[b_t_s]

Totally agree. There is risk of death but also risk of failure(recession, medical issues, etc...) and the risk/reward analysis goes downhill fast as you age. I was on track for FIRE. Then the great recession happened and that became semi-on track. Then I got married to someone who wasn't FIREing and had a kid. Game over. I'm now too old(late 30s). The guaranteed hardships required to achieve FIRE are totally not worth it for the potential extra years of retirement. For a few decades of retirement as a recent grad, yea. For a few extra years of retirement as a married with kids, nope. I can't subject my kid to that, and the payoff is too little, too late, too uncertain. We're focusing on living our best life now, and if I manage to achieve some degree of FIRE by virtue of high salary and not being wastefull then yay, bonus. If not, oh well. The transition from FIRE lifestyle to living our best life now lifestyle has been fantastic, joyful, and totally life altering.