Author Topic: Is career change mustchian?  (Read 4468 times)

Outlier

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 88
  • Location: Michigan
Is career change mustchian?
« on: September 19, 2014, 07:04:25 PM »
I'm trying to think long term about FI. Right now I'm paying off debt including my house and that's going to take about six years. I live in a rural area and have a long commute right now. I also work in an IT department and technology jobs are pretty scarce in rural areas.

Eventually I'd like to use my house as a rental property after I hit FI. In the near term I'd like to be able to have a job with less commute and more opportunity to make money. I live in a waterfront vacation town with lots of rentals and I work part time as a handy man to pay down my debt.

So for $297 I could take a real estate class and get my agents license. For that cost I would be able to start doing property management as a side business. I want to eventually have some kind of full time business outside the IT industry and this feels like a good opportunity.

Part of me wants to take a risk and try something new hoping it will build into a full time business or at least a job with less of a commute. Another part of me is saying that spending $297 on something that might be a pipe dream is dumb. Just pile on the after hours handy man work even harder and worry about big stuff like career changes after FI.

Side notes: I would not actually quit my full time job unless I was making as much or more in real estate. I would also not stop doing handy man work at any point until FI. I will continue towards the goal of FI in six years regardless of what direction I take here.

So is either option a good one? Is there a big gotcha I should have noticed? Is my thinking flawed to the point of needing a face punch?





mozar

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3503
Re: Is career change mustchian?
« Reply #1 on: September 19, 2014, 07:30:48 PM »
I think these are all good ideas. If you can afford the $297 go for it. It's going to take awhile to build up the real estate business, so it will be good to have the handyman business in the meantime.

Jessa

  • CMTO 2023 Attendees
  • Walrus Stache
  • *
  • Posts: 7496
  • Age: 43
  • Location: MA, USA
Re: Is career change mustchian?
« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2014, 07:33:04 PM »
If you can afford the $297 go for it.
+1

Even if you don't end up using it or making the money you think you could, $297 isn't debt that you'll carry for the next 10 years. Go for it!

Outlier

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 88
  • Location: Michigan
Re: Is career change mustchian?
« Reply #3 on: September 19, 2014, 07:38:49 PM »
If you can afford the $297 go for it.
+1

Even if you don't end up using it or making the money you think you could, $297 isn't debt that you'll carry for the next 10 years. Go for it!

$297 is just less money I could be paying towards debt tomorrow. It's not going to make or break anything for me. I'm just afraid of chasing time and money down a rabbit hole of a bad idea. 

Davids

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 977
  • Location: Somewhere in the USA.
Re: Is career change mustchian?
« Reply #4 on: September 19, 2014, 08:00:03 PM »
If parting with $297 won't kill you and it seems like it won't then go for it. You seem very interested in it.

mozar

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3503
Re: Is career change mustchian?
« Reply #5 on: September 19, 2014, 08:10:46 PM »
Well you can think of it as having the potential of raising your income, which will let you pay off your debt faster. Generally I think that things to boost your skills/ ability to make money, are a good idea. It might even help you in unanticipated ways (like networking). Unless it is a hardship.

Outlier

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 88
  • Location: Michigan
Re: Is career change mustchian?
« Reply #6 on: September 19, 2014, 08:14:13 PM »
If parting with $297 won't kill you and it seems like it won't then go for it. You seem very interested in it.

I'm super interested for sure. I've known people in real life that made good money in real estate and even MMM himself and the forums here have a leaning towards it. I'm trying to take the least cost most conservative approach to not waste any money that could be put towards FI though. My nature is not the least cost approach though so I wanted to get the opinion of the experts.

Beric01

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1156
  • Age: 33
  • Location: SF Bay Area
  • Law-abiding cyclist
Re: Is career change mustchian?
« Reply #7 on: September 19, 2014, 09:16:04 PM »
If RE is your means to reach FIRE, it could make sense. However, what will you be doing after FIRE?

IMO my own route would be to do whatever it takes to maximize your earnings with your current job (even if it's not that meaningful to you). This could include moving to an area where your career is more prevalent and pays more. After you hit FIRE, you can quite your job once and for all and do whatever you want.

A real estate license could make sense as a side job, but I would be working to maximize your salary in your current field, that you presumably already have a resume and degree for. Changing careers takes time and will result in a short-term drop in earnings. As a Mustachian's career is already relatively short, this could not make sense.

darkadams00

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 419
Re: Is career change mustchian?
« Reply #8 on: September 19, 2014, 10:29:12 PM »
From my decision-making process, the $297 is a detail. Heck, if it was $1000 and you had it in your pocket, it would still be a detail. Don't make career decisions because of the details.

What are your life goals? What makes you tick? What puts a smile on your face and makes people around you take notice that you're loving life--including at work? Is it the IT work that you're currently doing? Or being a handyman? Or being a salesperson (real estate)? Or being a small business owner? You can earn a living doing any of these--plenty of people do each of these every day and live successful lives and supporting good families.

A lot of folks on the forum treat a job as a means to an end--to quit the "mandatory job" as soon as possible at all costs. And the job is almost irrelevant as long as the paycheck is sufficient. This is similar to a blue-collar worker changing factories for $1.50 more per hour. Little thought is given about the intangibles of the job and the company--just the final paycheck and what that paycheck will buy (on this forum, the big purchase of interest is flexible time in the nearest future possible).

A better plan that I suggest--find out what your life purpose is, see how your career choice fits in that purpose, work hard at whatever job you choose, spend your earnings wisely, save as best you can, and walk away when the time is right. Then every single year will be enjoyable, whether you're balancing a steady job before retirement or reading newspapers at 10:30 on Tuesday mornings afterwards. Whether you're 37 and walking out or 52 and still working, if what you're doing fits your goals, then you will be successful, and that success will be evident to the important people in your life.

Cheers and good luck with your decision.