I know I'm getting in on this discussion on the late side, but having read through the thread, it seems like a bunch of points were either missed or glossed over. Since I'm at around the spending level being discussed, I thought I'd also throw in my perceptions around spending this amount in FIRE...
- The Reddit world has separate subreddits for ChubbyFIRE and FatFIRE. ChubbyFIRE defines itself as for people having a stash of $2.5m-$5m, so at a 4% WR you're looking at a $100k-200k draw. FatFIRE agrees with a $5m threshold, i.e. a $200k/yr draw.
- I think that it makes a big difference whether you're looking at spending for one person, a couple, or a family to assess whether it's FatFIRE. Spending $100k for a family may not be leanFIRE but doesn't feel fatFIRE either.
- It also will make a huge difference whether your housing is paid off or not.
- It will make a big difference whether you are able to arrange your income so that you qualify for ACA subsidies or not.
I have been FIREd for 21 years and have had remarkably level withdrawals from my accounts of around 90-100k/yr, partly from trying to keep under a 'safe' WR (not always safe, in retrospect, but back in the day I didn't know about SORR), partly by chance. When I was spending that whilst paying a mortgage, paying for my SO's schooling, and for her living expenses as well, in a VHCOL city (NYC), it did not feel like FatFIRE (although I didn't feel like I was scrimping much either). When I was spending that whilst living alone in an HCOL city (DC - which has been transitioning to a VHCOL city in the past few years), it felt pretty fat - I could rent a fancy townhouse with more room than I neded, pay for a housecleaner, get theater subscriptions and go to whatever concerts or sporting events I wanted (not the priciest tickets of course), go out to eat whenever I wanted, subscribe to the print edition of the NY Times, give hefty gifts to my DD, buy all of the tech 'toys' I have wanted, and travel 1/3 of the year, without feeling like I had exceeded my target spending.
Current approximate spending (no facepunches neccesary - I know that it's crazy high)
Rent $40k
Healthcare $10k
Entertainment (includes dining out) $10k
Gifts $5k
Travel $15k
Media $1.5k
Food $3k
Utilities $4k
Car depreciation and expenses $3k
Clothes $0.5k
'Toys' (tech) $1.5k
Pet $0.5k
Charity $5k
Miscellaneous $1k
I could see spending more (more car, more entertainment, more 'toys') but don't think I could really up it beyond $125k or so without being overwhelmed by my own piggishness - unless the extra spending was all going to gifts and charity.