I'm hoping for some advice from the FI community. I strongly dislike my current role and am wondering if I can use some FI leverage I've built to change the situation.
I received a PhD in Physics in 2022. I was hired for my first job soon after and worked at that company for 1.5 years. It was a really great experience. The work was interesting, I had hybrid work, autonomy, and a path to greater responsibility. I could have seen myself spending over 5 years there.
However, my partner and I did not want to live in the location. So I applied to new positions and eventually received an offer for my current role. I started earlier this year.
It's been a definite downgrade. Our engineering team is understaffed. There are restrictive policies I can't go into here that make work life and home life more difficult than they need to be. Work is fully on-site, which isn't the worst thing, but it is a downgrade. It's also a younger, smaller team, which adds to the expectation and social pressure to take on too much, even to one's own detriment. It's a pressure cooker, and people sometimes snap angrily at each other.
Our net worth is about $500k. We have no kids. It makes me think I just don't need to put up with this. We've been pursuing FI, and even though we're not there yet, it might be time to pull some of that leverage. I know most people would say to just put up with stuff like this, but the whole point of FI is to challenge common advice like that. And I know for a fact that better situations exist.
Does this sound like a situation where I suck it up? Or move on? Does our net worth change the calculus on this question?
Summary of stats for partner and I are below. Don't want to give exact numbers, but it's close enough for folks to offer advice.
Ages: Both about 30 years old
Marital status: Engaged
Kids: None. Maybe in 5 years. Not in a rush. Open to adoption.
Assets: $520k ($470k invested)
Debt: $500-1000 on credit cards, paid off in full each month. No mortgage.
Expenses: About $65k per year (rent is about $2k/mo)
Gross Income: $130k (me) and $75k (partner)
[link] [comments]