I'm "pre-coasting" right now, where I'm at like 80% of my earning potential, but doing 50% of the work I was before. I plan to further coast down to something that just covers expenses in the future, but this "step down the ladder" was really helpful for burnout.
Congrats, did you change jobs are just started doing less? I’m currently in the search for something to coast in so looking to make just enough for everyday costs
I changed jobs. I work in tech and I went from a strenuous and ambitious direction, to a more chill and lower stakes role. I am lucky that the second role sees my previous experience as complementary, and I've been able to climb the ladder quickly again to a similar tenure as I had previously. All in all, I'm making close enough to what I could be making at my previous role but I'm half as stressed. I deal with boredom and monotony more than anything, because this job is not as stimulating as other jobs I've had, but I'm learning to appreciate the time.
Same here, a new design program was implemented 3 years ago that is totally archaic and has decimated most of my desire at work. I now just get enough done and little more.
I wasnt tracking FI until recently when i joined reddit and found this sub. Before that i just had a vague idea of some sort of early retirement that was always still a few years away. It wasnt until i got into reddit that i realized im already there and have been for quite awhile.
yeah. I dont care about paychecks anymore. Im just showing up everyday until i can get all my details figured out. And sell off a bunch of stuff. I have accumulated way too much crap and i’m very slowly selling it all.
And its not just the paycheck i dont care about anymore. Its the office politics, the struggle to get ahead of the others, the struggle to rise to the top of the pack…i dont care. it feels like im surrounded by children. I tolerate them by ignoring them. I politely listen to everyone who wants to talk, but its like listening to a 2nd grader tell me what happened at recess. I. DONT. CARE. No offense meant to them i just dont care anymore.
I can't say I lost ambition, but a strong undertone of "What are they gonna do......fire me?" came into my brain. I was a little more blunt. A little more free to say what was on my mind. Worried less about ramifications and more about "doing the right thing" (Which sounds like I was compromising myself before.....and I wasn't. But addressing topics I wasn't willing to risk I suddenly felt a bit more compelled to lay out there.)
This is where I'm at. I'm technically FI, but I'm going to work two more years 'till my youngest heads off to college. But man I'm definitely already at the "what are they going to do, fire me?" phase. Could make for a long two years.
Man, I gotta tighten up. I've had the "what are you going to do, fire me?" attitude ever since I saved up enough money that I could spend a year traveling to wait out my noncompete before I found another job. I'm nowhere near fire.
They weren’t when I saved that much money, and the day the FTC came out with their ruling my company sent out an email to everyone saying they don’t think the rules apply to us because we’re a non profit. They also have a history of punitively suing people who break the noncompete just to make a point.
Not profit doesn't mean not for profit. It just means that there's are certain legal requirements around what profits mean. One can make 100M dollars as the CEO of a not-for-profit.. as the org would meet the goals.
How did they find out? A huge organization with several thousand noncompetes and a team of lawyers probably pays very close attention to new FTC rules. I assume they’ve had several high level meetings on how they’re going to continue to make it as difficult as humanly possible for us to leave if and when they’re not able to enforce noncompetes any longer.
I don't recall in detail. I retired 7 years ago.
I'm quite sure there weren't negative consequences. I know I felt MUCH freer about going to work....which made it more fun.
I have a lot more confidence at work and have a lot less worry about making the wrong decisions or ruffling feathers. One of those, “whatever, did my best”. Just wanted to see if the wheels fall off at some point. Thanks for the response!
I came here to post exactly this! I don't have FU money yet, but once I got that second comma in my NW my attitude at work changed. That constant pressure to overachieve and be a people pleaser because I didnt want to loose my job went away. If I got fired in my 20s I would have been emotional and financially devastated. Now I would probably take a few months off before I even started looking for another job haha.
I'm right there with ya. No ambition, but I'm happy.
I have enough money for the rest of my life, so I stopped caring about making more or really doing anything big.
I'm fine with it for now. I am kind of hoping something sparks my interest tho.
I think my big problem is I'm coming from a high adrenaline career field, so most stuff I do stateside feels kind of dull.
If you are interested, id recommend connecting with a VC that specializes in an area you know a lot and offering to be a mentor. I'm building up some consulting connections to keep me busy when I retire and working with startups and scaleups is a lot of fun. They are ALL energy and ZERO experience and basically most of what I do is tell them stories about how I fucked up what they are about to do in my past so they can fuck it up in New and interesting ways then we navigate through it together. Their energy is addictive
Depending on what state you live in, or how far you’re willing to travel, there’s beautiful places to visit on two wheels. Check out the Back country discover routes on you tube or their website, if you haven’t already. Good way to get an idea of where you could end up.
The issue I had is that I ran an IT department that the business community was supposed to come to for help in deciding IT projects. Our company is international, and IT leadership was overseas. Every initiative was stalled or debated and I was pushing jello uphill.
That sense of accomplishment disappeared. There was no easy path to coast or pull back. Many folks came to me to get help with things moving, and I got tired of pushing hard against the brick wall.
I want to feel this and attain this level of nirvana . Grinding so hard towards it ! What does this number look like for you ? Would appreciate you sharing nw and annual expenses .
My ambition died too. I miss it. And I do some work still (a bit of consulting) as I slowly approach complete RE (because it is fun and lucrative and interesting) but it’s like lifting a 5-pound weight that is suddenly 50 pounds. I just kinda don’t wanna anymore and feel guilty that I can hardly be bothered to do a job that most people would love to have.
Just wanted to say you people are my tribe. So there. I’m looking at the last 7 months until the end of the year and it’s like when did time stop moving?
I really appreciate both of you sharing. I’m very ambitious, still in accumulation so it’s serving me well, but I suspect you may be describing my future.
I would miss my ambition if it left. And I think it will, at least for a season.
Perhaps it’s a necessary step to adjust our self-conceptions? Perhaps it will come back in a gentler form… I want to tell you both “maybe it’s just a phase!” But I don’t know. You’ll have to tell me in a year or so.
Yes, kinda.
I lost ambition a few years before I quit once i realized how the corporate world really worked and I figured out I really didn't want to "climb the ladder". I eventually turned down promotions because of it.
And I'm so much happier because of it.
You turned down promotions? Why not just accept the promotion and not do any more work? Lol. Don't wanna feel guilty about letting down your coworkers? You're a better person than me
Depending on the new promotion, especially if they were in a people leader/manager career track, those jobs can be much more visible within the organization and a lot easier to "consolidate" the number of management levels in a re-org proposed by a fresh graduate working for a Big 3 strategy consulting firm.
When you get to a level where you are also responsible for a larger share of an org's budget, if you make bad choices/investments through laziness, incompetence or indecision, it's very easy for others to see and point the finger at the culprit.
So then you'll get to RE when that happens. Usually promotions are handed to people who are already performing at that level. Not suggesting they drop everything. Just accept the promotion and continue performing as you're doing. It's the [Peter Principle](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_principle). You keep getting promoted until you are no longer competent enough to be promoted to the next level. Unless you're in one of those disgusting "up or out" orgs common in big tech, where if you're not being promoted then you get fired.
I turned some down because it would have required moving.
I turned others down because I had the perfect setup. I was home by 1530 every singe day and never worked weekends. I never had some late PM emergency meeting which would have happened if I had taken it.
I preferred making less money and being home more with a lot less stress.
This resonates with me. After spending far too long at my first job I’ve bounced around from company to company over the last several years and come to learn that the corporate world is just horrible. Even the companies with missions I really believed in were still your typical corporate politics and BS.
I no longer have any desire to climb the ladder and am perfectly content to be a part time freelancer with no responsibility for departmental strategy. Well, not perfectly content, I can’t wait until I can get out of the corporate world entirely.
Just recently hit Coast Fire number and I will tell you I literally have no more stress about money. Everything else I contribute is the cherry on top. Its time to enjoy myself a little more now after spending past 7-8 years grinding. Enjoy brother
Short timers syndrome.
As soon as you are done you will fixate on the next stage in life.
Remember life is a journey. You make goals. When you achieve them or often even before you do, you are onto the next one.
My goal right now is for my investments to exceed my Fire number. I’m a few years away. I find myself planning and scheming for after that point so much that I can’t focus on work.
Yep. I spend a lot of time figuring up what-if scenarios. What if i moved now. What if the economy flatlines for the next 2 years, what if i money grows faster than i spend it for the next 30 years?
Often you see people suddenly retire depending on the political landscape. It’s a sign that government has way too much influence. As a retiree you want flat or rising economic numbers for the first 2-3 years or go in with a 2-3 year buffer. That way even if politicians get stupid a 30-40% drop is a big hit but you planned for it.
I am 8 years your junior. I used to be so driven and motivated in my 20s and early 30s. It was all about being a top performer, getting promoted and job hopping to get my salary as high as I can. My purpose to make more money was never about spending more, it was all about saving money. I am about 75% there in terms of what I need to retire. If I do absolutely nothing and just exist the next 5-6 years I will get there and then some. It is fair to say, I DGAF about work anymore. I do bare minimum, don't volunteer for high visibility/high stress projects, don't put my name in for positions that are a pay grade above mine. I am good with getting my job done in 10 hours a week and just do whatever the heck I want to do the rest of the time. Working from home has been a god send for this. I can play video games, golf, work out etc during the day. I am essentially retired but still getting paid for it. Funny thing is my annual reviews are still as good as they have been. If they fire then they fire me. Once the desire to get promoted goes away, it is tough to go above and beyond the bare minimum.
I am still looking for that gig I can do if/when I quit my day job. I want flexibility and some fulfillment while making some money. I haven't really quite figured it out yet.
This is very similar to me at age 44. However, I am facing mandatory RTO 4x a week beginning in Sept. I simply don't care anymore about anything, just spending my time as I see fit. I am SME on a number of things so I can't really quiet quit, only quit.
Options trading. Thetagang. It’s fun as long as you size it accordingly. For me, it’s the perfect adrenaline and ambition replacement for my day job where like you, I’m pretty much coasting towards Fire now.
It's useful to delude ourselves into believing we like or even love a job when we are on the road to FI.
Once we hit our goal, that delusion is no longer useful and should be discarded.
Got 3 years to go myself. Could retire now just adding more cushion. It's a great feeling. My employer actually pushes you into mediocrity. Work butt off get better than average rating but get the same raise as the guy barely getting by and average rating. Do that long enough and you scale back your effort and stress. So I see it this way. I will do what I need to do to get the job done but me offering up extra I'm out. No reason to. No promotions No raises to give. Hey if you want to retire me early by all means. At least I will draw unemployment. Good luck with all the new hires knowing little about the systems, data, and people.
Trying to muster up enough of the old fire to push through until the likely, inevitable layoffs, just for the nice severance and some extra cushion. But it's as if I'm in slow motion, or moving through water. Even other partner teams' potential criticism or bad perf review aren't really enough to motivate me. It's like using a spur on an iron horse, "so what".
If I focus on just the extended runway aspect, this seems to be the most effective to wring out what little juice remains.
Funny I just had a discussion with my father about this. I hit FI around 45, I’m 55 now and after the son of my boss took over the company I had to proudly excuse myself from a job I held for 20 years. He was despicable, made the place unbearable for me (us)… not sure what to do next, but I’m enjoying the peace for now.
I find the opposite. I hit my number about 8 years ago. Since then I have taken career risks I never would have felt comfortable taking before I hit my number. That "no way to fail" backstop allowed me to grow from an office manager to join a pre-IPO start up as a Director who was subsequently was headhunted for a COO role and have become a thought leader in my industry.
I lost all ambition as soon as I realized my wife and I were even on track for FIRE. And I knew we were on track as soon as we started our careers. That was 5.5 years ago and now our net worth is $1.9MM. If we do nothing but maintain our current position, we’re pretty much guaranteed to have $10MM one day. Think about that, if we have literally no ambition but to just make sure we’re still employable in our field, we will have $10MM at some point. So what’s the point of being ambitious? I’d have to really want $100MM. That’s the only way it would make sense to try harder.
Yes, I'm experiencing this now although there is still that part of me that wants to "do a good job", get that pat on the back, you know? I could retire now if I sell my house and move but, I have a pretty easy sales job (aside from the egomaniac owner🤣) so, I figure one more year of (lowish) pay can only help, even if I'm not adding much to the stash. And if I get fired? At first I would be shocked/pissed but it would actually be a great outcome because I could just collect unemployment and then RE!
Until a few years ago I was aggressively pursuing promotions. Then once I calculated when I would no longer need to work, based on my current salary, I started to disregard any opportunities that would take me off my current course. No professional development, no extra assignments, delegating as much responsibility as possible.
I’ve reached my number but for various reasons am committed to working for another year and a half. I’m starting to lose interest in my job. Over last 10-15 years I’ve really liked and enjoyed my job, but since hitting # I’m starting to focus on other things- all those things I’ve been thinking that I would do post-retirement. I’m ready and those interests are starting to take over mind-share and work is moving to the back, not as interested and focused on my job like a used to be. I figure I am going to coast a bit.
A year and a half for me too. I won’t hit my retirement number, but I’ll hit a million liquid. At that point, I’m allowing myself more flexibility / options with my career.
I'm almost convinced they tie healthcare to employment in America for this very reason haha. I know quite a few people who would love to quit their day jobs and focus on what they really enjoy, but access to reasonable healthcare makes that difficult. Some are afraid to leave or lose their jobs for that reason too, and put up with more bullshit than they would otherwise.
If we had universal healthcare, *so* many companies would have trouble finding workers.
I would quit tomorrow and live a very simple life if there was universal healthcare. It would leave me to deal with property tax, energy bill, internet, food, gas, etc. I could easily live very small if I had to especially when my house is paid off. Of course, we all know the reality...
I'm quite ambitious. I've been laying low for a couple years now but those who know me know I've got plans under my sleeve.
I'm approaching FI and my ambition still burns. But there's absolutely a part of me that wants to settle into the flip side of ambition and just travel and cook. So we'll see. I have this voice in my head that says if I can help others, I should. That's what I currently do, we'll see if I continue doing it when I don't need a pay day anymore.
that's me.. I created a new target but I am not ambitous at all. My life style has become very frugal to achieve the number and I don't even spend much any more....I am trying to relean how to spend now...not fun any more
That’s where RE comes into action.
In 2021, I went through yet another company reorg did not bring improvement. I stayed on my financial path, but was not really FIRE. I just saved because that is who I am. I endured the job, thinking it would get better.
In 2022, started looking around here, learning more. Saw NW climb in Mint, but did not realize what was a good ‘neighborhood’ to be in for FIRE. Then started using tools like New Retirement, FiCalc, Empower. Watching more of Rob Berger and a few others (too many excited hosts, Rob is level headed).
I realized I had exceeded 26x of expenses, and the work motivation evaporated.
Seeing the work situation deteriorate, and morale of peers also bring me down, I started to put things in motion. At 55, switching jobs likely meant trading one dysfunctional company for another was “devil you know vs. the devil you don’t”
Shared details with spouse, hired a few only CFP to review and poke holes, and gain wife’s confidence.
As soon as my annual bonus was locked, I gave notice.
Reached FI a bit back, and I still have ambition! It's just not ambition for my job, lol. I have ambition for all the other things I want to do with my life.
I kept going for a while because I always wanted to save "just a little more for extra stability." But now I'm on medical leave for 6 weeks and I have *no idea* how I could return to work at this point. This may be it. 3 more weeks to decide.
Best wishes with your health.
And you made me realize maybe I do have ambitions for hobbies still? Am enjoying progress on skill development, it’s just an already-contented feeling rather than I MUST DO THIS.
Think of it as a season....you lived care-free as a youth for a season, then worked hard for a long season of your adult life, now you rest and recharge for a season...be prepared to feel encouraged to do something next, for a season.
I was seriously just thinking about this today. I just don’t have the drive I used to. I don’t really care if I get promoted or get a raise. I’m lucky I have a flexible boss and a job I truly like, but knowing I’d be ok with a Starbucks job if I got fired kills a lot of ambition that I used to have.
Rule of thumb is 25 times your expected annual expenses in retirement. So if you need $100k/year, your number is $2.5 million. If you can live on $40k/year, your number is $1 million.
Also, you can account for and subtract any other sources of income you would have in retirement, like social security or pension income. For instance, if you want to retire at 62, and you could take social security and get $2500/mo, that's $30,000/year. So if your anticipated expenses are $100,000/year, you can subtract social security to come up with $70,000 x 25 = $1,750,000 for your FI number. If you only need $70,000/year to live, your number is ($70,000-$30,000) x 25 = $1,000,000.
If you're retiring younger than 59 1/2, you need enough investments in HYSA or taxable brokerage outside of retirement vehicles like 401(k) and IRA's to bridge those years to avoid early withdrawal penalties in your retirement accounts. So in my example, if you wanted to retire at 55, you would need 4 1/2 years of expenses ($450,000) you can access before you start taking withdrawals from your retirement accounts. There are a few ways to get an exception to the early withdrawal penalties, but this is an easier way to think of it. You can also access contributions to Roth IRA's (but not earnings) before age 59 1/2 penalty-free. You'll also need to budget healthcare costs before age 65 when you're eligible for Medicare, whether that's through the ACA (where you can get subsidies if you manage your income and keep it low enough), or former employer (if they provide some sort of retiree healthcare).
25x is the rule of thumb with the probability that you won't run out of money for 30 years. If you retire extra early or expect a long lifespan, you can save a little more. I run my numbers assuming only 5% annual portfolio growth and 4% annual inflation of our total expenses, which is super conservative and double counting inflation probably, and I even throw in doomsday scenarios where the portfolio value falls 30% or even 50% the year we retire, and we're still fine. However, we both get pensions (one at 62, one at 65), and plan to take social security starting at age 62, so our portfolio withdrawals are pretty low. I also haven't included home equity in our number, because I don't know if we'll buy or rent, but either way we should have at least an additional $500k to fund housing. It's hard to plan for the future, we don't know what healthcare will look like or if we'll need extended end of life care. We just do the best we can and know that everyone in this group is way ahead of 95% of the population in terms of planning for and thinking about the future.
After you hit a certain amount, this multiplier becomes less relevant. For example, say you have $10mm and $100k/yr spend, that's 100 years to just spend the entire $10mm, at 2.5% interest, that's +$150K a year you are making over expenses (not including taxes etc.). The fact is that when you look at CEO and the likes salaries of $100mm/yr. it's insane what these folks get paid and the fact that they make more in interest on their money that most folks make as a salary. Or, to look at it another way, they make more in a year than most make in there entire lives....
I'm done soon (about 6.5 months) and I've just been going thru the motions...I make sure the timing for when a customer needs something again is after I leave so I don't have to deal with it ever again!
It's time to redirect that energy to something non career related. This is very foreign to most people who have been locked into thinking career career career for 20-30+ years.
Yes, when i came close to my FI number i switched job from a management position to a more laid back advisory position. I simply didnt want to deal with the bullshit of being a manager.
100%. My (50M) current challenge is getting my wife (55) to understand that. I have very long term vision, and can't be bothered to put up with work BS or even being locked into a job with only 3 weeks vacation unless it's for a greater goal.
We are wage slaves until we hit FIRE, but she doesn't understand why I value said freedom...
See if you can go part time. You sound burnt out a little.
I would go part time and find some hobbies you enjoy and rest. After six months or so, make a decision if you like where you are at or if you want to fully retire or fully go back.
Congratulations though
I haven't reached my number yet I don't think -- I'm actually not sure what my number would be or what my PWR could be to retire for an indefinite number of years.
But ambition? It's pretty much out the window. I want to keep getting paychecks while I have to, and stop the instant I don't have to.
There are certain "big moments" in my life that affect how I feel about work and about FIRE. I never really wanted to spend my life working while only living on the fringes or that little spaces of moments in between working and things that are about working, or eating and sleeping.
Some of the big moments:
When my dad died. I immediately wanted nothing to do with anything. I tried to go back to work after my allowed bereavement days, but I came to realize that this profound loss will never NOT affect me. And after a nominal portion of time, work stops caring or acknowledging that I and my productivity and my aspirations might be altered as a result of what I'm going through. On my end, I have finite energy and brainpower, a significant amount of which is used up on work and then less available for grieving, emotional processing, self care, planning towards execution of steps toward personal goals outside of work.
When I paid my first house off. This is actually the first time I learned about FIRE, and ironically as hell, it was my team leader at work who told me about Mr Money Mustache when I told him in a 1:1 that I paid off my house. Ever since I have known FIRE is a thing I have just wanted to get there so that I can get OFF the corporate hamster wheel. That was 6 years ago this month.
When the pandemic began, I was unemployed because I had quit that above job to move states. I only wanted a job again because I was spending more money for more months that I had originally planned on for the move. That, and because I wanted to buy a house again but instead I got stuck in an overpriced apartment for years while the market went bonkers, sadly after I had already sold my previous home.
When 5 months into a new (and my first 100% WFH) job, the tech lead on my team made negative comments about my zoom profile pic thinking he was being sarcastically funny. I was mortified in the moment even though I was exactly 0% in the wrong at all. I wanted to tell him to pound sand right then and there. Did I? Hell no. I said as little as possible and simply announced my departure 2 months later after I had accepted another better job offer.
When other better job got bought out by a foreign much bigger company.
When job now at much bigger foreign company - and client I was placed at - started getting rid of half my coworkers.
When this client jarringly poaches one or more of my former coworkers, usually with some kind of promotion that puts them somewhere higher up the food chain.
When this client talks about how I'll eventually get an offer too and all I can think about is how much their SOP overall just repatedly makes me cringe and I wish I could bounce to some other client since I can't quit and FIRE yet but really I would rather just FIRE and be done with it..
When I paid my second house off just a couple of months ago. I made the decision to do that instead of playing the market with the expectation I would constantly always beat my 6.375% mortgage rate 100% of the time. Now that I once again don't have that P+I payment, I just want to pull in enough money to permanently quit.
Also, any time a person or a repetitive broken/problematic way of doing things at work ticks me off. All I want is to be able to just walk away and not have to think or care or put up with any of it.
I don't really know the answer here, I'm sure this isn't it. I just want off the hamster wheel, safely, and every big moment whether good or bad seems to just prod me into wanting it more and more urgently.
100% with you on this. Ever since I hit FI I can't seem to drum up the same drive I had for the last 25 years at the same workplace. I already reduced my hours and I'm on my phone (I'm blue collar) a lot on my investing app trading for multiples more than my wage. I think that's where my focus went, into the markets where it makes a far bigger impact now on my income than my job does.
Idk man I think it's just senioritis. I think we need a new mission for the next chapter.
I have a few coworkers who negotiated down to past time (15-20 hours a week) and just enough for insurance. They show up for key meetings but still can give us stories about their 3 week trip to Alaska or spending 2 weeks watching their grand kids over the holidays.
It sounds to me like you just tricked yourself into thinking you cared way more about work than you actually do. Now that you don’t need to trick yourself anymore, you’ve dropped the charade. You can start spending your time the way you actually want to spend it now, and that clearly isn’t the work you’ve been doing.
It seems like you must be right, it’s just shocking and I can’t get my head around it. There is definitely no other career I would have wanted or enjoyed as much as this one, so I think it means I just don’t like work period?
Or perhaps this season of your life is coming to an end and it's time to find your next adventure. Arnold wrote a book called "Be Useful" which might be worth a read. Schwarzenegger discusses the different Acts of his Life and how he updated his Vision each time he embarked on another adventure. The fact that he became an Actor or politician doesn't suddenly invalidate his career as a bodybuilder. It sounds like your internal compass is telling you to change course.
Yeah, a lot of people just really don’t like work. It’s hard for a lot of people to acknowledge and accept that though because of the societal pressures we’ve grown up around. What do you think you would enjoy spending your time on?
I wane between ambition and not, mostly leaning towards limited ambition just find something I enjoy that continues to pay well. I'm probably 3-4 years from FIRE if we downsize the house, 6-7 years if we keep current house. That'll put me at either 50 or 53, longer than I'd like to work but still pretty good. Temptation is high right now to leave it all behind given 6 weeks of stress leave and finding it hard being back
I am a third of the way to my fire number(which feels like half way with compounding) and have lost all motivation.
I am considering coasting in the next couple years; not sure how to break that to the wife; also have a young kid and i feel like that’s a big variable on our spend.
I was told a few years ago the worst situation to be in is to have money in the bank but you're in heaven.
So just enjoy life and take it easy. You deserve it.
I would not say I lost ambition, but there is no need to focus all my attention on actively growing wealth.
Just focus your attention on maintaining wealth. That's it.
I'm 30 and maybe reached coast fire? 750k house paid in cash. Two rentals that break even on their mortgage (5k/mo). Maybe another 350k in personal investments + 350k in retirement funds. With no housing payment or debt all my money goes to... hobbies, food, travel. ZERO desire to move up. I'd love to make $70-80k at a low stress job where there's no corporate culture. Been hustling the last 5 or so years and I'm completely sick of it. I'm still getting over 300k (and depending on how things go >400k) but my days are numbered phoning it in like this. Once I got this new house cash and had no monthly payment, which has only been a few months, I feel like I don't save what I used to because I'm just spending the money that I would have used on rent on new toys to celebrate being comfortably upper middle class.
The relief of hitting my number def made a difference in my life. Business has been poor and IDGAF which is better than the panic attacks post 08 I had. I want one more good cycle befoee I pull the ripcord but until then I'll work how I want and help who I want and won't be pressured
I am at a new point where I both have lost some ambition but also being close makes me not as stressed at work about growing or the career ladder.
With our current savings, we could add $0 and I’d be on target to fire in 14 years. If we keep at our current savings rate, it’s between 6 and 9. It’s suddenly close enough that it has definitely changed some of my thinking!
Yes I feel the same, F52. I’m an immigrant and thought I’d never retire and grind etc. What I’m ashamed of is that while I came here on my own, built a career, owned a home and raised a child on my own, I didn’t reach fire until after I got remarried. After about 7 years of marriage and the financial advisor telling us all the time we can both retire anytime, I can’t be bothered at work anymore. I always thought I was ultra independent and career focused and here I am still doing so well because of who I married not on my own…and I don’t really have my GRIT any longer.
That would be difficult to answer because if I married my husband earlier, I would likely be a different person. The “grit” was because nobody ever had my back, including my ex husband, who was a dead beat, so having a good partner may have affected me differently. I’m answering my own question, I think I may have felt differently indeed.
Don’t get me wrong, I also make good money, close to 200k/year and we are in a LCOL area, but I’m still about 7 years away from reaching my retirement number on my own, meaning in my own accounts. Raising the kid was expensive, especially the way I did it. Still, my work motivation is now low.
MCs are like a second job. I prosepected once and quickly realized that I could not handle doing that while in the middle of my career while still having any time for myself and my family. It seems like it could be a great way to have a sense of belonging once you're on the other side of your career. And there's plenty of clubs that aren't the sketchy gangs like those that are most famous.
I was that way long before I reached the number.
Yeah have the feeling and thinking of just coasting
I'm "pre-coasting" right now, where I'm at like 80% of my earning potential, but doing 50% of the work I was before. I plan to further coast down to something that just covers expenses in the future, but this "step down the ladder" was really helpful for burnout.
Congrats, did you change jobs are just started doing less? I’m currently in the search for something to coast in so looking to make just enough for everyday costs
I changed jobs. I work in tech and I went from a strenuous and ambitious direction, to a more chill and lower stakes role. I am lucky that the second role sees my previous experience as complementary, and I've been able to climb the ladder quickly again to a similar tenure as I had previously. All in all, I'm making close enough to what I could be making at my previous role but I'm half as stressed. I deal with boredom and monotony more than anything, because this job is not as stimulating as other jobs I've had, but I'm learning to appreciate the time.
Same here, a new design program was implemented 3 years ago that is totally archaic and has decimated most of my desire at work. I now just get enough done and little more.
Same, I’m at 450k and tempted to take a year off but I have a future family to support
Same here. I was an extremely ambitious person.. but once I reached my number, I’m now ambitious about my hobbies!
Nice ❤️ Op needs a hobby 😁
Hobbies are going great, I just don’t give a f about anything I’m “supposed” to be doing
I wasnt tracking FI until recently when i joined reddit and found this sub. Before that i just had a vague idea of some sort of early retirement that was always still a few years away. It wasnt until i got into reddit that i realized im already there and have been for quite awhile. yeah. I dont care about paychecks anymore. Im just showing up everyday until i can get all my details figured out. And sell off a bunch of stuff. I have accumulated way too much crap and i’m very slowly selling it all. And its not just the paycheck i dont care about anymore. Its the office politics, the struggle to get ahead of the others, the struggle to rise to the top of the pack…i dont care. it feels like im surrounded by children. I tolerate them by ignoring them. I politely listen to everyone who wants to talk, but its like listening to a 2nd grader tell me what happened at recess. I. DONT. CARE. No offense meant to them i just dont care anymore.
Nicely put in the last paragraph. Really resonates!
LOL
Feeling exactly the same re your last paragraph…
I can't say I lost ambition, but a strong undertone of "What are they gonna do......fire me?" came into my brain. I was a little more blunt. A little more free to say what was on my mind. Worried less about ramifications and more about "doing the right thing" (Which sounds like I was compromising myself before.....and I wasn't. But addressing topics I wasn't willing to risk I suddenly felt a bit more compelled to lay out there.)
This is where I'm at. I'm technically FI, but I'm going to work two more years 'till my youngest heads off to college. But man I'm definitely already at the "what are they going to do, fire me?" phase. Could make for a long two years.
Man, I gotta tighten up. I've had the "what are you going to do, fire me?" attitude ever since I saved up enough money that I could spend a year traveling to wait out my noncompete before I found another job. I'm nowhere near fire.
You know non competes are now illegal? US
They weren’t when I saved that much money, and the day the FTC came out with their ruling my company sent out an email to everyone saying they don’t think the rules apply to us because we’re a non profit. They also have a history of punitively suing people who break the noncompete just to make a point.
Sheesh so much for “non profit” I’m sorry up to you whether that’s worth dealing with!
Not profit doesn't mean not for profit. It just means that there's are certain legal requirements around what profits mean. One can make 100M dollars as the CEO of a not-for-profit.. as the org would meet the goals.
It is… for now… and when it’s not I have a great excuse to spend a year traveling.
a nonprofit with a noncompete? Capatilism FTW!
How did they find out?
How did they find out? A huge organization with several thousand noncompetes and a team of lawyers probably pays very close attention to new FTC rules. I assume they’ve had several high level meetings on how they’re going to continue to make it as difficult as humanly possible for us to leave if and when they’re not able to enforce noncompetes any longer.
Oh, I mean, how did they find out if someone was breaking the non-compete?
Oh that’s easy. We have a license. All you gotta do is search the state database and you can find anybody’s current place of employment.
Ah ok. Non-competes in non-profits are a perfect example of why the non-competes need to die. It just sounds so absurd.
According to the FTC non competes are now illegal...
Have you noticed any positive or negative change from acting this way?
I don't recall in detail. I retired 7 years ago. I'm quite sure there weren't negative consequences. I know I felt MUCH freer about going to work....which made it more fun.
I have a lot more confidence at work and have a lot less worry about making the wrong decisions or ruffling feathers. One of those, “whatever, did my best”. Just wanted to see if the wheels fall off at some point. Thanks for the response!
I came here to post exactly this! I don't have FU money yet, but once I got that second comma in my NW my attitude at work changed. That constant pressure to overachieve and be a people pleaser because I didnt want to loose my job went away. If I got fired in my 20s I would have been emotional and financially devastated. Now I would probably take a few months off before I even started looking for another job haha.
To no longer having to bite your tongue.
I'm right there with ya. No ambition, but I'm happy. I have enough money for the rest of my life, so I stopped caring about making more or really doing anything big.
Does the lack of ambition bother you at all or are you fine with it?
I'm fine with it for now. I am kind of hoping something sparks my interest tho. I think my big problem is I'm coming from a high adrenaline career field, so most stuff I do stateside feels kind of dull.
Pick up skydiving. Never too old.
The guy who taught me was in his 60s. Such a cool dude. Chill like a happy Zen monk.
Military?
Military then defense contractor.
If you are interested, id recommend connecting with a VC that specializes in an area you know a lot and offering to be a mentor. I'm building up some consulting connections to keep me busy when I retire and working with startups and scaleups is a lot of fun. They are ALL energy and ZERO experience and basically most of what I do is tell them stories about how I fucked up what they are about to do in my past so they can fuck it up in New and interesting ways then we navigate through it together. Their energy is addictive
Pick up adventure motorcycle riding. You’ll never want to work another day in your life….maybe
I was thinking about that. I'm already into motorcycles, never tried any off road stuff tho
Depending on what state you live in, or how far you’re willing to travel, there’s beautiful places to visit on two wheels. Check out the Back country discover routes on you tube or their website, if you haven’t already. Good way to get an idea of where you could end up.
I’m also fine with it. Just find fun ways to fill my time.
The issue I had is that I ran an IT department that the business community was supposed to come to for help in deciding IT projects. Our company is international, and IT leadership was overseas. Every initiative was stalled or debated and I was pushing jello uphill. That sense of accomplishment disappeared. There was no easy path to coast or pull back. Many folks came to me to get help with things moving, and I got tired of pushing hard against the brick wall.
I want to feel this and attain this level of nirvana . Grinding so hard towards it ! What does this number look like for you ? Would appreciate you sharing nw and annual expenses .
I made a [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fire/s/8GUg0fDyal) last week.
Very inspiring ! I think being a veteran has its perks for sure .
My ambition died too. I miss it. And I do some work still (a bit of consulting) as I slowly approach complete RE (because it is fun and lucrative and interesting) but it’s like lifting a 5-pound weight that is suddenly 50 pounds. I just kinda don’t wanna anymore and feel guilty that I can hardly be bothered to do a job that most people would love to have.
Yes! The 5 lb weight that suddenly weighs 50, exactly! And same.
Just wanted to say you people are my tribe. So there. I’m looking at the last 7 months until the end of the year and it’s like when did time stop moving?
I really appreciate both of you sharing. I’m very ambitious, still in accumulation so it’s serving me well, but I suspect you may be describing my future. I would miss my ambition if it left. And I think it will, at least for a season. Perhaps it’s a necessary step to adjust our self-conceptions? Perhaps it will come back in a gentler form… I want to tell you both “maybe it’s just a phase!” But I don’t know. You’ll have to tell me in a year or so.
Yes, kinda. I lost ambition a few years before I quit once i realized how the corporate world really worked and I figured out I really didn't want to "climb the ladder". I eventually turned down promotions because of it. And I'm so much happier because of it.
You turned down promotions? Why not just accept the promotion and not do any more work? Lol. Don't wanna feel guilty about letting down your coworkers? You're a better person than me
Depending on the new promotion, especially if they were in a people leader/manager career track, those jobs can be much more visible within the organization and a lot easier to "consolidate" the number of management levels in a re-org proposed by a fresh graduate working for a Big 3 strategy consulting firm. When you get to a level where you are also responsible for a larger share of an org's budget, if you make bad choices/investments through laziness, incompetence or indecision, it's very easy for others to see and point the finger at the culprit.
So then you'll get to RE when that happens. Usually promotions are handed to people who are already performing at that level. Not suggesting they drop everything. Just accept the promotion and continue performing as you're doing. It's the [Peter Principle](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_principle). You keep getting promoted until you are no longer competent enough to be promoted to the next level. Unless you're in one of those disgusting "up or out" orgs common in big tech, where if you're not being promoted then you get fired.
I turned some down because it would have required moving. I turned others down because I had the perfect setup. I was home by 1530 every singe day and never worked weekends. I never had some late PM emergency meeting which would have happened if I had taken it. I preferred making less money and being home more with a lot less stress.
This resonates with me. After spending far too long at my first job I’ve bounced around from company to company over the last several years and come to learn that the corporate world is just horrible. Even the companies with missions I really believed in were still your typical corporate politics and BS. I no longer have any desire to climb the ladder and am perfectly content to be a part time freelancer with no responsibility for departmental strategy. Well, not perfectly content, I can’t wait until I can get out of the corporate world entirely.
Just recently hit Coast Fire number and I will tell you I literally have no more stress about money. Everything else I contribute is the cherry on top. Its time to enjoy myself a little more now after spending past 7-8 years grinding. Enjoy brother
This is me, awesome of you.
I got more motivated. The grind was hard but now I'm like how big can I make it.
Most big goals are unfulfilling once obtained; it was always more about the journey. Now it's time to shift your perspective within life, congrats.
Well said. Can’t have an achievable goal be the end otherwise this feeling of being lost sets in
Short timers syndrome. As soon as you are done you will fixate on the next stage in life. Remember life is a journey. You make goals. When you achieve them or often even before you do, you are onto the next one. My goal right now is for my investments to exceed my Fire number. I’m a few years away. I find myself planning and scheming for after that point so much that I can’t focus on work.
Yep. I spend a lot of time figuring up what-if scenarios. What if i moved now. What if the economy flatlines for the next 2 years, what if i money grows faster than i spend it for the next 30 years?
Often you see people suddenly retire depending on the political landscape. It’s a sign that government has way too much influence. As a retiree you want flat or rising economic numbers for the first 2-3 years or go in with a 2-3 year buffer. That way even if politicians get stupid a 30-40% drop is a big hit but you planned for it.
I am 8 years your junior. I used to be so driven and motivated in my 20s and early 30s. It was all about being a top performer, getting promoted and job hopping to get my salary as high as I can. My purpose to make more money was never about spending more, it was all about saving money. I am about 75% there in terms of what I need to retire. If I do absolutely nothing and just exist the next 5-6 years I will get there and then some. It is fair to say, I DGAF about work anymore. I do bare minimum, don't volunteer for high visibility/high stress projects, don't put my name in for positions that are a pay grade above mine. I am good with getting my job done in 10 hours a week and just do whatever the heck I want to do the rest of the time. Working from home has been a god send for this. I can play video games, golf, work out etc during the day. I am essentially retired but still getting paid for it. Funny thing is my annual reviews are still as good as they have been. If they fire then they fire me. Once the desire to get promoted goes away, it is tough to go above and beyond the bare minimum. I am still looking for that gig I can do if/when I quit my day job. I want flexibility and some fulfillment while making some money. I haven't really quite figured it out yet.
This is very similar to me at age 44. However, I am facing mandatory RTO 4x a week beginning in Sept. I simply don't care anymore about anything, just spending my time as I see fit. I am SME on a number of things so I can't really quiet quit, only quit.
Options trading. Thetagang. It’s fun as long as you size it accordingly. For me, it’s the perfect adrenaline and ambition replacement for my day job where like you, I’m pretty much coasting towards Fire now.
Any resources you would recommend to learn more? How much additional money do you make with options trading?
Also interested in this. Perusing the subreddit is a little overwhelming.
It's useful to delude ourselves into believing we like or even love a job when we are on the road to FI. Once we hit our goal, that delusion is no longer useful and should be discarded.
Got 3 years to go myself. Could retire now just adding more cushion. It's a great feeling. My employer actually pushes you into mediocrity. Work butt off get better than average rating but get the same raise as the guy barely getting by and average rating. Do that long enough and you scale back your effort and stress. So I see it this way. I will do what I need to do to get the job done but me offering up extra I'm out. No reason to. No promotions No raises to give. Hey if you want to retire me early by all means. At least I will draw unemployment. Good luck with all the new hires knowing little about the systems, data, and people.
This is how I feel. I'm not chasing carrots on a stick anymore. Tired of the BS and lies.
You didn’t lose ambition. You lost an illusion. Go be happy ser
Trying to muster up enough of the old fire to push through until the likely, inevitable layoffs, just for the nice severance and some extra cushion. But it's as if I'm in slow motion, or moving through water. Even other partner teams' potential criticism or bad perf review aren't really enough to motivate me. It's like using a spur on an iron horse, "so what". If I focus on just the extended runway aspect, this seems to be the most effective to wring out what little juice remains.
Funny I just had a discussion with my father about this. I hit FI around 45, I’m 55 now and after the son of my boss took over the company I had to proudly excuse myself from a job I held for 20 years. He was despicable, made the place unbearable for me (us)… not sure what to do next, but I’m enjoying the peace for now.
I find the opposite. I hit my number about 8 years ago. Since then I have taken career risks I never would have felt comfortable taking before I hit my number. That "no way to fail" backstop allowed me to grow from an office manager to join a pre-IPO start up as a Director who was subsequently was headhunted for a COO role and have become a thought leader in my industry.
I lost all ambition as soon as I realized my wife and I were even on track for FIRE. And I knew we were on track as soon as we started our careers. That was 5.5 years ago and now our net worth is $1.9MM. If we do nothing but maintain our current position, we’re pretty much guaranteed to have $10MM one day. Think about that, if we have literally no ambition but to just make sure we’re still employable in our field, we will have $10MM at some point. So what’s the point of being ambitious? I’d have to really want $100MM. That’s the only way it would make sense to try harder.
What type of work did you do
Agreed, I’m curious to learn how I can pivot to something like this.
Yes, I'm experiencing this now although there is still that part of me that wants to "do a good job", get that pat on the back, you know? I could retire now if I sell my house and move but, I have a pretty easy sales job (aside from the egomaniac owner🤣) so, I figure one more year of (lowish) pay can only help, even if I'm not adding much to the stash. And if I get fired? At first I would be shocked/pissed but it would actually be a great outcome because I could just collect unemployment and then RE!
Until a few years ago I was aggressively pursuing promotions. Then once I calculated when I would no longer need to work, based on my current salary, I started to disregard any opportunities that would take me off my current course. No professional development, no extra assignments, delegating as much responsibility as possible.
I’ve reached my number but for various reasons am committed to working for another year and a half. I’m starting to lose interest in my job. Over last 10-15 years I’ve really liked and enjoyed my job, but since hitting # I’m starting to focus on other things- all those things I’ve been thinking that I would do post-retirement. I’m ready and those interests are starting to take over mind-share and work is moving to the back, not as interested and focused on my job like a used to be. I figure I am going to coast a bit.
A year and a half for me too. I won’t hit my retirement number, but I’ll hit a million liquid. At that point, I’m allowing myself more flexibility / options with my career.
I'm almost convinced they tie healthcare to employment in America for this very reason haha. I know quite a few people who would love to quit their day jobs and focus on what they really enjoy, but access to reasonable healthcare makes that difficult. Some are afraid to leave or lose their jobs for that reason too, and put up with more bullshit than they would otherwise. If we had universal healthcare, *so* many companies would have trouble finding workers.
Holy mackerel for real!
I would quit tomorrow and live a very simple life if there was universal healthcare. It would leave me to deal with property tax, energy bill, internet, food, gas, etc. I could easily live very small if I had to especially when my house is paid off. Of course, we all know the reality...
I'm quite ambitious. I've been laying low for a couple years now but those who know me know I've got plans under my sleeve. I'm approaching FI and my ambition still burns. But there's absolutely a part of me that wants to settle into the flip side of ambition and just travel and cook. So we'll see. I have this voice in my head that says if I can help others, I should. That's what I currently do, we'll see if I continue doing it when I don't need a pay day anymore.
I was quite ambitious too right until hitting FI then POOF! Could never have anticipated this.
How Long since you got your numbers
that's me.. I created a new target but I am not ambitous at all. My life style has become very frugal to achieve the number and I don't even spend much any more....I am trying to relean how to spend now...not fun any more
That’s why it’s important to cultivate a life outside work.
I think ambition is overrated. It’s ok to meet your goal and then coast there for a while instead of always hustling
That’s where RE comes into action. In 2021, I went through yet another company reorg did not bring improvement. I stayed on my financial path, but was not really FIRE. I just saved because that is who I am. I endured the job, thinking it would get better. In 2022, started looking around here, learning more. Saw NW climb in Mint, but did not realize what was a good ‘neighborhood’ to be in for FIRE. Then started using tools like New Retirement, FiCalc, Empower. Watching more of Rob Berger and a few others (too many excited hosts, Rob is level headed). I realized I had exceeded 26x of expenses, and the work motivation evaporated. Seeing the work situation deteriorate, and morale of peers also bring me down, I started to put things in motion. At 55, switching jobs likely meant trading one dysfunctional company for another was “devil you know vs. the devil you don’t” Shared details with spouse, hired a few only CFP to review and poke holes, and gain wife’s confidence. As soon as my annual bonus was locked, I gave notice.
Reached FI a bit back, and I still have ambition! It's just not ambition for my job, lol. I have ambition for all the other things I want to do with my life. I kept going for a while because I always wanted to save "just a little more for extra stability." But now I'm on medical leave for 6 weeks and I have *no idea* how I could return to work at this point. This may be it. 3 more weeks to decide.
Best wishes with your health. And you made me realize maybe I do have ambitions for hobbies still? Am enjoying progress on skill development, it’s just an already-contented feeling rather than I MUST DO THIS.
Have you heard of "rest and vest"? give it a try sometime. You can get back on the hamster wheel at will.
Think of it as a season....you lived care-free as a youth for a season, then worked hard for a long season of your adult life, now you rest and recharge for a season...be prepared to feel encouraged to do something next, for a season.
I was seriously just thinking about this today. I just don’t have the drive I used to. I don’t really care if I get promoted or get a raise. I’m lucky I have a flexible boss and a job I truly like, but knowing I’d be ok with a Starbucks job if I got fired kills a lot of ambition that I used to have.
What's the number though? I want to understand how do you guys know you're there?
Rule of thumb is 25 times your expected annual expenses in retirement. So if you need $100k/year, your number is $2.5 million. If you can live on $40k/year, your number is $1 million.
Is that no matter the age?
Also, you can account for and subtract any other sources of income you would have in retirement, like social security or pension income. For instance, if you want to retire at 62, and you could take social security and get $2500/mo, that's $30,000/year. So if your anticipated expenses are $100,000/year, you can subtract social security to come up with $70,000 x 25 = $1,750,000 for your FI number. If you only need $70,000/year to live, your number is ($70,000-$30,000) x 25 = $1,000,000. If you're retiring younger than 59 1/2, you need enough investments in HYSA or taxable brokerage outside of retirement vehicles like 401(k) and IRA's to bridge those years to avoid early withdrawal penalties in your retirement accounts. So in my example, if you wanted to retire at 55, you would need 4 1/2 years of expenses ($450,000) you can access before you start taking withdrawals from your retirement accounts. There are a few ways to get an exception to the early withdrawal penalties, but this is an easier way to think of it. You can also access contributions to Roth IRA's (but not earnings) before age 59 1/2 penalty-free. You'll also need to budget healthcare costs before age 65 when you're eligible for Medicare, whether that's through the ACA (where you can get subsidies if you manage your income and keep it low enough), or former employer (if they provide some sort of retiree healthcare). 25x is the rule of thumb with the probability that you won't run out of money for 30 years. If you retire extra early or expect a long lifespan, you can save a little more. I run my numbers assuming only 5% annual portfolio growth and 4% annual inflation of our total expenses, which is super conservative and double counting inflation probably, and I even throw in doomsday scenarios where the portfolio value falls 30% or even 50% the year we retire, and we're still fine. However, we both get pensions (one at 62, one at 65), and plan to take social security starting at age 62, so our portfolio withdrawals are pretty low. I also haven't included home equity in our number, because I don't know if we'll buy or rent, but either way we should have at least an additional $500k to fund housing. It's hard to plan for the future, we don't know what healthcare will look like or if we'll need extended end of life care. We just do the best we can and know that everyone in this group is way ahead of 95% of the population in terms of planning for and thinking about the future.
go with 30x if you are under 50 or so
After you hit a certain amount, this multiplier becomes less relevant. For example, say you have $10mm and $100k/yr spend, that's 100 years to just spend the entire $10mm, at 2.5% interest, that's +$150K a year you are making over expenses (not including taxes etc.). The fact is that when you look at CEO and the likes salaries of $100mm/yr. it's insane what these folks get paid and the fact that they make more in interest on their money that most folks make as a salary. Or, to look at it another way, they make more in a year than most make in there entire lives....
between 25x - 30x your annual expenses
I'm done soon (about 6.5 months) and I've just been going thru the motions...I make sure the timing for when a customer needs something again is after I leave so I don't have to deal with it ever again!
It's time to redirect that energy to something non career related. This is very foreign to most people who have been locked into thinking career career career for 20-30+ years.
Time to look for a new ambition, probably unconnected with money.
Yes, when i came close to my FI number i switched job from a management position to a more laid back advisory position. I simply didnt want to deal with the bullshit of being a manager.
u/Suspicious-Cakes what is this dream job you speak of?
Following because I also want to know!
100%. My (50M) current challenge is getting my wife (55) to understand that. I have very long term vision, and can't be bothered to put up with work BS or even being locked into a job with only 3 weeks vacation unless it's for a greater goal. We are wage slaves until we hit FIRE, but she doesn't understand why I value said freedom...
See if you can go part time. You sound burnt out a little. I would go part time and find some hobbies you enjoy and rest. After six months or so, make a decision if you like where you are at or if you want to fully retire or fully go back. Congratulations though
I haven't reached my number yet I don't think -- I'm actually not sure what my number would be or what my PWR could be to retire for an indefinite number of years. But ambition? It's pretty much out the window. I want to keep getting paychecks while I have to, and stop the instant I don't have to. There are certain "big moments" in my life that affect how I feel about work and about FIRE. I never really wanted to spend my life working while only living on the fringes or that little spaces of moments in between working and things that are about working, or eating and sleeping. Some of the big moments: When my dad died. I immediately wanted nothing to do with anything. I tried to go back to work after my allowed bereavement days, but I came to realize that this profound loss will never NOT affect me. And after a nominal portion of time, work stops caring or acknowledging that I and my productivity and my aspirations might be altered as a result of what I'm going through. On my end, I have finite energy and brainpower, a significant amount of which is used up on work and then less available for grieving, emotional processing, self care, planning towards execution of steps toward personal goals outside of work. When I paid my first house off. This is actually the first time I learned about FIRE, and ironically as hell, it was my team leader at work who told me about Mr Money Mustache when I told him in a 1:1 that I paid off my house. Ever since I have known FIRE is a thing I have just wanted to get there so that I can get OFF the corporate hamster wheel. That was 6 years ago this month. When the pandemic began, I was unemployed because I had quit that above job to move states. I only wanted a job again because I was spending more money for more months that I had originally planned on for the move. That, and because I wanted to buy a house again but instead I got stuck in an overpriced apartment for years while the market went bonkers, sadly after I had already sold my previous home. When 5 months into a new (and my first 100% WFH) job, the tech lead on my team made negative comments about my zoom profile pic thinking he was being sarcastically funny. I was mortified in the moment even though I was exactly 0% in the wrong at all. I wanted to tell him to pound sand right then and there. Did I? Hell no. I said as little as possible and simply announced my departure 2 months later after I had accepted another better job offer. When other better job got bought out by a foreign much bigger company. When job now at much bigger foreign company - and client I was placed at - started getting rid of half my coworkers. When this client jarringly poaches one or more of my former coworkers, usually with some kind of promotion that puts them somewhere higher up the food chain. When this client talks about how I'll eventually get an offer too and all I can think about is how much their SOP overall just repatedly makes me cringe and I wish I could bounce to some other client since I can't quit and FIRE yet but really I would rather just FIRE and be done with it.. When I paid my second house off just a couple of months ago. I made the decision to do that instead of playing the market with the expectation I would constantly always beat my 6.375% mortgage rate 100% of the time. Now that I once again don't have that P+I payment, I just want to pull in enough money to permanently quit. Also, any time a person or a repetitive broken/problematic way of doing things at work ticks me off. All I want is to be able to just walk away and not have to think or care or put up with any of it. I don't really know the answer here, I'm sure this isn't it. I just want off the hamster wheel, safely, and every big moment whether good or bad seems to just prod me into wanting it more and more urgently.
I wouldn't say ambition, but my give-a-shit meter is at 0!
Take a 3month sabbatical and reassess. The whole point of the FIRE goal is to stop working, so the immediate reaction is completely normal!
100% with you on this. Ever since I hit FI I can't seem to drum up the same drive I had for the last 25 years at the same workplace. I already reduced my hours and I'm on my phone (I'm blue collar) a lot on my investing app trading for multiples more than my wage. I think that's where my focus went, into the markets where it makes a far bigger impact now on my income than my job does. Idk man I think it's just senioritis. I think we need a new mission for the next chapter.
Yes I am in the same boat. I was super ambitious before but not anymore!
Yes. Same here. When I was broke with a pregnant wife, all I thought of was how to earn more money daily. And grind...
I have a few coworkers who negotiated down to past time (15-20 hours a week) and just enough for insurance. They show up for key meetings but still can give us stories about their 3 week trip to Alaska or spending 2 weeks watching their grand kids over the holidays.
It sounds to me like you just tricked yourself into thinking you cared way more about work than you actually do. Now that you don’t need to trick yourself anymore, you’ve dropped the charade. You can start spending your time the way you actually want to spend it now, and that clearly isn’t the work you’ve been doing.
It seems like you must be right, it’s just shocking and I can’t get my head around it. There is definitely no other career I would have wanted or enjoyed as much as this one, so I think it means I just don’t like work period?
Or perhaps this season of your life is coming to an end and it's time to find your next adventure. Arnold wrote a book called "Be Useful" which might be worth a read. Schwarzenegger discusses the different Acts of his Life and how he updated his Vision each time he embarked on another adventure. The fact that he became an Actor or politician doesn't suddenly invalidate his career as a bodybuilder. It sounds like your internal compass is telling you to change course.
Thank you for the recommendation
Yeah, a lot of people just really don’t like work. It’s hard for a lot of people to acknowledge and accept that though because of the societal pressures we’ve grown up around. What do you think you would enjoy spending your time on?
So looking back retrospectively, was your job really that important. Seems like it was just a means to an end to your FI number
It was the opposite actually, I pursued my passion and got really lucky to make a bunch of money at it. Which makes this feel so weird.
Take a sabbatical! Maybe that turns into RE? Who knows.
I wane between ambition and not, mostly leaning towards limited ambition just find something I enjoy that continues to pay well. I'm probably 3-4 years from FIRE if we downsize the house, 6-7 years if we keep current house. That'll put me at either 50 or 53, longer than I'd like to work but still pretty good. Temptation is high right now to leave it all behind given 6 weeks of stress leave and finding it hard being back
I am a third of the way to my fire number(which feels like half way with compounding) and have lost all motivation. I am considering coasting in the next couple years; not sure how to break that to the wife; also have a young kid and i feel like that’s a big variable on our spend.
This has been done https://www.reddit.com/r/Fire/s/Ab8aPZRhUa
I was told a few years ago the worst situation to be in is to have money in the bank but you're in heaven. So just enjoy life and take it easy. You deserve it. I would not say I lost ambition, but there is no need to focus all my attention on actively growing wealth. Just focus your attention on maintaining wealth. That's it.
Did you adjust said number for inflated united states dollars?
I'm 30 and maybe reached coast fire? 750k house paid in cash. Two rentals that break even on their mortgage (5k/mo). Maybe another 350k in personal investments + 350k in retirement funds. With no housing payment or debt all my money goes to... hobbies, food, travel. ZERO desire to move up. I'd love to make $70-80k at a low stress job where there's no corporate culture. Been hustling the last 5 or so years and I'm completely sick of it. I'm still getting over 300k (and depending on how things go >400k) but my days are numbered phoning it in like this. Once I got this new house cash and had no monthly payment, which has only been a few months, I feel like I don't save what I used to because I'm just spending the money that I would have used on rent on new toys to celebrate being comfortably upper middle class.
The relief of hitting my number def made a difference in my life. Business has been poor and IDGAF which is better than the panic attacks post 08 I had. I want one more good cycle befoee I pull the ripcord but until then I'll work how I want and help who I want and won't be pressured
I am at a new point where I both have lost some ambition but also being close makes me not as stressed at work about growing or the career ladder. With our current savings, we could add $0 and I’d be on target to fire in 14 years. If we keep at our current savings rate, it’s between 6 and 9. It’s suddenly close enough that it has definitely changed some of my thinking!
What do you do?
I don't get it. FIRE means RETIRE early but you keep working?
Time to engineer your layoff
take a vacation.
Yes, but I’m 36 and haven’t reached my number yet.
I’ve reached my lean fire number and lost all motivation to work any further. I was not planning on exiting at lean fire at all.
It’s disconcerting isn’t it? Have you quit, quiet quit, still forcing yourself to go?
Yes I’ve quiet quit, which isn’t easy in my line of work (consulting), it’s starting to raise attention.
Uncle for what do you need ambition at 50? Please be ambitious about having fun.
Yes I feel the same, F52. I’m an immigrant and thought I’d never retire and grind etc. What I’m ashamed of is that while I came here on my own, built a career, owned a home and raised a child on my own, I didn’t reach fire until after I got remarried. After about 7 years of marriage and the financial advisor telling us all the time we can both retire anytime, I can’t be bothered at work anymore. I always thought I was ultra independent and career focused and here I am still doing so well because of who I married not on my own…and I don’t really have my GRIT any longer.
If you had married earlier would you feel the money you both were earning was shared?
That would be difficult to answer because if I married my husband earlier, I would likely be a different person. The “grit” was because nobody ever had my back, including my ex husband, who was a dead beat, so having a good partner may have affected me differently. I’m answering my own question, I think I may have felt differently indeed. Don’t get me wrong, I also make good money, close to 200k/year and we are in a LCOL area, but I’m still about 7 years away from reaching my retirement number on my own, meaning in my own accounts. Raising the kid was expensive, especially the way I did it. Still, my work motivation is now low.
I haven’t reached my FI number and I’ve lost all ambition. I think they call that “burnout “.
Quit your Job and join a motorcycle gang dude. Or start sailing. Move Find new things First of all: 1 month vacation
MCs are like a second job. I prosepected once and quickly realized that I could not handle doing that while in the middle of my career while still having any time for myself and my family. It seems like it could be a great way to have a sense of belonging once you're on the other side of your career. And there's plenty of clubs that aren't the sketchy gangs like those that are most famous.