renew contract??

[4tify]

Hi all

I'm right around my baseline FI number (900K) and have a contract at work up for renewal, for 2 more years. I'm trying to figure out if I should stay or go. I have a bit of a unique situation compared to most of what I read here.

A couple things regarding my background. First, I'm 48 and was still 40k in student loan debt 8 years ago. I spent all my 20s and half of my 30's working part time pursuing a career in the arts that never made me a stable living. It was fun & frustrating being free and poor, but as the clock ticked away I started feeling like a change of course was due. Then my dad died and left me enough to pay off my debt and have about 20k surplus for the first time ever in my life. I decided to start focusing on building wealth.

Leading the artistic life I had a couple of decades' experience living very frugally. I switched careers but kept my standard of living low, and after about 10 years I reached my baseline FI like I said. I live in Los Angeles which is expensive, and I still have 2 roommates (a couple, I'm single), so although I'm "mustache wealthy" I'm not exactly dripping in money by CA standards either. I could move out and pay market rates for rent, but then my savings rate would drop pretty drastically if I kept working. If I quit I'd have to stay put or move to another area, but I'm not sure where since I've lived in cosmopolitan areas most of my adult life. My dream would be to live an hour outside of a place with culture, but somewhere woodsy & peaceful. Ideas??

Today I earn the highest salary I ever have, and if I renew my contract I figure I can put back at least another 200k and tip myself over the $1mil mark by the time I'm 50. I don't have a soul crushing job, but it's very intense and often stressful, and there are many days when I wonder if I shouldn't just hang it up. The trouble is, I like being active and I don't really have an idea of what I would like to do or where I'd want to live if I did quit my job.

What do those of you who've made the jump think given my situation? Thanks for taking the time to consider my question!

[Financial.Velociraptor]

If the contract is up for renewal, the contract is up for re-negotiation.  Ask for something.  Maybe more vacation time.  Maybe vacation time plus some unpaid time off to get up to 8 weeks a year?  Maybe get a couple days a week telecommuting.  If you can't get any concessions, walk.  They might call back more flexible in a couple weeks when they see you are serious about not working any more.  Or not, you would be just fine anyway so it isn't a bluff than can be called.

Will you do the art thing again in FIRE?  Maybe it is worth 10k extra income a year?  That would be the same as another quarter million in stash.

[4tify]

sorry was going to add something and reply deleted. anyway yes, these are good ideas thanks!

[soccerluvof4]

If the contract is up for renewal, the contract is up for re-negotiation.  Ask for something.  Maybe more vacation time.  Maybe vacation time plus some unpaid time off to get up to 8 weeks a year?  Maybe get a couple days a week telecommuting.  If you can't get any concessions, walk.  They might call back more flexible in a couple weeks when they see you are serious about not working any more.  Or not, you would be just fine anyway so it isn't a bluff than can be called.

Will you do the art thing again in FIRE?  Maybe it is worth 10k extra income a year?  That would be the same as another quarter million in stash.

I totally agree with this ^ and as a former employer had many employees negotiate things and in most cases I was willing to do something because they were valuable.  Be honest with yourself in what would really make you happy to work another 2 years and if you cant come up with that its probably time to get out. If you CAN come up with some kind of list make it a little bigger so you can give up some concessions and actually get what you want. Good employees are hard to find and training is expensive.

[Retire-Canada]

Today I earn the highest salary I ever have, and if I renew my contract I figure I can put back at least another 200k and tip myself over the $1mil mark by the time I'm 50.

What do those of you who've made the jump think given my situation? Thanks for taking the time to consider my question!

All you have to do is not take any money out and you'll be over the $1M mark in 2yrs barring something really unusual.  So I wouldn't worry about that.

What do you want to do? Is FIRE important to you or are you happy to work?

With nearly $1M in investments you should start living based on what you love not based on how to earn more money. If you happen to earn more money doing so that's fine.

I would chart out what you would do with your time if you were 100% sure you had enough money for the rest of your life. See what that looks like. Does it include doing any of the work being offered to you in the contract extension????

As FV points out you can negotiate. Working 20hrs a week so you can leave you investments to grow on their own for a couple years is a nice compromise that would allow you lots of free time and provide a bridge between full time work and full time retirement.

Whatever you decide just keep in mind you will never get the next two year back at the prime of your life so factor in the opportunity cost of working into your decision equation.

BTW - great work on saving that much $$. You are a rockstar. :)

[4tify]

thanks for the props and your thoughtful response Canada. this is really good stuff to ponder. i have definitely considered ratcheting down to just earn enough to cover my expenses while the nest egg grows, and i imagine that will be much of the way i spend my early years in retirement anyway.

per Velociraptor i'm putting together a list of asks like extended vacation and also equity in my sales if/when they happen (currently i see no benefit from that). once i see how that goes i feel i'll have a little better idea of the direction i want to take. i'm also going to ask to only sign for 18 months instead of 2 years since that will put me right at 50 yrs old and it feels like a good moment to break away entirely.

very much appreciate all your input!

[pdxmonkey]

We're about due for another recession or at least a bear market. I wouldn't try to time it by taking money out of the markets and am in fact still putting a decent amount of money into the markets each month. I will just keep shoveling money in all the way down and all the way back up the other side. However, I would not feel comfortable retiring on my bare minimum FI number just before I believe the market is going to tank or at least slow down significantly over the next 12-24 months.

When do you have to decide by?