i thnik many many people can fire already if played well in the property game during 2010 time

I wanna ask those that have FIRE-ed.

Do you still file your annual taxes and submit income as zero?

My retirement funds consist of EPF and a DIY investment portfolio. Still a few years off to retirement, but its looking like it will be about 60:40 on retirement but markets could change.

In terms of withdrawal strategy, it will be withdrawing from both i.e. whatever the ratio then, unless the DIY portfolio turns negative for the year, which EPF will be 100%.

I also have some properties but I dont count that as retirement fund. Can be liquidated in the future if get good price.

SWR should really be based on the 200K, since that’s your target spending and ultimate goal. By definition, the 4% rule assumes that year in, year out, you withdraw 4% inflation adjusted to spend. That’s the “classic” FIRE model.

But if, like me, your budget is flexible, then you can build in a minimum spending budget. In years when markets underperform, you’re willing to scale down to that level. In effect, that’s like running with a lower SWR.
Think of it as having two FIRE modes:
Lean FIRE :  your absolute minimum spending.
Normal/Chubby FIRE : your preferred lifestyle at the standard 4% rule.
Working backwards:
200K spending at 4% : you need a 5M pot (your true FIRE goal).
100K spending at 4% : you only need 2.5M (your Lean FIRE threshold).

So as you accumulate, your first milestone is 2.5M — once you hit that, you know Lean FIRE is possible. Keep going, and when you breach 5M, that’s when you’ve unlocked real freedom. That’s the mindset.

Even in retirement, you’re not locked in. Can mix in active or passive income, or just oscillate between Lean and Chubby FIRE modes as needed.
(personally, I am wondering if i should now consider oscillating between Chubby FIRE and Obese FIRE...  )

Because my prop are not giving me any cash flow and very illiquid. One is my home, one is a property that I let my parents stay for free and another is a piece of vacant land.

Not really a matter of difficulty… just undecided.
Plus, I still carry over the old corporate habit of evaluating plans by calendar year.
The increase is a bit too steep and might be counterproductive. A gradual increase could work better???

If you are like me, who refuse to climb the corporate ladder, can't really change job, number 1 is very irrelevant as you can't really max out your day job.

Hence that is why I max other place like savings rate and my investments add I have seen that they can move the needle more than whatever I can do with my job.

Er what to do? Depend on you lo. I am going to do organic gardening and having my own farm so no need to depend on supermarket. What you want to do is entirely up to you as you are the boss of your own time. No more bosses or company to answer to. That's the easiest thing what to do when FIRE. Do what you want.

I see myself in rather similar situation as TS...
- I am in my mid 40s, from mid 20s till now, been gainfully employed tax free.
- So after working for nearly 20 years, planned to retire early (maybe in another 4 to 6 years).
- I am financially independent already with no loans and no commitment.
- Life insurance premium on family member waived, wife had critical illness waiver (cancer) but thankfully recovered.
- All houses, cars fully paid.
- Only thing left is to see through my daughter's tertiary education in the horizon of another 6 years.

My secret?

Back in 2021 (same time as TS posted this thread), I heeded advice from Michael Burry and Mike Maloney. Inflation is going to burn with all the stimulus unemployment paychecks and Quantitative Easing. Instead of equities, I went all in into physical gold bullions. Even liquidated all insurance saving plans! Paid off handsomely and now I am in HODL mode watching all governments burn in debt....

Only gold is money, all else is credit - JP Morgan

All paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value .....ZERO - Voltaire

told my kids to pursue their passion... they all pick vocational careers... they will not be able to FIRE unless they start their own business...

but they can already all FIRE because of their parents wealth... 

Not quite, I went in full with physical gold, starting 2021 by liquidating other savings/assets/saving plan insurance. Took 2 years to accomplish all that (buy some every 2 months or so), and it doubled my net worth in the span of 4 years.

You can imagine, in 2021 around Jan-Feb, a kilo bar was RM225,000. Today, it's RM500,000!

I can live off RM1500 per month. I don't eat out. I don't use Aircon. I use old car. My phone is like 5 years old. My laptop is around 10 years old. My clothes are all preloved clothes. My shoes is only RM7.00 and can last around 2 years? No zus coffee or mixue. One meal a day. No expensive meal if I were to eat out. Max also RM35 that's all. I shop at wet market. My phone bill only RM40/month. No Netflix. No overseas holiday. Is that enough detail? I increase it to around 3k cause of the health food I am taking (high equality extra virgin olive oil with polyphenol level in 1000mg/kg, 100% cacao, fish oil, my variety nuts, basil seed, japanese green tea, daily Indonesian avocado, supplements stuff for my parents)

I have said many times. Who the hell cares about the dividend tax when you have options coming in? The options premium received offset the tax significantly.

I will give you example of a real life company I am holding.

Cal-Maine pays me around USD800 p.a. Net 30% dividend tax= USD560. Estimated options earned from selling Cal-Maine USD100 x 12 = USD1200 p.a. So if US govt wants my USD240, by all means go ahead and take them. USD1200 - 240 = USD960. You cannot run away from dividend tax. So just pay up. I am more than happy to give the tax to the US govt cause they give me a way to make money and grow my money safely. Lots of high quality business in US. Think of it as cost of doing business in the US. Total income from Cal-Maine = USD1760
1760/9000 x 100% =19.5555%p.a

I got more examples if you want.

I see it differently from u cos i believe there is very less job security n opportunity in the future. Many jobs will be contract or gig type. My child can afford to skip regular job n go straight into the investment way.

Yes for my child it is daddy kasi. And we r holding hands to explore the stock investment option on top of my existing assets.

Btw, from a lot of posts about nothing to do after retired, these people seem have 1 similarity, they are sharing one same hobby or only has ONE hobby, that is, TRAVELING, once they have no place to travel to, they have no idea what else to do.

Many people think they love traveling, but often, that is not really the case.
The allure tends to fade with age... or maybe it is just that once you're no longer chained to an 8-to-6 job, the idea of rushing through airports doesn’t feel that magical anymore.
some consultants that had to fly a lot can share their experiences.

2. Get FAT FIRE. Able to go anywhere, eat anything and move to any country. Total freedom. Don't like country A, pack up your bags and move. Not restricted by your money or destination. Be a digital nomad.

while waiting for response....
my version...
Simple back of the envelope calc here

1K rm a day per pax in Malaysia is already more than adequate => 30K rm a month per person.
Similarly, about 1K sgd a day would go a long way almost anywhere else.
(Of course, in places like Vietnam, it’s probably closer to RM1K than SGD1K, right?)

Accommodation, especially temporary or ad-hoc stays, usually takes the biggest bite. Once that’s sorted, the rest of the spending is quite manageable.

But yeah, even with these numbers, I think it’s pretty overkill already… hopefully most would agree
Another, maybe more logical and structured way to look at it, is to base it on your actual spending while you were working.

Rough guide:
Around 80% of your gross salary (your usual take-home pay) =    chubby FIRE
About 50% of gross salary =    normal FIRE (anyone with proper savings planning understands why)
And if you can sustain min 100% of your gross salary in retirement, that is FAT FIRE already in same country really.

min RM20k per month salary (currently with inflation adjusted). You can if you are frugal.