Hi All,
I am 27 and work for a large insurance company. I have been working on the side to start up an online side business to sell some information products (study aids for a credentialing exam). I think this business could work out well and support me. I'm really excited about it and have been consistently unhappy at my company even though I've held a few different roles.
Long and short is that I'm planning to either quit or go part-time so that I can focus on making this business because that's where my heart is and I don't think I can do a full-time job and do justice to this project at the same time. My performance has started to fall at work and I want to change my circumstances before I get a reputation for being a slacker because I've always had great performance reviews up till now.
I've saved and saved since starting, so I have a net worth of $300k (almost all financial assets) with zero debt. I live on ~$25-28k a year so I have over 10 years of expenses saved.
So, my plan is to have that as my FU fund and ask to go part-time (2-days/wk) in a less demanding position. Otherwise, I'll turn in my two weeks notice. My job has been a constant source of unhappiness/stress, so I'd like to try something else for a while and see if I can make this business work. If not, I'll go back to work at another company until I hit FIRE.
Any thoughts on this plan? Anyone do something similar of taking a career break halfway to FIRE? I feel like I'll get told that I'm throwing it all away or that I'll be unhireable if I try to get back into the profession.