Hey everyone, first post so here we go.
DH is 25 and I am 24. We have only been working about 2 years. I know according to living afi, that it would be better to wait until we have about half our assets before doing this to take advantage of a larger compounding amount. I fear if we wait too long, we will become too complacent.
DINKs annual income ~90k gross combined.
Yearly spending is <20k
Current savings 42k invested (22k in IRA, rest in taxable investment accounts- No 401k option at either workplace)
Rest held in a money market. Should have ~112k total assets if we take off 6 months from now. That means 54-60k will be invested, rest is Money market to pay the bills and cover contingencies (we both drive old cars that might die soon, we are buying 10k business equipment, we need some money for breathing room 6 months-1.5 years)
No student loans thanks to generous parents and grandparents.
Why are we uprooting? We both have jobs, 7-8 hours drive from family. it is a long way to see our folks and we aren't terribly happy here. My grandparents have a old abandoned house that needs some work to sell, so essentially we plan on living in it and fixing it up (rent free- which should cut our expenses by about half?) and will have a small payment upon completion. My dad also has a rental house that needs work that he is willing to cut us in on a portion of the proceeds. Repairing places is an interest of ours- so we get to do it on someone else's dime (we will do it for ourselves and maybe get into rentals if it agrees with us in the future). It will not pay as well as our current jobs but I feel it would be better to pursue some interests/ business ventures now while young and optimistic with low spending needs than when we get tied down with kids and higher expenses. Essentially, if we are lucky- we can figure out how to make a living out of doing our own thing. If not, I can go back to work knowing I gave it my best shot and continue to squirrel away to FIRE.
The gameplan: Take some time off: 6 months-2 years. Shorter period is to be preferred as we are still early in our careers. However, if business ventures/ freelancing goes well- then we may take a longer period of time to let it grow (I think we should know viability by a year or so in business) If it doesn't work, or I turn into a lazy bum without the external pressure, we can pursue regular employment. I don't think going back will be an issue with our skill sets. We know numerous CAD programs (solidworks, rhinoceros,etc), Adobe:Illustrator, Photoshop, Indesign, A bit of Wordpress management, basically design graphics and all kinds of things. There are so many ways to use the above to find regular employment even if we aren't able to successfully freelance. If we are exceedingly lucky, I may be able to do my job remotely(gross 50k) which would take all the risk out of it, as that would more than cover living expenses and max our IRAS while letting us engage our interests.
I am a little worried about taking some time so early- but I should be able to show productive use of it(starting a business, remodeling houses, possible freelancing). We are still pretty young, not all mid twenties people have properly settled so I feel like a gap won't be the end of the world.I know I will need to get DH a health plan on the exchange (he will be turning 26). So, I guess I want advice on anything missing, other ways to handle holdings (invest more and hold less in money market?). Ideas for graceful exits and re-entry into the workplace or good freelancing books and advice?