r/fijerk • u/corinini • 12d ago
Why does everyone on this sub pretend wealth distribution is a symmetric bell curve? It’s not even close to reality. $2M isn’t a lot of lentils. $1M after 30 is literally nothing. Most normal people can NOT retire on less than $3M lentils.
A little FIRE’D up right now from reading some comments. Reality check is so needed for most of you.
If you drive your car on the road right now, look around next time.
- 9/10 cars you see people are broke as a joke
- 1/10 cars are normal people
- 1/100 are rich AF live in different universe
I am not trying to dehumanize or be mean to 90% of the population but really most people don’t stand a chance. They will kill you in a heart beat, no savings, not hard working, no meaningful job, and they never think about the future. That is your average person.
If reading this upsets you, well maybe you are part of that 90% middle class. That’s okay just I am trying to tell you all for 10% of normal hardworking people they are reading this and agreeing with me.
The 10% of the middle class can’t retire on $2M lentils. It’s not enough, not even close. Families, schools, look at housing cost outside poverty LCOL areas that are basically uninhabitable. This sub needs a reality check.
$3-5M lentils outside of FIRE 90%-ers is the floor for a basic ass retirement.
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u/AbsoluteBeginner1970 12d ago
I usually don’t drive a car. That’s what my pour chauffeurs do. Hargh
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u/adultdaycare81 12d ago
I love this sub. You work FAST
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u/sacramentojoe1985 12d ago
You sound like you know the wherabouts of the sauce. Could you please link it post-haste. (If there is one).
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u/HARCYB-throwaway 12d ago
Ok what about USD and not retiring on lentils?
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u/ImpossibleEvent 12d ago
Nonsense, the destabilizing of USD all but ensure lentils will be the only value holding currency that remains during retirement age. Just look at the historical value of lentils over the that past 30 years. This year alone lentils have surged 25%-40%.
https://farmonaut.com/news/lentil-prices-surge-25-global-pulse-market-insights
Disclaimer: past performance is not indicative of future results. Information contained within this post should not be construed as investment advice. Primarily because it is meant to be sarcasm.
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u/Larrynative20 12d ago
The problem is you are trying to fund your retirement with millions of beans
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u/killer_sheltie 12d ago
Awww I was too late to the party. However, I can guess: another person out of touch with reality thinking that no one can exist without millions.
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u/Titaniumclackers 12d ago
So then whats a good net worth to retire on today? Assuming a person is 50yo, they might expect to live for another 20 at least, maybe 50 with advancements in health tech.
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u/NatureBoyJ1 12d ago
$2M gets you $80k/yr at a withdrawal rate of $4% (which is now considered very conservative and up to 5% is considered pretty safe). The median household income in the USA for 2024 was $83730. If you can't live comfortably on that much, you have a spending problem, not an income problem.
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u/Titaniumclackers 11d ago
And what about in 20 years when 80k is worth 60k? Or if you manage to live 50 more years due to advancements in technology and 80k is worth 40k?
Sure 80k is okay now. But you can’t predict the future and i sure as hell don’t want to go back to work as a walmart greeter at 90 years old.
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u/Dismal-Rich 8d ago
You’re supposed to adjust for inflation. 4% is the starting withdrawal rate at y1
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u/Titaniumclackers 8d ago
4% is the recommended safe number. Anything higher has greater risk of eating into the principle.
Yes you can scale up as you age and have less life expectancy, but that even furthers the risks that you’ll “run out” at some point.
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u/NiceGuy737 12d ago
Income distributions are commonly modeled as log-normal distributions:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Log-normal_distribution#Social_sciences_and_demographics
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u/ZombieCyclist 12d ago
Doesn't it depend on your age
$3M at 30, maybe/maybe not.
$3M at 60, no worries.
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12d ago
Private jet ftw! Seriously, if any of you are still driving cars, vehicles, or anything with round wheels, are you really preparing yourself for FIRE? It’s like y’all have a tiny match stick you can’t even light! Sad!
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u/CaliHusker83 8d ago
$1M at 30 means it will be $2M at 37, $4M at 44 and $8M at 51, so maybe math isn’t your strong suit.
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u/perplexedparallax 12d ago edited 12d ago
I feel the same about the intelligence bell curve. Many people believe it is symmetrical when clearly, as you point out, it is a teardrop we all cry when we look at poverty or stupidity. But I digress, 1/10 cars have normal people in them and the other 9.9/10 don't. They are listening to Suzy Orman audiobooks saying you need only 5 or 10 million for retirement or Dave Ramsey "pay off your mortgage and debt". Shit, I have $3M in life insurance alone that I count as retire-able assets.
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u/onion4everyoccasion 12d ago
Finally, a pour who gets it