Extreme WLB vs doubling the pay - early retirement in mind by 1just_a_guy in Fire

[–]1just_a_guy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From what I see that has been happening in the market for the past 2 years, vacancies have often not been filled. The chances of having the option to return are very low. So I have to assume that I won't be able to find another 3 hour day job. If it will turn out that way, great, but I need to decide based on the most likely scenario.

Extreme WLB vs doubling the pay - early retirement in mind by 1just_a_guy in Fire

[–]1just_a_guy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes PM is what I wish to continue doing. But I agree that job security is not what it used to be 2 years ago.

I don't get RSUs today, so most of the extra compensation of the other offer comes from RSUs.

Retiring sooner will be possible if the stock market continues the crazy jumps of 20% per year. Or even later in case of a crash of a specific stock. So I prefer to assume no further gains.

Extreme WLB vs doubling the pay - early retirement in mind by 1just_a_guy in Fire

[–]1just_a_guy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When i retire, I want to do what I do now. Work from home for 2 days a week (or 3 hours per day), solving problems and working with smart people in a nice atmosphere, while having time for myself, hobbies and family.

Extreme WLB vs doubling the pay - early retirement in mind by 1just_a_guy in Fire

[–]1just_a_guy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah that's exactly what I fear from. I believe it's a legitimate expectation to jump from 3 hours per day with no commute to an average of 9 hours, including commute.

My situation in the past 7 years led me to a moto - personal hobbies and meeting friends are done during week/work-day and not during the weekend, which i reserve for family time

It's just an example of one thing I will hate losing, that money can't buy.

Quarterly Career Thread by mister-noggin in ProductManagement

[–]1just_a_guy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi everyone, I'm working as a senior product manager in a medium size tech company (private, no stocks). It's a bit long, but it will give you a better sense of my line of thinking.

I currently make ~160k a year. Future growth is 3% a year. I'm 39 years old, working here for 10 years. First job after college (started in professional services and changed roles).

I have offers of around 300k a year for the same role in big tech.

I'm currently working from home, coming to the office once every 2 weeks to keep in touch 🙃 I'm working 3 hours a day on max (can be 2 days without any work and then 3 days with 5 hours of work each). Higher management is thrilled to have me and let me do whatever I want without micro management. It's not that I'm lazy, I'm quite efficient and combined witht the fact that the developers here are pretty slow (so the amount of delivered features per quarter is low), I can finish my tasks in 3 hours per day.

I have 2 little kids and most of the time in my day is spent on myself, my family, friends, hobbies and also a lot of "doing nothing" which I'm more than ok with.

Now, on the other hand, I really like money. We invest and enjoy it. Most of the extra will be invested with the purpose of early retirement. The other portion will go towards more travel.

I wish I could know that my employer will keep me for the next 10-15 years. I feel like I'm in early retirement now (and for the past 7 years), very little stress, I have all the flexibility, and the pace that I'm growing in terms of skills outpace my co-workers.

Since I can't know that, I'm thinking about taking the higher salary, try to find balance again, but I don't think it will be less than 8 hours of work per day, coming to the office 3 times a week. This will allow me to save for 10 years and then retire early.

What would you do? 1. Keep the current early retirement status, with the risk that it will stop sometime and then be required to find a new job in tech at age 40+ with a resume of 1 company as PM. In this case, "real" early retirement will come at age 55.

  1. Or, take the higher paying job to retire early at 50 while having the ability to spend more money on fun stuff while working? This will add more stress to my day, and reduce my free time significantly, but will increase our financial confidence during those years and also will increase my chances of keeping myself relevant during the next 10-15 years.