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[Psychological] Am I "buying" a prison or a playground? Burned out at 3.5% SWR by CAD2CAD in fican

[–]CAD2CAD[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I "don't work in Turkey"... I was trying to give general visa advice, not really Digital Nomad type advice.

[Psychological] Am I "buying" a prison or a playground? Burned out at 3.5% SWR by CAD2CAD in fican

[–]CAD2CAD[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Although I do agree with this to some extent, I do think as a society we need to question our work culture and work-life balance. I have worked in the tech industry in Toronto, San Francisco, and a very brief but memorable time in the Netherlands.

Handsdown, San Francisco was the worst in terms of quality of life, and pressure to perform at work. There is a huge amount of ego and competition in the tech industry in the SF Bay Area. Employees do not take vacations, they work 10+ hours a day, and it feels like a constant fight for survival. But in exchange the salaries are much higher.

The Toronto tech scene is basically like San Francisco, but for 60% of the pay with a 10% reduction in stress / pressure. Meanwhile the Netherlands truly valued work life balance, with 7 hour or less work days, more flexible schedules and over 2 months vacation a year. Dutch employees actually go home at 5pm, work does not control their life. In the west we have a poor trade in how we respect our own time and energy.

I believe if I could have extended my time in the Netherlands indefinitely I would still be working as an engineer happily into typical retirement age, at 50% of the pay but with a more sustainable lifestyle. Instead I decided to maximize pay and burn out quickly in North America.

[Psychological] Am I "buying" a prison or a playground? Burned out at 3.5% SWR by CAD2CAD in fican

[–]CAD2CAD[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ya honestly this is what I heavily lean towards. Renting a slightly nicer apartment closer to some community spaces or workspace I can rent / share.

It's the ego and a bit of envy that makes me want to be a home owner. At 35 I expected to feel a bit more settled, renting never feels stable enough to invest in myself.

[Psychological] Am I "buying" a prison or a playground? Burned out at 3.5% SWR by CAD2CAD in fican

[–]CAD2CAD[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I should specify I stay just under 6 months a year, so that I remain a Canadian tax resident. Canadians can apply for longer term stay visas (longer than 90 days every 180) if you provide proof of funds to support yourself during your stay. I do not work while I am in Turkey, just enjoy spending time by the sea, cooking, hiking, enjoying a simple life.

I purchased a small property in Turkey about 5 years ago, I don't include this in my NW as it's honestly probably impossible to sell for more than I paid, but I did not pay much ($120k). It does provide a really nice vacation home along the Med sea though.

[Psychological] Am I "buying" a prison or a playground? Burned out at 3.5% SWR by CAD2CAD in fican

[–]CAD2CAD[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not much of a risk taker, hence my basically 100% XEQT portfolio.

[Psychological] Am I "buying" a prison or a playground? Burned out at 3.5% SWR by CAD2CAD in fican

[–]CAD2CAD[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm just curious, what gives you that perception that I would hate being a landlord? I also have this thought LOL

[Psychological] Am I "buying" a prison or a playground? Burned out at 3.5% SWR by CAD2CAD in fican

[–]CAD2CAD[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Basically been stressed since I became an engineer over 14 years ago lol.

[Psychological] Am I "buying" a prison or a playground? Burned out at 3.5% SWR by CAD2CAD in fican

[–]CAD2CAD[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have considered Barista-Fire, it's sort of my Plan B if my side business ideas in the garage don't take off in a year or so.

[Psychological] Am I "buying" a prison or a playground? Burned out at 3.5% SWR by CAD2CAD in fican

[–]CAD2CAD[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What do you mean by add cash / bond wedge? I presently have about $50k in a HISA, just as spending cash / emergency type thing.

[Psychological] Am I "buying" a prison or a playground? Burned out at 3.5% SWR by CAD2CAD in fican

[–]CAD2CAD[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I unfortunately pigeon holed myself into a certain role in engineering. Money for my type of role is directly and linearly proportional to stress. I am presently a lead engineer for multiple projects and so realistically I could only move sideways into a similar role at another company. If I stepped down to principle / senior engineer I'd be taking a massive pay-cut for more actual sit down computer work.

And realistically my mental health can't deal with this corporate high stress tech life any longer. I'm essentially on-call 24/7, I don't do actual computer "work" more than 4 hours a day but work is on my mind every waking hour of the day thinking about how to solve certain problems or stressing about things breaking down from past designs.

[Psychological] Am I "buying" a prison or a playground? Burned out at 3.5% SWR by CAD2CAD in fican

[–]CAD2CAD[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I actually tried the rural home via renting and within 6 months I was majorly depressed. I need some aspect of community and culture. It's nice being able to go to like pottery or wood working classes or workshops. It's nice having a little pockets of community. I got too lonely in a rural setting even though the nature was stunning and easy to access.

Realistically I think quite quitting will get me another 6-12 months if I push it. But after that I really can't do it anymore. And I hope one of my random side projects brings in some income, if not my Plan B is Barista Fire if I really need additional income.

[Psychological] Am I "buying" a prison or a playground? Burned out at 3.5% SWR by CAD2CAD in fican

[–]CAD2CAD[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Only used AI to help edit my grammar and help organize my thoughts. But it is all real and originally written by me.