Author Topic: Floated around in my 20s, seeking advice about how to get on track in early 30s  (Read 3010 times)

samanil

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Hello Mustachians,

In my 20s I did a lot of traveling around, experimenting, and working random jobs. I had pretty much no direction and no awareness of financial principles. I very much had a "get by" mentality which is the opposite of wealth building for early retirement.

Here's my work history: I lifeguarded for about 7 years during high school and college, then went traveling for a year, taught English abroad in 2 countries, did some freelance graphic design for a year in San Diego, hiked the PCT, and finally got into home remodeling in Seattle for the last 2 years of my 20s. During this time I learned about MMM and started investing. 

After working in remodeling for 2 years, I realized it wasn't for me, and decided I wanted to go teach English in China (you can get an apartment for $300 and make $35 per hour or more teaching English). Unfortunately I made this decision 2 weeks before Covid was internally identified within China, so I spent the last 10 months waiting for Covid to end--which of course it didn't. I spent 3 of those months living on the beach in Mexico, during which I read about 500 of MMMs articles. I'm fully on board with the MMM philosophy, but I am worried about my job prospects given my spotty work history.

I finally ended up coming back to Seattle and getting my old remodeling job back, which I pretty strongly dislike. It pays $25 per hour, which isn't much in Seattle, and I don't know how much longer I can do it. The problem is I don't know what other options I have. I have a bachelors degree in psychology, a job that pays $25 per hour with health insurance, 50k of investments, and 6k cash. I am 31, soon to be 32.

Does anyone have any recommendations for how to fix this situation? I am sorry if I am asking way too much. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thank you!

tawyer

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Welcome to the forum.

What's wrong with your situation other than dislike for your job? From what you present, it's not evident: if you are frugal, you could just keep cranking and leanfire at 50...

I recommend looking at it in two parts. Part one should be your finances, so share more about what you are spending and get the face-punches from the community that will help. Part two should be your job, for which I recommend What Color Is Your Parachute (from the library, of course). Getting your finances straight will give you the confidence needed to take action on whatever career path WCIYP pushes you down.

Good luck.


Freedomin5

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You can still teach English to Chinese kids online. Lots of demand for that. I think there's a thread floating in the forums (may have to use the search function to find it) of forum folks who teach for VIPKid. I can't remember the pay (maybe around $20/hour?), but it's a good side gig and you can work around your day job. If you're laser-focused on FIRE-ing, and you're willing to put in the hard work and long hours, you can work an extra 20+ hours per week teaching English and really crank up your savings rate.

Plus, if you ever do make it to China, it will look good on your resume since you'll have experience teaching Chinese kids.

Also, if you don't already have a TESL or TEFL certificate, it is worth it getting that certificate. Makes you a lot more marketable as an oral English teacher. You can complete the course online for a few hundred dollars.

Finally, if you haven't already started, I would start learning Chinese. You don't have to pay for lessons -- there are a lot of free resources at the library and online.

(DH and I both came over to China as oral English teachers many years ago. I worked for two years as an oral English teacher before finding a more lucrative position in my field. DH loves teaching English and stayed an oral English teacher for six years before switching to teaching at an international school where the pay and benefits were better. He has a teaching degree. I know he prefers teaching oral English though.)

samanil

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Welcome to the forum.

What's wrong with your situation other than dislike for your job? From what you present, it's not evident: if you are frugal, you could just keep cranking and leanfire at 50...

I recommend looking at it in two parts. Part one should be your finances, so share more about what you are spending and get the face-punches from the community that will help. Part two should be your job, for which I recommend What Color Is Your Parachute (from the library, of course). Getting your finances straight will give you the confidence needed to take action on whatever career path WCIYP pushes you down.

Good luck.

Thank you for the response. My expenses are up in the air because I just landed in Seattle and am staying with my cousin currently. I will probably rent a room from a friend for $750 per month. My job will require at least a 1 hour of commute (30 minutes each way). I need to drive a vehicle for my job, and even drive during the workday sometimes to pick up materials. My food will probably be 2-300 per month. Vehicle expenses another 200. Overall I can probably live for around 1500-2000 per month, while taking home around 3k-3.5k. 

I am considering the possibility of buying a trailer and parking it either at my cousin's house or at a friend's house. If I could make this happen it might reduce my housing to $500 per month. That would be a big savings compared to renting a place but the living conditions would be difficult, especially during the rainy 6 months of Seattle winter.

My job is often unpleasant, dirty work. It is often out in the harsh elements. My coworkers don't really care about their job, with a lot of turnover. Most of them don't have degrees, and my boss will hire almost anyone. Most people don't want to do this work because it is unpleasant, physically strenuous, and it doesn't pay much for a very HCOL city.


samanil

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You can still teach English to Chinese kids online. Lots of demand for that. I think there's a thread floating in the forums (may have to use the search function to find it) of forum folks who teach for VIPKid. I can't remember the pay (maybe around $20/hour?), but it's a good side gig and you can work around your day job. If you're laser-focused on FIRE-ing, and you're willing to put in the hard work and long hours, you can work an extra 20+ hours per week teaching English and really crank up your savings rate.

Plus, if you ever do make it to China, it will look good on your resume since you'll have experience teaching Chinese kids.

Also, if you don't already have a TESL or TEFL certificate, it is worth it getting that certificate. Makes you a lot more marketable as an oral English teacher. You can complete the course online for a few hundred dollars.

Finally, if you haven't already started, I would start learning Chinese. You don't have to pay for lessons -- there are a lot of free resources at the library and online.

(DH and I both came over to China as oral English teachers many years ago. I worked for two years as an oral English teacher before finding a more lucrative position in my field. DH loves teaching English and stayed an oral English teacher for six years before switching to teaching at an international school where the pay and benefits were better. He has a teaching degree. I know he prefers teaching oral English though.)

Thank you for your feedback.

I was considering teaching English online but was discouraged from doing so because I read in various places that the online teaching market is way over saturated due to Covid. But that is a good side gig to consider, possibly in the future. You're right that if I really buckled down I could significantly increase my savings rate.

Are you still in China? How long have you been there? What position did you find?

mozar

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Do you like teaching? There is a real shortage of middle school and high school teachers in the USA.

https://cityu.edu/programs-overview/alternative-route-teacher-certification/

Freedomin5

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You can still teach English to Chinese kids online. Lots of demand for that. I think there's a thread floating in the forums (may have to use the search function to find it) of forum folks who teach for VIPKid. I can't remember the pay (maybe around $20/hour?), but it's a good side gig and you can work around your day job. If you're laser-focused on FIRE-ing, and you're willing to put in the hard work and long hours, you can work an extra 20+ hours per week teaching English and really crank up your savings rate.

Plus, if you ever do make it to China, it will look good on your resume since you'll have experience teaching Chinese kids.

Also, if you don't already have a TESL or TEFL certificate, it is worth it getting that certificate. Makes you a lot more marketable as an oral English teacher. You can complete the course online for a few hundred dollars.

Finally, if you haven't already started, I would start learning Chinese. You don't have to pay for lessons -- there are a lot of free resources at the library and online.

(DH and I both came over to China as oral English teachers many years ago. I worked for two years as an oral English teacher before finding a more lucrative position in my field. DH loves teaching English and stayed an oral English teacher for six years before switching to teaching at an international school where the pay and benefits were better. He has a teaching degree. I know he prefers teaching oral English though.)

Thank you for your feedback.

I was considering teaching English online but was discouraged from doing so because I read in various places that the online teaching market is way over saturated due to Covid. But that is a good side gig to consider, possibly in the future. You're right that if I really buckled down I could significantly increase my savings rate.

Are you still in China? How long have you been there? What position did you find?

I guess you’ll never know how successful you might be unless you try. If you’re discouraged reading online reviews before you even try, that’s a bit of a problem. The market may be saturated, but if you’re good at teaching, you will get referrals.

We are still in China, in Shanghai. Btw, your living expenses estimates are a bit off. You’d be hard pressed to find a room in Shanghai for $300/month. It might be doable if you live like the locals, but then the living conditions might be lower than what you’re familiar with. Not wanting to discourage you. Just want you to have a realistic expectation. I mean, if the locals can manage, you can too. If you move to a smaller city in China, you can find cheap rent, but I’m not sure what the pay is now. DH was charging $100/hr in shanghai to do small groups. If you’re willing to teach small groups of 3-5 children, you could have an hourly rate if $50-100 depending on the city you’re in. That would be my guess.

Also note that you may not have many retirement benefits (pension, SS) if you work overseas, so funding your retirement would be on you. Again, not to discourage you, but I see too many oral English teachers here who don’t plan ahead. They spend more than they should here, travel around China and Asia during holidays, go drinking/eat out everyday, and don’t save enough to fund their own retirement when they go back to their home country.

I have a doctorate in my field, and my job is directly related to my doctorate. I don’t want to get too specific because it may make me too identifiable. While DH came to China specifically to teach, I was a trailing spouse who taught until I found a job in my field.

Jon Bon

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I can't speak to teaching, but ok sure if it makes more and you enjoy it more, go for it however.

You are holding the golden ticket and dont even know it. What kind of specific remolding work to do you do? Because $25 an hour is pretty good pay roughly 50k a year. So Sure you are in a HCOL place but your making decent money.

That being said, any idea what your boss hires you out at? My guess is >$100 an hour. The trades are in crazy demand right now. I can't find guys to do work and everyone and their brother is renovating their house right now. With the millennial attitude that most of us are "too good" to do manual labor you have an awesome opportunity.

So you don't love remolding, but at $50 an hour would you? $75? If I was in your shoes its an easy decision. I bet you could start on the side tomorrow and make more than your "day job" per week in a month or two.

Be an entrepreneur, be bold. If there is a better way to get rich, I've never heard of it.

samanil

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I can't speak to teaching, but ok sure if it makes more and you enjoy it more, go for it however.

You are holding the golden ticket and dont even know it. What kind of specific remolding work to do you do? Because $25 an hour is pretty good pay roughly 50k a year. So Sure you are in a HCOL place but your making decent money.

That being said, any idea what your boss hires you out at? My guess is >$100 an hour. The trades are in crazy demand right now. I can't find guys to do work and everyone and their brother is renovating their house right now. With the millennial attitude that most of us are "too good" to do manual labor you have an awesome opportunity.

So you don't love remolding, but at $50 an hour would you? $75? If I was in your shoes its an easy decision. I bet you could start on the side tomorrow and make more than your "day job" per week in a month or two.

Be an entrepreneur, be bold. If there is a better way to get rich, I've never heard of it.

That is some powerful advice. Yeah, that is what I think sometimes, that I just need to push forward through the grime until I am more skilled and can start billing my time out at $50/hr or more.

Yes, if I made a lot more it would be worth it. I like being physical and creating things. I am just discoursged sometimes about my prospects for advancing, as the learning seems quite slow (I only get to do what I'm told to do) and I haven't met any bosses eager for their employees to make more. Also to be a contractor you pretty much need your own home/garage to store things, and the average house in seattle costs 700k. I'm not trying to be pessimistic but rather realistic.

I do all phases of remodel, just not the mechanical trades like plumbing, electrical etc. I dont know what my boss bills by time at but I'd guess $75.

What kind of work do you do and where do you do it?

Thanks for your input!

mozar

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When I worked in carpentry they would keep their tools in their van and left the large equipment on site. Ymmv. You can easily get work on weekends so that you can learn to manage the work yourself.

If you are interested in commercial carpentry you could apply for an apprenticeship.
https://www.nwci.org/apprenticeship/

samanil

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How do you recommend getting work on weekends?

How long did you work in carpentry? Did it work out well for you?

Jon Bon

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I can't speak to teaching, but ok sure if it makes more and you enjoy it more, go for it however.

You are holding the golden ticket and dont even know it. What kind of specific remolding work to do you do? Because $25 an hour is pretty good pay roughly 50k a year. So Sure you are in a HCOL place but your making decent money.

That being said, any idea what your boss hires you out at? My guess is >$100 an hour. The trades are in crazy demand right now. I can't find guys to do work and everyone and their brother is renovating their house right now. With the millennial attitude that most of us are "too good" to do manual labor you have an awesome opportunity.

So you don't love remolding, but at $50 an hour would you? $75? If I was in your shoes its an easy decision. I bet you could start on the side tomorrow and make more than your "day job" per week in a month or two.

Be an entrepreneur, be bold. If there is a better way to get rich, I've never heard of it.

That is some powerful advice. Yeah, that is what I think sometimes, that I just need to push forward through the grime until I am more skilled and can start billing my time out at $50/hr or more.

Yes, if I made a lot more it would be worth it. I like being physical and creating things. I am just discoursged sometimes about my prospects for advancing, as the learning seems quite slow (I only get to do what I'm told to do) and I haven't met any bosses eager for their employees to make more. Also to be a contractor you pretty much need your own home/garage to store things, and the average house in seattle costs 700k. I'm not trying to be pessimistic but rather realistic.

I do all phases of remodel, just not the mechanical trades like plumbing, electrical etc. I dont know what my boss bills by time at but I'd guess $75.

What kind of work do you do and where do you do it?

Thanks for your input!

You need a truck/van/suv, a ladder, and some tools. Yes houses might be 700k, but it does not cost 700k to start a business.

Start with handy man stuff, people are so dumb/lazy they wont even change their own light bulbs! I do work for my friends just so we can hang out together after. Finding work is the easy part trust me. Put yourself out there with something you know how to do. You will get a ton of "While you are at it" work.

You don't need an apprenticeship unless you want to build fancy furniture or something. You do need to know how to talk to people, do the work, and then invoice and get paid after.

This is an easy low risk business to get into you can learn as you go and make a few mistakes.  Once you get your foot in the door with a customer assuming you do decent work they WILL call you for other improvements/repairs.  Its easy you start with something basic (which makes very little money BTW) like mowing grass or cleaning gutters. Yeah it sucks, but its a loss leader. Maybe after a month of that you start getting asked to do some landscaping or replace some gutters or siding. This is the work that starts to pay decent. Eventually that same person will ask oh can you replace my front door?? Boom you have a $2,000 job.  Hell in that HCOL area you could probably quote $4,000 and you might get the dang job.




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Storage unit?

mozar

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Quote
How do you recommend getting work on weekends?

How long did you work in carpentry? Did it work out well for you?

Craigslist, facebook, thumbtack, flyers in mail boxes, community boards in grocery stores, tell friends you are looking for work etc.

I worked in carpentry for three months. I found the job on craigslist and sent them pictures of the kitchen renovation I did. 

I mostly enjoyed the work but there was a culture of un-safety. I wasn't worried about myself but my co-workers were careless and I was worried they would drop a ladder on me or something (almost happened). And serious accidents almost every week.
I also really care about quality, apparently too much. They would go with the cheapest hardware and tools and relied on the fact that most homeowners don't know jack. So when I was laid off due to covid 19 I wasn't upset about it.

Padonak

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MMM principles are about optimization techniques to get the most out of the money you have/earn. The problem is that you still have to earn that money. There is only so much you can get out of investing in VTSAX instead of high cost funds, cooking at home instead of wasting money on delivery, using travel rewards instead of cash etc. You still need a solid and stable source of income.

I don't have any specific advice for you but a friend of mine with similar career history to yours found a spouse who has the same values and aspirations and then bought a cheap plot of land and built a modest house on it. They aren't rich but they're happy.

Rusted Rose

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flyers in mail boxes

Notwithstanding the current US post office surrealism, just a note that I am pretty sure it is still illegal for anyone but postals to do this themselves. It is probably a job for a direct mail firm.

Door hangers are a possibility though? But it can be an annoyance to homeowners too.
« Last Edit: September 08, 2020, 12:23:39 PM by Rusted Rose »

samanil

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I worked in carpentry for three months. I found the job on craigslist and sent them pictures of the kitchen renovation I did. 

I mostly enjoyed the work but there was a culture of un-safety. I wasn't worried about myself but my co-workers were careless and I was worried they would drop a ladder on me or something (almost happened). And serious accidents almost every week.
I also really care about quality, apparently too much. They would go with the cheapest hardware and tools and relied on the fact that most homeowners don't know jack. So when I was laid off due to covid 19 I wasn't upset about it.

Interesting. What is your plan now that you're done with carpentry?

samanil

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This is an easy low risk business to get into you can learn as you go and make a few mistakes.  Once you get your foot in the door with a customer assuming you do decent work they WILL call you for other improvements/repairs.  Its easy you start with something basic (which makes very little money BTW) like mowing grass or cleaning gutters. Yeah it sucks, but its a loss leader. Maybe after a month of that you start getting asked to do some landscaping or replace some gutters or siding. This is the work that starts to pay decent. Eventually that same person will ask oh can you replace my front door?? Boom you have a $2,000 job.  Hell in that HCOL area you could probably quote $4,000 and you might get the dang job.

Thanks for the tips! To be perfectly honest I tried to start a handyman business a few years ago and failed. The need to "perform" in front of strangers, who expected me to know what I was doing because they were paying me, resulted in crippling anxiety (probably a severe case of "impostor syndrome") and I had to throw in the towel--it was that bad.

I'm a highly sensitive person who feels negative emotions easily. So honestly I think the only way I could start my own business is if I had a lot more experience and was correspondingly A LOT more confident in my skills. If I had my own fixer upper, I am confident I'd be able to rehab it and figure out a ton of stuff as I went (since there would be no pressure), but when it comes to going into someone else's home and "performing" in front of them, that's a different ballgame for me.

I know I am getting dangerously close to complainypants territory, but there is also the notion of knowing yourself and what you're capable of.

samanil

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I don't have any specific advice for you but a friend of mine with similar career history to yours found a spouse who has the same values and aspirations and then bought a cheap plot of land and built a modest house on it. They aren't rich but they're happy.

That sounds like heaven. I like living peacefully in nature. If I may ask, where did they buy the land, and what do they do for work, presumably they are pretty far from populated areas?

KBCB

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How was hiking the PCT? I would love to do something like that.

In regards to the job opportunities and prospects, i would start applying to jobs you like that you think your skills qualify you for. Just because your history of jobs might sound random what I see is that you have had long steady jobs and that's what employers look for. A hard worker that is reliable. You never know.

Padonak

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I don't have any specific advice for you but a friend of mine with similar career history to yours found a spouse who has the same values and aspirations and then bought a cheap plot of land and built a modest house on it. They aren't rich but they're happy.

That sounds like heaven. I like living peacefully in nature. If I may ask, where did they buy the land, and what do they do for work, presumably they are pretty far from populated areas?

I don't want to share too much info about them online to protect their privacy but i'll send you a PM.

mozar

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I have another idea for you. You could move to a lcol area and flip/renovate houses.
Here's a video of a woman who is doing exactly that. She bought a house for $18,000 and is renovating it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD_AyFEaWwU&ab_channel=MonicaChurch
 

Quote
Interesting. What is your plan now that you're done with carpentry?

I decided to become a high school math teacher. I have tried a lot of different jobs/careers. I've been looking for something that ticks all my boxes.
-Within a 20 mile drive of where I live
-Make enough money so I can FIRE in an hcol area
-Personally meaningful for me. I never applied myself in school so I would like to help others.
-At least somewhat well regarded
-I don't need to pay for another degree, most programs will cover school in my area
-High demand, low automation probability


« Last Edit: September 09, 2020, 11:19:01 AM by mozar »

J Boogie

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Storage unit?

Yup, storage unit. I follow plenty of remodelers on insta and you learn a lot about how they operate.

For everything you can't fabricate on site, you can just buy - like cabinets/doors. The more established folks who have shops, well sometimes its because they like woodworking and sometimes its because they build custom kitchens/cabinetry. But you can often have a cabinet shop build you custom stuff.

Storage units aren't very expensive and neither is a used van.

Maybe you'd be surprised how the unpleasant work doesn't feel so unpleasant when you're charting the course and calling the shots.

What do you like the most about your job? I'd focus on that and grow in that area.


blingwrx

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I had a somewhat similar experience in my 20's, I spent all my money on traveling and partying. When I was 30 I pretty much had no savings, however I guess the difference was I worked on my career since I graduated college and slowly got raises and promotions until I hit a low 6 figure salary. Now I'm 37 and have more than a million to my name. The point is to work hard and focus on one thing you're good at and get to an expert level then you will get paid the big bucks. Combine that with a good savings rated and investment strategy you could be on your way to FIRE in your 40's.

The teaching English internationally I would definitely say that's a bad plan if you want to FIRE. I had so many friends move abroad after college to teach English, while it was an awesome life changing experience when they came back to the states they had to start their careers from scratch and their bank accounts were mostly empty. Don't take a job because of the hourly rate, you have to think long term, take a job for the potential to move up and make a lot more in the future.

You do not need a 700k house to store tools. My uncle is a contractor he keeps all his tools in his van and any extra stuff in a storage facility.

The way I see it you have a few options:
1. Leverage your college degree and get an entry level job in a corporation and climb that ladder.
2. Keep doing what you're doing with the remodeling learn the skills you need and venture off on your own and get paid a heck of a lot more as others have said.
3. Once you saved enough capital do the house flipping game.
4. Choose a skilled trade and become a Master electricians or plumber ect and make a shit ton of money.

There's a huge difference in salary from entry level to expert or manager level so choose what you like and stick to it and work on becoming the best at what you do and the $$$ will roll in.

samanil

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I had a somewhat similar experience in my 20's, I spent all my money on traveling and partying. When I was 30 I pretty much had no savings, however I guess the difference was I worked on my career since I graduated college and slowly got raises and promotions until I hit a low 6 figure salary. Now I'm 37 and have more than a million to my name. The point is to work hard and focus on one thing you're good at and get to an expert level then you will get paid the big bucks. Combine that with a good savings rated and investment strategy you could be on your way to FIRE in your 40's.

The teaching English internationally I would definitely say that's a bad plan if you want to FIRE. I had so many friends move abroad after college to teach English, while it was an awesome life changing experience when they came back to the states they had to start their careers from scratch and their bank accounts were mostly empty. Don't take a job because of the hourly rate, you have to think long term, take a job for the potential to move up and make a lot more in the future.

You do not need a 700k house to store tools. My uncle is a contractor he keeps all his tools in his van and any extra stuff in a storage facility.

The way I see it you have a few options:
1. Leverage your college degree and get an entry level job in a corporation and climb that ladder.
2. Keep doing what you're doing with the remodeling learn the skills you need and venture off on your own and get paid a heck of a lot more as others have said.
3. Once you saved enough capital do the house flipping game.
4. Choose a skilled trade and become a Master electricians or plumber ect and make a shit ton of money.

There's a huge difference in salary from entry level to expert or manager level so choose what you like and stick to it and work on becoming the best at what you do and the $$$ will roll in.

Nice net worth! Congrats. And yes, that is a big difference...that was smart of you to work on your career while partying in your 20s.

Regarding teaching English abroad, my understanding is that the majority of people don't make much out of it financially, but people with a plan and discipline do. You can make big bucks in the Middle East...or at least you could before Covid annihilated the oil industry. I've seen pictures of 6 figure contracts with significant amounts of time off. That's what I was aiming for ultimately. But it's off the table now.

Thanks for all your suggestions, I think they are all worth considering. I was thinking of doing an electrical apprenticeship with the union, which would put me into 6 figures in 4-5 years, but apparently it's insanely competitive.

In terms of leveraging my mediocre psychology degree to get in with a corporation...what would be the first steps for doing that?

Thanks for all you input!



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If you are into being an electrician you might look in to being a lineman if you are not afraid of heights, bad weather, and high voltage. In my area in New England there is high demand and low supply as the older generation retires. Have heard of jobs in the $70k-$250k range with <10 years experience and only 90 days of school for the initial certification. The guys I know work for National Grid.

samanil

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Maybe you'd be surprised how the unpleasant work doesn't feel so unpleasant when you're charting the course and calling the shots.

What do you like the most about your job? I'd focus on that and grow in that area.

I think you're spot on here. When I have autonomy I enjoy things much much more. It just takes a while when working for a contractor, as you take orders all day and many of the tasks are low skill grunt work. But maybe if I could change my attitude and take a more mustachian approach to work and life, I could get through it.

samanil

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If you are into being an electrician you might look in to being a lineman if you are not afraid of heights, bad weather, and high voltage. In my area in New England there is high demand and low supply as the older generation retires. Have heard of jobs in the $70k-$250k range with <10 years experience and only 90 days of school for the initial certification. The guys I know work for National Grid.

I've thought about that. My friend's brother is a lineman and apparently made 300k last year repairing areas that were devastated by fires in California. A few years like that and I'd be FIRE. One thing is consider is that being a lineman is a "death profession", like most construction jobs, but perhaps more so since you are dealing with high voltage that could kill you instantly if you make a mistake. That big salary comes with a risk. I'm not discounting it but just pointing out a significant variable to consider.

samanil

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I have another idea for you. You could move to a lcol area and flip/renovate houses.
Here's a video of a woman who is doing exactly that. She bought a house for $18,000 and is renovating it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD_AyFEaWwU&ab_channel=MonicaChurch
 

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Interesting. What is your plan now that you're done with carpentry?

I decided to become a high school math teacher. I have tried a lot of different jobs/careers. I've been looking for something that ticks all my boxes.
-Within a 20 mile drive of where I live
-Make enough money so I can FIRE in an hcol area
-Personally meaningful for me. I never applied myself in school so I would like to help others.
-At least somewhat well regarded
-I don't need to pay for another degree, most programs will cover school in my area
-High demand, low automation probability

Great idea regarding flipping houses, I have considered that. I'd need to build up my savings significantly, but it might be the right move in the future. I think I have the disposition for that kind of work, as it entails a lot of creative problem solving, learning and autonomy. Thank you for that youtube video.

Being a math teacher sounds like a meaningful path to pursue. I really enjoyed teaching swim lessons when I was a lifeguard. Teaching high school math pays pretty well? You will be able to get certified for that without needing to pay for school? I agree that a job being somewhat well regarded is important. When you are a contractor grunt you are pretty much at the bottom of the totem pole of society, or at least it feels that way to me. 

samanil

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How was hiking the PCT? I would love to do something like that.

In regards to the job opportunities and prospects, i would start applying to jobs you like that you think your skills qualify you for. Just because your history of jobs might sound random what I see is that you have had long steady jobs and that's what employers look for. A hard worker that is reliable. You never know.

When I hiked the PCT it felt like I died and went to heaven. It was 4.5 months of jaw dropping scenic beauty, profound simplicity and deep contentment. But I wouldn't recommend it to someone unless they had a plan for when they got home. The "come down" from an experience like that can be devastating, it certainly was for me.

mozar

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Teaching high school math pays pretty well? You will be able to get certified for that without needing to pay for school?
Teachers in my area make between 70k and 110k. Yes I will get certified without paying for school. Here is a similar program in your area.

https://www.cityu.edu/programs-overview/alternative-route-teacher-certification/