Author Topic: Sanity Check: How close am I?  (Read 1849 times)

RioIndy

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 5
Sanity Check: How close am I?
« on: May 08, 2019, 07:06:30 PM »
Hello Mustachians!  I am new to this forum, and looking for some advice / a sanity check from others who care a lot about reaching FIRE and the FIRE mentality,  as I have a sudden career decision to make:

My current work contract suddenly ended, and I have to decide if I want to jump into another full time job right away, or stop here a bit short of my goal, or give myself a breather (which I guess would risk losing the career momentum I've built up).

My biggest issue is I can't find a balance, and I especially over-cooked it in my 20's. For the sake of my career I was working 100+ hrs / week. The money was good but everything else (my relationships, friendships, my health, hobbies etc) suffered greatly as a result.

In that time I managed to stash away an amount just shy of 750K (all equities). No Dept.  My expenses went up a lot when I moved to a big city and stopped being so aggressively frugal (to enjoy life a bit more), but they have since stabilized at ~$30,000/year (that's for everything including things like vacations, gifts etc).

Part of me wants to continue fast-tracking till I reach the "magical" 1M mark. And this new job opportunity I believe is almost guaranteed if I want it, but it means 60 hrs/week (which is not as much as I used to do, but is still a lot) and continued stress of a demanding job.


The question is: Can I theoretically stop here? Or can I risk losing the momentum (ie lose out on this next job) by taking a breather for a little while?



Additional details:  Currently 33, renting in Toronto, Canada.

SO and I don't plan on any kids (we are happy with our fur-babies). SO's career took-off later than mine did, but they really enjoy it / have a good balance, and will continue.

Don't have to worry about health insurance / medical costs.

I ask myself, "What else do I want that I don't already have?". The biggest thing would be real-estate, but I like my apartment, and real-estate in areas I would happy with would be a million dollars (and that would be for a fixer-upper), which would probably mean an extra 10 years of working, and that doesn't seem worth it to me if I'm happy with my apartment.

More money would also of course mean more luxuries like fancier vacations, eating out at restaurants more often, etc.

I want to value my relationships and my time more than money (which I did not in the past). And I have plenty of other projects and interests I want to pursue.

I would be much happier if I could do my current line of work (software development), but at only part time, like 20 hrs per week.


Any feedback welcome. Thanks :-)
« Last Edit: May 08, 2019, 10:33:33 PM by RioIndy »

pbkmaine

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8927
  • Age: 67
  • Location: The Villages, Florida
Re: Sanity Check: How close am I?
« Reply #1 on: May 08, 2019, 08:00:39 PM »
Do you and SO keep your finances separate?

RioIndy

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 5
Re: Sanity Check: How close am I?
« Reply #2 on: May 08, 2019, 10:20:13 PM »
Do you and SO keep your finances separate?

We will likely join finances one day but that would be down the road. For the sake of this thread I am looking at strictly my accounts and my spending.

dragoncar

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 9922
  • Registered member
Re: Sanity Check: How close am I?
« Reply #3 on: May 08, 2019, 11:18:40 PM »
Is it possible to find a contract with even fewer hours?  Purely from a numbers standpoint, you are set, but are you ready mentally?  Going from 100 to 0 hours is a big leap and I tend to advocate working part time as a trial balloon before going full FIRE.  Maybe with more reasonable hours you find that you want to keep working.

If you think a sabbatical will harm your work momentum, how long do you think you could take a break for?

Metalcat

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 17378
Re: Sanity Check: How close am I?
« Reply #4 on: May 09, 2019, 04:15:41 AM »
Consider CoastFI, where you leave your stache alone to grow while only generating what you need to live on. You are so young, so you could end up with a monstrous pile of money doing this.

pbkmaine

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8927
  • Age: 67
  • Location: The Villages, Florida
Re: Sanity Check: How close am I?
« Reply #5 on: May 09, 2019, 04:36:34 AM »
Why not do a job search limited to part-time jobs?

RioIndy

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 5
Re: Sanity Check: How close am I?
« Reply #6 on: May 09, 2019, 07:12:24 PM »
Thanks for all the perspectives and feedback.

Consider CoastFI, where you leave your stache alone to grow while only generating what you need to live on. You are so young, so you could end up with a monstrous pile of money doing this.

I like this term!  Only make enough to more or less cover my yearly expenses while my stash (where all my hard years went to) grows for a few more years.

Ugh I hate the whole resume and interview process, but I will start looking into part time positions shortly.