Dearest fellow Mustachians,
Please either help me to encourage my husband to take the huge leap of faith to retire early, enjoy life, and pursue his dreams as he discovers them, or explain why you feel he should remain employed until he finds an alternate less demanding career. We are in the incredibly blessed situation of having been handed the means for financial independence by my father-in-law who works very hard for his money. My husband fears leaving his stable career as an attorney (oil and gas defense title work, 5 years experience) for all of the obvious reasons: it's an insane thing to do by most standards, he fears leaving the field then having to return to the job market sometime in the future due to economic downturn or unexpected expenses (such as illness, etc.) at a much lower pay grade and in less pleasant conditions, also plug in all of the reasons that early retirement is scary. He's not always in love with his current job, or with being an attorney, but it does interest him and, although he works sun-up to sun-down, he's treated pretty well overall. He would be happier to work less hours even, but as you well know making such a request is a dangerous step.
A further complicating factor would be explaining his intentions to his father, who gifted us his hard earned money, as they would be fairly abstract at the time of retirement.
Here are our specifics:
-We are 29 (myself) and 32 (my husband). We are simple people and live and want a simple life.
-Our personal expenses (pre-child) are approx 30k and we could pinch pennies more if ever needed. We anticipate expenses rising some with our child, and we'd like a little extra available for travel, for being able to assist family if needed, to have no fear of the unexpected, and to be capable of assisting our son as we see fit in the future.
-1.3 million invested, about half equities half municipal bonds. Current interest and dividends could cover our expenses if needed if we cut down a few thousand a year.
-Two rental properties, owned outright. Together the income COULD cover our expenses if necessary if we cut down some.
-We own our home outright. It's worth approx 250k.
-We have two cars and own them outright. One is newer, one is 2007 with 80k miles. Both are Toyotas and we plan to drive the wheels off of them.
-We have one child, a 4 week old son. We may or may not have one more.
-Husband's current income is 80k gross.
-I am an RN and until the recent birth of our son I worked for myself as a medical consultant earning enough in approx 8 hours a week to cover our expenses. I do not intend to return if my husband doesn't retire, but I am willing to continue if he does retire in order to provide us with additional cushion.
-One of our parents will likely need financial assistance in old age.
So, as our Mastachian friends and family, please let us know the path you would take, and give advice as if my husband were coming to you for guidance on how he could best act as a husband, father, and son. I am less than impartial when I give my opinion, as I desperately want more of my husband's time. Admittedly, reassurance for the early retirement path would be nice for me to hear, too, because no matter how much I want it, the thought of him actually taking the leap is scary.
All advice would be greatly appreciated. Whether you feel that he should remain employed for now, or feel that he should retire yesterday, please include your specific reasoning so as to help us understand your thought process. I will happily give any more info as requested!
Thank you so much!
ETA-Regarding responses:
-After crunching the numbers on the simulators, it seems that we would 100% do fine for 80 years with no additional income assuming our expenses don't rise any further than 10k above where they are now. With our rentals and intentions to pursue money making endeavors (although unsure what that will be) in retirement we should be ok. The unknown does scare both of us somewhat, however.
-Career as a part of ones identity I think is an issue for many. "What do you do?" "I'm an attorney." Is alot easier than "well I'm technically retired but..." And yes, he did work so hard for his title. His hopes for early retirement include using his knowledge, title, and experience to earn an income doing something way more flexible that he enjoys, although he's not sure exactly how. I believe hew would be ready for retirement sooner than later if he could figure out this key point. Yes working part-time would be a huge step in the right direction and would improve our quality of life dramatically. He would love to make that change but fears the effects of making the request and making his displeasure with his full-time schedule known if his request is denied. He works for a small but growing firm of about 10 attorneys; some do work on contract.
-Our dreams for what to do in early retirement/financial independence abound. There would be never a dull moment for sure. What I intended to get across in my original post was that we'd like to figure out some rather painless way to continue to have some income, and our/his dreams regarding that are not exactly clear. Again, I think if we had a plan for this he'd be home with me today.
-The FIL gave the money because he wants my husband to be happy. What he kind of wants that to mean though, is yes like one poster suggested, buy bigger houses, better cars, and be a very important person. I think using the money as a safety net for leaving a full-time law career for something more self-directed and low key would be fine, but leaving without a plan would indeed create some problems. (he thinks we're insane as it is for being so frugal)