Burnt out CPA

[accountingsucks]

48yo CPA in MCOL city in Canadian prairies. All figures in today's CAD$. Currently at $2.1M in assets and $450k paid off home. Goal was/is?? to work to 52 and get to $2.8M - $3.0M in assets. Expect to receive $23k in CAD gov't pension at age of 65, can take earlier at 75% reduction. No work pension.

Currently my family of three (12yo son) spend $50 to $60k per year after tax and that includes things like saving for home repairs and auto replacements which of course can be lumpy. Generally our home has had some kind of preventative repair every year for the last 10. The only real thing we have to do is our kitchen, it's not needed but currently sporting the "golden oak" look. I know that would be pricey. I have not saved anything specifically for my son's possible university education. Here in Canada it is costly, but nowhere near the US. Maybe 50k total for four years and to be honest I would expect him to pay for at least one year.

Have gone through alot of stress in the past year all related to work. There is always some kind of issue that seemingly only I can solve. Some days I really don't think I can last another 4 years and dream of submitting a resignation letter and just walking out. Other days it's fine...just for now it's a stressful time with year end coming up....basically between now and end of January it will be pretty full bore. I actually do not work much OT, but as I tell my wife, I would rather take 12 hours of ditch digging and be mentally exhausted versus 8 hours of problem solving. I just mentally need some time off.....3 months? 6? Not sure. My profession is not like most where someone can "swap" in for me. It's just me.

Here is my dilemma. Based on the numbers we could at least FIRE. Gaining additional income likely isn't an issue as I could do contracts through headhunters or if I was ambitious start a bookkeeping thing. If I went full time again I likely could only get 75% of my current salary but it would still be a good salary relative to our expenses. However if I work another four years at current employer of course our retirement looks alot more fruitful in terms of travel, buffers, etc. I also have to mention I am one of two hiers to my parents estate which would be significant in value (multiples of my savings). I don't want to think about that but the reality is there. Anything can happen and I plan on receiving $0, but it's hard not to think about when I'm probably shortening my life at this job.

 

[pb4uski]

You're in the catbird seat, especially if your $40-50k/year spending is reasonably close to your retirement spending. Based on the info provided, FIRECalc suggests that you could quit now and spend as much as $85k a year with 95% success.

Would it be possible for you to downshift to part-time? I finished my career with one of the Big 4 and was able to do that. I would think that you could if the "seemingly only I can solve" part is true. Our firm has a formal part-time program. It was x% of pay, x% vacation, etc. The only thing that was all or nothing was subsidized health insurance... that was the same for all 50% or more and none for less than 50%.

I started out 50% for a while then an important client project came up and the client wanted more of me so I agreed to bump it up to 80% and then I shifted back to 50% after that project was done. Since I was simultaneously working on multiple projects when I was 100% or 50%, all of my clients and few of my colleagues knew that I was only working 50% time... just some of the staff in our practice unit. In fact, when the special project came up the client said they wanted me on their project full-time and we had to explain to them that I was only working 50% time as it was, but we all agreed to 80% for that project.

At the end of the day, your firm may decide that 50% or 80% of accountingsucks is better than 0% of accountsucks. That is the way my firm viewed it... every hour that I worked was $$$ in their pocket since my billing rate was many multiples of what I cost even with benefits included so it was gravy.

The other nice part is that as a non-partner (I was a Managing Director) I could often get out of some of the bureaucratic BS. I remember one time that someone was pressuring me to do something that I thought was totally useless busywork and I couldn't shake them off of it. I was talking with my boss on something else and then brought it up at the end of our call. I told him that he had x,xxx hours a year of pb4uski time and asked him if he really wanted to waste some of it in this thing I was resisting. He said "Hell no, I'll take care of it." and I never heard another word about it.

 

[HI Bill]

Does the $60K include insurance? I'm quite certain that I would be uncomfortable doing RE at age 48 with 'just' $2.1M in assets, a wife, and a kid whose college you plan to pay for. It seems a little tight, with not enough cushion for unknowns, and a potential 52-year retirement horizon. What if you get bored and want to take up an expensive hobby? Start travelling? Buy a killer home theater. Race horses? My point is, if you're absolutely certain that your $60K will keep you happy, then go for it. But if you want to upgrade the house, add hobbies, etc., you may find that it's not enough. I was living on $50-60K with my wife in a paid-off condo. Then I ER'd, we bought a new house, and I ended up upgrading the home theater twice (1st time was a 'low budget', 2nd time was a mid-upper tier upgrade). Then I decided I wanted another sports car...you get the idea, with lots of idle time, there's lots of time for shopping, spending and hobbies! My post-ER budget is 3-4X my pre-ER budget!

 

[accountingsucks]

Does the $60K include insurance? I'm quite certain that I would be uncomfortable doing RE at age 48 with 'just' $2.1M in assets, a wife, and a kid whose college you plan to pay for. It seems a little tight, with not enough cushion for unknowns, and a potential 52-year retirement horizon. What if you get bored and want to take up an expensive hobby? Start travelling? Buy a killer home theater. Race horses? My point is, if you're absolutely certain that your $60K will keep you happy, then go for it. But if you want to upgrade the house, add hobbies, etc., you may find that it's not enough. I was living on $50-60K with my wife in a paid-off condo. Then I ER'd, we bought a new house, and I ended up upgrading the home theater twice (1st time was a 'low budget', 2nd time was a mid-upper tier upgrade). Then I decided I wanted another sports car...you get the idea, with lots of idle time, there's lots of time for shopping, spending and hobbies! My post-ER budget is 3-4X my pre-ER budget!

Well, living in Canada we don't have to worry about major medical issues thankfully. That budget would include $3000 for medical which would be drugs (we take none at the moment but who knows), dental, physio, etc. Those things are not covered. Regarding hobbies, all my hobbies at the moment are oriented towards physical activity and skewing towards cheaper ones....ie tennis instead of golf. Who knows, I might pick up a more expensive hobby but I kind of doubt it. I'm open to working PT in any capacity to earn extra income, that's probably what I would do. Today I feel alot better , I have to remind myself this time of year I tend to be affected by SAD...writing out my vent also helped

 

[RetMD21]

I sounds like you are miserable. Why not quit, take some time off, and then work some contracts. It seems better to me than 4 years of the same thing. Would you stay on the prairie? Even if stepping into the slow lane means that you work contracts for a while and don't completely stop working at 52 it might be worth it.

 

[Ian S]

IF SAD is a major source of your unhappiness, perhaps some treatment for that would at least allow you to persevere for another few years and see where you are financially at that point.

 

[Rianne]

Our CPA firm is turning down new clients. There's a shortage of CPAs in our area. Why not start an LLC and do your own thing? Have control of the hours you work. I'd love to find an independent CPA we could trust. You don't need health insurance. That's the big benefit for those under 65 who make a high salary. Just a suggestion

 

[MichaelB]

There’s a real shortage of CPAs, and it is most acute during tax season. Many CPAs do seasonal tax prep and then don’t work for the rest of the year.