Absolutely cooked from the non stop grind of corporate America for the past 28 years. Laid off March of ‘24. Have had no less than 5 full time, experience requiring gigs that I just cannot sustain since that time. Not sure if it’s a neurological issue, mental heath issue, or combination of the 2. Want to exit the rat race but lots of variables. Curious to see what others would do in my position.
51M
$300k taxable brokerage
$1.3M Trad IRA
$120k Roth
$15k checking
Owe $90k on mortgage in a top 10 population city.
Married
1 child – 10
Latest gig only paying $65k/year WFH
Sole breadwinner wife may go to work but will make maybe $30k /year.
Probably need to spend $80k year to be comfortable.
I want to quit. Badly. How would you navigate the next few years if you were me?
Posted by TrickyTie4356
12 Comments
>How would you navigate the next few years if you were me?
You need about $95k in income to have $80k to spend….more if you’re paying for health insurance and continuing to save.
I don’t see a path to not working for you, or really for either of you. You’re both going to need to work ($65k +30k) to hit that $95k mark to support your spending.
Early retirement is questionable too since you’ll need health insurance and the new few years of ACA looks to be quite problematic.
So unless you can get that spending down…fairly considerably…I think you’re stuck in ye olde job like the rest of us
Quit, you only have to get to 55 to pull from your 401K and if after a year you aren’t making it you can get something to help bridge the gap.
If you quit, your wife needs to work for the health insurance. Having her get a job without good insurance is not worth it. You have 14 years of health insurance to pay for. That’s your number one concern. You need to have a way to do that.
You will need to be the SAHP.
I wouldn’t touch your retirement portfolios until after retirement age. Move some of your taxable brokerage into income-seeking investments to create a base salary. Adjust your lifestyle to minimize expenses. And then take on a job in something that brings you joy and also covers all of your expenses.
Like working at a golf proshop which also gives you access to free golf. Or get an admin gig at the gym to help you stay fit. Or become a park ranger so you can spend more time in nature. Basically move from the corporate world to Main Street.
I recently read Scott Galloway’s book, The Algebra of Wealth. In it, he provides a basic formula for estimating the amount of money someone needs to retire. He suggests that you take your annual burn rate ($80k from your post), and multiply it by 25.
$80,000 * 25 = $2,000,000.
According to this formula, you are getting close to financial independence.
You also have to take into consideration health insurance costs for your kid.
How much do you spend per year? I dint think you’re close to ready to quit if your kid is only 10.
If your child is old enough you definitely both should be working. One of you should be able to have a job with health insurance. And there’s no reason not to downshift your career to something manageable to maintain your mental health since you have so much put away. I would escalate the mortgage payments if comfortable, and make sure there’s a college fund for your child. But it’s not just about what you do, but about what you and your wife do. You have to be a team.
Have you considered switching up from an office job to do something more physical? You basically need health insurance and could milk your savings for a long time with a median wage job working retail, in a warehouse, etc.
Having to worry about money is more debilitating than learning to cope with an unenjoyable job. I’ve dealt with both
this is not a financial question or some soul searching in my opinion.
OP needs to first to rule out that he doesnt have low testosterone. reason is he s in his early 50s, not motivated and his work may be suffering. his thinking is clouding his judgement because low T is interfering n making it seem like he needs to retire at 50.
once you rule that issue out and I am almost 100% confident its low T. you can fix and go back to the grind for another 10 years.
i ve had this experience not personally yet but thru management of older staff.
OP just dont get fired because you dont want to check on that low T thing and your manager begins to think your just dont want to work anymore.
Yo homie. I’m in a similar mindset but am still in my full time gig. It pays pretty well and I’m in a MCOL area and my SO works full time as well.
I’m resigned to grinding it out another decade. My youngest will be out of undergrad by then and then we’ll have much more financial flexibility.
Health insurance is going to be the thing that keeps us tied to a full time job.
You’re really close to retiring early, but you’ll have to make some changes.
One possibility is selling your current house (it’s in a big city–I assume fairly high cost of living?) and relocating to a low cost of living area.
That might reduce your expenses enough that your $1.72 million portfolio would be enough to retire on.