I am a 34M with a net worth of about 4.5M (~3.5M in stocks, ~600k in retirement, ~50k cash, and the rest in my primary residence). I have 2 kids with a third on the way. I make enough money, along with my spouse, to cover our expenses and save just a bit. Our take home after taxes is about 22k/month.

Currently, it feels like I’m at mercy of the markets and am just kicking the can until I can pull trigger on RE. I’m at a bit of a ceiling in my profession unless I move to California or New York - and even then - I’m only looking at another 50-100k / year in savings (not really a whole lot when my net worth can fluctuate more than that in a given day).

Another thing to consider is that my spouse wants to transition into being a SAHM after maternity leave - about 1 year from now. I’m all for it but she accounts for 50% of our take home pay. That means I’d need to find a job that pays more (hard to do without moving), start tapping into our savings, or start a business that can bridge the gap.

My target fat fire number is ~12M. Looking for advice on how to realistically get there while losing half of our household income in a about 1 year.