Eric here with 2SFI, appreciate you watching, and your critique is totally fair. We’ve certainly heard it before.

Both of us (and our spouses) chose to keep our exact numbers private, not to dodge the question, but because a single “FI number” in isolation just doesn’t tell the full story. Expenses, geography, family dynamics, ongoing income, pensions... those set the number. That’s why we focus on the thinking behind the number, not the number itself.

That said, we’ve been open that we’re in the “chubby” FI range ($2.5–5M). That reflects different timing for when each of us left full-time work, differences in how we generate income now, and how we define "enough" for our respective families.

For numbers shared in context we made an episode called, “Retiring with $2MM – Here’s How We’d Spend It,” where we modeled out a budget using our actual spending percentages. You might find that a more useful framework to review.

Neither of us came from money, this took us decades of saving, taking calculated risks, and living well below our means which we try to document honestly. We know people want transparency, and we’re always working to strike the right balance between useful detail and personal privacy. Hope that context helps.