I’m 37, and my net worth is between $4-5M including my house. I have a wife and a young child. It’s been a very rough year for me, 3 family members died of cancer including a parent. It really makes me question why all I do is work. I just want to quit my job, move somewhere less expensive, and make memories with my wife and daughter and enjoy/develop my hobbies. I haven’t gotten any meaningful done at work in 3 weeks and I feel depressed. Should I pull the trigger and quit? Do I have enough money for a comfortable middle class lifestyle indefinitely (~80k/year)? I feel like I do, even using conservative estimates of how fast my savings will grow (or not grow). Will I regret it? I know if I quit I’ll lose my prestigious job and position and it’ll be a tough climb back. Help me Blind. TC: $480k
Make an exit path for yourself. Give yourself a timeframe where you will feel comfortable transitioning from work to FIRE. Even the change in mindset will be an instant happiness boost while also buying yourself time to set your affairs in order and put your financial future in place. If you indeed don’t need an extravagant lifestyle and have as much saved as you say, you can easily live a comfortable middle-class life in a LCOL. Plus, you can always do freelance work to pass the time and make some extra money. Plenty of opportunities for that.
You won’t regret it. It sounds like this is what you want and at the very least what you need at the moment. You’ll never regret the time you spend with your family and your family won’t either. I’m so sorry for your loss, these are all normal feelings, and ones I’ve experienced myself during a similar period. It gets better, though, and it will be ok. Maybe you just need a break?
This maybe one of the toughest decisions of your life. If you’re gonna do it, say quitting your job, then don’t just outright quit, start working just 40 hours and take a long vacation with your family first. Ease into that life. When you move to a low cost of living area, find a job still at a 2nd tier company where there is no stress because you always need something to do outside of family as a man to stay sane.
I’m sorry to hear about your loss. There’s no way to make up for it but to be at peace with it. When I went through a similar phase, I took time off work for a couple of year, got an advanced degree and met new people one of whom I fell in love with. Of course your situation is different and I’m not here to prescribe you what to do. But taking some time off to evaluate life with your loved ones may help. And then you can come back to the idea of retiring if you still feel like that when you are healthier mentally. I am sure there are many places around the world that amount of money will last a life time of simple living. Take care!
They say, when you’re grieving, that you shouldn’t make big changes like job for 6-12 months. https://www.verywellmind.com/decisions-to-delay-if-youre-grieving-4065127
Thank you. Solid advice.
Do you like your job? Or do you like the prestige and money that comes with it?
Both
Yes you definitely do. Check out the financial independence subreddit to feel more confident. The last thing to mention is make sure to factor the cost of health insurance into things if you live in the US.
My take: living on 80k a year coming from $480k a year is tougher than people imply, particularly with young children. I would spend the next 2-3 years accumulating and investing a bit more aggressively and trying to hit $7-8 million in NW. Start transitioning to focusing more on investments and family and less on ladder climbing at work since you are entering a transition toward a different life. Make sure you really understand how you will live and use your time. But I wouldnt walk away immediately, you may regret that in a year or two.
I don’t live on $480k/year which is how I’ve saved so much (10 years ago I easily lived on $72k). But I appreciate the caution. Trying to hit $7-8M feels like when I hit $2M. I said once I hit $4M I’ll take a break. Feels like there’s always more points to score.
You won't have to "earn" an additional 3m to hit 7m. Going from 4m to 7m is waaaaay easier than going from 0 to 3m because the money (4m) will do most of the work for you
You have more than enough money to not have to work anymore, but you should probably think long and hard whether that's something you want to do. Early retirement is often not all it's cracked up to be. Loneliness, boredom, lack of structure, early cognitive decline can take a toll on your wellbeing.
Absolutely! At 4% SWR you’ll be comfortable - you need to exclude house from net worth tho. Check out r/fatfire for better guidance And congratulations. Not only that you’re not making a mistake, you’re one of the sanest people for thinking this way
Why wouldn't you include house? You can sell it, or pull equity out when you're old.
Yeah especially when he plans to move out of this shithole