Deep in my FIRE journey and grinding day in day out, I have been thinking what's your BIGGEST Motivation to achieve FIRE ?

For me it's as simple as this -

I hate begging my manager for Leaves. The organisation I work in has an extremely rigid hierarchical structure and my current manager does all kinds of drama while approving leaves.

This begging for leaves and waiting for a random no one to decide when I can go out on a vacation, back to my home, to a function, spending my own money is excruciatingly irritating for me and it boils my blood.

As weird as it may seem , currently this single thing drives me to FIRE every single day. Ofcourse the whole freedom thing is there as well.

Update post FY26

Current NW - ~5 cr (a few lakhs short, but I will take this)

-> MF + ETF: 90L + 7L

-> PF: 68L

-> Business: 146L

-> NPS: 10.6L

-> Gold:  SGB 4.5L + 8L

-> LIC: 21L

-> FD: 25L

-> RE: 39L

-> RSU: 50L

-> Cash: 25L (to be invested)

Professionally a good year. Finally built a health emergency fund of 25L (current FD of 25L is towards that).

7 years to go for my FI target of USD 1 mn + an owned house in Mumbai. Still a long way to go!

I have been on the FIRE route for a while and have a corpus of around 2.7Cr & 36/M Married (DINK). Owning a house worth 3Cr in tier 2 city (generational wealth)

Sometimes I get so drained out with work and just want to quit. My work is bad, office is toxic and I just want to quit.

I thought of barista FIRE, a concept I recently learned, but I am sceptical of getting a job which can atleast earn me 1L per month to have a decent lifestyle. (My monthly take home is 6L/month post tax, I am ok to shift to tier 2 city and have a peaceful life)

I have 4 options in mind

1. Should I continue to struggle with my current job, and wait for this too shall pass and there's a light at the the end of the tunnel? Any experiences or recommendations on mid FIRE crisis.

2. What are some options for a steady income in parallel? I have read about mushroom and saffron farming but it is risky as I have no experience. Dabbling across multiple similar jobs, teacher, consultant and so on. Doesn't look realistic.

3. Should I quit for a while and rejoin and pursue my FIRE dream?

4. Should I just move towards a LEAN fire and let go my FIRE goal. (45% of my goal).

I am aware these are based on personal choices and based on where you are in your journey in life. I am curious about if our community is going through the same and how do they come up with mid-FIRE crisis.

Regular expenses in tier 1 city: 1.5L/month Expected tier-2 city expenses: 75K/month

I am recording all my income and expenses on the excel sheet since last 5 years now. It started with simple excel log file and now it has many sheets and pivot tables.

I still prefer to excel file since it’s offline and personal.

Putting up for discussion and any suggestions.

Milestone 1 Post: 1 CR

Hi folks,

This is my second milestone post. I briefly hit the 2Cr mark about 1.5 months back, but waited till now to post since I believe market fluctuations can no longer bring the corpus below 2Cr.

Current asset allocation:

• Equity (~65%)
  • Mutual Funds:
    • US Markets Index: ₹32.4L
    • Nifty 50 Index: ₹55.6L
    • Parag Parikh Flexi Cap: ₹14.37L
    • Direct Domestic Equity: ₹21.29L
    • USD Investments (Listed): $11,000 (~₹10.24L)
• Debt (~23.6%)
  • Gilt Funds: ₹4.76L
  • FDs: ₹4.05L
  • Cash: ₹11.31L (10L to be deployed to USD next week)
  • EPF: ₹28.91L
• Gold (~12%) : ₹24.48L (SGBs + GOLDBEES; new additions only in GOLDBEES, excluding physical gold)
• Real Estate (~0.4%) : ₹0.75L (still in REITs – unable to understand them clearly). Looking to buy a land parcel in my hometown as a long-term bet for 10-15 years.
• Liabilities: None

Note: Not accounting for exercised/un-exercised ESOPs & physical gold.

Updates since last milestone

Trust in Govt schemes eroded

I invested heavily in SGBs via secondary markets but felt betrayed by the recent changes in SGB taxation. Have now reduced EPF contribution to the bare minimum of ₹1,800/month. Stopped NPS and PPF (invested nominal amounts – will write them off).

Life updates

Had significant expenditures – got married, bought a car, and went on 2 exotic international vacations, all self-funded. That delayed this milestone. Also, in DINK phase right now.

Health took a toll due to work. Now focusing on health – started working out and paying close attention to diet.

Stopped equity inflows for a year before marriage, got back on track ~6-8 months post-wedding. Still no urge to RE (Retire Early). The FI part has definitely helped me stay calm under work pressure – I can leave any day if it becomes toxic.

More focus on USD

If I could change one thing in my investment journey, it would be getting aggressive into USD earlier – either by switching to a USD-earning job or via the IBKR route right after the government capped MF foreign outflows. I understood the benefits of our weakening currency, but kept put waiting for the govt to raise the threshold (less tax compliance). Recently opened an IBKR account and am gradually allocating funds, investing in the MSCI Developed World Index.

Open to suggestions and constructive criticism. Thanks for reading!

Hi All,

28F here, I reached 1 crore net worth last month. No generational wealth, and no marriage plans as of now but looking to buy a flat shortly. Most likely in NCR or Mumbai. How can I best utilise the money to earn maximum returns? Any guidance would be extremely helpful.

Current Split below-

Bank - 24L

FD - 21L

Mutual Funds - 32L

PF - 21L

NPS - 7L

TL;DR: 30M with 8.5 years in State Power/Infra, an MBA in HR, and a profitable EdTech side-hustle (70k+ YouTube community). Looking to pivot into the private sector (Renewables, EdTech Operations, or Tech Consulting) for higher growth and to accelerate my FIRE journey. I’m looking for some candid advice from hiring managers, industry seniors, or anyone who has successfully transitioned from the public sector to the corporate world.

My Background:

• Education: B.E. (Electrical & Electronics) + recently completed MBA (HR).
• Experience: 8.5 years total. Spent 7 years in a State Discom managing power utility operations, and currently working in the State Infrastructure/Water Resources department as an Assistant Executive Engineer, managing massive electro-mechanical installations and contractor networks.
• The Entrepreneurial Hustle: I founded and run operations for a bootstrapped EdTech platform. We have a YouTube community of over 100,000 subscribers where we teach core electrical engineering concepts. I handle the product operations, digital marketing, and scaling.

Why I'm Leaving:
I want merit-based growth, a steeper learning curve, and a compensation structure that aligns with my goal of early financial independence (FIRE).

Target Sectors:

1. Renewables / ESG / EV: Operations Management, Project Head, or Regulatory Affairs (I know the state power grid and government procurement inside out).
2. EdTech Leadership: Product Manager, Operations Lead, or Corporate L&D (leveraging my startup scaling experience).
3. Energy Consulting: Big 4 advisory roles focusing on power infrastructure or HR analytics.

My Questions for the Experts / Seniors:

1. The Stigma: How do I convince private sector recruiters that I am not a "lazy, relaxed government employee"? I hustle 12 hours a day between my job and startup, but my resume screams "Public Sector."
2. The Pivot: For Renewables or Consulting, would a distance PG Diploma (like IIT Kanpur’s Renewable Energy program or an HR Analytics cert) move the needle, or should I rely purely on my experience?
3. Networking: If anyone is hiring for Techno-Commercial roles or building in the EdTech/Green Energy space, I would love to connect, share my actual LinkedIn, and buy you a virtual coffee.

Thanks in advance for the reality check and advice!

Hi all,

I am a newbie to this sub and to the idea of FIRE. I am looking forward to it after having my son for whom I want more time, also due to recent AI changes I want to secure our future.

Here is my and my husband's portfolio:

Total investments: 1.6 cr mine and husband 2.6cr

Monthly expenses: 1.5L son is 2yo. It will increase

Both are in IT in Bangalore (not FANGM): 38lpa salary mine and 50lpa husband

zero debt

Ages: 37 F and 39M

Please FIRE experts do your maths and help me with a realistic no of years we can achieve fire. Also if any AI job cut happens can we survive and help our child's future

Please consider retirement, education (school and college) 2lpa and 1cr for college. Also international travel and home goals

Indian corporate life is very toxic. There is a 24/7 fear of job loss or demotion. There is no safety net for people in the event of job loss. Life style expenses are continuously rising due to family aspirations of a luxurious life . This has created a sense of helplessness as person needs to keep working in the toxic job. Everyone is now looking for an escape from the system. This is driving the FIRE MOVEMENT. Everyone is working towards creating a financial nest egg that enables him/her to get out of the rut

When I was contemplating early retirement in 2021, the one advice I received the most, online and offline, was that I should have a plan for my retired life. Basically…Don't just ‘retire from’ something, rather you must ‘retire to’ something.

I was confused by this advice for 3 reasons.

First, were these people so delusional that they believed themselves intelligent enough to give ME, the wisdom personified, unsolicited advice? The temerity…

Second, for me, the whole point of retirement was freedom from making plans. I had been making plans since I started going to school and I was sick of it. Making plans for post-retirement felt like holding Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in a bar. It defeats the very purpose.

And Third, how the hell are you supposed to know what to do in retirement BEFORE you retire? You don't even know who you are going to be. For 30+ years, the primary motivation for most of your actions was money, directly or indirectly. Remove that and you’re not merely changing your schedule… you’re changing yourself.

So, the ‘retired you’ is going to be a very different animal than your current version who is all about job titles, deadlines and performance reviews. It will be like trying to plan a menu for a complete stranger you have never met before. You can guess but odds are you'll get it wrong.

So, I retired in October 2021 without any plan for post-retirement life and today in April 2026, I still don't have any. All I do is cook, eat, sleep, read books, watch movies, listen to music, exercise and travel once in a while. And even after 4 years of this, I am not bored and I still don't feel the need to do anything which society would consider ‘productive’.

Now, though I wholeheartedly endorse not making any plans for your post-retirement while you are working, when it comes to staying idle during retirement… I would advise caution. Not everybody can manage that and, to be honest, not everybody should.

**The Do-ers**

Some people are psychologically wired to get higher dopamine from action, progress, results. These people feel most alive when they are building something or solving problems. It is also possible that a large part of their identity is tied to their work.

If you are such a person, you won't be able to sit still during retirement and you will have to find something to keep your mind occupied.

However, this is India and there is one more reason why some people may want to keep busy after retirement. And that is…

Societal opposition to idleness.

Right from their childhood, Indians are taught that the more productive you are, the more valuable you are. Sitting idle is looked upon as a sign of laziness and that's considered a moral failing. Which is why many Indians, even after achieving financial independence, think that ‘If I am not doing something productive, I am wasting my life’. And they keep themselves busy in activities which they hope would justify their existence to the society.

If you want to find out whether your desire to always keep on doing something is generated internally or driven by external pressure, honestly answer a simple question…

If no one you know can see what you are doing for the next one year, what will you do with your life?

**The Be-ers**

Now, some people derive pleasure from simple living, observing life and relationships. They are comfortable with stillness and are less comparison-driven. Their identity is not tied to productivity and external validation means little to them.

If you are such a person then you don't need to make any plans before or after retirement. You will figure it out as you go and it should be fine. And if anybody confidently tells you that ‘you will be bored within a few months’, you can respectfully request them to engage in sexual intercourse with themselves. Cause these people are blithely assuming that since they themselves will be bored in that situation, you would be too.

**Know Thyself**

Most people aren’t purely Do-ers or Be-ers… but they do tend to lean clearly in one direction. The mistake is assuming everyone should live the same way.

Benjamin Franklin had said, ‘Trouble springs from idleness’.

On the other hand, Blaise Pascal had said, ‘All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone’.

Both are right.

Which quote is applicable to you will depend on whether you are more of a Do-er or a Be-er. Find that out and you are one step closer to a retirement that actually works for you.

So I FIREd retired early last year at the age of 45, worked in banking IT overseas for 16 years and moved back to Bangalore last year.

After 10 months I got back again into my full time job.

Some of the myths here I want to debunk.

1. Once you take a break and relax, it is impossible to get back to fulltime work: This is a myth. A break and long time off does wonders in terms of healing those corporate scars and you can definitely get back energized with a fresh Outlook and this time you are joining out of choice rather than compulsion of money. You can target exactly the kind of job that makes you happy.
2. Stress comes from long hours: This is again untrue. If you find the type of work you are fully engrossed in it and time just vanishes. This is exactly the kind of target state that everyone must aspire for. Not money, not title, not position. It is about how your time passes during your workday. If you are counting hours and watching the clock, even if you don't have work, it is of no use.Stress on the other hand comes from lack of control, the feeling when you know you can do something but you are not able to do it and someone else is forcing things on you and you don't have autonomy. So aim for autonomy.
3. All that matters is money: I used to be a big beleiver that the end matters rather than the means to the end. I thought the only reason we go to work is for the month end paycheck and FIRE is that key to do away with the monthly paycheck and not having to work ever again.I realized this is partially true. For many people they really need all the money they are earning to make their ends meet. However, for manu especially in the FIRE community we have huge disposable income and very high savings rates, so we were over optimizing money to achieve FIRE quickly rather than trying to find the type of work we would enjoy and do it regardless of money. Yes we need money to pay the bills, but we kind of took it to the extreme.

So now that I reached my FIRE goalpost I realised, that having a job in itself was not a bad thing, it actually gave 100% of what I needed plus it gave me many unpleasant things like stress etc but that was mainly due to my own imposter syndrome and fear

Now I am approaching my job with a completely fresh perspective. My salary is 1/4th of my previous fulltime overseas job, although it pays my monthly bills and leaves some for discretionary spending.

If I had to redo the whole thing again with the wisdom I have now, I would have not stressed so much on FIRE although getting to FI was great, I would have chosen jobs where I get to learn and do good stuff and not be so fearful of losing my job and over optimizing financial goals.

We have recently received a lump sum of ~24 L from family and bonuses, and we are evaluating the best way to deploy it toward our long-term goals, including early retirement. Background: Current age 37, retirement target age 45, existing SIP 2.4L PM, current retirement corpus ~1.2CR. Retirement investment pending 85L. Child Goals are complete. We are considering the following:

• Deploy the lump sum in phased manner into our existing mutual funds (6-12 months via FD laddering)
• Invest in new funds using an STP approach from debt to equity
• Use the amount to partially prepay our home loan (least inclined given current market levels)

Risk Apetite – Moderate

Goal – Retirement

Horizon – 10 yrs

Allocation – lumpsum & %/amount split into your funds

Assessment please

Hi All,

Made some terrible financials decisions over the years and have just been rebuilding with my wife the last few years.

We now have a net wealth of around ~16 crores.

Unfortunately, almost 6r is illiquid (property mainly), around 4 crores in mutual funds (not going to touch for 20 years), remaining 6 cr actively managed in a combination of shares, etfs and FDs.

We are both late 30s (38 and 40) with 2 young kids.

All things considered, especially due to illnesses to close ones in the Family/friends circle (dreaded C word) we are drawn towards retiring earlier (say by 50) and I m super nervous if we can make it happen especially with 2 kids' universities, Weddings etc to plan for too. I am also quite nervous about job losses derailing what we have etc too, hence want to front load a lot of our savings nest whilst we can. We can potentially save around 5L/month now as long as continue to have current jobs.

I m aware of the 25x, 30x, 4% rule etc. But realistically, would love to hear from anyone in a similar situation or who has retired already about a grounded assessment of our current state?

Secondly, we want to buy a retirement flat in a gated community in Kerala (Trivandrum probably) but not sure if we should shell out 2-3cr now or keep it for closer to retirement as who knows how things would be im 10 years or so...?

Thanks in advance!

I am in my late 40s and worked for almost a quarter century and in individual contributer role. I was asked to look for a new job at work place recently. While I always knew the reality hit harder. Almost no calls from portals, sympathetic friends but not really able to find a suitable requirement in their workplaces and so on. Ultimately got one call which never proceeded further as they don't really need a vetaran but talked to only because they are not getting people. The market is still good for mid level juniors, 10-15 years experienced people are getting calls but I think that is the sweet spot. More and more it looks like this is the final (though one needs only one call and successful offer).
I don't know if retirement in late 40s is even considered FIRE but any retirement before traditional retirement date is early, so it's FIRE in the literal sense.

Finances wise I am comfortable though. A paid up flat where I live. I don't have separate buckets of investments but have around 80x pretax networth where x is annual expenses including school fees. Ofcourse this 80x has to take care of kids educations, health emergency beyond insurance too, so actual FIRE corpus would be smaller.

I have salary for a few more months (either working or notice buyout but will get salary). I have given my self around 8 months for job search before I start thinking about what I want to do.

Are there any forced FIREs in the forum? What is your experience of settingup post retirement life? I am not the type who can watch some thing or read books all day or the type who plays community sports like badminton or does social work. I do read a lot but as a hobby that is fine but can't do that every day, all day for next 25-30 years.

Saving is one of the core pillars of any FIRE journey, but also the biggest reason I have seen people criticize it. The assumption is that the FIRE journey is about living frugally, saving, and making sacrifices throughout life to hit the magical FIRE number, which often leads to poor lifestyle and anxiety.

Problem is people think saving is binary: you buy it or you don't, you do it or you skip it.

It's not. And honestly, learning to spend matters more than learning to save.

The real spectrum is something like this:
Cheap
Affordable
Affordable luxury
Luxury

Navigating this spectrum is what learning to spend means. You'll save the most with cheap, but you can't always pick cheap, especially when safety or health is involved. Affordable is usually the right call most of the time, and that's fine. But the whole point of earning money is also to live a better life, and that better life should start on day one, not after you retire.

The difference in the spectrum could be just ₹500 in cases like clothes (Zudio - Westside - H&M - Zara/Uniqlo), which can make your life better without denting your FIRE goal, or worth lakhs in the case of cars (Maruti - M&M - Skoda - BMW), which can seriously derail your FIRE journey. It's not about whether you can take that trip or not, it's about how. A luxury resort and a campsite can share the same mountains. One isn't better than the other. They're just different points on the spectrum of spends based on your earnings/savings.

I have also noticed that people make sacrifices in smaller things, especially for personal needs, and waste money on grand social spends. For instance, saving ₹1,500 per year, ₹15,000 in 10 years, for a YouTube subscription and watching or skipping ads 365 days a year, only to spend that ₹15,000 on table decorations for your wedding sangeet. Not saying people should subscribe, but just highlighting how we save on small personal expenses and make big spends for others to see.

So if you're earning well, occasionally enjoying the finer things in life, especially for yourself and not for the world to see, isn't drifting away from your FIRE journey.

The concern is lifestyle inflation, and it's valid. But there's a difference between lifestyle improvement and lifestyle creep. One is intentional. The other just happens to you. Finding a balance can save your FIRE journey from turning joyless.

Just had this thought while discussing with a friend, so thought I'll share the gyaan here.

Me and my wife (late 30s) have a combined NW of 1M $ and additional 100k in 401k. We had to come to India because of familly medical emergency few months back. We have a young kid too. Now I am in dillema that if I should continue to work in IT in India or find something which I can really enjoy and then do that (yeah I am not able to find that yet) (going back to usa is not an option). Out of this 1M $ 500k is in my stock portfolio and rest in is high yield saving account. Will this number be enough if I plan to live in tier 1 city (need to buy flat). I expect monthy expense will be 1.5 lakh and my spouse will still continue working for IT, earning may be around 30 lakhs pa. Just need an honest advice that if I really need to focus on earning money at this stage ?

Hey folks, looking for feedback before I commit to my SIPs for the coming year.

About me: In markets since 2016. Lived through two bull and two bear cycles, made mistakes, learned. MBA in finance so I can read macro/micro decently but no expert. Horizon 5 to 10 years, invest and largely forget. Do NOT want to rebalance every year unless something materially changes (manager exit, persistent underperformance, mandate drift). Light annual review at most.

My SIP allocation:

Fund Type	Fund Name	Allocation
Index	HDFC Nifty 50	10%
Index	ICICI Nifty Next 50	15%
Flexi	PPFAS Flexi Cap	15%
Mid Cap	Edelweiss Midcap	15%
Small Cap	Bandhan Small Cap	10%
Global	Axis Global Equity Alpha	15%
Global	Edelweiss EM Opportunities	10%
Global	Axis Global Innovation FoF	5%
Thematic	Energy + Defence	5%

India 65% | Global 30% | Thematic 5%

The big shift: Moved global from 10% to 30%. Two reasons — (1) next leg of AI/innovation/EM re-rating is happening outside India while we're trading at premium valuations, (2) INR depreciation adds a quiet 3–5% tailwind on USD returns. Felt 10% was too small to actually move the needle.

Global cap composition (for those who'll ask): All 3 funds are ~85% global large cap, 12% mid, 3% small. So my global 30% is essentially global bluechips (Nvidia, Microsoft, TSMC, Samsung via underlying funds). Innovation FoF adds a thematic + mid-cap tilt. Complementary to Indian large caps (bank/FMCG/energy heavy) since global large caps are tech/semi/healthcare heavy.

Funds I'm exiting: Quant Small Cap and Quant Mid Cap. SEBI front-running probe shadow + current negative Sharpe + seven co-managers on one fund made me uncomfortable. Style worked in 2021–23, choppy market since has exposed momentum dependency. Anyone seeing it differently?

Risks I'm aware of:

• US and US-tech heavy via underlying Schroder funds. Single correction hits all 3 global funds.
• Entering global after a massive 2024–25 tech rally. Chasing the run?
• Thematic is cyclical and exit-timing is hard. 5% probably small enough not to hurt badly, but still.
• Portfolio is ~60–65% large cap overall (Indian index + global large cap + PPFAS). Well-spread or under-exposed to mid/small cap alpha?

Also considering starting a ₹5,000/month Gold SIP alongside this. Logic is gold as 5–8% portfolio hedge against inflation, INR depreciation, and equity drawdowns. Thinking Gold ETF (Nippon Gold BeES or HDFC Gold ETF) if I use demat, or Gold MF (Nippon/HDFC Gold Savings Fund) if I want pure automated SIP. Questions:

• Is ₹5K/month on top of the above equity SIPs sensible, or am I over-diversifying?
• ETF vs MF — which would you pick given 5–10 year horizon? ETF is ~25 bps cheaper but MF is easier for auto-SIP.
• Anyone holding Gold ETF/MF currently — happy with how it's playing its hedging role?

Looking for feedback on:

1. Any fund you'd swap out?
2. 25% in two index funds — too passive-heavy? Keeping both for Nifty 50 stability + Next 50 beta. Sensible?
3. Is 30% global too aggressive?
4. Thematic 5% in Energy + Defence — comfort or reckless?
5. Mid + Small at 25% combined — too hot given current valuations?
6. Anyone holding Bandhan Small Cap? Gunwani's record looks solid, AUM still nimble, but fund is only 6 years old so no deep bear test.
7. PPFAS Flexi Cap — now over ₹1 lakh Cr AUM. Scale problem starting to show up?

Especially curious if anyone's actually moved their global allocation up in the last 12–18 months and how it's playing out. Open to "you're overthinking this" type replies too.

TL;DR: Shifting from 10% to 30% global on India 65 / Global 30 / Thematic 5 split. Dropping Quant funds. Aware of US-tech concentration and entering post-rally. Also thinking ₹5K/month Gold SIP (ETF vs MF?). Want feedback on fund selection and whether concentration risks are real or manageable for a 5–10 year SIP.

Thanks in advance.

Previous Post: Here

Since I follow our financial year....

Progress:

https://preview.redd.it/h6c6n3af4dvg1.png?width=365&format=png&auto=webp&s=81e363631951b525e4dd9a83a8399d31698ea132

Current Allocation:

All figures are in INR.

Direct Equity (India): 55L

RSU (US): 1.36cr

Equity MF (India): 2.08cr

Arbitrage MF: 26L

Debt (PPF/EPF/NPS/SSY/Savings): 1.75cr

Yearly expenses: ~18-20L

Update Since last post:

• Purchased a bigger house costing me 2.5Cr. Possession before Diwali. 50L own contribution, else year end networth would have been higher.
• Not counting loan into liability as of now as the current house would negate that.
• Stopped PMS. Reason: They were doing trading. I wanted long term investment. Trading is not suitable to me, not even via PMS.
• RSUs just took off. Major contribution to networth in last one year is because of that.
• Increasing direct equity investment. So far so good. Better than MFs as of yet.
• Difference in networth between mar 31st and today (April 15th) is almost 30L (same as my CTC 7years back). That's how crazy the swings can be.

Some obvious things:

• In tech obviously. Since 21 Years.
• FAANG (since 2 years). Not difficult to guess.
• Never worked outside of India.

I think I am FI now. Couple of more years to build extra buffer.

just had a talk with my milkman (he is our milkamn from over 25 years) well in his 50's. he is always asking me for money , so i got a impression he isnt well off but he is actually a cropepati with over 30cr Land in his name.

his son works a 18k job in a Hospital and he is doing milkman work from 25 years. i asked him why this lifestyle. he said i can sell one bigha of land and have 1.5cr, but he said it will spoil his kids and himself. i was impressed and flabberghasted as he is riding his 20 year old TVS and occasionally asks me for petrol money.

He isnt retiring because he says this is his routine from decades and just living on Money will spoil him off and his kids. so if you love your job there isnt any retiring.

I have respect for him as I have seen people selling their land, riding land rovers and their kids spoiled by drugs .

Trick is to look poor beside having so much money or this is some kind of romancing with poverty?

The Backstory 14 years ago, I started my career in a call center earning ₹6k per month. Today, I’m fortunate enough to be in a position where I can spend that same amount on a single dinner with friends without overthinking it. It’s been a long, intense grind, but it has brought me to a place where FIRE is finally on the horizon.

The Mental Hurdle I only started focusing on Financial Independence a few years ago, but now that the "RE" (Retire Early) part is becoming a reality, I’m hitting a wall. My wife says I "can't stay without work," and she’s right. That decade-plus of grinding is baked into my DNA.

Lately, it’s hit me hard: I’ve forgotten how to enjoy the small, everyday joys. While we take regular international vacations, I realized I only feel in control of my life during those few weeks a year. The rest of the time, I’m a passenger to my career. I’m currently trying to "deprogram" myself and learn how to actually live again.

My 2 Cents on the Journey For those of you still in the thick of it, here is what I’ve learned:

• Micro-Milestones over End-Goals: Don't just stare at the final "crore" figure. Aim for 6 months of expenses, then 24 months of "working capital" (the "I can quit this toxic job" fund), then Lean FIRE. It makes the mountain feel climbable.
• The Lifestyle Inflation Trap: It’s inevitable. Getting married, having kids, and caring for aging parents will change your math. Don't fight it, plan for it.
• Don't Defer Happiness: Don't push every joy to "post-FIRE." In the words of the classic movie, "Kya pata kal ho na ho" (Who knows if tomorrow will come). Enjoy the journey, or you’ll arrive at the destination and realize you’ve forgotten how to smile.

Just felt like sharing this rant/reflection with this great community. Happy living, everyone!