Personal FinanceAvirut S / Shutterstock.comAaron WebberThis post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive
compensation for actions taken through them.One of the saddest things about modern culture is the need to compare our finances to each other and judge our success by how much money we make or spend compared to everyone else. Too many people have lost sight of the whole reason money exists and instead work just to watch the numbers go up.
Don’t rely on private company stock to boost your savings, this is a dangerous thing to do.
The best way to meet your retirement goal is to live a more realistic and affordable life.
Retiring early is possible, and may be easier than you think. Click here now to see if you’re ahead, or behind. (Sponsor)
One person, in particular, is living a very expensive lifestyle, spending more money per month for a “fun” life than most people make in their entire lives. They wanted to know if their retirement goal was realistic given this monthly spending. They took their questions to the r/fatFIRE community, a group of people focused on retiring with “a fat stash”. Here is what they said.The QuestionAndrii Iemelianenko / Shutterstock.comA person with a lot of money.The author of the post begins by calling most of the other posts in the community “too conservative”. Way to set the attitude, bud! The author is 48 years old and would like to retire in ten years with a monthly expense of $50,000. He says he and his wife live below this, but would increase their spending during retirement to “make not working full-time adventurous and fun”.They list their assets, with a net worth between $8 million and $29 million depending on volatility and projections of growth between today and his anticipated retirement date. It takes the form of private equity, retirement funds, real estate, ETFs, and more.They had a handful of questions for the community. First, given their high amount of private stock, they don’t have any bonds and haven’t seen the point of investing in them ever, but they wonder if they are wrong. They don’t want the “drag” of bonds.Second, if they manage to achieve $16 million by retirement, their “simulations” say that they will be able to afford their expensive lifestyle, but they want to know if this is too aggressive a goal.Third, how much should they keep in private company stock when they retire?Please remember that the comments in the original thread and this article are opinions and divorced from the reality that most people live in. Please speak to an expert before making any financial decision.The Community ResponseAndrii Iemelianenko / Shutterstock.comA person showing off their mone