Retiring comfortably is the financial finish line most people spend their careers chasing. But for one Redditor posting in r/fatFIRE, the finish line turns out to be more complicated than a simple number. With $7.8 million saved and two kids approaching college age, the question is not just whether to retire, but whether doing so now leaves enough runway to fund the whole picture: his children’s education, his own retirement, and a life that actually feels worth living.
For what it’s worth, the concerns this Redditor raises are ones that resonate well beyond the high-net-worth crowd. The cost of sending two kids to a good school is genuinely significant, and the anxiety around whether your savings will hold up is universal, even if the dollar amounts are not.
The Scenario
A quick note before diving in: this is not financial advice, just an outside perspective on a situation many people find relatable. The basics of this Redditor’s position are straightforward. He has roughly $7.8 million spread across bonds, stocks, and retirement accounts, and he is deciding between two paths. The first is grinding another four years to cross the $10 million mark, which buys a larger buffer but delays retirement meaningfully. The second is scaling back to part-time work now, accepting a sharp drop in income but reclaiming some time. Running underneath both options is a real concern about burnout, which matters. A cushion of $7.8 million is large enough to make stepping back defensible, but the financial math has to hold up first.
Some Observations
College costs are the stated focus of this post, but the Redditor’s budget picture has some notable gaps. There is no mention of a home, travel plans, or discretionary retirement spending. Car insurance comes up briefly, but there is no detail on what the vehicles cost to own or insure. As the kids move toward college, questions like whether they have their own cars and how that affects the monthly insurance bill become relevant line items. Each of these extras can push monthly expenses higher than the base model suggests.
The $300,000 per child figure also deserves scrutiny. The key question is whether that number covers tuition alone or the full cost of four years on campus. The distinction is significant. According to College Board data, average private nonprofit four-year college tuition and fees for 2025-26 run $45,000 per year. Once room and board (averaging $15,920 annually at private schools) is added, along with books, supplies, and personal expenses, the total cost of attendance at a private college averages $65,470 per year, or roughly $262,000 over four years before projecting for any future tuition growth.
That four-year total is close to the $300,000 per child estimate, but it assumes today’s prices. Private college tuition rose 4% in the 2025-26 academic year alone, and education inflation has historically tracked well above general CPI. The Redditor’s model assumes an 8% investment return against 3% general inflation, but college cost inflation has been running in the 4% to 6% range annually, which puts real pressure on a static $300,000 budget. That gap is worth revisiting carefully.
There is also the question of net price versus sticker price. National Association of College and University Business Officers data shows private schools discounted tuition by an average of 56.3% for first-time, full-time students in 2024-25. That is the highest average institutional discount rate since 2015-16. In other words, families with this level of assets may not qualify for need-based aid, but selective schools can still offer merit aid that reduces the bill significantly. Planning around the sticker price is prudent, but the realistic out-of-pocket cost may be lower.
On the savings vehicle side, a 529 college savings plan remains the right tool for this situation, with some new context worth knowing. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law on July 4, 2025, significantly expanded the list of qualified 529 expenses, including a doubling of the annual K-12 withdrawal cap to $20,000 and the addition of career credentialing costs as eligible uses. For 2026, contributions up to $19,000 per beneficiary ($38,000 for a married couple filing jointly) stay within the annual gift tax exclusion, and families can front-load up to five years’ worth of contributions through superfunding. A well-funded 529 reduces the pressure on liquid assets when tuition bills actually arrive, but it does not resolve the broader retirement math on its own.
The Takeaway
There is a detail in this post that puts the retirement debate in a different light entirely. The Redditor notes that his parents passed away at 69 and 72. At 52, he is acutely aware that working until 56 to reach $10 million might consume a meaningful share of the healthy, active years he actually has. That is not a small consideration, and it deserves to sit alongside the spreadsheet math rather than beneath it.
The honest answer is that both paths are defensible at $7.8 million. The case for pushing to $10 million is straightforward: more buffer, more flexibility, more margin for unexpected expenses including college cost overruns. The case for scaling back now rests on quality of life, longevity uncertainty, and the fact that $7.8 million invested prudently can support a reasonable retirement even before Social Security eligibility. What the model really needs is a sharper college cost projection, a realistic household expense budget, and a clear-eyed look at the difference between the sticker price and the likely net price of the schools his children actually want to attend.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect 2025-26 College Board data showing average private nonprofit four-year college tuition and fees at $45,000 annually, with total cost of attendance averaging $65,470 per year, and to include context on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s July 2025 expansion of qualified 529 plan expenses and the current $19,000 annual gift tax exclusion for 529 contributions.
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