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$9,200,000 net worth (age 52)
“Enough” - A 52-year-old woman and her 58-year-old spouse have a ~$9.2M net worth (97th percentile) in a MCOL area. $7.4M liquid and $1.8M in two homes/land with current household income around $515K and a $91K pension starting for him in two years. She wants a “soft luxury” fatFIRE: about $250K per year (roughly $100K travel plus $150K living/healthcare), frequent trips, a nicer $2M home, and modest help like a part-time chef and trainer for roughly $25K/year. Even though Monte Carlo runs and her planner both say they’re more than fine even with higher spending and a big remodel, she’s still hesitating because she compares herself to $20M net-worth posters. She is feeling guilty about business-class flights, spooked by big one-off costs like a $200K renovation, and acutely aware that she may only have about a decade of truly active travel left while grinding in a less-fulfilling, long-commute job paying ~$360K with RSUs. Commenters largely tell her the money is enough; the real work now is psychological and that additional earnings likely won’t change her life, and choosing whether to trade irreplaceable “good years” for incremental net worth growth.
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TAKE-AWAY:
At high net worth, the central question shifts from “Can I afford it?” to “What am I waiting for?” When simulations, pensions, and assets all say yes, working longer becomes less about safety and more about fear, comparison, and scarcity often at the direct cost of the healthiest, most active years she’s trying to enjoy.
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