I don't aspire to retire early. Instead, I look to live a great and fulfilling life. My wife and I have great career positions and do all of the typical things (no credit card debit, no loans, max 401ks, invest smartly and aggressively, etc). However, we wanted to up level our lifestyle and move towards the water. This is much more expensive than our prior house but our thought was let's do it now when we can enjoy what our new residence and the lifestyle associated with it can afford while we are young and while our daughter is at home. I have worked with too many people that either die young or by the time they can go buy a beach house they are too old to enjoy it.

I am in the young part of my prime earnings period and in a field where you don't age out. I love what I do. My prior sales engineer that I was paired with retired at 75. He could have retired many times earlier but he said that the work that we do kept him young and active. This always sticks with me. Seen too many people retire and then their minds go to pot due to not having any purpose in their life. A lot of people when they retire have the mindset of running out the clock. Not me.

Will see where life goes for my family. We are fortunate to be in the position that we are in. If I have to work longer or one day decide to downsize that is fine. But I am living my best life now while preparing for the future, and don't have any artificial timelines tied to it.

I am not a FIRE subscriber (does not fit into my goals or situation) but some of the principals are really sound. As a somewhat controversial book read, I would suggest Money by Tony Robbins. One of the big parts of that book is to really determine what is important to you and to figure out your number. He runs through an example about buying a plane vs having enough money to fly first class, and the enjoyment vs cost and upkeep associated with both. It shaped my thinking a lot on what is important to me and made me realize that my number is not as big as I thought it had to be. It is a really good mindset book.

Yes. I am doing what I am great at and love to do. It is very fulfilling to me and is doing great good for so many, especially right now.

Because a lot of the FIRE methodology advocates that. It is great for teaching you frugality and to really understand the intrinsic value of things. I have bigger aspirations and dreams than what FIRE will allow me to do. I refuse to compromise my dreams and my reality to just retire early. I think a lot of people equate retirement with happiness but I have not seen that to be the case. I am fortunate to have good friends and mentors that have 8 figures of wealth and they are still pushing everyday. It keeps them excited, it gives them purpose, and it allows them to live out their dreams. Its not for everybody, but it does suit me, and serves as a guide map for behaviors that I want to model.

I agree with your conclusion but for a different reason. This picture represents what I am working for for my family. This is not meant to be a flex, but instead represents my "why". I dreamed of this moment for 18 years and made it happen 3 years ago. I am 43 and have this now. My family and I love what this allows us to do and the joy that being here brings. I am also 20+ years younger than my neighbors. To a person, they all congratulated us and told us they wished they lived their dreams earlier.

Obviously, this view and property comes at a price. The price is high, but for me, it is worth it. We found a way undervalued property and put our own sweat equity in it to make it a dream home. Still a ways go go, but this is how you manifest dreams into reality. It also is a great investment. It has been appreciating greatly every year since we purchased. If things go bad and something apocalyptic happens to my finances, I can eject and be more than fine.

Since moving here, I have lost over 20 pounds, my blood pressure has gone down, and just seeing the water calms me down every day. My level of happiness has sky rocketed, and so has that of my family. You can't put a price on that.

Different strokes for different folks, and everybody's drivers and situations are different. I would recommend to everybody to stop focusing on timelines and instead focus on your why. Once you understand your why, it will guide your actions on the how and the what you do to secure your's and your family's futures.

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You are not really selling me on this FIRE thing...

“Ouch.”

— An asshole and boat owner

All good. I live on the water so use it a lot. I come buy being an asshole honestly.

You might consider pre-paid college trusts if your state offers them. @sataneatscheese, Maryland does, and it might be something that you look into. Essentially, your trust will pay for 4 years of college in a state school, or give you the equivalent to go out of state. The trust can be used for any accredited educational program, not just college. Every year you make a payment you get a tax break (in the case of Maryland, 2500 a year). I put 11K down, and pay 2,700 a year, so effectively I am paying about 15K for tuition. This can be supplemented with a 529, which we have done. If your child does not go to college or gets a scholarship, you can get your principal back.

You would probably be better wake surfing behind this but I am sure we can figure something out

I fully admit I am not as well versed in FIRE and Mrmoneymustache as others, although I did research it a bit based upon this thread. Are there correlations between income and the type of career that you have wether or not you are and adherent of these methodologies? My supposition is that high earners in white collar careers are less likely to fit into these camps, but do not have any firm basis for this.

I asked a different question. My question is what is the make up of FIRE/Mrmoneymustache adherents, not if it is applicable. arcyallen provided some insight into that.

It was, but no need to quibble. Directly, is it 60K a year mechanics, 125K a year engineers, or 300K+ professionals that make up the bulk of this movement? As arcyallen said, I could see engineers being in that sweet spot of income and personality traits for doing this but wanted to ask the question. I get that these principles are applicable to any income level, but wanted to see where the rubber meets the road. I would think that too low of a income would not allow for the percentage of savings to allow you to reach this type of plan, and if you are making a bunch you might have other spending habits and career ambitions where this type of lifestyle would not be as attractive. Just genuinely curious with what types of people this lands with and make up the core of the movement.

Here is a good video from Chris Hogan talking about how over 8% of adult American's are millionaires and the 5 steps that they take to get there. Motherhood and apple pie, but good reinforcement.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/09/more-than-8-percent-of-american-adults-are-millionaires-heres-how-they-got-wealthy.html

Hey OP, without knowing your specific circumstances, here are some general things for you to consider:

Understand the tax brackets and how they work. That appears to be new info to you, but should help ease your mind.

People mentioned charitable donations. Keep in mind, that does not just have to be cash. Clothes, appliances, etc. There are calculators out there for helping to value your donations. Get receipts.

Maximize deductions. Medical, schooling, unreimbursed work expenses, etc. This is all dependent upon if you itemize or just take the standard deduction. If you itemize, you tend to have greater avenues to explore.

If you have your own business, there are a variety of things that you can expense to lower your tax burden.

I would probably recommend talking with an accountant if you really want to get into this topic. Keep in mind, a lot of this depends upon your income level and goals.

As your income and assets appreciate to certain levels, you can start looking at ways to pass wealth to your family through things like trusts.

Keep in mind, getting bumped from one tax bracket to another means that you are making more money. This is a good thing, and something to keep in perspective.

Certain situations can have tax advantages where buying a vacation house, boat/rv, or a rental property make sense. Would recommend talking to a professional on these matters.

One of the best things you can do is look at you mortgage rates if you have not done so lately. Just locked in 2.375% on a 30 year fixed. I would say that this is probably a significant outlier but it never hurts to see where you are and what you can get.

My financial advisor called me. This is based upon a long standing banking and investing relationship, so I don't think this is the norm. Talking with the mortgage guy today, there are some deals out there to be had, so it probably does not hurt to ask around. I was already at 2 7/8 (great rate IMO), but this was a no brainer.

At 44, I am not counting on Social Security being there for me. It will be just in addition to my retirement plans. Does anybody else have this mindset?

I think you misunderstood. I do not count on SS and have my own retirement plan charted out. It will just be a bonus to me.

You are at retirement age; I am not. I am not planning on full benefits (or any benefits for that matter) being available when I get to retirement.

No such thing as a lump-sum refund, but I wish there was.

How many times and ways do I have to say no? My financial future is independent of Social Security. If I get Social Security, that is just a cherry on top.

Exactly

“Rich” is a subjective term based upon your situation. I was visiting in-laws in the Midwest this weekend with assets in the 1.5M range or so and are in their mid to late seventies. Everything is paid off and they have appreciating assets and are set for the rest of their lives. My MIL stated several times that she was “rich”.

Where I live, they would be considered “wealthy”. I consider “rich” in the DC area to be more along the lines of 5M or more. Again, all subjective.

Point calculator for you. https://kpers.org/active/retirementbenefits/85pointsK1.html