I have been burned out in my career and am trying to evaluate whether to make a change, or to keep grinding since I’m not currently that far out from FIRE.
Life Situation/Background: 41, unmarried, no dependents. Live alone (renting) but in a relationship with an already-retired Mustachian (whom I shall refer to as Mustachian Honey). We’ve been together nearly 3 years and are considering moving in together this year or next. It’s a challenge sometimes being stuck going to work every day while Mustachian Honey has so much freedom.
Gross Salary/Wages: Min $68,950 per year. Actually higher. Last year I switched to a 30-hour work week which was intended to help me better deal with the stress of the job. The good news is that if I work more than 30 hours, I get paid for each additional hour that I work. The bad news is that I do end up working more than 30 hours more often than I would like and I don’t feel that the stress has declined as much as I would have hoped due to the change.
Deductions:
401(k): Maxing each year. $19,000 in 2019, employer match 5 or 6%, can’t recall
HSA: Maxing each year. $3,5000 in 2019, however part of this is covered by my employer and part is covered by a health insurance wellness program in which I get HSA deposits in exchange for tracked physical activity.
Health Insurance: About $1,000 per year deducted from my paycheck to contribute toward health insurance.
Term Life: About $30 per year deducted from my paycheck to contribute toward term life insurance
Current expenses: In 2018, I spent $21,400 (tracked via YNAB). I’ve been tracking my spending since 2013 and have been quite consistent and if anything I have been able to reduce spending rather than increase it. If you really want me to post my detailed budget, I can, but I think this is obviously well inside Mustachian territory, so that’s not the area where I feel I could benefit most from feedback.
Future expenses: My main concern is that if I were to leave my job, I would need to account for health insurance in my budget. I feel that the other categories could remain comparable to where they are now, or potentially go down if me and Mustachian Honey shack up.
Savings Rate: I’ve had an extremely high savings rate over the past few years-- 75-80%. However, due to my switch to a 30-hour schedule, I expect that to drop for 2019.
Assets:
Total: $658,000
Taxable investments/savings: $298,000
457(b): $113,000 (whoo hoo: I can access this $ any time without penalty)
Roth IRA: $33,000
Traditional IRA: $79,000
401(k) + 401(a): $126,000
HSA: $9,000
My decision: While I am passionate about the outcomes that my job produces (I think my job helps to make the world a better place), I no longer like the actual work much, plus it leads to a great deal of stress that seems to be harder and harder to deal with each year. I’ve been listening to a lot of FIRE podcasts where already-retired people wish they had slowed down to enjoy the journey more during their savings years and this speaks to me! My reduction in hours at my current job was meant to address this, but has not succeeded.
While a 3.5% withdrawal rate would cover my current spending, it does not account for increased health insurance costs, nor for the additional buffer before I would feel comfortable stopping employment entirely. I’m exploring the idea of coasting-- leaving my job to explore other income-producing interests and letting my assets grow. The idea would be to cover my expenses but not aim to save more.
Ideas for Coasting:
Technical College:
One idea I’m exploring is to take a year off to complete a program at the local technical college (related to carpentry). It seems highly likely I could find work after the fact that pays at a level I feel comfortable with, but what I’m really excited about is an idea I have for starting my own business if I can gain some skillz. Alternatively, do the program part time and keep working. Although that sounds like it would cause way more stress, and stress is the problem I’m trying to solve.
Paid Apprenticeship:
Another idea is I could apply for apprenticeships and if accepted, get paid to learn. One downside of this approach is that the best paying jobs are in commercial carpentry rather than residential, and I’m not as confident I would learn the skills I need for my business idea. This would also likely require me to buy a car. I have never owned a car, and this is part of the reason my spending is so low.
Or a Jumble of Other Ideas:
On the other hand, a number of other jobs also appeal to me. Working retail, doing environmental education, working at a nursery (the plant kind, not the kid kind), buying properties geared toward gaining rental income (oh hello, those carpentry skills would probably come in handy here too!). However, given how low minimum wage is, I worry that it would be difficult to find a job that could easily cover even my minimal expenses and some ideas would also require buying a car and raising my living expenses.
Or Maintain the Status Quo and Retire Sooner:
So the other idea is to just keep grinding because I’m so close to the finish line. On the bright side, my boss and coworkers are absolute gems. I know how lucky I am in that respect. It’s the type of work and sometimes the clients that cause my stress.
Finally, the Questions:
So fellow Mustachians, do you have any wisdom for me as I choose what to do next? Am I missing something I should be considering? What would you do in my situation? Do you have any insights that would help me make my decision(s)?