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Weekly Finance Thread - 2026-06-13

A weekly thread to discuss financial matters - from personal all the way up to global.

Ground Rules

  • Remember that we're all just Internet randos. Don't bet your life savings on a hot tip from this thread.
  • Keep culture war in the culture war thread. Yes, global events may impact our personal finances, but that does not mean we have to incessantly harp on culture war aspects here. If you are going to discuss it, please stick to the practical impacts of it on an individual level.
  • Be kind. Remember that everyone here comes from different circumstances. We all have different resources available and different risk tolerances.
  • Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Better is better. Celebrate people when they take a step up and work to move their finances in the right direction. Don't flame out because they haven't followed what you consider the optimal path. Everybody has to start somewhere.
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How do you balance FIRE with not wanting to be a miserable tightwad? Most specifically interested in if anyone has thoughts on that in context of marriage + children + income gap (let's say 4 me:1 her). A particular potential (pun intended) Mrs. Lagrangian likes travel and activities more than I do and I have trouble thinking about that, especially in context of the income asymmetry.

My plan is to aim for 85% of my income. In an "expensive" year, I usually spend about 50%, so it seems like a decent aim. If I don't use it all, I'll leave it to my partner.

wdym aim for 85%? Live on 85% of your income? and for that matter "leave it to my partner"?

I'll probably retire when I can manage a consistent inflation-adjusted constant annual withdrawal rate that's equal to 85% of my income.

As for leave it to my partner - she's probably going to outlive me, so I'm trying to make sure I have enough for her to be taken care of if something happens.