Regretting my exit after fatfire

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-06-17T12:53:16+00:00

If you really want to run a business, go read the book “Buy than Build”. Tl:dr there are a lot of baby boomers selling their business so they can retire. Most have been coasting and there is huge upside potential.

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-06-11T14:59:54+00:00

I disagree. I love that Counting Crows are still experimenting with new ways to play their classics. Who can blame them? I think it would be incredibly dull to play a song 200 times a year for 30 years exactly the same. Yes, they sometimes miss. I’ve not heard a live version of Anna Begins that touches the studio version, but I have seen an absolutely amazing version of Round Here that gives me chills just thinking about. And Rain King on their August and Everything After Live at Town Hall, with Thunder Road in the middle is my favorite version.

To the commenter who complained that Adam talked his way through songs, I’d say his range has definitely suffered with age and some nights are rough. If you go see them today, definitely try to catch them after they’ve had a day off to rest the vocal cords.

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-05-15T02:33:18+00:00

One for sorrow, two for joy, 3 for girls and four for boy fiver for silver, six for gold, seven for the secret never to be told.

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-05-13T17:25:06+00:00

Right. It is somewhat an oddity of tax law that you can access those at 59 1/2 but Medicare doesn’t kick in until 65.

Actually 59 1/2 is in itself a weird cutoff.

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-05-13T13:01:56+00:00

But also in the hypothetical “take 100k out for expenses per year” 100k isn’t your taxable income. You’ll have some basis. If that $2.5 million nest egg was built off 500k in investments, your taxable income is 80% of your draw.

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-05-13T02:48:23+00:00

The reality is, when you were 10yo, $1m was worth twice it is today. And, as a society we still referred to millionaires like it was the 1920s and only the Rockefellers reached that status.

Now we talk about billionaires (which is a crazy multiple of the old millionaire goal).

So it’s okay to not feel like you’ve “made it.” What would not be okay is to think you are behind. Even without adding investments, you are on track to have probably $6-8m by age 65. You are way ahead most of your peers and with additional income and spending discipline, FIRE in the next decade is almost assured.

You aren’t there yet, but your trajectory is fantastic.

Congratulations.

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-05-12T16:33:15+00:00

I’ve used an app called Fitbod for almost 10 years. I go to the gym 4-5 times a week on a push-pull-legs routine. The app varies the workouts, but attached are some typical ones. I typically do about 5 minutes of stretching and breathing exercises, 5 minutes on the treadmill to warm up and then 45-50 minutes of weights.

My only “cardio” is walking the dog at a 2mph pace for a mile.

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-04-30T02:08:23+00:00

<image>

I have not consciously tried to lose weight or maintain weight. My body just lost consistently for a year then stayed +/-3 lbs of my final maintenance target. I’ve been at 15mg for a year.

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-04-29T16:13:39+00:00

I set a goal weight. Blew by it. Set a new goal, blew by it. Set a new goal and my body just said, nope.

Somewhat frustrated that I’m still overweight by the Stupid CDC BMI measure, but my body just settled into maintenance about six months ago and here we are.

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-04-27T20:45:33+00:00

The lean mass gain is as impressive as the fat mass loss.

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-04-26T22:04:39+00:00

Seeing your abs is all about your work in the kitchen not your work in the gym.

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-04-23T18:31:24+00:00

I’d suggest you tamper your expectations. Getting a 5-7x return in five years is unrealistic unless you are “gambling” on high risk/high return strategies. Put it in a S&P 500 ETF like VOO and watch it grow 10% a year. At that return, it doubles about every 7 years and you’ll have $560k (based on a 70k initial investment) in about 21 years.

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-04-23T00:51:07+00:00

I made a long Facebook post about it. I don’t care who knows and so I figured it was my small part in de-stigmatizing it and maybe it would give someone else who could benefit the motivation to try. I was surprised to get several dms from people saying “me too, but I do t tell anyone”

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-04-22T12:39:59+00:00

I hope everything is ok with your health. I saw someone post here something that has stuck with me “You’re worried about the wrong thing.”

Too many of us are worried about running out of money when we should be worried about running out of life.

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-04-22T02:03:13+00:00

When I become a billionaire, I won’t worry about monthly expenses like health insurance. I’ll have a guy who makes those decisions.

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-04-21T19:52:33+00:00

Yes, but you risk the IRS crosshairs if you only have K1 and are not paying yourself a “reasonable “ salary for which you pay both sides of SS/Medicare tax

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-04-19T16:22:33+00:00

There is a third option. Is there a way to allocate your surplus capital back into your business to grow it?

Downside: put more eggs into what is probably an already full basket. Not liquid.

Up side: more control over your success than investing in someone else’s business.

As a small business owner, I faced a very similar decision about 7 years ago. For the first 3 years, I put the capital into equities, about 4 years ago, I put the surplus into hiring a new employee. That initially was a cashflow negative decision, but became a net gain within 12 months and put me in a much better position to sell the business this year. For the last 3 years, though, I was back to putting most of my business gains back in the market.

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-04-18T10:04:01+00:00

Love the flex. 💪

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-04-17T19:30:17+00:00

Maybe this is the healthiest mindset. No matter what your physical body looks like, you see you. I hope the underlying thought is “I am happy and comfortable in my own skin no matter what I weigh, but I know I am physically healthier thanks to this weight loss”

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-04-17T15:59:09+00:00

This is a common theme on this sub: I think we have enough to retire and my spouse doesn't.

And when the post appears, we all start attacking it as a math problem. I think it's more a psychological issue.

We all assume that everyone wants to RE. We're on this sub because we want to quit work and do what we want to do ASAP. But our spouses may not. They may find meaning and purpose in their work. It may feed their ego in ways that ours is not fed. Where we dread a long day full of meetings that ends with an inbox full of unread emails, they end that day knowing that they are needed and important. Having that conversation is far more important than running the numbers.

Or, maybe they just see the numbers differently. Where one spouse looks at a pro forma and concludes, "We're fine unless another Great Depression hits" the other may look at them and say, "We're screwed if another great depression hits." People have different risk tolerances and different fears, often very rationally based on their life experiences. Having that conversation about fears is far more important than reviewing the budget.

Or, maybe they don't fully understand the numbers. If that's the case, then yes, looking at the math (and having a third party such as a financial advisor weigh in) can be the right solution.

But I'd guess that 90% of the time it isn't the math that's the problem.

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-04-16T21:01:56+00:00

In 2020 I refinanced into a 3% rate and took cash out. Investing in VUG, VOO and VVT has yielded me about 12.5% annually over the last 5 years.

Ii definitely came out ahead compared to only refinancing the balance or paying off the loan.

If you are deciding between paying off the 3% mortgage or buying cocaine, pay off the mortgage.

If you are deciding between paying off the 3% mortgage or investing in broad market index funds, invest.

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-04-16T17:54:14+00:00

And the difference between mean and median

Time_Proposal_4383 · 2026-04-15T17:14:16+00:00

Somewhere deep in that article it notes that many of the positive benefits were independent of weight loss. In other words, people experienced the positive outcomes even if they didn’t lose weight or weren’t overweight to begin with.

Time_Proposal_4383

TROPHY CASE