Hi All,
Looking for advice on “hanging in there” to reach FIRE vs CoastFIRE now. What I really need is perspective. Situation: FIRE number is probably 2m and paid off house. Me (34M) and wife (33F) have NW of 1.4m. Income: 180k (my main job), 70k (my side gig), 90k (wife). Expenses are 80k a year (30k mortgage, 5k-10k vacation, then the rest is various expenses). I am burnt out and considering leaving my main job to just do my side gig. What would you do in my situation? What perspective am I missing?
By most accounts, it is a great job. I have an engineering background but switched to technical marketing. In theory I like crafting strategy. I have upward potential as well to run a business. In practice, there is a lot of unproductive politics. And market contractions introduced other garbage and of course job cuts, leaving an understaffed, threadbare org that is trying to do too much. That can play out differently depending on the org, but in this workplace culture it falls hardest on middle management to try to paper over the cracks (can’t ship enough product, need to support new opportunities, and need to develop new products while doing any one of those is a big challenge).
Before this job, I worked full time while completing two different masters degrees over six years (not recommended) and then covered three positions at once during covid as people turned over but backfills were not approved due to market uncertainty. Other than one six month period, I've been working (this includes grad work) 60-80 hours a week for the last 12 years. Edit: 60-80 hours includes both jobs.
For the last 4 years I’ve been working a side gig (automation engineering). It’s been fantastic, and for the most part I love the work. The money is great too. An average year is about 60k. Last year was more. Generally it is 10-20 hours a week though on top of a demanding job. I get to learn a lot, create solutions, and see how things actually impact workflows and make boring parts of work less of a pain for people so that they can do more high value activities. This is essentially a hobby that I am paid to do. If I left my main job, I would probably increase the hours a bit, but there are limitations here based on the business that I am supporting. I’m also concerned about leaving a great career trajectory as well as taking my foot off the gas towards FIRE. At this rate, we should be FIRE in 3(?) years. It becomes a lot more dependent on market growth if I step away from my main job. It feels like I should stick it out for at least another year or two.
My wife is tired of me working so much and is frustrated that I work so much. While she doesn’t love going to work every day, she is fine continuing to work for the foreseeable future. She would like to see me less stressed and able to engage in more interesting things. I realize this is getting into relationship stuff more than financial stuff.
A quick note on health. I have almost never been more fit. I have gotten increasingly disciplined about running and added 1-2 workouts a week at a nearby gym. I'm not super fit, but my body isn't falling apart from the stress. Mental health is a different story. I’m doing okay, but definitely not great and am drinking far too much.
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