Help! Can I turn being let go into being ~semi~ FIRE?

[stashStache]

Hey folks,

Long time fan and very shy poster here.

As the title suggests, I just got let go from a great job after the company fired about half of their staff. I am in a pretty decent situation financially, and am poised to marry a truly wonderful woman who wants to be my "sugar mama", haha. Obviously, I don’t want to depend on this, but we’ve been together for 6 years and I would say it’s 99% likely that we’re going to take that step soon. Anyway, since I have been let go, I'm trying to reflect and consider what my options are moving forward. Here are the details:

Life Situation: Single (...for now...?), 27, no kids, live in TN but hoping to move back to the west coast where I grew up.

Gross Salary: 70k/yr

As I mentioned, I just got laid off. I was making this amount as a software engineer. I am relatively early in my career, so 80k in another year and 100k+ in the next 4-5 years is highly likely. However, I am not very passionate about software — hence the desire to move along. I am considering going at it for a year or two more but am still not sure. I am now making $1700/month (covers my expenses) working 10 hrs/week at a part-time gig. This can last as long as I want it to.

Pre-tax deductions:

No 401k offered :(. Not pretax, but do put $5,500 Roth IRA/yr

Dividends: $3,500/year on average

Adjusted Gross Income: 57k

Taxes: 16k or about 22%

Current Expenses: $19,300/year or $1,615/month

I am well aware that I could be more frugal (face punches are definitely allowed). However, I am incredibly passionate about rock climbing (what I want to do full time, hah) so I pay a premium on gear, travel, and a gym membership. And I also eat out a lot and pay for my partner usually...

Breakdown:
Expense:   Expenses / Month:
Rent                         $635.00
Utilities                 $25.00
Internet                 $30.00
Groceries                 $280.00
Auto Insurance         $30.00
Restaurants         $250.00
Charitable Giving      $30.00
Amazon Prime         $8.33
Spotify                 $11.00
Climbing Gym         $65.00
Climbing trip/gear    $100.00
Overbudget reserve  $150.00

Total $ / Month      $1,614.33
   
Total Expenses / Year:  $19,371.96

Assets: Total $295,000
275k taxable account
10k roth IRA
10k cash

Liabilities None, incredibly lucky that my parents paid in full for my college.

Specific Questions

Now that this out of the way, I want to get back to the initial question — what seems like a reasonable time for me to FIRE? Can I now? Here’s more backstory there: my significant other has a net worth of 10k, but will be making 100k+/yr when she graduates in a year. She’s pretty frugal as well, and I’ve calculated our joint expenses as totaling 45k/year. However, she really wants to have kids, which is a significant expense. I also imagine I will be making at the very least $1000/month for the foreseeable future doing miscellaneous work (I get bored easily).

Additionally, I’m very much not counting on this, but both of our parents are pretty well off. I hate to think about it, but I imagine they will leave us in the realm of 500-750k at the very least and likely more. Again, I’m really not counting on this whatsoever, I just wanted to provide additional context.

Let me know what you think or if you need more info!

Thank you!

[Zamboni]

Are you co-habitating with your other half?

Would you be happy with a job at a rock climbing facility? Perhaps teaching rock climbing?

You don't have enough in savings for a safe withdrawal rate at your current burn rate . . . so you are not FIRE unless you lower expenses or grow a bigger stash. And please don't count on any inheritance at all . . .

[Half Stached]

Let's say we ignore your girlfriend's income and any possible inheritance. Your taxable account then yields 11K/year at a 4% withdrawal. Take this and add to it your 12K/year from misc work and you have 23K/year coming in. Since you live on 19.3K/year, this sounds doable! However, I see a couple of challenges... first of all, it doesn't look like you have any health insurance budgeted. I'd be nervous not having any, and even more nervous about this if I was rock climbing regularly. Secondly, most areas of California are more expensive than most areas of Tennessee. So, I would expect rent to go up.

I guess I'd try to get a better defined understanding of your 1K/month expected income: will it translate to California? Is it dependable, or not? From there, you can make a better plan.

[CrispKale]

How many kids are you wanting? What is your estimate of the expense of them? Are you looking to rent for the foreseeable future even when you move/marry?

[stashStache]

Are you co-habitating with your other half?

Would you be happy with a job at a rock climbing facility? Perhaps teaching rock climbing?

You don't have enough in savings for a safe withdrawal rate at your current burn rate . . . so you are not FIRE unless you lower expenses or grow a bigger stash. And please don't count on any inheritance at all . . .

Thanks for your response. I am living with my significant other, yes. I would definitely be happy with a job at a climbing gym, though the pay is terrible, unfortunately! I make more working 10 hrs/week at my current part-time gig than I would working 40hrs/week at the local climbing gym.

I do know that I don't have enough for a safe withdrawal rate. I am more specifically curious, given the fact that I will realistically be with someone making a healthy salary if it makes sense for me to not worry about jumping into another full time position at this time or ever, really.

Also, like I said in my original post, not planning on inheritance at all -- was just trying to provide more granularity and context.

[stashStache]

Let's say we ignore your girlfriend's income and any possible inheritance. Your taxable account then yields 11K/year at a 4% withdrawal. Take this and add to it your 12K/year from misc work and you have 23K/year coming in. Since you live on 19.3K/year, this sounds doable! However, I see a couple of challenges... first of all, it doesn't look like you have any health insurance budgeted. I'd be nervous not having any, and even more nervous about this if I was rock climbing regularly. Secondly, most areas of California are more expensive than most areas of Tennessee. So, I would expect rent to go up.

I guess I'd try to get a better defined understanding of your 1K/month expected income: will it translate to California? Is it dependable, or not? From there, you can make a better plan.

Thanks, Half Stached! This was a very helpful response.

Good catch on not seeing health insurance budgeted -- I didn't add it in given that I am not sure what my rate will be once I go off of my company's health plan. However, from everything I've seen it seems likely that it will be in the realm of $200 - $300 / month. This definitely increases my overhead... Something to keep in mind for the next year or so, but I would be on my girlfriend's health insurance long-term.

In terms of COL increases, I would be moving back to my home state of OR, which is more reasonable than California, (though rapidly catching up :( ). Where I would move actually bears a similar cost of housing to where I'm at now (~1,300 /month total for me and my girlfriend), but it's definitely something worth considering. As a result, a 1-2k / month income working very part-time goes a long way.

Thanks again!

[stashStache]

How many kids are you wanting? What is your estimate of the expense of them? Are you looking to rent for the foreseeable future even when you move/marry?

Good Question! We've talked about having 1 kid and that's our target. Definitely no more than 2. This is actually one reason why my girlfriend is open to supporting me financially -- it's one of her dreams to have kids and I'm less excited about it (at this point). It's really important to her to support me in my dreams (being able to rock climb and have lots of free time and room to work less) and that way I can support her in her dreams (having kids). This also means no childcare costs. Not sure what the estimate of childcare is, though.

We would be buying a house once we move back to west coast in 1 -1.5 years.