Aspiration
Dryer sheet wannabe
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2017
- Messages
- 23
Hi friends. Long post. Story at the beginning, financials in the middle, and my question is at the end.
I retired from the military in 2018 and I am 51 years old. Since then, I've held numerous low-level (fun) jobs. However, in 2022 I signed a well-paying one year contract to teach high school JROTC. I am soon to be facing the decision to sign another annual contract.
While I enjoy working with the kids, I no am not totally motivated to take the program to the levels it could go. It's not just all me....some post-COVID kids are pretty apathetic when presented with challenges of the program (marksmanship, PT, drones, color guard, leadership roles, etc...)
School district is great. School admin is great. I also have a partner teacher and the military provides the curriculum.....so I really have no stress. It just happens to be some really long days -- but I also get lots of time off.
My DW is a realtor and this is her 3rd year. She's not taking a paycheck so her business can fully support itself. She is doing quite well and taking advantage of major national training events (not cheap) that her brokerage puts on. If I do not continue teaching, I can be her "helper" 100% and let her focus on the big items (she's on board with this). Plus, I like driving around and putting up for sale signs with my pup
DW supports any decision I make.
We also live in a LCOL part of the country.
Regarding our budget, we are currently able to save 100% of my $5190 monthly teacher paycheck. In fact, we could save even more and sometimes do. I will say that I enjoy the extra money.
Below is a snapshot of my financial situation.
Assets:
Cola Pension w/ disability (after taxes): $9263 per month (I treat this as my bond allocation)
Total Investments - $360K (all in aggressive low cost equity mutual funds -- S&P, Small Caps, and Total Stock Market)
Residence total equity: $200k
HYSA Savings: $12K…this fluctuates as I recently made some large purchases, but like to keep it around $30K.
Current Employment:
Salary after taxes and mandatary retirement contribution: $5190
Total Current Monthly Income
$14,453
Total Monthly Income Without Job
$9263
Liabilities:
Mortgage: $1034 per month (owe $137K) (this includes property tax)
Insurance:
$750K - 30 year term life expires at 78 years of age (I’m 51) - $1635 annually
$1M - Umbrella Policy - $35 per month
Full Medical (VA and Tricare for Life)
I've not done the FIRE Calculator because I know I'm good to go. There are days where I love my job, but there are also days/weekends when I wonder why I'm even working.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the emotional side of to stay or jump ship. If you have any financial advice, that is more than welcome.
Thanks a bunch
I retired from the military in 2018 and I am 51 years old. Since then, I've held numerous low-level (fun) jobs. However, in 2022 I signed a well-paying one year contract to teach high school JROTC. I am soon to be facing the decision to sign another annual contract.
While I enjoy working with the kids, I no am not totally motivated to take the program to the levels it could go. It's not just all me....some post-COVID kids are pretty apathetic when presented with challenges of the program (marksmanship, PT, drones, color guard, leadership roles, etc...)
School district is great. School admin is great. I also have a partner teacher and the military provides the curriculum.....so I really have no stress. It just happens to be some really long days -- but I also get lots of time off.
My DW is a realtor and this is her 3rd year. She's not taking a paycheck so her business can fully support itself. She is doing quite well and taking advantage of major national training events (not cheap) that her brokerage puts on. If I do not continue teaching, I can be her "helper" 100% and let her focus on the big items (she's on board with this). Plus, I like driving around and putting up for sale signs with my pup
DW supports any decision I make.
We also live in a LCOL part of the country.
Regarding our budget, we are currently able to save 100% of my $5190 monthly teacher paycheck. In fact, we could save even more and sometimes do. I will say that I enjoy the extra money.
Below is a snapshot of my financial situation.
Assets:
Cola Pension w/ disability (after taxes): $9263 per month (I treat this as my bond allocation)
Total Investments - $360K (all in aggressive low cost equity mutual funds -- S&P, Small Caps, and Total Stock Market)
Residence total equity: $200k
HYSA Savings: $12K…this fluctuates as I recently made some large purchases, but like to keep it around $30K.
Current Employment:
Salary after taxes and mandatary retirement contribution: $5190
Total Current Monthly Income
$14,453
Total Monthly Income Without Job
$9263
Liabilities:
Mortgage: $1034 per month (owe $137K) (this includes property tax)
Insurance:
$750K - 30 year term life expires at 78 years of age (I’m 51) - $1635 annually
$1M - Umbrella Policy - $35 per month
Full Medical (VA and Tricare for Life)
I've not done the FIRE Calculator because I know I'm good to go. There are days where I love my job, but there are also days/weekends when I wonder why I'm even working.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the emotional side of to stay or jump ship. If you have any financial advice, that is more than welcome.
Thanks a bunch