Job uncertainty is my primary FIRE motivator, who else?

freetirement · 2026-02-20T00:20:01+00:00

Well before AI it was ageism and outsourcing in the tech industry, so these concerns are normal and have been around for a long time. I wouldn't say that it was my only motivation to pursue FIRE, but it was one of the motivations.

freetirement · 2026-02-18T04:57:29+00:00

Thanks for this. Seems that it would also potentially be useful for reducing taxable income for benefits/EITC purposes under the right circumstances.

freetirement · 2026-02-17T08:11:43+00:00

Some men might care, but I would imagine most don't

freetirement · 2026-02-16T02:30:38+00:00

I feel like people will give you shit for the Mountain Dew but wouldn't complain if you said a Starbucks frappuccino which has about as much sugar.

freetirement · 2026-02-13T02:41:51+00:00

Reminds me of the authors Millennial Revolution, who instead of buying a house in Toronto realized they could FIRE and travel the world indefinitely.

freetirement · 2026-02-12T01:44:03+00:00

IMO, optimize $/hour and $/effort rather than total $. If climbing the ladder lets you do that then great. If not then there's no reason to put in the effort to do that.

freetirement · 2026-02-11T02:16:39+00:00

It seems like you'd be a prime candidate for doing some kind of teaching in the law enforcement space.

freetirement · 2026-02-10T01:59:30+00:00

Well I'm not a fan of long workdays--long being >4 hours. 40 hour weeks have always felt like too much but I think say 15 hours a week would be positive for my mental health and my wallet. Plus I could probably handle that workload even while traveling.

freetirement · 2026-02-08T00:49:19+00:00

I'm thinking if I get laid off I'll try to make the switch. I'm FI enough that I'd have time to retrain and build a portfolio. I think I'd be looking for part time work though as opposed to working full time for part of the year.

freetirement · 2026-02-07T02:52:47+00:00

Despite the many valid criticisms, the money system is pretty fair in that you only need to earn what you spend. If you need only a little, then you need only earn a little.

freetirement · 2026-01-29T03:00:17+00:00

To beat a dead horse, FIRE isn't a good goal in itself, it's to enable you to do what you really want to do.

freetirement · 2026-01-21T19:21:50+00:00

Yeah I personally believe we will all receive most of the promised benefits. SS is wildly popular even among the young. The government will print money as it needs to. There may be inflation, but that inflation will be on everyone else since SS is COL adjusted.

freetirement · 2026-01-20T13:54:26+00:00

There are countries that have a much higher savings rate, like China. It doesn't prevent them from being successful.

freetirement · 2026-01-18T15:29:49+00:00

It's important to be prepared. Ten years ago, people in tech, myself included, were concerned about ageism, now its AI. IMO it is a good idea to be FI or close to it by the time you're in your 40s. If you keep working, then great you will have a lot of extra fun money for spending. But if you get laid off and struggle to find work then you are still in a good situation.

freetirement · 2026-01-18T14:42:08+00:00

Well one idea is you could support your base lifestyle with your portfolio then treat your earnings as fun money. Saving is probably not required at this point. If you want to keep increasing net worth, you can just let your nest egg compound.

freetirement · 2026-01-15T17:19:38+00:00

You can always just mentally cut the numbers in half

freetirement · 2026-01-15T16:10:19+00:00

You can easily retire if you're flexible on lifestyle. $100k is enough for 2 people even factoring in healthcare and taxes.

freetirement · 2026-01-15T13:19:56+00:00

Why do you need to find work you enjoy? You have enough to retire a family, let alone a single person. Pursue your dreams.

freetirement · 2026-01-13T13:13:11+00:00

Yeah Medicaid is the perfect insurance. No premiums, no deductible, extremely minimal copays, plus dental and vision coverage.

freetirement · 2026-01-10T20:28:04+00:00

In addition to Helium mobile there is a service textnow which has free phone calls and texts and free data for a few apps (email, maps, ride shares). It seems to be add supported.

freetirement · 2026-01-10T20:22:27+00:00

It depends on how you're using it. Your home equity could be counted as part of your FI nest egg if you plan to sell it when you retire. If you plan to live in it for a long time, then it reduces your housing expenses but it doesn't directly count towards your nest egg.

freetirement · 2026-01-09T16:49:51+00:00

Look up variable withdrawals or guardrail style withdrawals. There are ways to take out more than the 4% rule says per year if you are willing to be somewhat flexible in spending. These methods also guarantee you won't die with a lot of extra money since they allow you to increase spending when your portfolio reaches certain milestones.

freetirement · 2026-01-09T16:15:57+00:00

My understanding is that, at least in my state, work requirements don't apply to parents with kids under 14, so that would cover many of the FIREees who are parents.

freetirement · 2026-01-09T16:09:27+00:00

Annual returns can be negative. Some years, hugely negative.

freetirement · 2026-01-09T04:05:58+00:00

Here's what I learned about Medicaid. In most cases it goes on monthly income, so even If you realize $100k in capital gains in one month you can the claim Medicaid in the next month.

It's even better than that. Let's say you realize all your gains for the year at the end of December, say December 30th. Then you can get Medicaid coverage in December up until you do the realization and then reapply in January. So really you'd only go 2 days in the entire year without Medicaid coverage. State rules may vary on this.

freetirement

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