Crossroads at 47

[maldini]

JRH,

Welcome.

As a father of a daughter as well, I have a non financial related question for you.

With your daughter being 12 years old, I assuming she has put down some roots in your town (friends etc). I know 12-14 can be a very tricky age for girls (and boys as well). How would your daughter react if you were to move?

Good luck with what ever you decide. Be proud that you have saved this much in life which allows you to take a different perspective on life.

Maldini

 

[jrh13]

Thank you Maldini.

My wife and I have made many friends in our community, and we've also gotten involved: Myself as a girls soccer coach and board member of the town soccer club, my wife as a class mother during our daughter's elementary school years. We would miss it here, but would be okay with leaving if we felt we needed to.

Our daughter is doing very well academically, socially, and athletically. She loves life and nothing makes me happier. The big reason to stay would be because things are going so well for her (though I think she'd be okay wherever me moved).

 

[Midpack]

Thank you Maldini.

My wife and I have made many friends in our community, and we've also gotten involved: Myself as a girls soccer coach and board member of the town soccer club, my wife as a class mother during our daughter's elementary school years. We would miss it here, but would be okay with leaving if we felt we needed to.

Our daughter is doing very well academically, socially, and athletically. She loves life and nothing makes me happier. The big reason to stay would be because things are going so well for her (though I think she'd be okay wherever me moved).

One thing I didn't pick up in your original post is whether you liked your previous position. Would be a key factor for me. I'm 54 and if I lost my job, I'd move to where I want to live and take a job at something I enjoy more than my present gig. At the very least I'd take the opportunity to live where you want and do the work you want (same, or different if you want a change).

As an "Army brat" and someone who has relocated several times as an adult, in my experience (not meant to be sexist, you can change adult roles as you please):
- The children will be the most vocal against relocating BUT they typically adjust faster than adults, as soon as they have a few friends they are off an running. Even if they aren't outgoing, once they are in school it's hard not to make new friends, especially if they have sports or other activities.
- The husband is usually too busy with a new job, already knows people and the work, to have trouble adjusting and adjusts pretty easily.
- The wife is most often the one who has the most trouble. Harder to make friends and more time alone trying to find out where everything is and how the community works or starting over with a new job with strangers in a new environment. I usually make a special effort to check on the spouses when I relocate someone, it's usually be hardest on them. Usually best to encourage them to join groups just for the social contact to get established.

Best of luck to you, Brewer and others at this crossroad FWIW...

 

[torres9]

Welcome on board. sorry about the situation but you have done really well with your savings and investments. It is great that you have the freedom to take your time and make the best decision and not have to grab the first job that comes your way because of financial pressures.

I think you are probably close to FIRE. I think the biggest questions would be health care and maybe paying off the mortgage.

Good luck

torres9

 

[Delawaredave5]

It feels strange not working after doing so for 25 years, but I'm thinking this might be an opportunity to make some changes. I don't like the commute associated with working in NYC ( 2 1/2 to 3 hours a day), and I'm not crazy about the stress associated with working in financial services. However, I'm not sure I'm financially ready to walk away, and I'm not sure what other type of employment I could obtain.

You have a great "base" and probably could live off that indefinitely, depending on expenses. I have a friend who "left the NYC commute" and became a 1099 contractor for smaller firm and he works at home (and travels).

Great change in lifestyle. He's still working - not not as good as ER, but great transition towards it.

Best wishes on the job search Brewer.

Brewer: good luck forward. Please keep folks posted. You have a lot of friends and respect on this board. This juncture will open great new horizons for you and your family.

 

[jrh13]

Thank you everyone for your thoughts/contributions. Over the next month or two, we'll do some soul-searching and try to come up with an action plan. As many of you say, we do have enough saved to take some time with this decision.

 

[ChrisC]

Some of you in the financial sector may want to consider a government position if you think that Wall Street is going to be suffering for a while and nothing else pops up. I knew a bunch of people who worked for the RTC after the S&L crisis blew in the early '90s.

That's a great suggestion. When one door closes, another one typically opens up. The Gummint is also procuring the services of a lot of contractors with experience in subprime loan underwriting, asset securitization and servicing to sort out the mess for financial institutions that are failing or have failed. So, there are lots of consultants out there who are ramping up to handle this work on a short term basis.

JRH13, the Gummint in DC aint a bad place either to plant roots until you retire. Check the job boards at the Fed, OCC, OTS, FDIC and the new regulator (might be part of the Federal Housing Finance Board) for Fannie and Freddie. The DC area has lots to offer and WAGS is a great place to coach or play soccer. Good luck, but it appears you're in great financial shape for any transition.

 

[FreeAtLast]

I am sorry to hear about your job loss, however, you seem to be in pretty good financial shape. I think that you have to figure out if you your industry will ever being willing to pay the same bucks that you were making in the past. You have to figure out if you will there will be stiffer competition for jobs paying a lower salary.

If you should conclude that the pay will never be the same or the job as good then you are probably best moving on to something else.

I was faced with a similar decision years ago and made the decision to move on. I picked up some contract work immediately (computer programming) to keep up the cash flow. Things eventually fell into place.