The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: cornbread on August 02, 2015, 11:37:26 PM
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Hi,
Been reading the blog for a year but only joined yesterday.
We have been frugal from day 1 and after 20 years of working continuously, we can FIRE if we make some adjustments. Yet, we can't seem to take the plunge :(
DH calls it the "brain trap". People tell us we have good jobs that pay well (which is true for what we do). They want our jobs if they could. And that probably plays into our psyches. DH works from home and has occasional travel duties and I transitioned to part time work (very low stress and pays decent) bringing in 200k+
Both jobs are okay but it's always better to be home. What would you do? Would you give up easy $?
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I probably would not give up easy $ if it was low stress, but I also gain some enjoyment out of succeeding and doing a job well. But if I had more money than I'd ever need and thought I could do something better with the time? Yes I'd give it up.
Is there something you'd rather do? Or if you are working and making good money, could your purpose be growing your wealth in order to make larger and larger contributions to charity? It really just depends want you want in life. I'm about a decade away from FIRE still, but I know that I do not want to be just all about myself when I RE. I plan to volunteer, or if I'm FI, keep working and make huge donations to my church and to caring for the poor and abused in my city.
A friend of mine says he could never RE because he "doesn't want to leave money on the table". He has a savings rate higher than mine, I really have no idea what he'll ever use the money for. But he likes to see his balances grow. That's his reason to keep working (I admit I like seeing mine grow too).
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I would call $200k+ more than "decent" pay... especially for part time work. I think you've lost some perspective.
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200k+ is total household income :).
Still at home are 3 kids in k-12
Our worries are how to pay for health insurance and college tuitions for 3.
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If you are wanting to pay for their college, I'd work a few more years and fund 529 plans. I plan on saving 1/2 of what I expect our 2 kids needs will be by the time they are 10 years old and hope the market will suppy the 2nd half.
I think a lot of us get in that trap with our jobs. I'm fairly close to FIRE but keep working a job I really dislike. Mainly because I don't want to tap into savings to take a lower paying job to keep us afloat until my wife finishes school and starts work doing what she loves. You at least have a better situation where you enjoy what you do and it is low stress. I'd say keep doing it unless it reduces your happiness or flexibility in pursuing another dream.
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Both jobs are okay but it's always better to be home. What would you do? Would you give up easy $?
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200k+ is total household income :).
Still at home are 3 kids in k-12
Our worries are how to pay for health insurance and college tuitions for 3.
To make this discussion more productive, I suggest you post a detailed case study (see "how to write a case study (http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/how-to-write-a-%27case-study%27-topic/)" sticky on forum).
whether you can/should RE now with 3 kids in the house depends on a variety of factors, including spending levels, assets, goals etc.
If you post specific numbers there are some amazing people here who can run numbers, offer suggestions and give advice from their personal experiences
Cheers
N
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If you aren't where you need to be yet, stash-wise, keep working until you are. Sounds like you're not quite there yet if you're wondering how to pay for health insurance and kids' college.
If you have a big enough stash, Dr. Doom's blog may be a very helpful read. Particularly this post.
http://livingafi.com/2015/01/13/quitting-the-cushy-job-2/
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Seconding the suggestion for a case study. I'd also recommend living at your FIRE spending level (since you mention "adjustments") for awhile before pulling the trigger so you know how feasible it is/how much you like it.
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Great links. Thanks. Will have to spend time reading the other blog.
Thanks to ACA, we can think about get our own insurance but it is so expensive....much easier to have employer pay for it. We only need 10 years of it before vested healthcare kicks in.
You are right that we should try to live on a budget for a year to test if it'll work.
To really test it, adjustments would involve selling current home and move to rental house. The kids like it here and don't want to move. This is the biggest holdup on our plan.
We will have to wait on the case study....so much data to gather
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I suspect you should not quit great or even good jobs with the intention of then cutting your expenses to match. Live the lower cost first, otherwise you're not as stable as you expect. I think FIRE here is considered investment of 25x current expenses rather than 25x the expenses we'll have if we cut costs next year.
It's up to you whether you want to work more and Keep the Kids Happy, or let them adjust. They will learn values from your choices no matter what. (And being kids, what they learn may not be what you intend!)
An idea: Can you rent out the nice house for a year and try living in the cheaper one, then move back if you don't like the result? "We're going to try the other house because it might allow mom and dad to have more free time later, including some extra time for you..."