So close and yet so lost...:(

[Snoopy80]

Hi All,

I have been a long time lurker and have finally decided to post.

I have to thank all you for keeping me motivated and getting me through the work day for the past few years.

So, here is my dilemma. I am 33, single, no kids and renting. I have 25k debt (I financed a car recently). I currently have a job that pays in the low 6 figures, but I just hate having a boss and more importantly it is a desk job that involves staring at a computer all day long and I can see my eyes and health going down the tubes bit by but every year.

Luckily, a few years ago, I got into trading and have come up with a way to reliably return 10-15% every year. I have a bit over 500k in my trading account and I have enough to cover all my expenses and save on the interest alone. So, technically I think I can retire.

But, for some reason I have this fear in me that I will be letting go of something tried and tested and it pays 6 figures with benefits etc. Am I just a whining little b**** to let go of such a good thing for just 50k a year? Sometimes I feel like I should just quit but at other times I feel like I have to hang in there for a while longer...maybe until I pay of the car? Also, what will I do with my time...will I just become a couch potato and vegetate till death arrives?

All these thoughts are clouding my judgement now that I have a choice to quit and I can't trust myself to think clearly on this topic anymore. So, I have come to this board for some advice and much needed guidance. Please help me think rationally and come up with the best decision.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Won't your trading account soon be returning six figures too? Why don't you just wait til then?

 

[Snoopy80]

Hi Bestwifeever...that is quiet a name!

Yes, you are right...but that would take a couple of more years...and things at work are going from bad to worse. I am not sure if I can hang in there for 2 more years...the only reason(s) I am still working is because I feel like I owe my team something, see the current project through. And, the fear of the unknown...though one side of me feels free just thinking about walking away.

 

[REWahoo]

Luckily, a few years ago, I got into trading and have come up with a way to reliably return 10-15% every year.

 

[meekie]

Also, what will I do with my time...will I just become a couch potato and vegetate till death arrives?

All these thoughts are clouding my judgement now that I have a choice to quit and I can't trust myself to think clearly on this topic anymore. So, I have come to this board for some advice and much needed guidance. Please help me think rationally and come up with the best decision.

First off, figure out what you want to do with your life. If you don't have other things you want to do, there's a lot less reasons to quit. Are there exercise classes you want to do? Hobbies? Or are you too depressed to care?

As far as the decision, you need to make sure you're taking everything into account. Health Care? Huge emergency/living fund if your investments have an off year?

It's a hard decision to make. That's why everyone talks about the OMY (one more year) syndrome.

 

[Meadbh]

Luckily, a few years ago, I got into trading and have come up with a way to reliably return 10-15% every year.

Please share it!

 

[Snoopy80]

First off, figure out what you want to do with your life. If you don't have other things you want to do, there's a lot less reasons to quit. Are there exercise classes you want to do? Hobbies? Or are you too depressed to care?

As far as the decision, you need to make sure you're taking everything into account. Health Care? Huge emergency/living fund if your investments have an off year?

It's a hard decision to make. That's why everyone talks about the OMY (one more year) syndrome.

Thanks for the reply,

I am not depressed...just confused and kinda in a funk because I seem to have a lot of fear about the unknown.

I'd like to spend more time with my father and travel with him especially since he had a heart attack a few years ago, this was something I have been planning to do as a kind of father-son bonding thing you know. Besides that I have no real passions or motivating force to do anything else.

And..the OMY syndrome sounds scary...sounds like something I would easily slip into.

Thanks for your replies!

 

[Bestwifeever]

Hi Bestwifeever...that is quiet a name!

Yes, you are right...but that would take a couple of more years...and things at work are going from bad to worse. I am not sure if I can hang in there for 2 more years...the only reason(s) I am still working is because I feel like I owe my team something, see the current project through. And, the fear of the unknown...though one side of me feels free just thinking about walking away.

Then I would look for another job, which people your age do all the time, but I am going to bet you probably have a good reason why that is not an option either. I would certainly not stay because I owed it to other employees. The project would survive without you too.

 

[Calico]

Hi All,
....Luckily, a few years ago, I got into trading and have come up with a way to reliably return 10-15% every year.....

Gee, I wish I had thought of that.

 

[Snoopy80]

Please share it!

Oh no, can't do that.

I am well aware of how the community views traders. We already have one, on this thread, with a bag of popcorn and a kitty with the gift of sarcasm!

So, how does one avoid the 'One More Year' syndrome?

 

[Midpack]

So, how does one avoid the 'One More Year' syndrome?

Read this and let us know if you have questions...http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/handling-the-just-one-more-year-syndrome-20091.html

 

[REWahoo]

So, how does one avoid the 'One More Year' syndrome?

Easy. Since you've apparently invented the financial perpetual motion machine you can quit work now, spend less than 10% of your portfolio per year, and with a "reliable 10-15% return every year" you'll never run out of money!

 

[FIREd]

I think the one more year syndrome is telling you something: you're not confident that your 10-15% returns are that reliable.

 

[martyb]

 

[Texas Proud]

I think you are having a mid life crisis younger than most...

Since you have seen others when the popcorn comes out.... I will state is plain and simple.... there is NO WAY you have a way of making 10% to 15% reliably... year in, year out... no fear of losing your shirt...


Some of the smartest people around have tried to do it (and said they could) until something unexpected happened and they had to be bailed out...

Then again, maybe you are loan sharking and are making it..... but I think you could do better than what you say....

 

[Snoopy80]

Read this and let us know if you have questions...http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/handling-the-just-one-more-year-syndrome-20091.html

Thank you Midpack,

This helped clear things up a bit.

 

[nun]

Thank you Midpack,

This helped clear things up a bit.

If I could make 10 to 15% a year on $500k I'd ER right now.

 

[CDN_47]

Easy. Since you've apparently invented the financial perpetual motion machine you can quit work now, spend less than 10% of your portfolio per year, and with a "reliable 10-15% return every year" you'll never run out of money!

I'm just hoping the OP isn't about to pitch Forex trading as a sure fire way of reliable, big returns I've seen this one too many times on financial boards. Hope that's not the case

 

[Gumby]

Luckily, a few years ago, I got into trading and have come up with a way to reliably return 10-15% every year.

Snoopy:

I do not doubt your sincerity, but I would really caution you against confusing a successful trading system with a bull market. You say you discovered a trading system "a few years ago". I could say the same, but I have made over 23% each year for the past four and one-quarter years. I simply bought the S&P 500 index ETF -- SPY -- on March 9, 2009, at $68.20 and have held it ever since. At today's close of $163.90, that is an annualized return of 22.9%, not including dividends.

I think FIREd has it close to right. You understand that the investing environment going forward may look different than that which we have enjoyed for the past few years. Hence the "one more year" syndrome regarding your employment.

Best wishes in both life and investing,

Gumby

 

[Snoopy80]

Snoopy:

I do not doubt your sincerity, but I would really caution you against confusing a successful trading system with a bull market. You say you discovered a trading system "a few years ago". I could say the same, but I have made over 23% each year for the past four and one-quarter years. I simply bought the S&P 500 index ETF -- SPY -- on March 9, 2009, at $68.20 and have held it ever since. At today's close of $163.90, that is an annualized return of 22.9%, not including dividends.

I think FIREd has it close to right. You understand that the investing environment going forward may look different than that which we have enjoyed for the past few years. Hence the "one more year" syndrome regarding your employment.

Best wishes in both life and investing,

Gumby

Yes Gumby, thanks for that explanation. I never thought about it being perceived that way...but thanks for the clarification.

 

[Animorph]

Unless you have something you really need to do, or 99% faith in your trading, Look for a better job.

 

[growing_older]

I know of several reliable 10%+ trading systems. They all share a common problem in that they work for a while, until they don't. If you want to take a flier on a system of your own invention, go ahead and use it to pile up cash, but do not count on it as a perpetual profitable method. It will not last forever.

If you are looking for advice, your best bet is to keep the lucrative job and figure out how to reduce the stress. Or find a new job that can be less stressful. You'll have a lot more options and more ways to still reach ER in case of unexpected events than if you walk away and bet it all on your trading system

 

[sheehs1]

I want some.

 

[ERhoosier]

I think the one more year syndrome is telling you something: you're not confident that your 10-15% returns are that reliable.

+1

What will you do when your 10-15% returns become NEG 10-15+% for yr or more (as happens to almost every investor over time). Perhaps what you're feeling is not need to ER but to change careers. I know several folks who had some solid early success in investment field before their system/luck/whatever went bad & they went back to college to change careers.

 

[obgyn65]

Welcome to the forum.