Stats: Single female, 30
Background: I am an engineer working in the East Bay area of San Francisco, California. I've spent a lot of time in 3rd world countries for mission trips over the last 7 years, and I've been considering applying for the Peace Corps. I love the idea of living on so much less, moving to a foreign country, working directly with people, and learning a language with high proficiency. I'm partially proficient in Spanish, which would qualify me for several countries, but would love to learn any language; I've got some minor Russian experience as well). I've discussed this with several people who have served as PC Volunteers, and they have said that the people who dislike it the most are those trying to change the world without thinking about the fact they'll basically be living in poverty. (I think knowing who fails is more important that knowing who succeeds sometimes.)
Concerns: I can't take a 27 month leave (in two years I can take 12 months when I hit 10 years service). So PC means quitting my job. My job includes a vested pension and partial retiree medical in two years, ramping up in coverage from there (both no longer available to new hires or "retirees" returning).
Counter Arguments: My pension will continue to grow, and if I want to get another job, my field doesn't have a shortage of opportunities, especially for a person who can live just about anywhere. As for retiree medical, the process for volunteering takes a year, so I would stay in my job until at least year 9, so I could delay to qualify with little loss. It is about $200/month inflation protected at this point. I've made no mention of family in this, but that is because there are no lines of communication with my family. As an example, I had a life threatening medical emergency 7 years ago; parents and brother were both contacted with messages left, neither called back or visited, or followed up to determine if I had even survived. I guess they figured they'd get a letter with my will designation if I had died. All that to say, contact with family is not a concern of mine in moving around the globe.
The numbers:
Positives:
Current pay adders (relocation, cost of living): $2,800 per month (I moved from a rural area in the eastern US last year, this will decrease to $1,600 in 3 years)
Some small dividend income from investments, but only amounting to about $600/year, increasing with increased investments
The negatives:
No debt
Rent: $1750 (this is the basically covered by the pay adders)
Current minimum spending: $700/month (so $2450 with rent, or in an emergency, get the heck out of the east bay and rent a cheap studio/apartment with roommates and add that to $700)
Current frivolous spending: $900/month on top of the minimum (I began reading MMM from the beginning about 2 weeks ago, and this has already decreased, but I'm going with my most recent budget tracking spreadsheet here)
I am saving just over 50% of my base salary before tax.
Current savings:
401k: $198,000 (4% match by employer; about 10% in Roth 401k) (maxed)
Roth IRA: $25,000 (maxed when eligible)
Brokerage account: $101,000 (ramping up dividend funds for theoretical cash flow now)
Savings: $2,000 (excess funds go to the brokerage)
Pension: If I quit now and waited to draw until 62, I would get $2100/month. There's never a guarantee with any pension, so I'll call this gravy if I get it.
If I went with PC, my savings would sit growing for 2 years, and afterwards I would be about $6,000 richer (the approximate readjustment allowance after serving a full stint). I'm unsure what I would do after this, but it wouldn't be sitting at home in a rocking chair, so I wouldn't be pulling $1500 a month to live from the savings.
What do you think? Can I do it? More importantly, should I do it? My personal feeling is go, but I wanted to get some additional educated opinions before committing.
If you need any additional information, let me know and I'll add it to the post.
Thank you for your comments!
Added info from comments:
I am a chemical engineer.
My job just changed for the better, but I'd rather be helping people than a multinational company with my 55 hours/week. Because of this recent change, I can see myself staying another 2 years (applying next year at this time).
What I understand of EWB, most jobs are heavily concentrated on civil engineering with others mixed in. This is something I could do, but it doesn't interest me. Also, you use your vacation for short term trips and it is completely voluntary, with fund raising being a big part of involvement. I'd prefer long term to this set up, since I'm the worst fund raiser in the world.
