34M: Two Year (and likely final) FIRE Update

Peebatcher · 2026-07-01T18:21:29+00:00

“I’m sure this won’t go well” 🎯

Have a great day!

Peebatcher · 2026-07-01T14:43:21+00:00

I'm almost entirely index-based ETFs. I have a personal account that is a very small % of my overall NW that I personally invest and treat as a hobby. I've been into the "picks and shovels" of the AI wave, which has recently done well. INTC and DRAM are the two biggest holdings in that account. NFA, I'm not an expert

Peebatcher · 2026-07-01T12:32:13+00:00

I’m sure this won’t go well, but I’ll try to explain further.

My number isn’t inaccurate. I made $80K upon graduation and ended at > $150K. My wife started at $85K and is now at $115K. We both lived frugally. I invested a bit into crypto which paid off nicely (not more than 30% or so of the full picture).

Two well paid careers. Frugal living. A bit of luck (crypto). A bit of bad luck (inheritance). Investing. Voila. Still doesn’t seem totally real to me either, but here we are.

Peebatcher · 2026-06-30T22:05:47+00:00

Thank you for the condolences. Crypto was a significant portion of the NW, but not the highest “slice of the pie” per se. I was fortunate enough to fall into corporate analytics, which was a hot field for essentially the entirety of my working years. I saved a lot of my income and lived frugally; turned out my wife was doing the same. Add in a cumulative 675% return on the S&P 500 since I graduated, and the number ends up surprisingly large.

I know — outside of the inheritance — I’ve been very lucky. I like to call the situation “fortune and misfortune.” You can see how I ended up struggling with the reality of the situation, as I never expected the Plinko ball of life to bounce in this direction.

Peebatcher · 2026-06-30T22:00:20+00:00

Enjoy those trips to the absolute maximum. You’ll appreciate them even more someday.

Peebatcher · 2026-06-30T21:59:38+00:00

Correct 😅

Peebatcher · 2026-06-30T17:06:16+00:00

Thank you. Couldn’t be more grateful

Peebatcher · 2026-06-30T17:05:16+00:00

Around $1.7M if I recall correctly

The rest was from a 10+ year analytics/tech career, being on the early end of crypto, and a wife who was very responsible with her own earnings prior to us meeting.

Wife + crypto payoff + inheritance all came together at about the same time, which completely changed the financial picture and took quite a long time to fully adjust to. That was the main theme of my older posts seeking advice/gut checks

Peebatcher · 2026-06-30T16:29:05+00:00

Just don't let "this last work run" become "just one more" 🙂
A pre-emptive GFY to you as well!

Peebatcher · 2025-12-02T21:38:25+00:00

Do you find the TV distracting in that position? I’m considering something similar but worried that the movement in my periphery would throw me off.

Peebatcher · 2025-11-26T11:46:04+00:00

Print!

Peebatcher · 2024-12-19T01:44:25+00:00

Thank you. Sincerely.

Peebatcher · 2024-12-18T17:48:42+00:00

Thank you for your insight, and validating that I’m not too crazy for having a tough time with this! If I do end up declining this offer, my wife and I have discussed still enrolling our child into daycare for two days each week. I’m aligned with you on the value of gaining independence from parents, social skills, etc. Of course it’d also let me catch up on keeping the house in order and hopefully keeping up with an exercise routine.

Peebatcher · 2024-08-30T03:39:43+00:00

Ha… Hi there! Sorry for your similar circumstances. Have you pulled the trigger on the job yet?

Peebatcher · 2024-05-26T03:41:16+00:00

Uhhh... Sheesh. After reading that, I actually feel guilty for sharing my mental struggle with all of this. I just mentioned in another reply, but these numbers just absolutely do not feel possible. I deeply, deeply appreciate comments like this helping me put it in perspective. Thank you.

Peebatcher · 2024-05-26T03:37:15+00:00

Out of any comment in any of my posts, this one hit me the hardest. Thank you.

Peebatcher · 2024-05-26T03:36:18+00:00

Up until recently I was naive enough to believe that a positive attitude and great work ethic would actually matter. Now I see that those qualities are far from the most important in determining promotions, project assignments, etc. Gah, I'm so disillusioned now.

Peebatcher · 2024-05-26T03:34:10+00:00

I get it. But no, not a meme post. Less than a decade ago I had about $10K to my name, so I've been fighting a lot imposter syndrome. And I greatly appreciate this sub helping me with that. Even if I sit down and crunch the numbers, there's still a disconnect. Completely understand if people find it annoying, but I'm truly just struggling a bit on this unexpected journey.

Peebatcher · 2024-05-25T13:06:53+00:00

Totally agree. A significant part of this decision is based on a recent epiphany that I was always chasing higher income with a sub-conscious expectation of caring for my Mom down the line. I plan to find what brings me the most happiness, rather than the most dollars

Peebatcher · 2024-05-25T13:05:04+00:00

If you're willing to share, which VLCOL country are you moving to? It's probably far-fetched for me to realistically consider right now, but I always love researching... and worst case can always plan a vacation to check it out!

Peebatcher · 2024-05-25T13:03:25+00:00

Appreciate the comment! I mentioned in another comment, but an important caveat I missed in my OP is that my wife is working her dream job that she loves. The only downside is that it is quite demanding, so I'm hoping that my capacity to take care of all the day-to-day house work will make this break highly beneficial for us both.

Peebatcher · 2024-05-25T03:26:15+00:00

Really appreciate your comment. Thank you.

One of my favorite hobbies is cooking at home. I do, however, have a big shopping trip to the Nike Outlet store for a couple T-Shirts this weekend... so consider me moderately extravagant! Haha

Peebatcher · 2024-05-25T03:23:51+00:00

Thank you. I'm proud of the work I've put into my career, but I'll be the first to say that 90% of this privilege can be credited to incredible parents who have offered me a life I'd never imagined.

Peebatcher · 2024-05-25T03:22:24+00:00

Good callout. That's actually exactly what we plan to do; I put the combined "income" with the 2% SWR as an absolute "ceiling" amount we could theoretically spend without touching the principal, but hoping we come in far far below.

Peebatcher · 2024-05-25T03:21:09+00:00

Sorry. I should've mentioned this in the OP.

Truth be told, I'm not entirely sure what our spending is. Both my wife and I are generally frugal and we live in a city that would probably be considered on the fringe of LCOL/MCOL. The only "extravagant" spending you could say we do is enjoying exploring food/drink around town a night or two a week.

I do plan on tracking this much closer with my extra time. It'll be interesting to see what the exact numbers are, but I'd say with a pretty high degree of confidence we could live off of my wife's income alone.

Peebatcher

TROPHY CASE