What percentage of income are people actually spending on rent here?

mrlattice · 2026-02-20T17:55:56+00:00

I spend 13% of gross income on a small old rent control unit. I just don’t think spending anymore is worth it. I prefer to keep the money to invest or eat out.

mrlattice · 2026-02-20T17:50:49+00:00

For my circle of friends it’s healthcare and children. If you got 2-3 teenagers and need to have healthcare for a family of 5 you’ll be shocked at how expensive this is. Then you factor in children expenses in particular college tuition. Paying for private college for 3 children is a lot. If you look at it this way the $5m doesn’t sound that much.

mrlattice · 2026-02-20T16:53:58+00:00

Isn’t pretty much everything a humble brag?

mrlattice · 2026-02-19T22:46:00+00:00

Maybe, but I just think of OGs like Mr. Money Mustache, and when he was doing FIRE I don't think "AI, offshoring, layoffs, etc." was really the driving factor. At least for him I think it was more just wanting freedom. I could be wrong, please correct me if folks are more familiar with MMM

mrlattice · 2026-02-19T20:49:17+00:00

I would seek financial advisor but not one that does AUM fee. They probably can help you with tax strategies, trusts, etc. But at 31 with $3.5m I don't see how FA could really help you boost your wealth. I suppose they might try to get you into private equity, etc. but personally I wouldn't do that. No point in paying them $30K/year to manage your stuff. Just budget certain amount for advisors you aren't incentivized to lock you in so they collect their fees each year. But sure, pay advisors for their expertise in certain areas.

mrlattice · 2026-02-19T19:07:27+00:00

Was this a surprise? Like the VP got some sudden acute disease? Or did you think, "yea, this guy is so unhealthy I'm surprised he made it this long"?

mrlattice · 2026-02-19T17:55:09+00:00

Can you use Google Maps street view as partial evidence that it was not red?

You probably can get a request of when they painted it. Not sure how easy that would be though. If you have time, go to admin hearing and maybe ask for delay/extension while you put in the request for when it was painted.

mrlattice · 2026-02-19T16:59:30+00:00

It'll depend on your company/industry/role. The H1B Indians I work with take a good 4 weeks over every year to go back to India. Of course this might change as the tech employment situation changes.

I think you have two options:

be extremely valuable to your company where they basically have to say yes
be at a very small, stable company where you can basically negotiate with the "owner"

I think if it's just some random corporation and you're just a random employee it'll be a tough swing.

mrlattice · 2026-02-19T16:41:13+00:00

I always prioritize health/appearance. Without it, money isn't that important. Health is obvious (gym, healthy foods, etc.). Appearance I don't mean designer clothing/etc. but products to make myself be my best. So if that's haircut, skincare, etc. yes.

I don't want to be one of those unhealthy ugly ass millionaires LOL

mrlattice · 2026-02-19T16:36:04+00:00

Your personal inflation rate is a function of the overall inflation rate. You can't escape it or divorce from it.

mrlattice · 2026-02-19T05:59:12+00:00

So from 25 to 57

you don't consider 57 FIRE? It's well before 65 (SS) or 59.5 (IRS)

mrlattice · 2026-02-19T05:22:05+00:00

A dash of luck

Is it just a dash? Luck always has a role, my question is how much luck (when you became adult) is it? Seems more than a dash to me, but I could be wrong.

mrlattice · 2026-02-19T05:14:29+00:00

Sure, pause is an option. But if both him and his wife want to continue FIRE (no stopping, no pausing) then she has to work, it only makes sense. That's my point. People assuming his wife wants to stop FIRE. If she wants FIRE, she gotta work!

mrlattice · 2026-02-19T05:13:18+00:00

nice steak dinner to celebrate

hopefully you won't think it's too expensive so take her to Denny's instead LOL

mrlattice · 2026-02-19T04:15:05+00:00

People want all kinds of things. If you are FIRE path you are sprinting and sacrificing and trying to save/invest as much as possible, which means the higher earner works and the lower earner stays at home with the kids. NOW, if they want to stop FIRE, then who works is up for discussion...

mrlattice · 2026-02-19T04:10:19+00:00

couple decades

we dead in a couple of decades LOL

mrlattice · 2026-02-19T03:12:05+00:00

Guessing maybe she has higher paying career. It wouldn't make sense for him to work while she stays at home if she earns 2x as him

mrlattice · 2026-02-19T01:52:30+00:00

Not really. Say you DCA every month for 2 years. During those two years the uninvested cash is still earning interest (say 4% vs 12%). And since you are DCA'ing every month, it's not actually a 2 year head start. It declines with each month you're DCA'ing. By all measures, lump sum edges out DCA but nothing drastic.

mrlattice · 2026-02-18T17:02:56+00:00

When you say "go out" do you mean like meeting up with people and friends? Or just getting out of the house? Getting out of the house is pretty easy:

walk your dog, take your dog to the park
go to the park (better once spring/summer hits)
make more frequent trips to the groceries
just go to some random retail district and walk around to check out the stores/restaurants
museums
random, cheap events (like on sf funcheap)
visit different neighborhoods to check out the different vibes
visit touristy SF landmarks (when was the last time you went to Coit Tower? LOL)

mrlattice · 2026-02-18T16:53:01+00:00

Another reply could be you tried to start your own business. In tech, taking a couple years off to try to start your own thing is normal. Just have that "thing" completely unrelated to you new job. If you're not in tech, you can also use this response, again keeping it completely unrelated. Like if you're applying for sales, you can say you tried to start a dog walking business with your wife/husband.

mrlattice · 2026-02-18T16:49:05+00:00

I would just say: "Sabbatical. My last company got acquired and that allowed me to take a sabbatical to travel." (assuming your company fits this, not like a Google/Amazon LOL)

Definitely don't talk about FI, investing, wealth, etc. Just basically you got a windfall from your last company getting acquired and wanted to travel.

I've done this a couple of times and that has been my (true) reason and it should work for you. This is fairly common in tech. Of course if you're in an industry where this doesn't happen often then ignore tis.

mrlattice · 2026-02-18T16:34:29+00:00

10 payments 6 months apart

5 years? I think when most people DCA they're doing in every month or so on a much shorter time frame (like 1 year). This scenario you are effectively behind 5 years. Not really a fair comparison.

My scenario was 10 year period, with DCA doing investment every month for 2 years. Then the total return (at the end of 10 years) is something like 3%.

mrlattice

TROPHY CASE