Poll:How much is too much to walk away from?

[FI_RElater]

While I didn't vote, in our best years we socked away over 180k in taxable after maxing out our 401k's -- so since we did retire it's gotta be at least 400+. However, megacorp was shedding workers and as expected the tall grass gets cut; that and we could see that they were starting to bring in the bigger BS trucks to dump on us and our buckets we're pretty full--- with us already FI, it was time

 

[Teacher Terry]

Because you are still young I would probably keep working for awhile. If you were late 50's I would say go.

 

[michelle]

When I read the question my first thought was another way it could be rephrased - Can you be bought?

Cheers!

Yes and no. And by that I mean sort of, but not really. That question sounds like the beginning of a moral dilemma for debate in an ethics seminar.

More accurate, IMO, might be to ask "How much is your time worth?"

We are lucky to ask ourselves such a question as many unemployed would be delighted to give their time for almost any sort of pay.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

We saw Alice Cooper, who is around 70, last year and he is still working but if I had a job where people applauded and involved adoring crowds night after night I probably wouldn't retire either for even $1 a year.

I don't have an answer for you on your poll because it would depend on the job. But you may find the link below of interest. It is a series of cartoons made by a woman who quit a high powered law firm to become a starving artist. The web site is blank now but the cartoons live on forever in the Internet Archives:

https://web.archive.org/web/20140808064806/http://departurememo.com/

 

[thefinancebuff]

There is some logical inconsistency here. As I'm reading the results, 36% voted "no amount is/would have been too large to keep me from my FIRE dream." To this 36%, when are you going to/did you retire? If no amount is too large, why isn't/wasn't it one year sooner? Is it because if it's one year sooner you don't feel you have enough? And therefore lack of that amount would/actually did keep you from the dream?

 

[Sojourner]

There is some logical inconsistency here. As I'm reading the results, 36% voted "no amount is/would have been too large to keep me from my FIRE dream." To this 36%, when are you going to/did you retire? If no amount is too large, why isn't/wasn't it one year sooner? Is it because if it's one year sooner you don't feel you have enough? And therefore lack of that amount would/actually did keep you from the dream?

I'm reading that as "Once I made the decision to RE, no amount of money offered would have induced me to stay longer." In my particular case, that wasn't true, as I was still in my mid-40s and would have certainly stayed another few years at a salary of around $500k (over double what I had been making). But for those 36% who chose this answer in the poll, I assume they had had enough and would have been miserable staying on in their jobs regardless of how much money was offered.

 

[Shanky]

i walked away from a 400 -500K / year career. It was killing me. There is no 9-5 40 hour a week life possible with most careers that pay that well. I do not regret the choice. The last 10 years of my Career & had no life other than work and sleep. If I could go back and do it again, I would have stayed in middle management & had a family life.

 

[flyingaway]

If you don't walk away now, that amount will get bigger and bigger.

 

[Danmar]

If you don't walk away now, that amount will get bigger and bigger.

Not necessarily. It's the relationship between what you already have and the extra you could save by working another year. When your net worth gets big enough no reasonable amount will keep you working.

 

[IrishMoss]

This question dovetails right in to the "how much is enough" question. IOW, how much do you need to have in your nest egg to reach the "FI" portion of FIRE and then how much more do you need or want on top of that before you'd leave your job?

 

[Johanson]

This question dovetails right in to the "how much is enough" question. IOW, how much do you need to have in your nest egg to reach the "FI" portion of FIRE and then how much more do you need or want on top of that before you'd leave your job?

I agree. I also looked at it from a different perspective. Let's say for example that by one's calculation, they need another $750K and they think they can do it at their present salary plus wage increases in 8 years. But then they are offered a job making $500K/year. Working 2 years at that rate would generally put them in the same position at the lower rate 8 years from now but it's so much they may want to work say 4 years at that rate. The 2 extra years gives them a bigger cushion and/or better lifestyle and they are still tapping out in half the time.

 

[dallas27]

For the record, if I see a penny on the ground I do not walk away. I stop whatever I am doing to pick up that penny to remind myself how lucky I am to not need it. When it's a dime, I am just damn excited.

 

[IrishMoss]

You can always make more money somehow someway, but you can't get more time or time back no matter what you do. I try to remember that because I've never heard of anyone at the end of their lives wishing they had spent more time working, being in meetings, being on call.

 

[Danmar]

You can always make more money somehow someway, but you can't get more time or time back no matter what you do. I try to remember that because I've never heard of anyone at the end of their lives wishing they had spent more time working, being in meetings, being on call.

Sure, but I suspect there are people who, when they run out of money in retirement, might wish they worked a few years more. We don't generally hear from these people here.

 

[Txtriathelete]

I walked away from $200K a year. Three years later I went back at half that to another job because I missed the office interactions. Basically I got bored - I don't really like to travel and while I love my kids I really don't see a need to follow them around all day, especially now that they are teenagers.

ER is not a money question, its a lifestyle question. What do you enjoy/like and will you be able to do that if you leave? Also for me, I found there were not many 50 year old retirees around in the middle of the work day to hang out with. YMMV

 

[timemoveson]

I earn and am able to save a great deal (high six figures per year in the most recent years). Because this hasn't been the situation for very many years, each year has moved the needle very noticeably on our net worth, albeit in decreasing increments.

At this point, it is the tool to help cement my FIRE vision rather than creating any version of OMY syndrome. The passing of years is definitely taking over the equation for me.

 

[Danmar]

I earn and am able to save a great deal (high six figures per year in the most recent years). Because this hasn't been the situation for very many years, each year has moved the needle very noticeably on our net worth, albeit in decreasing increments.

At this point, it is the tool to help cement my FIRE vision rather than creating any version of OMY syndrome. The passing of years is definitely taking over the equation for me.

I was in a similar situation. After a few years time becomes more important than money. But nevertheless money is still pretty important.