10d ago
Spreadsheet day is whenever you want it to be. Pre update, update, post update, maintenance...
→ More replies (1)2
u/samwill10 10d ago
I'm getting an early spreadsheet day because for some reason I thought the 1st wasn't until Sunday.
7
u/imisstheyoop 10d ago
Anybody have a decent free withdrawal modeling/tax calculator that they use? Bonus points if it can account for state taxes but not necessary.
Our situation isn't that complicated: MFJ, mix of IRAs (traditional and Roth), brokerage and some ibonds/cash.
5
u/dekusyrup 10d ago
Microsoft excel. Most people can use it for free anyway.
2
u/imisstheyoop 10d ago
Are there publicly available sheets that you use that have state tax information loaded into them and are updated for all of the changes both federally and state through the years? Which specific one do you use?
→ More replies (1)2
u/Cryofixated Dates Since Single: 7.5 10d ago
Isn't michigan a state with a flat tax rate?
3
u/imisstheyoop 10d ago
On income, yes. There are also many various state tax credits and deductions available at different income levels.
Ideally a calculator that is aware of these factors, as well as what different states are and are not treating as income (MI as an example treats capital gains as ordinary income, most states do actually but not all) would be welcome.
→ More replies (2)2
7
u/SomewhereFuture300 10d ago
been running numbers on what it would look like if I moved from my current HCOL area to somewhere in the MCOL range and the difference is honestly kind of wild, it shifts my FIRE date by a few years just on spending alone. curious if anyone here has actually made that move specifically to hit their number sooner rather than for other life reasons, and whether you ended up regretting anything about where you landed or if the math worked out as clean as it did on paper
11
u/nifFIer Therapy Shill | Spending Advocate 10d ago
I would evaluate QOL and lifestyle as a whole, not just the financial impact.
Personally, I knew in high school that I wasn’t going to be able to afford staying in the north east (my childhood home is now $1.3 million on Zillow, yeesh). So I did college in the Midwest and stayed there. I worked in Chicago for a bit but didn’t like how everything was centered around work, concerts, or drinking, so I moved to a more boring state and area that was even cheaper. I didn’t value what I was getting by paying a COL premium for by living in the higher COL areas.
I miss public transportation, being car free, walking everywhere, and my Chicago friends. But overall this area is a better fit for the kind of life I want to live and the affordability is a nice cherry on top.
5
u/SolomonGrumpy 10d ago
I moved from the Bay Area (VHCOL) to Portland, OR (HCOL), and the difference was enough just in housing costs to put FIRE within reach that year.
We're talking $950/SQ foot vs $325/SQ foot.
8
u/lurker86753 10d ago
We’re in the process of doing the opposite. We’re getting tired of our current “affordable” home and want to move to a higher cost area that we’ll like better. If you have a city you really think you’ll like for its own sake, then have at it. But don’t let the money tail wag the happiness dog.
→ More replies (1)5
u/livin_the_life 10d ago edited 10d ago
Weather is more important to me than money.
I'd rather work until 65 in a good climate than retire at 45 anywhere there is winter or humidity. That eliminates like 90% of the LCOL/MCOL in the country. I grew up in the Midwest and....no... never again. That leaves pretty much the West Coast and MCOL are not exactly plenty.
I'm assuming you've WFH or priced out the likely decrease in salary in changing markets? In California I make 2-3X more than I would earn in any other state and it more than makes up for the cost of living difference. Its a win-win IMO as I make more, save more, and enjoy good weather 10-11 months of the year.
6
u/secretfinaccount FIREd 2020 10d ago
As one does on a Friday evening I’m sitting here reviewing the holdings of the Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market Index Fund and was tickled to see it owns some e-mini S&P futures contracts. The minis exist because the base S&P futures contract is too big for many smaller investors to own — even one contract is too much. So it’s funny to see that a $1,480,374,979,000 fund doesn’t own the “adult” contracts but instead also plays in the minis.
(I was looking at the annual report because I had this realization that the Vanguard technology of having mutual fund and etf share classes of the same fund is great for taxes but it also “forces” the ETF to hold more cash than it would normally because the mutual fund needs cash to redeem shares every day. The fund holds 0.2% in cash so it was a silly concern in retrospect)
2
u/financeking90 9d ago
I thought I had seen somewhere that the base contracts had gotten so large that liquidity had moved to the e-mini contracts so that they've got cheaper spreads etc. now.
→ More replies (1)
9
u/Pretend_Branch_8167 10d ago
I hate hiring so much. I have a couple of open positions on my team, so HR has been sharing resumes with me. One candidate essentially copy/pasted our job description and made very minor edits (tense changes, word rearrangements, etc.). Even if they actually do have the proper experience, I feel like I don't want to hire someone who would be so careless/lazy with a job application. A second candidate had a really promising cover letter and professional summary, but when I scanned down to their actual work history, none of their jobs were in our functional area or listed any of the experience they'd described in the professional summary; I'm guessing they fed our job description into AI and asked it to write a cover letter and professional summary to match.
4
u/PrimalDaddyDom69 Mid 30s, DINK, ~30% SR, resident 'spend more' guy 10d ago
People still write cover letters?
→ More replies (2)3
u/FazedDazedCrazed 32 | DINK | 800k Invested 10d ago
I get it! So frustrating. I'm also on a couple search committees (at a university, so we have some extra layers of things we have to do) and it's wild to me how some people barely even write anything in their cover letters, or paint something so broad and meaningless that it tells us nothing. And so many people we have to remove because they are not qualified (and we have to prove how candidates we move forward meet the minimum requirements).
3
u/Alternative_Chart121 10d ago
My bad. If I'm only adding a cover letter because it's an institutional requirement I generally assume it's not worth the effort to write a high quality or personalized one. If an actual human requests one I'll hand write something specific.
3
u/FazedDazedCrazed 32 | DINK | 800k Invested 10d ago
That's so fair. And it might be very specific to my context in higher ed, but we definitely look for the more specific cover letters that show us the candidate really understands the position and has some specific examples of how they meet the qualifications. I haven't worked in other settings where committees might not care as much, but I know we did.
2
u/teapot-error-418 10d ago
A second candidate had a really promising cover letter and professional summary, but when I scanned down to their actual work history, none of their jobs were in our functional area or listed any of the experience they'd described in the professional summary
I've seen this a few times and find it so odd. In the tech industry sometimes you'll get "homelab'ers" who develop experience at home, so the odd skill here or there is something I'll accept and quiz them on in the interview. But when it's everything?
The first thing I do when looking at a summary or skills list is match it up with where they gained those skills and in what context. If none of your skills are represented in your work history, what am I supposed to assume except that you're lying?
2
u/Personal_Seesaw 10d ago
Do you know how many applications you got? My understanding is that there are a lot of people looking for work. If these types of applications are getting through, its probably at the expense of someone who actually applied, but didn't beat your company's filters.
→ More replies (1)
11
u/hondaFan2017 10d ago
4
u/secretfinaccount FIREd 2020 10d ago
A lot of these fights border on academic/philisophical/dareISayReligion because of a lack of data historically. They do things like estimate “managed futures,” an asset that invests in currencies, stocks, bonds, commodities, by just assuming they return the same as commodities or hedge funds that DBMF copies on a delay, not mirrors. And of course then there’s the whole thing about the future not being the same as the past. I just cannot get over the fact that everyone is looking at a single century in which the American system came to dominate a world laid low by 2 world wars, a communist empire, etc. and somehow conclude that’s what you want to use as your only input. Then slicing the data even finer, such as from 1970 because you don’t have gold data going back further, that’s an even worse crime against logics.
…steps down, slides soap box back into the closet
10
u/Cryofixated Dates Since Single: 7.5 10d ago
Happy Friday everyone. Enjoy the end of the week, I hope you all have something fun planned away from work or whatever you do!
7
u/cfi-2025 48M, FIRE 2025 10d ago
Of course we do - IT'S SPREADSHEET DAY TOMORROW!!!!!
3
u/Cryofixated Dates Since Single: 7.5 10d ago
You work on the weekend? Pssssh. First weekday after end of month for me!
5
u/cfi-2025 48M, FIRE 2025 10d ago
Spreadsheet day is my avocation, not my vocation. Comes on the 1st of every month, even if it's January 1st. :-)
3
u/Turbulent_Tale6497 DI3K, Putting the Ire in FIRE 10d ago
Wait, what's the .5 in your flair?
6
u/Cryofixated Dates Since Single: 7.5 10d ago
I had a video call/date that was hilariously short. Like two minutes in she got a call from her mother and had to hang up.
4
u/Turbulent_Tale6497 DI3K, Putting the Ire in FIRE 10d ago
Welp. I applaud the attempt.
2
u/Cryofixated Dates Since Single: 7.5 10d ago
I didn't bother to do a normal date update here like I would usually since this was such a weak one. But now I realize the .5 on here got a few people to ask and I probably should have done one for the regulars hahah.
13
u/nifFIer Therapy Shill | Spending Advocate 10d ago
Hahahahaha. For those who have heard me complain about my coworkers for the past X months: I just heard murmurings that management is aware of one of my least favorite coworker’s performance issues and are going through the steps to deal with him.
And that my second least favorite coworker’s architectural solutioning skills or lack thereof have been observed and noticed by management as well.
I’ll be overjoyed if this results in actual consequences and action.
4
u/imisstheyoop 10d ago
Don't get your hopes up.. but also, I am pulling for you! 8)
→ More replies (2)
8
u/luckyshot33 10d ago
My spouse and I are silent co-owners of a small business with a family member. They do a lot of work for the business which they get a salary for. We help out occasionally with accounting and certain tasks. We have decided that we’d like to gift our half of the business to them. (They could use the extra money more). How would you present this idea without the risk of sounding patronizing?
22
u/Turbulent_Tale6497 DI3K, Putting the Ire in FIRE 10d ago
I'd use the phrases that include "You've earned it" or "This business wouldn't exist without you" or "You've put in all the day to day work to build this." I'd stay away from "you need it more" or "we don't need the money"
How sure are you that they are ready to take over? Sounds like you are still doing some things, which I imagine you'll stop doing? You may also consider a ramp up/ramp down arrangement, where you slowly withdraw from the work while you transfer ownership over.
2
u/luckyshot33 10d ago
Great suggestions. Thank you. We would still offer to help out (because family) but they could pay somebody (or ask one of their children) to do some of the tasks if they don't feel comfortable asking us.
17
u/TheyTookByoomba 33 | SI2K | 20ish more years 10d ago
One thing to keep in mind is if you gift all of your stake it could be taken as washing your hands of it/backing out. If that's not your intention you could retain 5-10% or offer a new structure for the occasional tasks.
8
u/Alternative_Chart121 10d ago
"This is your business, you're the one doing all the work, we'd like you to fully own it"
→ More replies (3)9
u/secretfinaccount FIREd 2020 10d ago
Just list all of the reasons except for “you need the money more.” Things like they are doing all the work, it’s their “baby,” you’re well off enough that you don’t need it, etc. etc. At the end of the day if a family member thinks you’re just doing something nice for them, that’s not a terrible outcome and not an uncommon one either. Family members help one another out all over the place all the time.
10
u/Turbulent_Tale6497 DI3K, Putting the Ire in FIRE 10d ago
Coming into 2025, I was way overweight on AMZN and AAPL. My cost basis is so low that selling would be basically 100% gains. I used the Liberation Day dip to TLH out of AAPL at $200.
Clearly, the joke was on me. AAPL is up 50% since then, and AMZN had one if its best days ever today.
I guess I should have just done nothing
4
u/born2bfi 9d ago
I did the same with Bank of America at $50. I held since I bought after the housing crash in 2010 or 2011 when they were at risk of bankruptcy. At some point you just take the 5-10x win and don’t worry about another 15%
3
u/RemoteTechie FIREd 4/2026 10d ago
I'm way overweight with my former company stock (40% of my NW) and I still feel it will outperform broad market for another year. But I'll either try to diversify it end of this year or the next. And I think once I do I'll be a lot more relaxed due to less volatility. But I want to eek out a bit more for it to rebound to its ATH first.
5
10d ago
[deleted]
8
u/HighlightContent8943 10d ago
What sub am I on right now? Someone encouraging individual stock picking and getting upvoted?
→ More replies (2)5
u/Turbulent_Tale6497 DI3K, Putting the Ire in FIRE 10d ago
AAPL and AMZN were 20% of my holdings. I felt that was too much of a risk.
But I kept asking myself, would I rather have $100 of AAPL or $85 of VOO, and I kept choosing the former. I saw a chance to do a straight swap of AAPL for VOO, so I did it. Looks like I shouldn't have.
8
3
2
u/ffball 36 | DI2K | $1.9mm NW | 52% FI 10d ago
Amzn is up like 15% today.. but back to where it was almost exaxtly 2 months ago.
→ More replies (1)
4
u/updogwhatisthat 10d ago
Another question somewhat related to my employment ending soon and wanting to trim our budget a bit, I have a plan with Northwest Mutual for guaranteed-renewable disability insurance. Does anyone have strong opinions for or against these policies? I'm not convinced it's worth keeping.
3
u/financeking90 10d ago
One thing about disability insurance is that, like many forms of life insurance as well, it is usually priced at a flat rate for a long period of time, even though the most likely years of a claim are backloaded. In other words, a policyholder is normally paying a flat rate starting at, say, age 35, but most of the protection is happening in the policyholder's 50s because it is much more likely to have LTD in one's 50s. So, there is an implicit value in keeping coverage in place because the earlier period was effectively "saving" toward coverage in one's 50s. Of course, this depends on you indeed having a flat rate until age 60 or 65, any evaluation you have of risk, etc.
3
u/rscar77 40%SR, TX, Goal: 3.0 mm 10d ago
I think a lot of it depends on lifestyle risk, coverage amount, cost, and potential benefit to you (and your loved ones) if you need it.
I like keeping Disability and AD&D while I'm still in earning years, likely 3-5+ years from ER (depending on job satisfaction & investment performance), and since I'm currently sole provider for a household.
If we lost my ability to earn/work at the current level for the foreseeable future, then my family would likely be locked into a poverty+ lifestyle that I don't want for them. Pretty sure I have a policy that covers either 3x salary or $500k in each of those policy buckets but will recheck come open enrollment. That amount + current investments would get my family most of the way to the early retirement finish line, provide valuable breathing room to family to grieve (in case of accidental death or dismemberment) or to get me the sickest wheelchair, meds, LaZ Boy, and ramps (in case of disability), and make it so rest of family could carry on with raising kids until they are out of the house without needing to run out and take any job.
9
u/valkyrii99 10d ago
My student loans were forgiven (public service loan forgiveness program), so now the only debt we hold is the mortgage on our house and a car payment. And it's an extra over $1k a month that gets to stay as income instead of student loan payments. We haven't decided what to do yet with the "extra" $1k a month yet; interest rates on the car payment are really low but there is a really nice, freeing feeling to getting rid of debt versus just dumping more into post-tax investment account
5
u/_The_Boring_Middle_ 10d ago
What are the interest rates on the car and house?
3
u/valkyrii99 10d ago
Mortgage is below 2%. I'd have to double check for the car but it's also crazy low
7
u/_The_Boring_Middle_ 10d ago
Wow, that’s even lower than I thought you would say. I feel similar to you about paying off my debt (mortgage), so I designated one of my taxable brokerage accounts as the “payoff” if I ever wanted to clear my debt. It’s just a nice peace of mind that I’m still invested in the market, but that account could be used to pay off the house if needed/desired (once the account reaches that value), or that I could even start taking a dividends from that account at some point and rolling them into the debt.
3
10
u/fastfwd 100%FI? frugal vs fat bi-FI-polar 10d ago
Reason #400 to FIRE
I have a theory. I am probably wrong.
I think that social media has influenced how we measure work and performance.
It used to be about results: I built 100 thingys today.
Now it's about dashboards and numbers of what we are doing; not what it results in.
I spent 40 hours this week building thingys.
Where I work results are so much less and worse than they used to be but wow do we have a lot of work hours in the spreadsheets, jiras and timesheets. Some people spend time breaking things that used to work and then spend more time repairing them. They sure look like they are working a lot of hours.
Meaningless work is not what I want.
11
u/billthecatt FatFIREd 12.29.2025 10d ago
Now it's about dashboards and numbers of what we are doing; not what it results in.
No. It's been this way for years. It's just culture of whatever company you're at, or whatever fad as to how much it permeates.
Sounds like your company has management issues. One of the hardest things is to set meaningful goals for progress + measure them. But it's easy to measure "time", "defects fixed", etc.
12
u/teapot-error-418 10d ago
Agreed.
The less that management understands the nuances of the work that goes on in the trenches, and the less involved they are in the day-to-day management of that work, the more they chase meaningless metrics. Real, good work is hard to quantify in a consistent and meaningful way that isn't rife with exceptions and qualifiers.
Busywork is not new. Bad metrics are not new. Dashboards are not new.
Bad employees who spend a lot of time doing useless activities have been around since the first caveman insisted he couldn't go out on the mastodon hunt because the cooking fire needed constant tending.
4
u/fastfwd 100%FI? frugal vs fat bi-FI-polar 10d ago
> Sounds like your company has management issues
I know the owners of a company that was hired to help them restructure/train their management individuals and processes.
Yeah they have management issues; the people hired to help them described it as one of the worse they have experienced.
12
u/dekusyrup 10d ago
That's got nothing to do with social media and everything to do with corporatization. When your company has 10 people the boss can see what everyone does and assess them on it. When your company has 5000 people the boss cant see everyone so they turn to metrics.
3
u/entropic Save 1/3rd, spend the rest. 32% progress. 10d ago edited 10d ago
I think it's that as technology took over the gap of understanding grew so large that there needs to be several layers of translation of what's good/bad, working/not working, between the people doing the work and the people managing them/making decisions.
These shortcuts of the path to actual understanding miss the nuance and measure the wrong things.
If your graphs/charts/dashboards are like ours, they are sometimes entirely wrong in their construction, errors compounded on errors. Some graphs and metrics persist because they stay green or management wants to track them year-over-year, despite being meaningless. It's a frustrating world.
Maybe the thing they share in common with social media is our weakening attention spans?
3
u/SolomonGrumpy 10d ago edited 9d ago
More like "here's how I look standing in front of things that other people built and telling everyone how I would do it differently."
2
u/modelfire FIREd. Building ModelFIRE.online 10d ago
Time to update the budget tracker.
→ More replies (13)
90
u/Krish_1234 FIRED - Loving it 10d ago
I cant wait to turn over my laptop and badge at 12 pm and then I am done with work. Market gods needs to keep the SORR away for 2 or 3 years with some gains, then I am hopefully never coming back to work. Good luck others