₹11 crore corpus, ₹55 lakh salary: Why this 48-year-old still isn't ready to retire

A 48-year-old tech professional with an estimated corpus of ₹11 crore, who earns around ₹55 lakh a year, has sparked discussion online after revealing that he is "more or less financially independent" but still isn't ready to quit working.

Sharing his financial journey on Reddit, the professional said, "I feel I'm more or less financially independent, but honestly not mentally ready to retire yet." He added that the uncertainty in the technology and corporate sectors is making him rethink his next move. "With the current situation in tech/corporate world, I don't feel any job is really secure anymore. So trying to think through things more carefully now."

The father of two school-going children said his portfolio includes ₹4.5 crore in restricted stock units (RSUs), ₹70 lakh in Employees' Provident Fund (EPF), ₹1.1 crore in mutual funds, and ₹6.5 crore worth of real estate, excluding the home he lives in. He also has home loans worth ₹1.8 crore.

His biggest dilemma revolves around two under-construction flats in a Tier-1 city that are about 95% complete. According to him, making the apartments rental-ready would require another ₹75 lakh on interiors and furnishing, while also increasing his financial commitments.

"If I keep them, I'll need to spend another ~₹75L for interiors/furnishing to make them rental-ready. This adds to my liability of ₹1.8 crore," he wrote.

The properties could generate around ₹1.5 lakh in monthly rent, but he believes selling them and investing the proceeds elsewhere may be the financially smarter option. "On paper, it works better if I dispose of the flats and invest in hybrid funds," he said.

Looking back, the professional credited a moderate lifestyle, early investments in real estate, and RSUs for helping him build wealth, even though he admitted he started receiving company stock relatively late in his career.

He also reflected on the mistakes he would avoid if starting over. "Early into financial assets like MFs, stocks," "Poor selection of real estate properties," and "Sticking to same company for a long time," were among the lessons he listed.

His post resonated with many readers, highlighting that for many high earners pursuing Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE), achieving the target corpus is only one part of the journey, while feeling mentally prepared to leave the workforce can be an entirely different challenge.