A few weeks ago, DW and I took a vacation. No, not one of our rare but typical whirlwind vacation when we travel around the world to visit family and friends and come back exhausted. This time, we just unplugged from the world and stayed home, enjoying each other's company and life's little pleasures. I think it was the best time we've had since our honeymoon 10 years ago.
Going back to work was absolutely brutal after this nice vacation. DW works about 80 hours a week, I work more regular hours but take care of our household (I also take care of MIL's home and yard maintenance). We usually take about 2-3 weeks of vacation a year but more than ever, work follows us wherever we go. We are increasingly unhappy, not with each other, but with our lives (or lack thereof) in general and with our work environment in particular. We are both INTJs (I scored very high for I), and we are having more and more trouble dealing with people's cr@p at work without getting all worked up about it and bringing it home with us. We have had some rough patches at work before, but it feels like the patches are getting longer, rougher and more frequent. Work is becoming all-consuming.
Clearly, we need to make a change soon. Originally the plan was to work until our 50's and then retire completely when we reach FIRE. However, there is no way we can continue working like we do now for another 14+ years. DW and I think we can hold on another 3 years or so at our current jobs. So we have come up with a new FIRE plan.
Right now, we have strong financial incentives to keep our current jobs until early 2013. After that, the financial incentives become much less compelling. Therefore, we have zoomed on that date for making the big change. I estimate that by early 2013, we will have accumulated enough to cover our total annual expenses with a 4% SWR and our fixed annual expenses with a 2% SWR. So I think that we will be nominally FI, but we won't be in a position to retire completely at age 39. So the plan is to find other, more gratifying jobs. We already have a few ideas and prospects. These jobs will almost certainly be in our current line of work, but the income and hours will probably be much lower and/or more irregular than they are now. Hopefully, the income from those jobs will continue to cover all or most of our expenses for a few years beyond 2013 so that our portfolio can continue to grow until we reach a SWR of 3-3.5%. Then we will decide whether to retire or not.
Our new plan is a great source of excitement, but the prospect of voluntarily giving up fat and steady paychecks at a fairly young age is a bit daunting. We have started to mention our plans to family members and so far the reception has been cool. They think we are nuts to give up good jobs in this economy (though they have no idea we have managed to accumulate a nice portfolio during our short careers).
So what do you think, crazy or not?
Going back to work was absolutely brutal after this nice vacation. DW works about 80 hours a week, I work more regular hours but take care of our household (I also take care of MIL's home and yard maintenance). We usually take about 2-3 weeks of vacation a year but more than ever, work follows us wherever we go. We are increasingly unhappy, not with each other, but with our lives (or lack thereof) in general and with our work environment in particular. We are both INTJs (I scored very high for I), and we are having more and more trouble dealing with people's cr@p at work without getting all worked up about it and bringing it home with us. We have had some rough patches at work before, but it feels like the patches are getting longer, rougher and more frequent. Work is becoming all-consuming.
Clearly, we need to make a change soon. Originally the plan was to work until our 50's and then retire completely when we reach FIRE. However, there is no way we can continue working like we do now for another 14+ years. DW and I think we can hold on another 3 years or so at our current jobs. So we have come up with a new FIRE plan.
Right now, we have strong financial incentives to keep our current jobs until early 2013. After that, the financial incentives become much less compelling. Therefore, we have zoomed on that date for making the big change. I estimate that by early 2013, we will have accumulated enough to cover our total annual expenses with a 4% SWR and our fixed annual expenses with a 2% SWR. So I think that we will be nominally FI, but we won't be in a position to retire completely at age 39. So the plan is to find other, more gratifying jobs. We already have a few ideas and prospects. These jobs will almost certainly be in our current line of work, but the income and hours will probably be much lower and/or more irregular than they are now. Hopefully, the income from those jobs will continue to cover all or most of our expenses for a few years beyond 2013 so that our portfolio can continue to grow until we reach a SWR of 3-3.5%. Then we will decide whether to retire or not.
Our new plan is a great source of excitement, but the prospect of voluntarily giving up fat and steady paychecks at a fairly young age is a bit daunting. We have started to mention our plans to family members and so far the reception has been cool. They think we are nuts to give up good jobs in this economy (though they have no idea we have managed to accumulate a nice portfolio during our short careers).
So what do you think, crazy or not?