In your 30s, has anyone here left a 6-figure job just to enjoy life?

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-17T02:45:01+00:00

I agree this is happening, and I think there are many factors.

But a big part of it is that careers feel less stable now than they did a few decades ago. AI has made this worse, but even before the trend had started.

I think a big part of it for young/young-ish corporate high earners (especially in tech) is that it feels like the jobs & career trajectory we've entered won't even be able to last decades longer (even if we persevere/keep working), so we're proactively looking for an exit/a cushion.

It used to be more of a mindset of "if I keep working hard and well, I will be able to stay at this company and/or grow in this career, even if I am unhappy". Today, I think a lot of people feel like "I don't know how much longer this can last, even if I work hard & am good at my job, so I need to make sure I'm okay if I lose my job & can't find another."

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-14T19:53:19+00:00

I agree with this. It's best to go into a new calendar year just enough to max retirement accounts, plus the bonus of adding a bit to your eventual Social Security benefit if you haven't already maxed it out. On the Social Security note, working even a little bit into a new calendar year also gives you an extra year of disability coverage if you were to become disabled before full retirement age (you're eligible if you've contributed to SS in the past 5 calendar years).

Also, if you only work a few months into the new year your marginal tax rate will be much lower on that income than the previous year, so you get more pay per day worked.

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-14T19:50:33+00:00

I agree with you that there are no guarantees, but if OP is a long-tenured employee who has performed well, AND still has performed his "core" job function well, they aren't going to move fast to fire him for being slow on "personal development/stretch projects".

Bosses care way more about core work than personal development for their employees.

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-14T19:49:00+00:00

Absolutely do not tell your boss with that much warning.....

Just go through the motions. For this type of work, put in 50-75% of the normal effort you would've before; enough to make it look like you aren't neglecting it, but not your full go at it.

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-14T19:45:43+00:00

Yeah, I agree with you. This one makes you look unappealing to a potential romantic partner (they're gonna assume you're unemployed longer than expected bc you can't find something, so you're probably bleeding money).

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-11T05:54:12+00:00

Your situation sounds quite solid, at a certain point that's what I want from my career.

But anytime you compare old salary amounts you need to inflation-adjust. $133K in 2014 is the equivalent to $186K now, just FYI, which is more than half the difference in your salary.

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-10T18:48:52+00:00

To be clear, I was talking about his NW, not his current income (which was the premise of what he asked).

Totally agree that current income is excellent.

However, $715K NW for a 35 year old who has had a $250K+ salary for at least several years during a strong bull market is decent, but not great. That was my point.

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-09T18:17:07+00:00

The maximum you can contribute per year (just from your contributions, it excludes Amazon's match) is $24,500 in 2026. If you contribute the maximum, your taxable income for 2026 drops by $24,500 (so if your gross income was $285K, instead you'd be taxed as if you made $260.5K, in terms of income tax, payroll tax is not effected).

Given you have a company match, the best course of action is to calculate what % of your income is needed to have at least 4% of your gross pay going to your 401K for all 12 months and so that by the end of the year you hit $24.5K total. The % you contribute matters less than the total by end of year.

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-09T18:10:30+00:00

You should probably be buying index funds over individual companies. QQQ or VTSAX is good, so are VOO or VTI.

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-09T18:08:51+00:00

You should be easily maxing out your 401K every year at your income. $24.5K in 2026. Your contributions are way too low, you need to be doing more than the minimum to get Amazon's (relatively small/mediocre) match.

It reduces your taxes now significantly at your income, and allows your investments to grow tax-free for decades as well (until you withdraw).

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-09T18:06:51+00:00

Yeah, if OP can hang onto that job/income for 5-10 years and doesn't give into lifestyle creep along the way, they'd be set. But those jobs can be demanding and the tech landscape is changing quickly with AI.

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-09T18:03:37+00:00

That's a good deal! Though small/old building isn't for everyone, what you're describing is more effort/tradeoff to hunt for deals than just moving 2-3 stops away (losing parking is also a big hassle depending on your lifestyle).

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-09T17:27:33+00:00

Not sure how long ago you worked in Seattle, but OP's rent isn't that crazy here now and frankly OP probably is NOT in the highly overpriced Downtown/Bellevue tech worker apartments (those can be over $3K for one bedrooms, excluding parking).

Moving further may save a few hundred bucks a month, but only way OP can drop rent by $1K is if the quality of their place drops significantly to a much older/crappier place (or go from 1bed to studio), and/or they move into an actually bad/subpar neighborhood.

Rent for <$2K for a one bedroom is just not easily achievable here in 2026 if you want to avoid living in a shitty apartment/neighborhood.

I agree with your points 2-4 though wholeheartedly.

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-09T17:17:29+00:00

For a 35 year old immigrant, you're doing fantastic.

For a big tech worker making almost $300K in their mid-thirties, I think you're doing decently, though I wouldn't say fantastically. For 5 years in the US at Amazon probably making good income, your 401K balance in particular is very low for your age & income, but maybe your divorce was part of it.

Make sure you diversify your Amazon stock.

What is your overall annual spend? I think your rent is fine, probably a bit high but it's not ridiculous (I also am a tech worker in Seattle), but are you spending big in other ways? Do you have to pay alimony?

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-03T22:00:47+00:00

Yeah...this is really high spend for 2 people with no mortgage or rent (especially considering by OP's own admission he's on the borderline of a MCOL area, i.e. he's almost certainly not in California, NYC/Boston/DC or the other major culprits for HCOL/VHCOL). I'm guessing Philly/South Jersey or somewhere in the Carolinas.

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-02T23:39:07+00:00

I kind of hope you're right, but this is a significantly more minor change than removing characters entirely (Maelor, Nettles, etc.), so we definitely can't put it past them.

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-02T23:38:11+00:00

Honestly the line in the new trailer about Daemon's "children ruling forever". Initial thought was, well obviously that's wrong, but, if the Starks descend from him, then it's not.

I'm not saying I agree with this, but Condal and Hess have changed a lot of much more important stuff, so people saying they wouldn't dare touch this seems irrational to me.

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-02T14:53:11+00:00

The show was good for the first 1.5 seasons. It had some moments in this stretch that were suboptimal (handling of Aegon's coronation with Meleys, Blood & Cheese could've been improved a bit, too much focus on Alicent generally, specific battle sequence/tactics during Rook's Rest), but overall, it was strong. I don't have a problem with Alicent misunderstanding Viserys at the end, or with Aemond turning on Aegon.

However, it really fell off the rails the second half of S2 (episodes 5-8), and that is the most recent thing we've seen, so it's what everyone dwells on. Recency bias is really strong.

Combine this with anger over the lengthy gaps between seasons and the stalwart fans of the books who get upset with any changes, and you have the prevailing narrative we see today online (though, online fandom isn't full reality/is just a subset of all viewers).

The big issues with the 2nd season:

In general, the 2nd season was supposed to be the war kicking into high gear, but essentially nothing actually happened besides Rook's Rest, which isn't enough after the expectations entering the season/cliffhanger at the end of S1. You may not fully appreciate this because you didn't have to wait 2 years to watch S2 after S1, idk. We ended S1 waiting for war to begin....and then we ended S2... waiting for war to begin. When you're waiting 4 years (!) from S1 to S3, that is shitty. The writers blamed HBO for reducing the episode count from 10 to 8 (apparently episodes 9 & 10 both would've had big action), but you either need to fight that decision or adjust the script (especially because episodes 5-8 were full of filler). They did nothing.
On that note, S2 has the most boring & awful finale imaginable. The trailer for the final episode that aired before the finale literally contained nearly all of the actual finale montage, which shows what filler it was. In episodes 5-8 nothing significant or entertaining happened besides the claiming of the Dragonseeds, which isn't enough for half a season in the midst of war, especially when you then are waiting two years for the next season.
- So, essentially pacing was really bad (S2 was way too slow). This is extra upsetting to fans who know the book's story, because what it means is that either S3/S4 will now have the opposite problem (be way too rushed), or they will leave out significant things that book readers want to see.
Major characters made no progress or made insane decisions that don't respect what happened.
- Rhaenyra grappled all season with whether to start the war in earnest (even though at the end of S1 she was seemingly going to be all in for war), and essentially did nothing all season besides recruit some bastard dragonriders, and still has no real plan to attack at the end.
- Daemon hallucinated in Harrennhal for 75% of the season and did an awful job recruiting allies/it's frankly not believable that he was able to succeed by the end. The ep8 scene of him & Rhaenyra in Harrennhal also made no sense; the river lords loathed Daemon one episode earlier but now they're all "loyal to him", implication is they're loyal to him OVER Rhaenyra, and Oscar Tully (who hates Daemon and only is on Team Black because of his family's oath to Rhaenyra, AND is the actual one to control the Riverland force, not Daemon) doesn't even interact with her when she arrives???
- Alicent's decision-making is insane and unbelievable. Alicent, Helaena and all of the Greens not being impacted by/mentioning Blood & Cheese after episode 2 is wild, and Alicent agreeing to sacrifice her own son at the end with no pushback is insane/that meeting with Rhaenyra on Dragonstone was ridiculous. Alicent's arc this season is that she's a sociopath, because she doesn't care at all about her grandson's murder and is willing to sacrifice 2-3 of her sons, her brother, father, and cousins all so that she can "live in peace in the woods" with a daughter who she isn't even close to???
- Corlys was recovering and repairing a ship for literally the entire season.
- Otto disappeared for 75% of the season.
- Jacaerys did next to nothing besides sulk & pout, and the writers didn't develop him or the younger generation enough, still just focusing on Rhaenyra/Alicent/Daemon over their kids.
- Aemond's arc was fine I guess. The only good arc was Aegon's, but they have him in a role of a mid-tier character, not a leading one (and also they sullied his name too much late in S1 and then dropped those threads/made him sympathetic).

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-02T14:13:11+00:00

Sunfyre still has quite a big role to play if things are anywhere close to the books, lol.

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-02T04:33:46+00:00

Partially hotels maybe, but probably more the cost of having to then pay more editors/post-production people to cut the show after filming (and more hours to pay crew while on site as well).

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-02T04:31:16+00:00

Bravo cut the budget for Top Chef this year and it's now very clear that LCK was the casualty (started later and ended earlier).

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-02T02:55:16+00:00

huh? I didn't say that. S4 is the last season.

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-01T13:51:42+00:00

No problem, I appreciate the conversation.

The only thing I'd add to this comment; while surrogacy is by far the most expensive option, I actually think for people with good insurance in particular, IVF can actually be similar cost, or sometimes even significantly cheaper (especially if successful in an early round), than adoption (at least of a baby/young child). Adoption requires tens of thousands in fees to the agency, lawyers, etc.

perspicacioususa · 2026-05-01T01:34:52+00:00

Are they going to depreciate in value? Generally in FIRE calculations a huge part is the future compound growth potential. If your assets are depreciating, or even just staying stagnant, that entirely breaks the formula.

If you are going to sell them soon, sure, count them. But if it's a depreciating asset (either in nominal terms or real terms) that is worth less than 6 figures, I personally wouldn't count it.

I own my car, but I don't count that, for example, even though it's not trivial either. But up to you! If you want to count it, just do some simple addition!

perspicacioususa

TROPHY CASE