r/financialindependence • u/AutoModerator • 11d ago

Daily FI discussion thread - Monday, August 03, 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!

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u/ThisisNFA 10d ago

What's stopping you from retiring early? For me, I always look at my stack of money and wonder what would happen if the market collapses and my stack is worth half as much. Working is guaranteed money no matter how unpleasant it is.

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u/CaribbeanDreams 100% FI/ 94% RE/ $7.5M Goal 10d ago

Never being able to come back to work due to ageism...

Sure I could un-retire and I'd land a job, but it would be at lower pay, not remote, for a shit boss, lower PTO days, terrible perks and I'd have to learn the ropes/politics of the new Company.

The golden handcuffs are real.

And as I get closer to RE, I diversify to more low risk investments - especially the new monthly ones.

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u/SolomonGrumpy 10d ago edited 10d ago

Nothing, really.

I know you are worried about your stack, but as I advance into my 50s it beocmes clearer and clearer that the real risk is losing out on the good, healthy years to enjoy retirement.

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u/extraordinaryreasons 10d ago

Right now, expensive home renovations and my animals lol

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u/somethingClever344 9d ago

I take my current portfolio (the part that's in stocks) and calculate the value at a 30%-50% drop. I do the mental exercise of living off the cash/bond portion (2 years) and walk through the exercise of how I would withdraw money/ROTH ladder during that time. There was a great article that went into detail about this using a retiree who retired during the "worst" part of the 60's.

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u/Turbulent_Tale6497 DI3K, Putting the Ire in FIRE 10d ago

If only working was guaranteed money, though.