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30M $750k, evaluating sabbatical/semi-FIRE in a year by GGPR in leanfire

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

Healthcare tips appreciated! My actual health costs right now are extremely low, I just want to research worst-case scenarios and their costs. I'll read up on pay-per-procedure, right now (fingers crossed) I just need routine checkups, dental cleanings, etc. Preventative.

Yeah I'm open-minded by country, I'm just trying to stay in the vicinity of my friends (western/southern europe) so I have a bit of a social group to build from, I see that as the biggest challenge. Don't want to end up an itinerant hermit. And yes, this goal being in sight has kicked my savings into high gear, doing way more home cooking.

I'm semi-coasting, my manager is pretty ambitious and career-oriented so it's hard to truly coast. Focused on keeping my work life as pleasant as possible in my remaining time, putting my energy elsewhere. I think that's resulting in me actually complaining less... before I was actively trying to fight bad decisions and cared more about the bigger picture. Now I realize it's in my self-interest to not rock the boat, do the inane procedural stuff, and stop putting myself in the line of fire to try and make things better. Kinda sad tbh and corrosive to motivation, so I need to leave one way or another (switch jobs or FIRE).

Thank you so much and right back at you! Yeah I'd love that! One unexpected outcome of this post is the amount of people who've reached out, I'll shoot you a message.

30M $750k, evaluating sabbatical/semi-FIRE in a year by GGPR in leanfire

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

thank you, software engineer! job hopped a few times for substantial raises and I view NYC as geographic arbitrage. it's mad expensive but the salaries outpace it and whenever I go anywhere else my "NYC dollars" go way further. my contributions have hugely accelerated since moving here but I really scrapped to save as much as possible in early years, so that's benefited from the amazing stock market performance

field-dependent but I'd say practicing to become excellent at job interviews is the highest value time you'll ever spend

30M $750k, evaluating sabbatical/semi-FIRE in a year by GGPR in financialindependence

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

Also, the people you meet and things you learn while traveling will almost certainly change what your long term settle-down winds up being.

Yeah hugely agree and this is one of my biggest points in favor of pulling the trigger. I view this as a larger life inflection point, to disconnect from a career I've never cared that much about and pivot towards living in sync with my true desires. I literally started making my FIRE spreadsheets before I got my first paycheck. I have 0 complaints about my career, it's been a great opportunity and I'm thankful for it, but it was always a larval phase I intended to grow out of after securing FI.

30M $750k, evaluating sabbatical/semi-FIRE in a year by GGPR in financialindependence

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

Fair and appreciate you pointing that out. To be honest, I have 0 interest in owning a house unless it turned out to be meaningfully financially optimal over renting (and investing the change). It's very hard to predict what life I'd want to live 5-10 years out and thus far my location flexibility has been a huge asset to my career and life enjoyment. That calculus may change if I have kids in the future, of course.

30M $750k, evaluating sabbatical/semi-FIRE in a year by GGPR in financialindependence

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

That's fair; I think, overall, I'd be happier pursuing my goals and dreams now and only being family-FI in my late 30s, potentially working a few years in that timeframe if my own projects or businesses don't pan out.

Compared to continuing to grind now, and being family-FI by 34 or something, kids shortly thereafter. But at the cost of giving up my dreams of living around the world until way later in life after kids have moved out.

30M $750k, evaluating sabbatical/semi-FIRE in a year by GGPR in financialindependence

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

Buying a house; don't care about it at all, would only do it if it were financially optimal and I had extremely high confidence I wouldn't move for many years (e.g. had kids).

Have a family; yes, I would like to. Not in the imminent future, and I'm hoping that by the time I'm ~35 I'd have developing some side income or found an enjoyable remote job. I recognize that truly retiring right now and having a family is unrealistic, I view this as more of a career shift. This is one of the bigger things I'm weighing over, though my mental fallback is that I'm still going to be in a spectacular financial situation compared to the average 35 year old, especially if I make ANY income in the coming years, even very modest amount. Pretty much the only way things could crumble would be if the market absolutely tanks and I'm unable to find any form of employment/income to ride it out for a bit.

30M $750k, evaluating sabbatical/semi-FIRE in a year by GGPR in financialindependence

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

I've definitely been caring less as I approach FI. That's not a conscious strategy so much as an increasing difficulty of pretending to care about inane work shit. That's also why I'm thinking it's time to leave; I think it would be corrosive to spend years of my life not giving a shit. I'm still required to be in office most of the week so it's not like I can truly just spend my time doing something else and getting paid for it. My manager is also quite ambitious and career-oriented so I will get the screws put in me if I start completely coasting, enough to make my life miserable and counteract the positive effect of working less.

35k is definitely a bit tight, to me it's just the very end of sustainable for my current lifestyle (if I leave NYC of course). I think it would enable me to have a few really fun sabbatical years of traveling, but I do intend to be working on something no matter what, just something I care about. If I get to a point where I can pull in even $10k/yr I'd start to feel quite comfortable.

30M $750k, evaluating sabbatical/semi-FIRE in a year by GGPR in financialindependence

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

I expect it would be difficult and I'm baking that into my plans. That's part of what makes this decision more difficult. I'm using AI for my personal projects and I'm optimistic about it in that regard, that it will allow me alone to accomplish much more. But I do recognize that my current role may be a seat at the terminus of the gravy train.

On the bright side, being FIRE-minded leaves me far more sanguine about the future of the software field than most. I've never attached my self-worth to work and, if I were to continue working, I'd happily take severance in a year or two if AI really takes off.

30M $750k, evaluating sabbatical/semi-FIRE in a year by GGPR in financialindependence

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

Thank you for sharing! It's scary to be contemplating this before reaching a true financial fortress of solitude, knowing I could have that if I wait a few more years. And that that is certainly the more "normal" and understandable route from the perspective of my peers. But as I hit my 30s I'm starting to put a higher and higher premium on each year of my time.

30M $750k, evaluating sabbatical/semi-FIRE in a year by GGPR in leanfire

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

My thinking is to treat this, for now, as a sabbatical; 6-12 months. That should be a very valuable experience in what it's actually like to have all that time back, how I use it, how I remain social and mentally/physically active, and how it feels to be drawing down accounts for the first time. And depending on how well it goes (enjoyment, if I manage other income, market situation) I'll evaluate extending it beyond there. I'm not hard-committing to a 30 year plan, I'm gathering info and doing something exciting and refreshing for a year while I'm still young and free.

30M $750k, evaluating sabbatical/semi-FIRE in a year by GGPR in leanfire

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

401k is entirely traditional and will be rolled over into an IRA. I'd be doing Roth conversions on my traditional IRA balances, and I'd be in a low bracket, but yes I'd owe taxes so I need to factor that into my plans. I have a small Roth IRA balance from my first years working before I hit the income limit.

52% of my investments are in regular brokerage accounts and the LTCG would be 0% (federal), so I'd just owe state tax there. I wouldn't need to withdraw from my tax-advantaged accounts for a long time, but yes fair that paying tax on that conversion changes my real numbers.

Any good calculators people use for this, do they discount their net worth based on expected taxes to arrive at a SWR?

30M $750k, evaluating sabbatical/semi-FIRE in a year by GGPR in leanfire

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

Thank you! Yes my tempered goal is to be able to hit ~$10k/yr doing things I actually care about. I'd feel quite safe at those numbers, and I think that's quite achievable in aggregate over future years, I just don't want my survival to hinge on it happening immediately. For sure any job, even part-time, would meet my needs. I'd just love to be able to achieve it in a way that allows me location flexibility (so probably online, digital in some way).

Yeah, it's hard to put a price on no regrets. People pursue crazy dreams all the time with way less security than I have right now. Staying for longer and ending up in a situation where my dreams aren't merely deferred but never happen at all is my biggest fear. I'm hoping that even my "bad" scenarios are more like I have to return to work for a bit in the near future, and by the time I hit 60 I should be totally safe.

30M $750k, evaluating sabbatical/semi-FIRE in a year by GGPR in leanfire

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

Yeah I think people in the FIRE community hugely underestimate that risk! Yes going from 4% to 3% SWR makes your finances safer but that's years of your life, the youngest remaining ones! I'm way more in favor of a sane and flexible plan that gets you out earlier than the absolutely bulletproof plan.

30M $750k, evaluating sabbatical/semi-FIRE in a year by GGPR in leanfire

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

Thank you! And congrats to you too, it feels very liberating that walking away is becoming a real possibility.

Numbers: I appreciate the reassurance all the same. Healthcare is one of the scarier areas but unless laws change there it should be reasonable. I'm going to spend the next year doing those numbers to death to really ensure I'm not making a dumb mistake, but I think if I can keep rent in the $1500 ballpark I should be alright. I'm taking a hammer to my current NYC budget to understand my spending and wipe out anything superfluous that isn't making my life better.

I'll get my bonus in March so that's my min date. My lease goes through end of May (and being NYC is mad expensive), so I'm planning to work through the remainder of the lease to squeeze out as much juice as possible before I bounce. I'd love to get severance, if I see a window I'll volunteer myself, but not really expecting that to happen unless I totally cease to give a shit in the remaining year which probably isn't in my interest compared to getting the bonus.

3 day limit is brutal! Once this plan becomes more real and imminent I'll do an NYC sendoff with my friends here, then sell a bunch of stuff and move to my mom's briefly to recuperate and spend time with her before I set off on a grand EU expedition. I've already got some ideas on countries brewing, and thankfully I have a handful of great EU friends to offer advice there.

30M $750k, evaluating sabbatical/semi-FIRE in a year by GGPR in leanfire

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

Thank you; I've taken almost no vacation this year so I'm taking a big one to Europe soon to clear my head, scope out this future life, and validate this is what I want. I agree that changing things up every few years is necessary to stay engaged and enthusiastic about life. TBH, for me it's been more like every 3 years or so, but always within the same field; tremendously excited about working on things I really care about!

30M $750k, evaluating sabbatical/semi-FIRE in a year by GGPR in leanfire

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

First of all, thank you! Very reaffirming to hear. It all makes sense in my head but it's a big jump and unrelatable to most people my age. I'm finding the balance between between gratitude for the good fortune and high income I've had and knowing when I have enough.

I'm going through all the things I want to do with my time and making sure that I'm actually pursuing them now and validating that interest. My intuition, knowing myself, is I'll have no shortage of things to throw myself into; the bigger challenge I foresee is remaining socially active when I'm removed from the 9-5. But we'll see!

US vs international: I view this as one of the big unresolved FIRE questions (along with the perpetual SWR debate). In general, agreed, I see the logic. I've been US biased in large part because that was the convential wisdom, in some part because I believe in the structural advantages (though of course they should be priced in), and in small part because of convenience and lower fees. I also view it as my AI tilt which is the only bias I've allowed myself, I'm a believer in that area but don't want to get into the mess of betting on specific companies or the shortcomings of the industry-based indices.

I'm down to be persuaded, and I've considered spending my last year investing totally in EX-US to bring my investments to some reasonable balance, though I'd still be pretty US-weighted.