Later 40 / mid 50s DINKs not in tech. $3M across retirement and taxable accounts, $1-1.2M home equity, about $500k rental property equity. We're saving aggressively the last few years after getting serious about the future.
I know intellectually we're doing well. Projections say 5-8 years to our fire $6M (tho $7M would be more comfortable). But mentally, I'm stuck.
Spouse and I each had big work setbacks (financially for them, trajectory / mentally / image for me) and it broke something in my brain. I can't stop obsessing about this $6M number, how to hit it and when I can quit. It's my escape hatch. It's always on the back (or front) of my mind. When can I quit. How to push the timeline. What will life be like when I get there. What if the current state of the world sets back the timeline. How can I get to $6M faster.
Voluntarily quitting is would set me back FAR on the timeline - I need the gold from the golden handcuffs to get to the finish line, even tho I feel constantly crushed at work. In our setbacks I realized neither of us will be able to replicate our compensation elsewhere (~40% total comp cut) and our jobs are not remotely as secure as I thought so there's a level of panic right below the surface.
I try to look forward to my real life. a mini vacation coming up, or summer in general, hanging with friends... but my mind just comes back to the accounts.
Has anyone ever dealt with this in the later half? It's a combination of insane burnout (which I know many have posted about) but also the inability to focus on my life. How did you keep FIRE from consuming your actual life?