Having a dreadful time trying to pull the trigger.

[Giro]

I've been working on FIRE for several years now and now that I'm here, i just can't seem to go through with it.  I'm working two jobs (1 full and 1 part) and the money is phenomenal.  I just keep thinking of how easy it is and what good I can do with this income.  My husband wants to work at least 2 more years to solidify his pension. 
We live in a very LCOL area in the Midwest.  My full time job has the flexibility to allow me to do my PT gig as well.  I'm self employed and I watched my portfolio double over 18 months.  My husband keeps telling me to work another year and pay cash for a vacation home or whatever, ya know?
I really want to just do the part time job.   It's 20 hrs a week but flexible work location.  I could do it on vacation or at home or anywhere. 
Help!!  How do you stop the greed!???  My PT gig would allow me to max my 401k. 

[friedmmj]

Listen to your heart and just do it. 

[mrmoonymartian]

"I really want to just do the part time job."

Then do what you want to do.

"How do you stop the greed!???"

By having enough.

"My husband keeps telling me to work another year and pay cash for a vacation home or whatever, ya know?"

You've been working on FIRE for years and you haven't discussed what is enough with your husband?

[BookLoverL]

Quit the full time job. You even said yourself that you just want to do the part time job. If you're FI, you can afford it.

Why would you even need a vacation home? You can only live in one place at once, and having a vacation home just means that every time you go on holiday you'll feel obliged to go to the same place.

Think about the other things you want to do in life that you haven't been able to do because you've been busy working at two jobs. Quitting the full time job means you'll finally have time to work on those.

[PhilB]

Do you really want a vacation home or are you the kind of people who would prefer to rent a different place every holiday?

I would suggest putting it together as a proper business case.  This is the kind of lifestyle I envisage us leading, this is what it would cost, this is how easily we can cover it with the PT job.  Put the numbers in front of DH and let him audit and critique them.  If he can't find any holes in the plan then challenge him to produce a rival business case for what the two of you would do with the additional money if you keep doing both jobs.  Try and treat it like a business decision - with the target being to maximise your joint happiness.  Use the two business cases to get to a point where you both fully understand how each scenario would work.  If you are lucky, one or other of the business cases will be so clearly ahead that it will settle the argument.  If not then it's time to negotiate a compromise.

[Dicey]

My favorite pre-FIRE quote: Retiring too early is a mistake that can be recovered from. Too late and there is no recovery.

[Loren Ver]

My favorite pre-FIRE quote: Retiring too early is a mistake that can be recovered from. Too late and there is no recovery.

Ohh.  I like that one :).

[Rosy]

I've been working on FIRE for several years now and now that I'm here, i just can't seem to go through with it.  I'm working two jobs (1 full and 1 part) and the money is phenomenal. I just keep thinking of how easy it is and what good I can do with this income.  My husband wants to work at least 2 more years to solidify his pension. 
We live in a very LCOL area in the Midwest.  My full time job has the flexibility to allow me to do my PT gig as well.  I'm self employed and I watched my portfolio double over 18 months.  My husband keeps telling me to work another year and pay cash for a vacation home or whatever, ya know?
I really want to just do the part time job.   It's 20 hrs a week but flexible work location.  I could do it on vacation or at home or anywhere.
Help!!  How do you stop the greed!???  My PT gig would allow me to max my 401k.

Such good options all around:) If DH thinks he needs two more years to shore up his pension then perhaps that should be his final deadline.
You on the other hand, are just scared to follow through on your own plans and understandably are in love with how easy it is to make so much money in such a short time. An enviable position and not to be discounted in your own final decision.

Your age, your health and the size of your stash determine whether you can retire with no financial worries. There is nothing wrong with working two more years if the money is so easy and you like working.
There is also nothing wrong with saying - I'm ready to go part-time now.
FI gives you the freedom of choice - it is up to you to say - when - you have enough.

My favorite pre-FIRE quote: Retiring too early is a mistake that can be recovered from. Too late and there is no recovery.

I don't know that it would be that easy to recover from, but I agree there is no recovery from too late:)

[RyanAtTanagra]

Why would you even need a vacation home? You can only live in one place at once, and having a vacation home just means that every time you go on holiday you'll feel obliged to go to the same place.

And also, when you go you're spending a lot of your time cleaning (because it's been X weeks since it's been aired out and dusted/swept) and fixing things, and making lists of what needs done next time.  One home is enough work.  Two homes is 2x the work, or more, since it's less convenient to get things done there.

[Giro]

Thank you all for the great replies.  I have spoken to DH and he is on board with any decision I make.  My PT job pays extremely well and would certainly pay my share of our current expenses and allow me to invest about $50k a year.  It would decrease the allowable contributions in my solo 401k since my income will be lower, but I would just do what I could and then throw the rest in non-tax advantaged accounts. 
We both would like to have a vacation home somewhere warm to escape for a few months over the winter.  It may be a terrible idea, but I hate cold weather.  My daughter is only 12 though, so transferring schools for the winter would be an issue.  This is more of a distant future type decision when she graduates from high school and goes off to college. 
I think the bigger issue is that although we have both agreed to retiring early and have been following the plan, now that I am here, it's just so hard to not keep working.  I know it was the goal, but when you are investing 3-4 times what you used to earn in a year, it really is hard to walk away. 
I'm going to shoot for finishing out the year at both positions and then going down to the PT gig.

What a great problem to have, I admit.  Growing up, we lived in a rural area and often went hungry with no electricity. Crazy.

[JHC89]

First of all congratulations for putting yourself in this position! I agree with the advice already given and think you're making a great decision to transition at the beginning of the year.

Could I ask what type of work your part-time job is? Working 20 hours a week and being able to cover expenses and invest $50k a year sounds like a dream, especially since I don't think I'll stop working completely.

[alleykat]

First of all congratulations for putting yourself in this position! I agree with the advice already given and think you're making a great decision to transition at the beginning of the year.

Could I ask what type of work your part-time job is? Working 20 hours a week and being able to cover expenses and invest $50k a year sounds like a dream, especially since I don't think I'll stop working completely.

I would love to know as well.  I am starting to consider adding a part time job but one that is lucrative.

[PhilB]

I'm guessing freelance assassin.

[Giro]

I'm an Enterprise Architect.  So basically I build the drawings and processes for IT systems and their affiliated data flows.  My contracts have been getting more and more lucrative with the recent emphasis put on cybersecurity.  Part of my architecture documents the authentication and security information within the systems,

A freelance assassin would be SOOOO much more fun.

[JHC89]

Thank you! Very interesting. Not surprising to hear that your work has picked up with everything in the news recently.

[LoanShark]

My favorite pre-FIRE quote: Retiring too early is a mistake that can be recovered from. Too late and there is no recovery.

Love it!

[Livingthedream55]

Thank you all for the great replies.  I have spoken to DH and he is on board with any decision I make.  My PT job pays extremely well and would certainly pay my share of our current expenses and allow me to invest about $50k a year.  It would decrease the allowable contributions in my solo 401k since my income will be lower, but I would just do what I could and then throw the rest in non-tax advantaged accounts. 
We both would like to have a vacation home somewhere warm to escape for a few months over the winter.  It may be a terrible idea, but I hate cold weather.  My daughter is only 12 though, so transferring schools for the winter would be an issue.  This is more of a distant future type decision when she graduates from high school and goes off to college. 
I think the bigger issue is that although we have both agreed to retiring early and have been following the plan, now that I am here, it's just so hard to not keep working.  I know it was the goal, but when you are investing 3-4 times what you used to earn in a year, it really is hard to walk away. 
I'm going to shoot for finishing out the year at both positions and then going down to the PT gig.

What a great problem to have, I admit.  Growing up, we lived in a rural area and often went hungry with no electricity. Crazy.

Don't buy the vacation home. When daughter graduates from high school - consider AirBNB or something similar for two months a year (someplace warm) - let someone else take care of the upkeep.

[Bateaux]

I'd nip the vacation home idea right now.  I currently own a Louisiana home where I'm working full time and a recently purchased Florida home.  I'm moving to the Florida home for FIRE and selling the current one.  Too much work and expensive.  You can vacation almost anywhere.  Especially in the off season when other poor slobs are working.  Plane tickets and a luxury suite is how my wife likes vacay.  That's why we're going to FAT-FIRE   

[Giro]

Yeah, I'm not really feeling a second home.  I do want to live in a few different places for an extended period of time to figure out to where we will end up retiring.  I travel a bit for work and short vacations with flights is not something i want to do.  We are homebodies for the most part.  The only thing I really need are a few expensive race cars to play with.  Our retirement income will be barely 6 figures so we need to ensure that we are spending on things we truly value.