My parents are in their 50s and are worth $2 million but I think they’re behind retirement – do they need to cut back?

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What is it about people and the need to analyze the financial situation of everyone around them? Well, when your whole identity is tied to how much money you have, you tend to see that reflected in other people, even your parents.

In a recent post in the subreddit r/ChubbyFIRE, a community focused on rich people with between $2.5 and $6 million in their investment portfolios, a user found themselves worried about the financial situation of their parents, worrying that they might not have enough to retire early. The post was titled, “ Are my parents on the right track?”.

However, was there any reason to be worried in the first place? Is there anything the author could do to help his parents’ situation? What tips did commenters have for others?

Is $2 Million Enough to Retire?

The author of the post admits they are in their early 20’s and doesn’t have much experience in this area, but says that something is “rubbing me the wrong way” regarding their parents’ financial situation. They say they think the problem is “astronomical”.

The author estimated the expenses and income of his parents. These include a paid-off rental property, an expensive home (the author doesn’t know the mortgage rate), a new vacation property, almost $1 million in investments, significant salaries, and more. In the end, the author estimates that there is a yearly shortfall of more than $100,000.

The author asks the community if their parents are on the right path to retire early or if they are missing something.

The Answer and Advice

There were only a handful of responses to the post, and all of them agreed that the author’s parents were doing very well, and probably much better than the author estimated, and that the author was being ridiculous.

Some commenters mentioned that the author forgot to include several factors in their calculations like the equity they’ve built up in the three homes they own, any retirement accounts and that a significant amount of their expenses will soon disappear (paying for college for their kids) once the children graduate, and more.

Others pointed out that anyone with three homes and several millions in other assets will never have to worry about retirement. It would make sense that a couple that has managed to amass so much wealth would be smart enough to plan for retirement, especially since the author did not say when they planned on retiring, or if they wanted to retire at all.

This leads to the biggest point of the replies and the post: due to probably being raised in a wealthy family and almost definitely because they are spending too much time in small, financially-focused communities online, this author has had their perception of reality and of financial success warped and distorted . The hustle culture, the financial maxing, the “life hacks”, and the relentless pursuit of wealth and value have poisoned this young person into missing the whole point of money, work, and retirement entirely.

Some life adjustments are always necessary when entering retirement, and chances are this couple has prepared or has plans for these changes. This young person, on the other hand, probably can't imagine a life without the luxuries provided for him.

The best advice offered in the thread was from a user who commented, “your parents will be just fine, they are far ahead of the average American […] Spend your time with them focused on enjoying their company, they won’t be around forever.”

We couldn’t agree more! If you find yourself looking at everyone around you only in terms of dollar signs, take a step back, and try to remember why you (or they) are working in the first place. It’s not to win the capitalist race, it’s to survive so you can spend time with those you love.

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