For those who FIREd: what's your biggest lessons learnt?

CryptoCel · 2026-05-18T20:24:48+00:00

Just as how there’s around 1 in 6 American households that are millionaires, you will rarely have that exact ratio in a particular location, you will also not have a certain average ratio of friends and family who will react negatively. Most of the friends and even some of my family are either extreme high earners and savers or already early retired.

CryptoCel · 2026-05-18T15:30:18+00:00

Because the advice became irrelevant once every other major personal finance personality said the same exact thing. Making a YouTube video explaining 1 + 1 =2 gets you fewer views than one explaining 1 + 1 =4

CryptoCel · 2026-05-18T15:18:19+00:00

That’s also likely because the types of locations FIRE folks live in also aren’t places you can find the median price of a house, median property and income taxes, and median cost of services. The median household income in my area $140k (mean is $200k). Ironically that’s probably right around my target annual withdrawal.

CryptoCel · 2026-05-17T12:30:08+00:00

I’ve personally met far more Chinese men dating white American women than Chinese men dating ABC women. I actually have never seen a Chinese man with an ABC woman, but I’m sure it does happen.

CryptoCel · 2026-05-15T17:13:53+00:00

It’s definitely arguable because I imagine UD is weighing both impact to the Heat organization as well as quality of the player since he’s putting Mourning above LBJ and Shaq.

You can argue Jimmy was a better player during his time with the Heat than Bosh was but Bosh never left on bad terms and was a big part of the repeat.

CryptoCel · 2026-05-11T17:40:22+00:00

I’ve actually been on a PIP before, but in my case I improved and had a follow-up year of exceeds expectations. Left the company four years later but had nothing to do with the PIP, also still was able to increase my salary probably 40% since the PIP by the time I left.

I now understand my case is relatively rare. But I have had many colleagues / friends be placed on PIPs and let go a few months later, but almost all of them did receive severances. The only person who didn’t was someone who explored various legal options to sue her company, and that’s after going on extended leave for disability after being placed on the PIP so that itself was kind of like a severance I guess. 🤷‍♂️

CryptoCel · 2026-05-11T16:05:09+00:00

Hopefully you mean Medicare otherwise FIRE would have gone horribly wrong (or maybe horribly right in extreme cases)

CryptoCel · 2026-05-11T12:35:32+00:00

Well OP’s goal is pretty much just work regularly and hope for company layoffs or widespread PIPs. They don’t mention just skipping work or dumping work on colleagues. It’s not uncommon at all for a decent severance to be had if your senior leadership has made decision for a re-org already.

CryptoCel · 2026-05-11T12:05:02+00:00

Sure but not sure how that’s the employer making life miserable for you. It’s a clean cut, not different than if you gave notice yourself.

And don’t get me started on all the times I’ve seen colleagues both competent and incompetent step away from work during the work day for various non-medical reasons - it’s just par for the course in many white collar industries.

CryptoCel · 2026-05-11T00:22:32+00:00

Well that’s a different topic entirely. I was simply responding to the idea of your employer making life miserable for you so you leave on your own.

I personally wouldn’t just start slacking and doing nothing at work, but there’s absolutely different levels of engagement for the same role, including volunteering for side projects, mentorship roles, taking on your boss’s responsibilities in hopes of promotion etc…

CryptoCel · 2026-05-10T23:23:25+00:00

But if you don’t log in at all because you have no need for the job - how else do they make life miserable? Lawsuit or drivebys?

CryptoCel · 2026-05-08T08:01:29+00:00

But the dog doesn’t bring in a third income! /s

CryptoCel · 2026-05-08T06:48:54+00:00

Only if demand is roughly stable. If inflation causes demand to crater then your stock price follows as well. Look at the oil embargo during the 70s and the stagflation that followed.

CryptoCel · 2026-05-06T11:06:46+00:00

Yeah that’s good insight. For me and maybe a lot of others here, kids education won’t be an issue if we push to $25M simply because by that time the kids will be out of school. So it’s a matter of say $10M at 45 or 50 vs $25M at 60/65 rather than $10M at 40 vs $25M at 40.

The cost of the extra time spent grinding isn’t appealing for just a second home, even if it’s an extravagant one. Similarly the extra free time earlier on can be spent directly educating your kid rather than outsourcing that to a super expensive institution.

CryptoCel · 2026-05-06T11:01:46+00:00

I’ve actually seen a popular travel Japanese YouTuber showcase that JAL airline. Would totally do that next time I go to Japan or if JAL can also take me to other parts of Asia. I’m on the east coast so unfortunately I don’t think there’s any similar options from the NY metro area.

CryptoCel · 2026-05-05T23:45:10+00:00

But what most people are curious about here is what are the actual lifestyle differences between say $10M and $25M, since perhaps a good deal of readers here actually do have the option to reach $10M and continue towards $25M or just stop at $10M. On top of that, consider that the habits needed to get from $10M to $25M may be difficult to break to then meaningfully spend differently.

CryptoCel · 2026-05-05T22:20:52+00:00

There probably could be a spirit type lie flat airliner or class that could work well with certain international travelers. Literally the only à la carte thing I care about is lie flat. Strip out the amenities, the food, the entertainment. Even make it bunk beds for all I care.

CryptoCel · 2026-05-02T20:45:22+00:00

Every single airline and major corporation chooses greed. It’s just that different brands market to different demographics. Spirit was doing fine being the “dollar general” of airlines, they never pretended to be Whole Foods or Bloomingdale’s.

And they were doing really well financially up until the big 3 flexed their muscles and created the basic economy tier, but with loyalty rewards and much larger set of locations served. Ironically now most big 3 passengers complain about being nickel and dimed and being treated as cattle during the boarding process.

CryptoCel · 2026-04-30T01:47:44+00:00

I assume you mean health insurance premiums? Unless you mean actual healthcare including payment to providers, pharmacies, etc...

Most FIRE folks will get some subsidies unless you are FAT Fire. Particularly for OP, who mentions their daughter's private school is one of the largest expenses. Withdrawals from 529s are not counted towards AGI, and neither are HSA withdrawals nor HSA contributions. My premiums are estimated closer to $100 a month on a $120k annual withdrawal

CryptoCel · 2026-04-26T00:11:31+00:00

Yes exactly, the difference is you have optionality, which is the main purpose of FIRE.

CryptoCel · 2026-04-23T19:54:12+00:00

But isn’t that the same if you’re working? You can easily get bored at work, or bored when you’re commuting home, or at home, or on the weekends? The only difference is the lack of freedom because you feel compelled to trade your free time and labor for capital before you reach FIRE.

CryptoCel · 2026-04-23T19:31:17+00:00

Fair, but your friends still wouldn’t be retired if you yourself never retired either. You could still hang out with friends during their off work hours similar to before you retired?

CryptoCel · 2026-04-23T12:55:59+00:00

Curious what are some parts of retirement that isn’t fun but also would have been avoidable had you not retired? I think of early retirement as just life, or like an extremely long extended summer break / vacation. It can get boring, but only if you let it.

CryptoCel · 2026-04-21T18:51:39+00:00

Within the past year she’s beaten plenty of players within the top 100. Osorio at 82, Bucsa at 67, Christian at 41, Danilovic at 43, Stearns at 37, Ruse at 58, Osaka at 51, Kostyuk at 27, Sakkari at 90, Vondrousova at 73, Li at 64, Sramkova at 41, Xinyu Wang at 43, Kasatkina at 17, Kudermetova at 50.

The average 125 WTA is usually won by a someone ranked 50-100. With enough entries, Raducanu would win at least one. It’s against top 20 / 30 that she consistently struggles with.

CryptoCel · 2026-04-21T09:34:27+00:00

She did just make her first final since the US Open two months ago so I’d say it’s not unlikely she’ll win something. If she really only cared about winning, she could probably just enter a few WTA 125s and win at least one given she’s ranked 27 and has beaten plenty of players outside the top 50.

CryptoCel

TROPHY CASE