One of the biggest questions anyone has in the FIRE (financial independence, retire early) world is whether or not they are ready to pull the trigger on retirement. This is especially true if you want to live more than just a comfortable lifestyle, but one full of travel, adventure, and luxuries.
This is exactly the scenario with one Redditor posting in r/ChubbyFIRE who is trying to decide whether or not they can say goodbye to work forever and live on $125,000 per year. Unsurprisingly, this Redditor is exhausted from working and has been very fortunate with building wealth by their early 30s.
There is no question that many of us would like to trade places with this Redditor, and if we could all retire on $125,000 annually and live a good life, we would do it without hesitation.
The Financial Breakdown
In their mid-30s, you have a married Redditor with no kids and no mortgage who loves to travel internationally with family. For this reason, the Redditor emphasizes that they plan to focus on splurging a little on hobbies and travel, which will play a role in any decision.
As they are exhausted from work and want to retire and work on some projects alone, they have broken down a few different budget scenarios to see what’s possible. They have a current net worth of $5.27 million, but if they continue working through April 2026, their net worth is estimated to grow to $7.89 million, not too shabby.
With a modest budget plan that includes home maintenance, taxes, etc., essentials like health insurance (ACA Silver), groceries, and discretionary spending on dining out, family trips, additional travel, etc., they are looking at $104,000 in spending per year, so $129,000 pre-tax. At this level, they believe they need a net worth of $4.32 million to accomplish this.
Shifting to a more luxurious budget, expenses would increase pretty significantly by adding dental insurance, gym memberships, therapy sessions, pet care, and a doubled hobby fund, which would take them to $125,000 per year, or $156,000 pre-tax at a $5.2 million net worth.
So, this Redditor is asking, what do they do now? Pull the trigger or wait? Should they focus on the more modest budget or the luxury one?
The Best Decision
Look, there is no question that if you’re telling someone that with just one more year of working in their mid-30s, they can increase their net worth by almost $2.5 million, it’s a no-brainer. In this regard, I agree with some of the first comments that say this is the smart play. Even the Redditor responds and agrees that if they can push themselves out to even August of 2025, they would be at a $6.7 million net worth, a still strong number. However, there is concern that his work will throw even more money at him, leaving him to move the goalposts all over again.
In this case, the Redditor assumes a 3% safe withdrawal rate, which is pretty conservative to be honest. It doesn’t matter if he chooses the modest or luxury lifestyle, as both are applicable with a 3% SWR and a 4% SWR. In other words, either scenario would be fine.
However, I think it stands to reason that if the Redditor can put in one more full year and hit a number just below $8 million, it allows for even more experiences, hobbies, and projects. This Redditor needs to ask themselves what else they can do with a larger budget and then see how much interest there is in taking this on.
Play The Game
The original poster isn’t the first person making significant money in tech, nor is he the first person to want to walk away after 10 years. However, the reality is that he’s only in his mid-30s, so sticking around for one more year, however challenging it might be, will pay off in the end, both financially and in lifestyle.
For these reasons alone, it’s worth sticking out, but if the Redditor wanted to quit today, right this very minute, they absolutely could and choose either lifestyle and live very comfortably while enjoying all of the hobbies they could hope to pick up.
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