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Decided to pursue a PhD, which requires about 20x effort but I like coming to the office every day to work. Huge difference for my mental health.
I really need advice, I'm in this exact situation and I'm feeling lost. I'm gonna go throwaway since I really need to spill the beans here: My story is full of 'pendulum swings' and 'comparisons' and I can't really make up my mind. I need help. - I am married with children. - I live in Brazil, which is shitty right now, as most of you know (far-right trigger-happy president just got elected). Lots of unemployment goi…
All other things considered, so do I!
I really need advice, I'm in this exact situation and I'm feeling lost. I'm gonna go throwaway since I really need to spill the beans here: My story is full of 'pendulum swings' and 'comparisons' and I can't really make up my mind. I need help. - I am married with children. - I live in Brazil, which is shitty right now, as most of you know (far-right trigger-happy president just got elected). Lots of unemployment goi…
I think your situation is really complex with no clear solution. You have job safety, a family to take care of and decent life where you have. In my case, I had something similar but I gave it all up and moved to Germany (when I was 35) which has been rewarding but hard. I had to reboot my whole life as if I had just graduated from university and at 40 I am in a similar position as I was when I was 30 (in terms of finance, housing etc.). The initial 1-2 years were super hard as well in terms of finance and setting up a new apartment etc.
My work quality has improved a lot since I moved to India but it has not always been a bed of roses. Things were super hard when my father was sick back home for example. On the other hand my kids may have a better life here in Germany since the education / opportunities here are a lot better.
My take is, life will be hard anywhere and some decisions will always be tough. With a family you will have to make sacrifices no matter where you go (unless you are really lucky). Gratitude, hard work and creativity will also take you far anywhere. It boils down to your priorities, for me India was hard because of the pollution and my asthma was getting really bad, I did not want my kids to go through the same so I moved. I would say, make a list of what matter most for you (e.g. family, job satisfaction, health etc.) and use that to make a choice.
But for most people, the best way is probably FIRE.
This is actually all happening right now, but I am currently very happy with the decision. I enjoy the risks and the unknowns. They are huge motivating factors for me, rather than a source of stress. I honestly don't think I could be happy working for someone else. Every job I have worked at, people justify bad behavior as just being "good business". I simply can't accept that, and don't want to be part of it. On top of that, I can't stand giving someone else so much power over my life. I understand a certain amount of that is inescapable, but a 9 - 5 just feels oppressive to me.
I wouldn't really call my current job 'meaningless', it's nice to work on something that customers actually value (I get to say "someone wrote a book about the product I helped make" which is pretty cool) and isn't adtech or analytics tech, but it is annoyingly safe and I've been thinking it's probably time to look into a different environment. 3 years ago I estimated a 55% chance I'd still be here, it drops to 35% chance in another two years. What keeps me? Part of it is I've done the math on early "retirement" (having enough investments to live off a % of interest/dividends) and if I stick it out a few more years into my early 30s (I'm 28) I'll be at a spot with a nice buffer to be fine even in years like 2018 where the final 1YR ROI for the S&P 500 was negative.
Alternatively I could try switching jobs to another bigco that gives out more stock in annual compensation and maybe cut that need-to-work figure by a couple years. As another alternative I could join various kinds of startups. In the worst case for that (at least given what I would settle for, e.g. especially now startups can band together into group insurance policies I'm not going to accept a role without some sort of advantaged medical insurance plan vs paying for one all myself) I just pay my current cost of living and don't raise more savings until I have to get another job, so that extends the time frame of "retirement". Perhaps in a close-to-average case it doesn't change the years-to-goal line too much as startups with funding can at least pay semi-competitive base salaries. In the best case it cuts the years required by a few years (like another bigco job) due to a quick IPO or acquisition. So ultimately on the financial front there's not a strong reason to change right now. I can afford to be picky and wait to see if something comes along that stirs the "I actually want to do this for its own sake" feeling (due to technology, the nature of the problem, or the people I'd get to work with). Perhaps that thing will be my own thing and I'll make a startup for it then. "Retirement" I often put in quotes because I do think there's a strong possibility of continuing to work, just not in the traditional sense. My dad just actually retired, I don't think I could last until I'm 60 without a much stronger external driving influence (e.g., a kid, or a mortgage).
> How did you escape Out the window. I had to back up quite a bit and take a running leap, but I was able to easily shatter the floor-to-ceiling pane glass. Marge from Accounting tried to stop me, but luckily I had begun taking Parkour classes recently and was easily able to dodge her. > Did you have a strategy or was it a leap of faith? It was a literal leap of faith. Some banners set up to advertise a corporate con…
Is a safe 9-5 job inherently "meaningless" now? I am good at software development. I help a company with software development 8 hours per day and they pay me for my time. They take care of hardware, air condition, desk space, social stuff, cleaning, internet connection, tax pre-deduction and regular payment transfers. I get to focus on what I'm good at. My colleagues are pleasant and my work tasks are challenging. In…
What does your company sell?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
How did youfind whay project to buy? Are you active on the project, or going more passively?
very active. I am not a flipper type of guy. I want to create a real bootstrapped company with hopefully multiple products in the future. This was just the start. I am all in.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
very active. I am not a flipper type of guy. I want to create a real bootstrapped company with hopefully multiple products in the future. This was just the start. I am all in.
What is the product about? People are very secretive about explaining their niche, so i understand if you dont want to share.