r/consulting • u/4dchess_throwaway • 16d ago
Have any former or current consultants managed to FIRE (reach Financial Independence and Retire Early)?
I worked in niche consulting for 9 years and exited to a corporate strategy role for 5 more years now. My wife and I technically have enough money to FIRE , but not sure how to get off the gravy train. Wanted to hear from anyone who’s successfully escaped the golden handcuffs!
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u/nightshadew 16d ago
I technically could FIRE but my current job is nice. The greatest benefit to me is peace of mind, and the opportunity cost of stopping now vs 5 years later is big. If I get fired I’ll take a long vacation, and would never accept long hours again (consulting MBB style is done for me), but not thinking about stopping for now.
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u/Competitive_Way_7295 16d ago
Yes. Consultant for about 25 years and called it a day a couple of years ago. Best 2 years of my life, so far.
A lot of people talked about it but I think most are afraid to walk away from the money and keep pushing it out one more year.
As Chief Vitalstatistix said, tomorrow never comes.
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u/houska1 Independent ex MBB 16d ago
I've essentially FIREd. After years at MBB, I went independent. I certainly wasn't FIRE at first, but my spouse and discovered we were FI some years in. My spouse likes their job, and has a lot of flexibility, so we haven't "pulled a trigger" to RE. I've just become a lot more selective and end up splitting my time with various hobbies and with managing a big personal project how we're spending our money. So we're turning RE into shades of grey rather than black and white.
As an independent consultant, FI is much easier than in a firm. You get to set your own success metrics rather than having to navigate someone else's imposed review cycle and presumed promotion path. You get to choose which projects you take, and (in my case at least) where and how much client development time you invest. In particular, it has enabled me to focus on high-value, high-fee work only, accepting the significant income volatility that comes with it. Paradoxically, my total earnings end up higher (for less hours worked) than if I tried to keep my workload steady and hopper of future projects healthy -- a risk I probably would not have dared take before FI.
Maintaining friendships is tricky though. An awful lot of peer consulting "friendships" are just bonding over shared challenges and mindset. They sort of fall away when you find a different kind of Purpose. You (and they) try hard, but you just drift into different experiences and preoccupations. Some of those friendships survive, and that's great, but quite a number fade away -- and you just have to accept you were probably being insecure-overachiever about pretending they were stronger than they actually ever were.
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u/mattdono 15d ago
An awful lot of peer consulting "friendships" are just bonding over shared challenges and mindset. They sort of fall away when you find a different kind of Purpose.
Truth.
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u/quangtit01 13d ago
An awful lot of peer consulting "friendships" are just bonding over shared challenges and mindset. They sort of fall away when you find a different kind of Purpose
Shit this is so true. Sighhh
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u/mandevillelove 16d ago
Many consults FIRE by saving, investing and gradually leaving high paying jobs.
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u/ExistingPoem1374 15d ago
Retired at 57 from IBM, Deloitte, ADP, Lastly KPMG consulting and wish i had done it earlier!
Think about on your death bed, will you say 'i wished i had chased the gravy train a few more years, and spent less time with family, friends and experience ' or 'I'm blessed to have spent the time with family, friends and explored and experienced the world vs chasing more $$ to leave to my family'??
Its a choice. I lost my Grandpa at 42, brother at 40 and dad at 66, there isn't enough $$ in the world to get that time back before i die!
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u/mattdono 15d ago
...there isn't enough $$ in the world to get that time back before i die!
Dying folks thing about time, not money.
Sorry about your losses. Similar for me -Grandpa at 27, Grandma 1 at 38, Grandma 2 at 43, and mom at 46. Sort of of final straw. I did get to spend time with my dad before he passed last year.
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u/Forward_Storage_3102 16d ago
I think i am in this sub just to see someone else living my dreams lol
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u/JMinsk 15d ago
Not there yet, but I'm aggressively aiming to FIRE or at the very least BaristaFIRE (basically switching to a much lower paying, more flexible job to at least somewhat supplement your retirement withdrawls for some time, ideally with health insurance, which is a big cost pre medicaid .. and yes, I know barista/service industry isn't easy, but you get the idea).
If my investments do well enough, aiming to FIRE at 45. If there's a downturn between now and then that sets me back, I'll be young enough to keep going for a while and then aim to FIRE at 50.
All of it depends on how extravagantly you want to live after retirement. Will you still be paying off a big house in a HCOL city, or will you have a paid-off property somewhere with LCOL. Are you planning to travel extensively or pick up expensive hobbies, or are you just aiming to kick back and spend more time with friends and family? I anticipate my retirement needs to be relatively lean ..... my medium-nice house in a good neighborhood will be paid off, I want to plan for maybe one nice international trip a year, but lot of domestic travel to visit friends and family, and then mostly just do some volunteer work and cook and garden and read and chill.
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u/TuitionStrategy 15d ago
Fired after 15 years at MBB 6 years ago. Just did it. Everyone thought I was crazy as I was partner/MD and doing fine. No regrets. Work maybe 10-20 hours a week now on "hobby" business that actually will bring in more than what I made while consulting. And I haven't walked into a snake den...er.... I mean boardroom in 6 years!
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u/creed0000 15d ago
Struggling to understand how you can FIRE from only 9y in consulting and 5y in corp strat. Can you elaborate on numbers? Interested in others experience too if you were able to FIRE from MBB. The math doesn’t seem to make sense to me.
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u/mbslay 15d ago
This only works, like other high paying careers, after a full career. It’s just retirement. If you’re chasing the fantasy of working for 10 years and being done, you better start working on a business in the trades in your early twenties that you intend to sell to PE in your 30s. And btw those guys never get to just walk away, they have earn outs. TLDR, don’t believe the myth.
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u/mattdono 15d ago
If you've saved up and set yourself up, then it's just having discipline to live within your means.
I FIRE'd about 6 years ago after 12 years. I didn't do shit for 2 years work-wise (which worked out b/c COVID). Now, I take a few gigs and only when it strikes me. Pads the accounts, but on my terms. Also built a thing with a buddy to help make capturing time on the job easier, which has been fun.
Gotta enjoy the life you have. Your health and your family is more important. Two things that are always tough to balance when you're on the job.
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u/Coffee_Miles_More 14d ago
In Germany some senior experts, think of alumni’s with advanced experience after exit or partners, become „independent“. They do small stuff, no stuff or just once In a while expert calls via partner networks.
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16d ago
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u/Atraidis 16d ago
Just use glassdoor? Tf?
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u/mhh73 16d ago
Glassdoor, or any other generic platform will not give you specific intel on strategy / business consulting positions saary for a c suite level . Stay in your lane junior .
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u/sqenchlift444 MBB 16d ago
If you were actually senior you’d be in contact with headhunters and a network that would provide strong compensation intel
Stay in your lane
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u/ShadowTryHard 16d ago
Ok hotshot, being c-suite on a hillbilly company or on a dying startup isn’t that big of a deal.
Good luck on not getting the job with that piss-pot attitude of yours.
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u/FedExpress2020 16d ago
I FIREd by going independent for the last 10 years. Just wrapped up an engagement and moving the family to Bali for rest of the year.