Hello everyone,
I stumbled across this board almost 2 years ago and have been lurking here ever since. A brief introduction of myself: approaching the magic 40 number, wife about the same age, 6 yr old daughter. I work in the financial business, wife has a CPA but works in the private sector.
Net worth: 2+mm (net of taxes). Negligible amount of mortgage. Combined income $500K+/yr.
We don't have a lavish lifestyle, but we do enjoy quality of life that money buys sometimes.
Like most people and careers, having spent a good number of years in my business, I am no
longer very excited about it. To be sure, there is a very challenging (intellectually) aspect to my
work. But I think as one gets older and hopefully wiser, one also gets more cynical. I know my
wife calls me cynical from time to time. Well, how can I not be? There is zero altruistic value in the work I do. It's about making money, period. I am not going to be hypocritical: I benefit directly
from this money machine. I get paid very well for a relatively stress free job. I rarely work crazy hours, and only work a little over 10 months a year after factoring in the vacation and holidays.
Believe me, it has not always been smooth sailing in my career. I can totally relate to the many
people who complain about their work life in this forum. The fact of matter is, a miserable work environment makes you miserable both at work and home. I have worked in companies where I absolutely hated the people around me and I also have had the opposite experience. Fortunately,
I have always been able to change my environment. But to a certain extend, let's face it, there is
no such thing as an utopian work environment. That's why we get paid to work. The only thing I
can do is to maximize the financial return of my time I put into work because we all know there is
not a whole lot of time in one's life. I also know there is an inverse relationship between how much BS one will tolerate at work vs. one's wealth.
Over the last few years, I have tossed around the idea of ER partly because I have many interests
and hobbies which I want to pursue, and partly because I am just tired of working. But I have
a number of issues with the ER concept: One, I've been brought up by parents who have worked
selflessly to give their children a better life. They are still alive and healthy (Thank God). Two, what
example would I set for my daughter? I feel that I need to be productive until she's at least in
high school to teach her about life and work by example. Three, at my income level, it's just very
hard to walk away from that money. If I start thinking about what an extra year will buy...I know
that's a trap. But I am tentatively planning to either take a long break or work part time (either still in my field or something completely different) when I reach the age of 45. My goal is $5mm (today's money) networth by then which I have no doubt can be achieved.
Well, enough of my rambling. Please feel free to let me know what you think. I have been very impressed with the wisdom and maturity of the many frequent posters here. Many poeple's
stories here give me a proper perspective on life. Thanks to everyone who shared your stories
here. I truly believe it helps people to learn that you're not the only one going through these problems in life.
Oh, BTW, I chose my user name because that's what I really aspire to be
HappyGoLucky
I stumbled across this board almost 2 years ago and have been lurking here ever since. A brief introduction of myself: approaching the magic 40 number, wife about the same age, 6 yr old daughter. I work in the financial business, wife has a CPA but works in the private sector.
Net worth: 2+mm (net of taxes). Negligible amount of mortgage. Combined income $500K+/yr.
We don't have a lavish lifestyle, but we do enjoy quality of life that money buys sometimes.
Like most people and careers, having spent a good number of years in my business, I am no
longer very excited about it. To be sure, there is a very challenging (intellectually) aspect to my
work. But I think as one gets older and hopefully wiser, one also gets more cynical. I know my
wife calls me cynical from time to time. Well, how can I not be? There is zero altruistic value in the work I do. It's about making money, period. I am not going to be hypocritical: I benefit directly
from this money machine. I get paid very well for a relatively stress free job. I rarely work crazy hours, and only work a little over 10 months a year after factoring in the vacation and holidays.
Believe me, it has not always been smooth sailing in my career. I can totally relate to the many
people who complain about their work life in this forum. The fact of matter is, a miserable work environment makes you miserable both at work and home. I have worked in companies where I absolutely hated the people around me and I also have had the opposite experience. Fortunately,
I have always been able to change my environment. But to a certain extend, let's face it, there is
no such thing as an utopian work environment. That's why we get paid to work. The only thing I
can do is to maximize the financial return of my time I put into work because we all know there is
not a whole lot of time in one's life. I also know there is an inverse relationship between how much BS one will tolerate at work vs. one's wealth.
Over the last few years, I have tossed around the idea of ER partly because I have many interests
and hobbies which I want to pursue, and partly because I am just tired of working. But I have
a number of issues with the ER concept: One, I've been brought up by parents who have worked
selflessly to give their children a better life. They are still alive and healthy (Thank God). Two, what
example would I set for my daughter? I feel that I need to be productive until she's at least in
high school to teach her about life and work by example. Three, at my income level, it's just very
hard to walk away from that money. If I start thinking about what an extra year will buy...I know
that's a trap. But I am tentatively planning to either take a long break or work part time (either still in my field or something completely different) when I reach the age of 45. My goal is $5mm (today's money) networth by then which I have no doubt can be achieved.
Well, enough of my rambling. Please feel free to let me know what you think. I have been very impressed with the wisdom and maturity of the many frequent posters here. Many poeple's
stories here give me a proper perspective on life. Thanks to everyone who shared your stories
here. I truly believe it helps people to learn that you're not the only one going through these problems in life.
Oh, BTW, I chose my user name because that's what I really aspire to be
HappyGoLucky