Only working because SO isn't convinced that FIRE is at hand?

[rob in cal]

   In a few years we may be approaching FIRE status, especially if we downsize our house, or sell it and end up renting a much smaller house.  (I'm projecting that our kids will be on their own in a few years, we'll see about that).  At that point, I don't know how my wife will feel about the reality of our good financial news.  We may have to have some long, detailed discussions to sort out our future plans.  I'm 48 and she's 45 right now.  Wondering if there is anyone out there right now who is just working because their SO hasn't accepted the reality of FIRE status having been reached?

[dandarc]

Exflyboy comes to mind - It is totally inaccurate to say he works sometimes only because his SO hasn't FIRED yet, but that does seem to be part of it.

http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/journals/i-retired-today!-)

[spokey doke]

Here is one of a number of threads related to your question:

http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/getting-spouse-on-board/msg534771/#msg534771

Depending on the assumptions involved, we could be just past our FIRE number, or not quite there...I've made my peace with at least 2 more years to wrap up and shut down my career.

It is a challenge for most people to fully embrace something completely counter to conventional wisdom, even when you see the numbers and understand the reasoning, it can take time...so gradual discussion with your SO going through it sounds about right.  I particularly like showing all of the conservative assumptions going into the calculations we are using...

[Retired To Win]

In your original post, you say that you expect to be ready to FIRE "in a few years."  You also make it sound as if you expect to wait until you're almost to that point to start having discussions about it with your wife. My question is: why wait to have those talks?

I started talking about earlier retirement with my wife as soon as the possibility of FIRE crystallized in my mind.  As I came up with  budget-cutting ideas that in time reduced basic living expenses by 42%, I talked about each idea with her and showed her how it would help.  On the passive income side, I tracked for her often the growth of our stashes and the projected passive income they could generate.  ETC.

Bottom line, you can get buy-in by degrees.  But start that process now, not years from now.

Good luck.

[Trirod]

I'm sort of in that situation.  We could retire right now although I really want to build up a little more cushion, but my wife is not really ready yet.  Partly she is not sure we have enough to retire - or rather, she is concerned that she will have to worry about money, like we did when we were first married and relatively poor, even though all our projections show we can support a pretty lavish lifestyle with our retirement savings.  Also she is not really ready to quit her job, which she (mostly) enjoys.  I think it's just going to take time to get comfortable with the idea, and likely to build up a little more cushion than I think we really need.

So I suggest you start talking to your wife now about it, so she can start getting comfortable with both the financial and emotional sides.