Hi Briana, this is a perfect question. I was honestly hoping someone would throw some of this back in my face a little bit, in good taste as you have.

Yes, you are absolutely correct: my wife and I had high incomes. I would argue that was no accident, as we both busted our ass to get highly competitive jobs, but no matter. A lot of things lined up for us with intentionality, but sure, we had a few hefty tablespoons of serendipity along the way (unexpected severance, as you mentioned). I’m hardly saying that people with lower incomes don’t bust ass, as we know that teachers, etc are woefully underpaid saints.

First off, yes, it may be 17 years for you. But is that so bad?! If you are just starting at 40 and can be done by your mid-50s, that’s pretty damn good, no? Also, it sounds like you are using a 5% annualized return, which may end up being very conservative. We reached FI much sooner than expected. Future market returns may be much better, or much worse, than 5%.

Another thing to consider, i.e. teachers, is lowering your taxable income through contribution to various public sector savings plans, i.e. the 457. There are a lot of FIRE teachers, but most don’t scrounge on a penniless lifestyle. They increase their income with side gigs (coaching, tutoring, whatever), and aggressively lower their taxable income and save for a retirement at the same time. We did much of the same by maxing out retirement accounts (401k and HSA in particular).

Have you maximized your potential to build income? Can you get promotions? Can you take on side hustles, or otherwise build additional income streams?

I think saving too much and unsustainable frugality is overhyped. Build income and magic happens. THEN go take that low-paying job.

Finally, is full financial independence necessary for you to live your best life? Being 50% FI and having income to barely (or not even) cover life expenses could still be fantastic. You could work part-time and still be crushing it. Honestly, I’ll probably go back to some sort of income-generating “job” in the next year, so maybe we never needed full FI to begin with!

It’s a spectrum. I hope this helps Briana, and I appreciate this great comment.