Hey MMM-ers,
Can I ask for your advice? I'm burning myself out in a high-stress job as an executive leader in a 100-person small business. The work is interesting, but the hours are long, the stress is high as I try to hold lots of things together; and I'd like to be able to spend fewer hours at the office and more hours with my lovely wife. I'd appreciate any recommendations regarding how to get out of the rat race and enjoy life, however to get there.
About Us:
* My wife and I have high-paying jobs in the Virginia suburbs of DC, but I'm working entirely too many hours and we want to enjoy life more and work less (my job comes with lots of long hours and stress)
* We're currently grossing about $230K/year in combined salary, though we'd like my wife to be able to stop working once we have kids (my salary is around $140K)
* We currently rent an apartment
* We don't have any children, though we'd like to have our first next year
* I'm in my early 30s and she's in her late 20s
* We don't have any debt (no student loans, no mortgage, no car loans, no credit card debt)
We're thinking we should keep saving for now, and maybe look for less stressful jobs and/or move to a cheaper area (e.g. Charlottesville, VA; Virginia Beach, VA; or Richmond, VA) in the next few years. We'd like to start having kids next year, and buy a house in the next 2-5 years.
What do you think wise MMM community:
1. What should we be doing different?
2. Do you think we could actually ER in the next few years (I imagine that our costs will go up with kids, so my
http://networthify.com/calculator/earlyretirement calculations showing that we're ER-eligible in mid-2017 are likely too optimistic)?
3. What are we doing that you think is crazy?
Thanks,
Overworked DC-er
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Assets (Combined for my wife and me)
* $355K in personal (not tax-deferred) Vanguard index fund investments (mostly mix of funds to align with 2050 retirement fund allocation)
* $145K in Traditional IRA Vanguard index fund investments
* $63K in Roth IRA Vanguard index fund investments
* $198K in 401k's
* $7.2K in Lending Club P2P loans (I'm getting about 7.8% returns, so I'm not sure if I should invest more, leave it alone, or move this money to Vanguard)
* Cars ('05 Accord / '07 CR-V): Worth somewhere around $17K
TOTAL ASSETS: Around $780K
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Monthly Saving:
* Our 401k's: Around $3K (we both max out our 401k's)
* Personal investments: Around $5K
TOTAL MONTHLY SAVINGS: About $8K
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Monthly Expenses:
* Rent (ugh): $1715
* Utilities: $250 ($150 electric; $100 water, sewage, trash)
* Internet: $50
* Car Payments: None (no car debt)
* TV/cable bill: None (we have an antenna)
* Gas for cars: $260 (my commute is 2 miles, my wife's is about 20 miles)
* Car repairs/maintenance: $147
* Entertainment: $93
* Coffee Shops: $15
* Groceries: $600
* Restaurants: $530
* Charitable Giving: $375
* Miscellaneous: $200
TOTAL MONTHLY EXPENSES: About $4,235