cool relaxed job instead of FIRE

[whywork]

Post financial independence, instead of RE, how about taking up a cool and relaxed job?

There are plenty of companies that can't pay near market. They struggle to hire people. They can't afford to loose people. If you say you are leaving, they will do everything in their control to make you stay and make you feel good. One such company I worked earlier provided me WFH 2-3 days a week, my boss always was extra nice to me, every time I told them I am leaving several people would try to persuade me (my boss, his boss, boss's boss).

FIRE may get boring after sometime. Instead by moving to such cool jobs, we have camaraderie from colleagues, WFH which can be like FIRE, keep engaging your mind in doing something etc...

What are your thoughts on this

[Classical_Liberal]

What are your thoughts on this

Yes

More specifically, I think this is basically what happens to most people who FIRE before their 50's.  There's just a lack of peers to hang out with and do interesting things because they are all too busy with work, family, ect.  Sure a weekend hiking might be in the cards, but someone who can spend the whole summer and hike the AT with you?  doubtful.  Work is really the best social option for organized play.  A series of part-time flexible jobs which reinforce other things I want in life, that's the dream for me.  As a matter of fact, that's what MMM did, and you don't have to be FI to realize it either.  Although it helps.

[Linea_Norway]

It can be a good option to feel valued. I personally don't hang out with my colleagues, other than at work. So I don't have much of a social connection with them. I already notice that co-workers who have young children and who are spendypants and travel on expensive vacations, don't have a great deal in common with me. I am a childless, frugal, camping in own country and nature person. There is not always a great deal to talk bout. Except for when we just interestly listed to the other's story, whatever it is about.

I usually find my of people more privately or at my hobby.

[PhilB]

A lot depends on your situation.  If you have a partner who FIREs at the same time you automatically have a playmate.  If you are single or your partner still works I can imagine it would be much more difficult and continued work might have more appeal.
As someone who largely WFH for my final couple of years I found it a real source of frustration that I was tied to my laptop rather than being able to go out and play - particularly during quiet times - so don't assume that WFH will feel like FIRE.
The best answer for you may be some kind of part time deal to give you the social interaction you crave, but still leave you enough freedom to do other things.  I am very happy indeed with my 1 day a week, term time only arrangement!

[soccerluvof4]

I think its more about whats best for you. If you like what your doing and they are willing to cater to you then Hell yea! Each of us is different but your title says it all in the subject line. Cool relaxed Job. !  If your one in particular that doesnt seem to think they will stay engaged or have a social connection if you walk away then do it for awhile and see how it goes. You can always jump completely out or back into the working game again. Its whatever makes YOU the most happy! That to me is whats important. With as little stress as possible and time to do the things you want in life!

[WynnDuffy73]

Yes this is what I’ve been thinking about recently.  My challenge is figuring out where to find that “cool, relaxed” job.  It’s not as easy as you might think.   

Anyone have any examples of a cool, relaxed job?

[swinginbeef]

My plan is to save to barebones FI and then work 10-20hrs per week at my local taproom/homebrew shop/small batch brewery. I spend some of my free time there now and I think that amount of time wouldn't "feel" like work and the income would be play cash and additional savings. There are a few other lower paying jobs I can think of that I think I may enjoy on a shorter term, part-time basis, but to afford my family's current lifestyle and maintain our savings rate it's just not possible at this point.

[beer-man]

Honestly the RE doesn’t appeal to me as much as the FI. I like your idea and have put a lot of thought of what meaningful work might look like to me in 5-10yrs when FI is close. I like the idea of getting close to FI and then trying a job for a few years climbing as high as I can and then switching to a new trade and doing the same thing. That “thrill of the hunt” thing that I can’t seem to shake


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[Cool Friend]

If I could find a job that doesn't involve dealing with bloated egos/petty children, and doesn't operate in an "everything is an emergency that needs to be worked on as fast as possible" way, I would do it even if it meant pushing off RE significantly.  I've never had a job like that and have no idea if they even exist.

[wageslave23]

I think the only problem with "cool, relaxed job" is that most of those jobs are low level, menial tasks which get boring very quickly for me.  If I could find a job that was part time but still high level with a lot of autonomy and flexibility then that would be perfect for me.  I think another route would be opening a shop or other small business.  Where if you weren't all that concerned about profits would be low stress and interesting and you could as much or as little time in as you wanted. 

[Kay-Ell]

When I was a kid I always wanted to grow up to work with animals. But it’s hard to make a living with animals so I never made it my career. Now I’m semi-FIRE similarly to what you described  (bare bones FI but choose to work part time to pad my savings and increase my budget). What I’m discovering is that all of those jobs with animals that I used to want but that are hard to make a living at are back on the table. I’m good at training dogs and horses, I enjoy pet sitting, I can volunteer at small private shelters, I’ve even considered learning dog grooming. If I didn’t have a child I’d also be interested in outdoor seasonal work requiring travel. Being a guide or instructor of some kind. Same goes for art and music. It’s hard to make a living as an artist or musician and often requires compromising your artistic self. But if you’re not concerned about supporting yourself, it’s not hard to make a little money on the side doing something you already love doing.

The part of FI that is really exciting to me isn’t being able to do nothing, or even having unlimited leisure time for entertaining activities. It’s having the flexibility to pursue all of the things I love or used to love. And build skills and knowledge in things I simply wouldn’t have the time or energy to do as a single parent with a full time job. It’s alao nice to know I have many decades ahead of this kind of freedom so that I can look forward to changing my focus as time goes on and not need to do it all right now.

[MDfive21]

Yes this is what I’ve been thinking about recently.  My challenge is figuring out where to find that “cool, relaxed” job.  It’s not as easy as you might think.   

Anyone have any examples of a cool, relaxed job?

a coffee shop near a major university provides that environment as long as the boss is ok and they don't serve food.  making coffee is relaxed, food makes everything hectic.

[FIRE@50]

Yes this is what I’ve been thinking about recently.  My challenge is figuring out where to find that “cool, relaxed” job.  It’s not as easy as you might think.   

Anyone have any examples of a cool, relaxed job?

Golf course starter/ranger. Free golf will take care of a major line item in my post-FIRE budget.

[Livingthedream55]

Yes this is what I’ve been thinking about recently.  My challenge is figuring out where to find that “cool, relaxed” job.  It’s not as easy as you might think.   

Anyone have any examples of a cool, relaxed job?

a coffee shop near a major university provides that environment as long as the boss is ok and they don't serve food.  making coffee is relaxed, food makes everything hectic.

Sadly - not always true. My daughter has a pt job at a coffee shop and she finds it quite stressful. The general public is often rude, impatient, self-centered and unkind. Coworkers shirk doing their fair share and everyone earns the same (minimum wage) and they pool the tips.  One particularly sucky coworker steals from the tip jar (which is kept out of sight and is highly susceptible to theft).  My daughter is 21 and soon to get her first ft job after college so luckily she doesn't need to deal with this environment for too much longer. I suppose a mature adult with a tougher skin and great assertiveness might fare better in this environment but it's not all butterflies and rainbows!!

[FIRE@50]

Isn't there a rule that goes something like, the longer it takes to order your coffee, the bigger the jerk you are?

[undercover]

Relaxed job is an oxymoron. A job of doing nothing/very menial tasks is more mind-numbingly stressful than straight out being thrown to the wolves. And if you're referring to retail jobs...doubly so. No thanks. I can find plenty of great things to do with my time.

Work hard then play hard. Hybrid anything doesn't make sense to me.

[Luck12]

Isn't there a rule that goes something like, the longer it takes to order your coffee, the bigger the jerk you are?

NFL player once tweeted something like "some of these Starbucks orders are a lot longer than NFL play calls". 

[Luck12]

FIRE may get boring after sometime. Instead by moving to such cool jobs, we have camaraderie from colleagues, WFH which can be like FIRE, keep engaging your mind in doing something etc...

What are your thoughts on this

I'm a big introvert and despise bullshit talk so camaraderie is not something I'm interested in, at least not the kind that isn't what I get from close friends and family.    I already WFH half of the time and it is nice, but it's not  true freedom.  Bosses, clients, co-workers can call, IM, etc anytime.   I can go biking, walking around, etc for a max of 1.5 hours, but it's not like the weekend where I can be outside for hours and hours. 

[whywork]

Yes this is what I’ve been thinking about recently.  My challenge is figuring out where to find that “cool, relaxed” job.  It’s not as easy as you might think.   

Anyone have any examples of a cool, relaxed job?

I was looking for jobs and found this company called soundhound. They are in the silicon valley and pay about 150K for a senior backend engineer which is on the lower side for the market here. I was looking at their glassdoor reviews and it seems like they make every effort to retain you and also provide flexible work schedules. My previous company used to be like this.

https://www.glassdoor.com/Overview/Working-at-SoundHound-EI_IE462779.11,21.htm

Here are some of the reviews:

"Retention rate is "too" high. Some people need to be let go but management goes out of its way to "make it work"."
"The starting pay in the Silicon Valley office is not as competitive as other companies in the area. If you're all about the money, there are plenty of soul-crushing jobs available elsewhere. To me, the small sacrifice in pay is worth it for the environment"

[Bird In Hand]

Post financial independence, instead of RE, how about taking up a cool and relaxed job?

Plenty of people who RE end up going back to work, often part-time, out of boredom, or a desire to do something different, or to pursue a lifelong passion, etc.

The nice thing about FI is that you can take your time finding out what you want to do.  Yeah, maybe a 'cool relaxed job' for a particular person might not be easy to find.  But what's the rush?  The FI part allows you to search very slowly and thoroughly, or to rashly jump into something and then quit if it's not to your liking, all without much consequence.

[patrickza]

I love 50% of my job, and loathe the other 50%. I've often considered offering to do only the 50% I love for just 50% of my pay. I'd even settle for less to be honest.

I see it as a win/win, I think we might even have a policy on it, but I'd like it to be every other month rather than 2.5 days a week which I believe the policy offers.

[Cassie]

I teach a online college class and can do it anywhere with internet. No stress and no one telling me what to do. I love it.

[MDfive21]

Yes this is what I’ve been thinking about recently.  My challenge is figuring out where to find that “cool, relaxed” job.  It’s not as easy as you might think.   

Anyone have any examples of a cool, relaxed job?

a coffee shop near a major university provides that environment as long as the boss is ok and they don't serve food.  making coffee is relaxed, food makes everything hectic.

Sadly - not always true. My daughter has a pt job at a coffee shop and she finds it quite stressful. The general public is often rude, impatient, self-centered and unkind. Coworkers shirk doing their fair share and everyone earns the same (minimum wage) and they pool the tips.  One particularly sucky coworker steals from the tip jar (which is kept out of sight and is highly susceptible to theft).  My daughter is 21 and soon to get her first ft job after college so luckily she doesn't need to deal with this environment for too much longer. I suppose a mature adult with a tougher skin and great assertiveness might fare better in this environment but it's not all butterflies and rainbows!!

compared to my other 10 years in food related positions and the current office-job shitshow i'm a part of right now, slinging coffee to college kids was like lying down taking a nap with little cherubs sprinkling dollar bills on me.  :D

yes there were hectic days and during finals week the the line was out the door, but the owner was hardly ever there and he let the employees pick the music.  the menu was very simple and cheap, so the money was made on volume and a stellar location. 

[cats]

I teach a online college class and can do it anywhere with internet. No stress and no one telling me what to do. I love it.

Curious how you got into this.  Were you teaching in a physical classroom already or in a completely different/non-teaching profession?

[cats]

I think the only problem with "cool, relaxed job" is that most of those jobs are low level, menial tasks which get boring very quickly for me.  If I could find a job that was part time but still high level with a lot of autonomy and flexibility then that would be perfect for me.  I think another route would be opening a shop or other small business.  Where if you weren't all that concerned about profits would be low stress and interesting and you could as much or as little time in as you wanted.

Yup, this concerns me also.  I've spent summers working retail or in grocery stores and it was not that awesome.  My current job I would love to do on a more reduced schedule (basically give up half my projects and then work just 20 hours/week) but it's not an option with my current employer.  Ultimately I think if I want to do "smart" or high-level work on a flexible/PT basis I'm going to have to figure out how to go into business for myself as a consultant, which I currently find a rather daunting prospect.

I think the most "fun" job I had was working at a small local craft supply store.  I basically worked in exchange for discounted craft supplies (some money also, but on the order of $100/month).  I did really enjoy it and most of the customers were a real pleasure to help out, it definitely beat working in a coffee shop!  I'm not sure I ever want to sink the money into opening a physical retail business myself, but if I were FI I could see myself maybe doing something like that again for a few mornings a week.  Basically get to do my hobby for free and earn a little bit of fun money to boot.

[Linea_Norway]

My DH is also thinking to do his current job on an occasional basis, and only the fun projects. Just for some extra cash.

[SnackDog]

 A friend of mine retired from a megacorp that let's retirees sign on as consultants. They then can get recruited for occasional work.  One guy would do 1-2 week consulting gigs in far off locations for like $1500/day  of "fun stuff". The company would pay his biz class travel and hotel.  He would bring the spouse along and they would vacation on the company nickel then tag on additional trips using the consulting dollars to fund them.  It was a great way to get as much free travel as they wanted.

[CalBal]

Yes this is what I’ve been thinking about recently.  My challenge is figuring out where to find that “cool, relaxed” job.  It’s not as easy as you might think.   

Anyone have any examples of a cool, relaxed job?

Golf course starter/ranger. Free golf will take care of a major line item in my post-FIRE budget.

My father does this. What started a few years ago as 2-3 days per week has gone down to at most once a week and sometimes only once a month! Still gets the benefit of free play though, and it gets him out of the house. It's only slightly over minimum wage, but who cares? FREE GOLF.

[Eric]

Ironic username @whywork   

Maybe time to change it to whynotwork?  lol

[FuegoPronto]

This is my goal. As much as I complain about my challenging job, I don't like being unoccupied by some sort of challenging work for more than 2-3 weeks at a time. I'm considering three options:

1. Part-time/consulting in current occupation - best bang for buck in terms of compensation

2. "Barista-fire" (not as a barista) but something I enjoy that gives me social connections, health insurance, and maybe a work visa in a LCOL country

3. Some combination of the two. Which would be best in the sense of synergy and using the skills I learned in work to help other people while still earning some money.

[Padonak]

ptf

[BussoV6]

I love 50% of my job, and loathe the other 50%. I've often considered offering to do only the 50% I love for just 50% of my pay. I'd even settle for less to be honest.

I see it as a win/win, I think we might even have a policy on it, but I'd like it to be every other month rather than 2.5 days a week which I believe the policy offers.

+1 for me. I plan to see if my employer would be interested in this option. Luckily the 50% that I enjoy is quite specialised tech that they would struggle to replace. The 50% I despise is the admin BS that is so prevalent in large multinationals.

[BookLoverL]

Personally, I don't believe any of the typical standard jobs available are cool jobs, because all of them are too much work once you have to do them often enough.  However, if there IS a job which you think is cool and which you can guarantee access to, you can speed up your quitting date from your main job that you don't like but pays more because instead of having to live off entirely your investments, you have a boost in money coming in from the "cool" job.

[Linea_Norway]

Personally, I don't believe any of the typical standard jobs available are cool jobs, because all of them are too much work once you have to do them often enough.  However, if there IS a job which you think is cool and which you can guarantee access to, you can speed up your quitting date from your main job that you don't like but pays more because instead of having to live off entirely your investments, you have a boost in money coming in from the "cool" job.

My DH also thinks that it is way smarter economically to do a side-gig as a consultant in your own field than working a low-paid job. It will probably pay several times as much per hour. And if you do it on your own conditions, rather than working as a standard employee, it might be quite enjoyable.

[Metalcat]

.

[KBecks]

I work at my son's elementary school playground.  I go in at 11:30, shelve books in the library for 1/2 hour, then spend 1 hour walking around the playground, helping kids get along, giving rules reminders, comforting kids who get hurt, etc.  The people I work with are very nice.  It is not much money but I get out of the house and feel I am doing something valuable for the kids.

[BookLoverL]

Personally, I don't believe any of the typical standard jobs available are cool jobs, because all of them are too much work once you have to do them often enough.  However, if there IS a job which you think is cool and which you can guarantee access to, you can speed up your quitting date from your main job that you don't like but pays more because instead of having to live off entirely your investments, you have a boost in money coming in from the "cool" job.

Sure, "typical standard jobs" may not be very cool, but why would you aim for a typical standard job if what you are looking for is a "cool" job.

Just because most jobs are typical, doesn't mean that there aren't TONS of seriously cool jobs out there or could be out there. It's like dating, just because most people won't be a good fit doesn't mean there aren't plenty of people out there who could be.

It feels improbable, or even impossible when you are accustom to the hamster wheel of needing a predictable income, but once the pressure of generating a regular income disappears, the world of professional opportunities drastically opens up.

Generating a predictable income involves a paradigm of:
-"These are my established and proven skills, which are worth X amount of remuneration within an established market where people of similar skill and experience are predictably compensated. Roles are established in advance of hiring people, the main purpose of the role is profit. I will endeavor to fit that role optimally for generating maximum profit."

Generating cool work with a total disregard for income involves a paradigm of:
-"These are the skills I already have, these are the skills I am willing to learn, this is the network I have, and this is the time I'm willing to give. This person/organization that I connected with through my network seems to be doing some cool stuff, maybe I can be useful to them in some way and we can work on super fun projects together. I may profit from this, but I may not, and either way, I will gain an ever increasingly dynamic skill set and network that will make me even more valuable to ever more interesting people. Eventually my skill set and network will be so dynamic and compelling that opportunities just find me and people keep offering to pay me to do cool stuff."

There is a whole world of opportunity that opens up when you don't have to prove ahead of time that your work has a given value.

I guess I'd certainly like to spend the rest of my career doing this instead of something boring. ;) I gotta work on those networking skills, though...

[Metalcat]

Personally, I don't believe any of the typical standard jobs available are cool jobs, because all of them are too much work once you have to do them often enough.  However, if there IS a job which you think is cool and which you can guarantee access to, you can speed up your quitting date from your main job that you don't like but pays more because instead of having to live off entirely your investments, you have a boost in money coming in from the "cool" job.

Sure, "typical standard jobs" may not be very cool, but why would you aim for a typical standard job if what you are looking for is a "cool" job.

Just because most jobs are typical, doesn't mean that there aren't TONS of seriously cool jobs out there or could be out there. It's like dating, just because most people won't be a good fit doesn't mean there aren't plenty of people out there who could be.

It feels improbable, or even impossible when you are accustom to the hamster wheel of needing a predictable income, but once the pressure of generating a regular income disappears, the world of professional opportunities drastically opens up.

Generating a predictable income involves a paradigm of:
-"These are my established and proven skills, which are worth X amount of remuneration within an established market where people of similar skill and experience are predictably compensated. Roles are established in advance of hiring people, the main purpose of the role is profit. I will endeavor to fit that role optimally for generating maximum profit."

Generating cool work with a total disregard for income involves a paradigm of:
-"These are the skills I already have, these are the skills I am willing to learn, this is the network I have, and this is the time I'm willing to give. This person/organization that I connected with through my network seems to be doing some cool stuff, maybe I can be useful to them in some way and we can work on super fun projects together. I may profit from this, but I may not, and either way, I will gain an ever increasingly dynamic skill set and network that will make me even more valuable to ever more interesting people. Eventually my skill set and network will be so dynamic and compelling that opportunities just find me and people keep offering to pay me to do cool stuff."

There is a whole world of opportunity that opens up when you don't have to prove ahead of time that your work has a given value.

I guess I'd certainly like to spend the rest of my career doing this instead of something boring. ;) I gotta work on those networking skills, though...

Networking is everything. You don't need to be a good networker, but if you aren't, you need a good connector in your corner.

[PDXTabs]

A job of doing nothing/very menial tasks is more mind-numbingly stressful than straight out being thrown to the wolves.

Open Source Software Developer sounds close, to me. But you might not get paid for your work (but then again, you might).

[LPG]

Yes. The point of FI is living life on your terms, instead of making your decisions based around needing a paycheck. If you can find a job that you think will be genuinely fun, and that's what you want to do with your time, then you should absolutely take it.

[Brother Esau]

I switched from a private industry job to a "cool relaxed" municipal job. Came with a reduction in pay but the benefits more than make up for it. More time off, no stress or deadlines, better/cheaper health insurance, a pension, etc. The switch will not delay RE at all. Good luck!