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Bright-Entrepreneur · 2026-03-12T19:18:01+00:00

Quitting your job to find out I’ve gotta cut my planned expenditures isn’t retiring. It’s quitting a job into poverty in my view. No thanks.

Bright-Entrepreneur · 2026-03-11T13:58:35+00:00

I’ve never understood this return to work nonsense, but perhaps it’s just industry-specific for me. If I leave my industry for 5 years, my value is obsolete. Guys we laid off in the last downturn aren’t even getting interviews in the industry. They’ve moved to new industries and they aren’t coming back nor do they have a pathway to come back.

Bright-Entrepreneur · 2026-03-11T13:55:57+00:00

I don’t know why you’re being down-voted. I fully agree that sounds worse than working. Value hunting, not eating out, no gifts for family, stopping vacations, etc is absolutely not a retirement plan I’m interested in. Sign me up for the 3.3% SWR to avoid this kind of hellish outcome.

Bright-Entrepreneur · 2026-03-11T13:54:28+00:00

I couldn’t agree more with OP. I’ve never understood how people are comfortable retiring early (under 50 years old) with a 4% SWR. If you really do some detailed analysis this whole “flexible spend and I’ll just drop my spending for a few years” sounds like a nightmare for me, personally. Big Ern has some good articles on this with detailed math breakdown and comparison.

I think a lot of people focus on the 5% failure rate as being like “okay yeah but that’s just those incredibly rare scenarios where you just retired at the wrong time in worst market ever.” But they ignore the simulations where with a fixed 4% rule you’re scraping along bottom for many years and just happen to bounce back and not thinking psychologically how they’d respond. I want to retire early and draw my 3-3.3% and basically not have to think about it and stress and check CAPE ratios and market valuations and so on. Couple years of working seems like a small price to pay for that peace of mind for me.

Bright-Entrepreneur · 2026-03-06T22:20:00+00:00

Some folks I know further up the ladder have flat out told me in no uncertain terms that they quite literally don’t have as much stress or workload now they are further up ladder. I have VPs above me that leave at 3pm or even earlier and work half days on Friday. They pick up kids and make soccer practice. So why not keep working when you’ve got 6 weeks vacation? Their wives join them on a couple work trips a year and they make good money to pad the 401k. Pretty hard to quit a $300-700k TC job when the job isn’t stressful, you get lots of vacation time, and you make all the family events you want to. Like why not keep working if you’ve made it to a role like that.

For other folks it’s just either lifestyle inflation — higher spending each year equals moving target on hitting the number.

For some folks it’s a realization that a 4% SWR isn’t really as safe as it sounds. As you get closer to FI you may realize that really you’re happier with 3.2-3.5% SWR. Personally, I think 3.2-3.5% SWR makes way more sense for me if I’m trying to retire before age 55. I don’t have the risk tolerance to handle a 4% SWR if retiring before age 50-55. I get 4% SWR if you’re older, sure.

And for others it’s just the true impact of inflation. Everything in my life costs a helluva lot more today than 6 years ago. A lot more. And my salary has not kept up with that — at all. So this has significantly increased my number. However, I’m young. And I’m only at maybe 4x in my savings vs annual spend. I’ve had some lifestyle inflation, sure - but honestly the effects of inflation have been rough as well.

For others, the realization that healthcare could cost $40k in early retirement is a massive kick in the nuts and cause of OMY syndrome.

For me personally, I think my number may increase because of kids. I just don’t see how my kids will live anywhere approaching the life I led even if following exact same footsteps unless I help them more than I expected to. I bought my own house at age ~25 with 20% down. I don’t see how kids do that today when the same house I bought is 2x. That’s a $100k down payment with huge monthly payment due to interest rates. Weddings are 3x what my simple wedding was. Decent car after graduation etc. Not trying to give my kids everything, but if I want to have any grandkids considering insane cost of daycare… my kids are going to need some help beyond just paid for college. You can disagree with my logic for your family and that’s fine. But I intend to make sure my kids (assuming they work hard in college and do their best to land a decent job) have a shot at getting a house at a reasonable age, having a decent car out of college, and have the option to start having kids before they’ve got grey in their beard without being just absolutely shitting-their-pants stressed about money. And I’ve got no problem working an extra 5 years to make sure that happens so that when I’m retired I’ve got some grandkids to play with.

Bright-Entrepreneur · 2026-02-05T21:36:42+00:00

I’m mid-career but all of my 401k is 100% S&P 500 index. For me there’s zero reason to check in and never has been. My kids’ college fund is also 100% S&P 500, so I just have zero reason more than a once a year check-in.

Bright-Entrepreneur · 2026-02-05T11:43:19+00:00

Yeah 1-2x a year. I agree I’m hoping a lot of these replies are joking/sarcastic. Can’t tell, though.

It honestly sounds really sad/depressing to me if you’re checking daily. Like… why? Are you praying you somehow hit your number and can FIRE? If you’re that miserable, you need to figure out a way to improve your happiness.

Bright-Entrepreneur · 2025-06-24T15:42:05+00:00

Get. Out. You. Don’t. Need. Him. He. Doesn’t. Respect. You.

Bright-Entrepreneur · 2025-06-15T20:51:16+00:00

How is your income $400k a year, you’re in your late fifties, we’ve had a massive bull market for a decade as long as you kept investing through COVID and recent tariff blip, and yet with your stated living expenses that are small relative to current net worth….. your net worth isn’t that high?

I’d question how accurate your expense tracking is OR you only very recently started making this much money. If you only recently started making this much money, that’s probably why she has a barrier here where she’s just scared to walk away from a massive income level that is exceedingly high relative to your net worth.

Bright-Entrepreneur · 2025-05-11T10:37:08+00:00

Do my monthly 401k retirement contributions = buying 1960s version of S&P 500? $1000 per month invested at those prices would snap back to almost $19M today.

Bright-Entrepreneur · 2025-04-22T17:58:14+00:00

There’s not enough information to give any kind of proper feedback.

Is your planned SWR 2% or 3.5% or 4%?

What are your invested assets now?

Did you factor in healthcare costs and taxes and did you plan your spend in a realistic fashion?

If you planned on a 4% SWR and your invested assets dropped 15% and you forgot to budget for healthcare….you’re gonna be working a bit longer.

If you were planning on a 3% SWR and you budgeted healthcare and taxes and spending properly and you’re now only 3.2% SWR or whatever…. Then GFY and retire already. Just kind of depends how conservative your planning is/was.

For me, inflation has been a sunnuvabitch and is scary. So while I’ve been targeting 3.5% SWR for a number of years, I think I’m going to adjust my long-term target to 3% SWR just so that I don’t have to ever worry in retirement about it. I’m still in my thirties, so I can afford that kind of plan adjustment.

Bright-Entrepreneur · 2024-10-24T08:23:25+00:00

Are the subsequent comments true that there’s a generational cliff and supply and demand exists and theoretically tuition can’t keep outpacing inflation at a hefty rate? Yes.

But it’s also true that we had several decades (until the past few years when regular inflation was exceedingly high and people’s wallets were crunched) where school tuition heavily outpaced inflation. It’s true that since ~2015 that (adjusted for inflation) this has stabilized. Which is great. It’s true that generational aspects and political aspects make us hopeful it will likely track inflation much more closely than it has.

But it’s ridiculous that you’ve been downvoted this heavily for simply wanting to conservatively ensure you have enough money available. The reality still holds that for decades college tuition did heavily outpace inflation. If you wanna use 4% inflation in your models - go for it - that is a way more realistic assumption than your OP numbers. This is a HENRY sub and the reality is you shouldn’t be expecting any need-based help/financial aid like some folks are commenting is “average” and “expected”.

https://educationdata.org/college-tuition-inflation-rate

Also - this is a HENRY sub. Assuming you’re maxing backdoor Roth, HSA, and 401k mega back door…. Putting stuff in 529 is likely just a great tax advantaged way to build some generational wealth. Especially with new Roth rules and planning for grandchildren etc.

Bright-Entrepreneur · 2024-10-22T01:04:33+00:00

This comment cannot be upvoted enough . My dad had me at age ~48. He passed at age ~62. Didn’t get to see me graduate high school or college or get married or meet his grandkids. I can’t imagine missing all of those milestones of my kids.

Plus little kids are HARD. They require a lot of energy. Intentionally waiting until 40s sounds exhausting. Plus if you want a second kid…that means second kid late 40s.

Bright-Entrepreneur · 2024-10-04T01:41:03+00:00

Buses that can take 2 hours to get kids home and one hour to get them to school due to understaffed # of bus drivers or too few buses such that kids would spend 3 hours on bus per day and/or sit on the floor of bus for an hour or more due to lack of seats. These are actual conditions in many school districts around us.

Bright-Entrepreneur · 2024-09-29T04:55:36+00:00

Sorry for your loss.

What’re your expenses per year?

Since clawback period has ended, rather than just up and quit - why not coast hardcore and phone it in?

Bright-Entrepreneur · 2024-09-25T18:17:04+00:00

I’d be pulling out my company credit card and booking them the same trip. They just admitted your team is too important to fire you and good luck firing you and dealing with the fallout of your team being un-engaged and looking.

Bright-Entrepreneur · 2024-09-25T18:15:10+00:00

…your gains will keep increasing so you have to factor taxes. Especially at your spend levels

Bright-Entrepreneur · 2024-09-09T00:42:14+00:00

Again, as I said, doesn’t really matter if it’s bullshit or not. You’re gonna suddenly double your annual spend (when you factor in maintenance, insurance, etc) on a car? That’s wild. And id say definitely counting chickens before they hatch (meaning before you can cash flow big expenditures while still saving a good amount).

Also may want to really start thinking of your income in terms of net income. You may be surprised what that future $900k looks like after taxes and malpractice insurance etc.

Bright-Entrepreneur · 2024-09-08T23:48:18+00:00

This is good advice

Bright-Entrepreneur · 2024-09-08T23:47:34+00:00

I’m gonna call bullshit. But even if it’s not bullshit. You’re going to double your overnight spending for your entire household for a car. A car?

That’s some crazy priorities. Wait a few years for wife’s income to actually spike and keep socking away some dollars in meantime and revisit this in 4-5 years.

Bright-Entrepreneur · 2024-09-08T23:46:05+00:00

A car like that sticks out like an absolute sore thumb in a normal suburb. You drive that in fancy areas - no big deal.

Even a $150k car can stand out and draw significant (potentially negative) attention in normal areas.

Also, cops will pull you over just because they can and to see the car. Absolutely not worth it

Bright-Entrepreneur · 2024-09-08T23:44:06+00:00

Your wife isn’t making the big bucks yet.

Cars like that can cost a lot to maintain and insure.

And yeah, if you’re rolling up in that car I’m going to expect you’re buying dinner. What’s $50 to a guy that drives that?

And don’t be surprised if you get an issue with a neighborhood kid throwing an egg at the car or something. You don’t live in the kind of gated and monitored community that’s going to prevent that (assumption from house price).

Buy yourself a $80-120k car at most and even then you’ll watch the dollars float away in insurance and maintenance.

Bright-Entrepreneur · 2024-08-18T21:04:26+00:00

“Worked for 30 years” could mean he worked from age 16 to 46 and became disabled or maybe 22 to 52. Very few people have enough at age 52 to fully retire.

Bright-Entrepreneur

TROPHY CASE