Some people think about walking away from work long before they reach the traditional retirement age. That option tends to belong to those who have accumulated vast fortunes during their working years, including a Redditor in their late 40s who is now wrestling with exactly that question.
In a post on the FatFIRE subreddit, the individual shares that they have a $15 million net worth and earn roughly $2.5 million to $3.0 million per year from a W-2 job. The poster is married with three kids and lives in a medium cost-of-living area. One child is already in college, while the other two are still in high school. Annual lifestyle expenses run $325,000.
He wants to leave the corporate world and pursue something more stimulating, though not necessarily something that pays the same. Full-time executive life no longer appeals to him. What do the numbers say? Can he retire now, or does waiting a few years make more financial sense? The math is fairly encouraging, but the non-financial considerations are just as important. Speaking with a qualified financial advisor before making any move this significant is always worthwhile.
Is a $15 Million Portfolio Enough?
A $15 million portfolio is almost certainly large enough to sustain this lifestyle. At a 3% withdrawal rate, the Redditor draws $450,000 in pre-tax income annually, well above the $325,000 needed. That buffer covers taxes on the withdrawal and still leaves room to spare. The key is that a 3% withdrawal rate is considered quite conservative by most retirement research standards.
Morningstar’s 2025 State of Retirement Income report puts the safe withdrawal rate for a standard 30-year retirement at 3.9% for a balanced portfolio with 30% to 50% in equities. Bill Bengen, who originally proposed the 4% rule in 1994, went further in his 2025 book, updating his recommended safe withdrawal rate to 4.7% based on expanded historical data. For a FatFIRE retiree in their late 40s planning a retirement that could last 40 years or more, researchers generally suggest staying closer to 3.0% to 3.5% to maintain a comfortable safety margin. At $15 million, a 3% withdrawal rate falls comfortably within that conservative range.
There is also a good chance his expenses will ease over time. With one child already in college and the other two approaching it, the household’s largest discretionary costs will likely shrink over the next decade as the children become financially independent.
Sticking It Out for a Few More Years
The Redditor is not entirely ready to pull the trigger, either. He floats the idea of waiting until he reaches a $20 million portfolio before stepping away. That instinct is worth examining carefully, because the decision to retire is rarely just financial.
The first question to answer before leaving any high-paying job is: what comes next? Research on early retirees shows this question trips up a significant share of people who leave. According to a September 2024 ResumeBuilder survey, 40% of people who came out of retirement and returned to work cited boredom as a primary reason. The initial honeymoon phase of freedom tends to give way to a loss of structure, purpose, and professional identity that many high achievers underestimate.
This Redditor has said he wants to keep working in some capacity, just not in a full-time corporate seat. That is an important distinction. Having a clear next chapter, whether that is advisory work, a passion project, or a lower-key role, makes the transition far smoother than walking away with nothing lined up.
There is also a networking consideration. If any of his children want to enter the same field, his current connections are a genuine asset. Those relationships tend to fade quickly once someone steps away from a senior role. Staying on for another several years could meaningfully help a child climb faster in the same industry, though that alone should not be the deciding factor for someone already bored with the work.
Have More Money with Fewer Years to Stretch It
Continuing for a few more years at $2.5 million to $3.0 million per year means the Redditor can cover all living expenses from salary while the portfolio compounds untouched. A $15 million portfolio left alone for five years at a modest 5% annual return would grow to roughly $19 million, pushing the Redditor close to that $20 million target without withdrawing a dollar. Retiring at 55 rather than 49 or 50 also shortens the retirement runway by several years, which reduces the statistical risk of outliving the portfolio.
The stronger argument for staying, though, is less about the math and more about the motivation. This Redditor is bored, not burned out. Those are meaningfully different situations. Someone fleeing an unsustainable workload or a toxic environment has an urgent reason to leave regardless of the financial cost. Someone who simply wants more intellectual stimulation has the luxury of being selective. That kind of boredom can often be addressed by negotiating a different role, reducing hours, or taking on a special project, options that are far easier to explore from inside a high-paying position than from outside it.
Walking away from a $2.5 million-plus W-2 salary is a one-way door. Re-entering the corporate market at a comparable level after a multi-year absence is genuinely difficult, especially in executive roles where relationships and recent track record matter enormously. The Redditor has spent decades building the kind of financial cushion that creates generational wealth. A few more years of patience, paired with a concrete plan for what comes next, could make the eventual exit both wealthier and more fulfilling.
Editor’s note: This article was updated to include Morningstar’s 2025 State of Retirement Income finding of a 3.9% safe withdrawal rate for a 30-year retirement, Bill Bengen’s revised 4.7% recommendation from his 2025 book, and a September 2024 ResumeBuilder survey finding that 40% of unretired workers cited boredom as a reason for returning to work.
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