[USER]

This question is subjective, but looking for opinions from like-minded people.
My husband and I are mid 30s with two kids ages 2 and under.

He makes~$265K, I make about $185K pre tax.

We have a goal to save at least $150K per year after taxes. We have about $1M saved including retirement accounts (excluding home equity).

The plan is for me to eventually stay at home with the kids while my husband continues working, but we’d like my husband to be able to retire early too.

When would you make the move down to one income? What factors would you consider?

[Ann]

What’s your lifestyle? I stayed home while my husband made 70k. We just needed to live frugally.

We still put money in retirement.

I would assume you can stay home now but only you know what you spend

[Michele]

You will never get time with your babies back. Use that as your measuring stick on when to quit. At the end of the day, your kids will remember what you did in 5 days, 5 weeks, 5 months, 5 years but your job won’t remember anything you did and if business turns down you will be just a number. It’s just work.

You will definitely have to evaluate your spending habits if you’re cutting your income that much.

It was hard for us and probably took a year to adjust to spending less and I ended up looking for part time work for my sanity, so I’d suggest if you aren’t ready to quit that you live off only hubs’ income to see what it feels like and know where to adjust and save yours in HYSA for when you quit.

Quitting my job to be home was the best, hardest thing I’ve ever done.

I went back after the youngest went to K and while I was desperate to go back to work, I also regret it because when they’re in school they still need the stability of having you home after school.

My job was flexible so I didn’t miss anything but it’s not the same.

Part time would have been better. But I am fully engaged in a great job making more than ever as my last kid goes out the door.

It will work out when you do the right things for your family.

[Mohita]

My gentle advice would be for you to scale down, but not quit entirely. It’s not always easy to re-enter the workforce should you need to, circumstances can change, and you just need something of your own (and you are used to working).

Could you go part time or become a contractor? Could you work on specific projects?

Since you can live on your husbands income, any money you make can be put to retirement or kids college funds

[Mohan]

You can’t get time back with your kids. Stop now, be with them until the youngest goes off to all day school then start again if you have to or work part time.

There’s a myriad of ways to make it work money wise…

I doubt you’ll regret any of the time being home with your kids if that’s truly what you want to do.

[Russell]

FIRE, and especially the RE, is all about understanding that our time is very limited and you can’t get it back.

Also in this category: childhood. You will never be able to buy back time with them when they are young.

At your income levels, you can afford to scale back now. Stay home with them.

Then assess your expenses and budget for retirement living expenses.

Multiple by 25-30 to get a target number and use that to decide if you return to work once the kids are fully in school.

[Quintero]

This is very similar to us, and I’m absolutely home with kids while they’re little especially. We also prioritize my husband working from home even though he could otherwise make more.

We balance making the most of family time now (esp in these very dependent attached years, but also childhood in general where they enjoy so much family time) with overall goals of retiring early for even more freedom and adventuring.

It’s a balance and any choice has its sacrifices, but for me I’ll never regret this.

I’d recommend deeply comparing the numbers AND the difference in lifestyles, and know that no choice is permanent.

The young years are a so brief and so essential

[Dani]

Why not take a break now and go back to work for a few years when your babies are in primary school?

[Author]

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