Jacob's working.
http://earlyretirementextreme.com/abouthttp://earlyretirementextreme.com/frequently-asked-questionsSpeaking of Jacob, he wrote a relevant article on this topic,
OMY Until ComfortAnd he also noted in one of his articles (can't find it right now) that as you get richer, your idea of rich changes. If your initial target is 500K, by the time you reach that, many people think that they need more. This happens even to people "in the know" -- folks who are consciously resisting lifestyle inflation -- who are striving to RE. You'll see a lot of this particularly on the Bogleheads forums.
>> Many of us should already be retired, yet continue to work out of fear that we'll have to actually utilize our safety margins.
Yes, this also part of it. I'm not at a BH level of conservativeness (<2% SWF = WTF!) but I do have concerns about the recent boom/bust cycles of the US economy, the broader global economy, and the ability of the planet to sustain market growth indefinitely. Particularly with P/E10 sitting where it is, I don't think it's unreasonable to feel this way, given the sequence-of-returns risk. If there's such a thing as the oxymoronic sounding phrase "reasonable fear" I think this qualifies.
But all of the above points pale in comparison to the "SO onboard" + "mental readiness" challenges I've had over the past year and a half. You can read about the
SO struggles if you care to.
I've come to see the full FIRE timeline as:
1. Realize it's possible and start learning how to do it
2. Ditch debt by downsizing your life and saving
3. Increase efficiency to further reduce expenses over a year or two
4. Learn to invest
5. Wealth accumulation, NW increase
6. Setting a FIRE number
7. Autopilot for X number of years to hit #6
8. Realize: Holy shitballs, I'm there. This forces a re-examination of 6, as well as triggers the next phase which is: Can we really do this? What are the practical steps required to unplugging?
9. Implement said practical steps. Some of these items may take time, e.g. moving/downsizing, coming up with a financial plan to draw off from your asset sheet, brainwashing your mate into being fully onboard if s/he wasn't already.
10. Determine how to relate this life change -- if you choose to relate it at all -- to other people in your life
11. Set an actual RE date
12. Pull the trigger
Most of the reason I started blogging was, in fact, to help me work through 6-12. And it's been helpful -- April 1st is my give-notice date and barring a catastrophic market collapse I will hit it.
There's an additional reason I'm still working: My current job is not that bad.
You hinted at "increasing lifestyle extravegance" as a possible reason to continue working. This is not the case in my situation at all. You can probably boil the whole thing down to a) fear (Once I leave, I don't want to feel forced to go back to work, ever) and b) feeling 100% prepared, which may actually be a subset of a)