Hello everyone,
My husband and I (32 and 33 respectively) are, I think, doing quite well. I have a decision to make that may change some things and I want to make sure I consider all aspects of it, both personally and financially. I hope you smart people here can provide a variety of opinions, and highlight anything I might not be considering yet. I'll talk in broad outlines, but please let me know if there is any specific information or numbers that would be helpful.
Our FIRE date is around 2018, based on current income and expenses. We both make high incomes (me slightly more than him: 60/40 split or so), live in a HCOL area, and have low spending other than our mortgage and property taxes. Our savings rate varies from about 75-85% monthly (also depending on if you count mortgage principal payment as savings).
We had our first child earlier this year. I have been taking my full maternity leave (6 months combination of fully paid, partially paid, and unpaid job protection time), and thoroughly enjoying the time with my son and not working. When my maternity leave ends, the current plan is that my husband will take his two months of fully paid paternity leave, while I go back to work. After that, we would be thinking child-care, but now I am deciding if I should just quit my job when my husband's paid leave ends (or even earlier?).
I do get to work from home quite often, but don't think I can manage an infant, the chaos around the house, and be on conference calls. There is sometimes also quite a bit of extended travel associated with my job. I think its fair to say that I don't enjoy working, or rather hate it on some days, and do love spending time with my son. While my husband doesn't love his job, he does like the work he does in general, and is ok with working for a bit longer at some job or another he may enjoy (though me quitting now would delay our FIRE plans).
Our first choice child care right now would cost ~$1000 a month and be in walking distance of home. Our second and third choices might cost closer to $1500-$2500/month, and be biking or driving distance instead. Financially, me quitting would cost more in terms of lost income than the cost of child care.
Since I have been off for the last few months, I don't think there are really any expenses that would go lower with me not having a job (let me know if you can think of any). Expenses that might increase are health care, if premiums are no longer paid by my employer, and the cell phone plan that is currently paid for by work (am I missing any other expenses that might go up)?
So this is my dilemma (not a bad one to have, eh?), I am quite happy to quit, but do want a variety of opinions to see if there is anything I am missing.
Thank you in advance!