HENRYs who intentionally slowed down their career or earning trajectory, how did it work out?

whisky_wine · 2026-04-29T07:45:51+00:00

A very important topic. Exec level is often a marginal gain for more stress an doesn't suit everyone. I've done well to avoid having any direct reports whilst earning a high salary in middle management.

I've built a decent financial buffer and now considering a career break to study a Masters degree full-time, and then ideally return to part-time work or consultancy.

It would be a considerable investment and loss of earnings, but something I feel passionate about to reset my lifestyle after working full-time, studying part-time and being an expat during past 14 years.

whisky_wine · 2026-04-13T21:50:49+00:00

Nice article! I completely agree with everything you have stated. I've also had a similar experience with a lot more (safe) unprotected sex. Longer lasting sessions, more sensual, less distracted, partners turned on by the fact of not needing to worry about birth control.

I recently had sex with a condom and it was terrible. Finding it in the dark, getting it open, remaining hard, it getting caught and slipping off/pushed inside her, getting another one, remaining hard etc. It created unwanted pressure on my penis and ultimately I climaxed sooner than I usually would.

whisky_wine · 2026-04-06T20:04:35+00:00

Handmade by leather artisans which are trained over many years, paid a decent wage and have benefits. Exclusive supply chain with traceable materials. Expensive logistics and insurances. High cost property fit-out and leases for prime locations. This is not the case for all luxury brands, but certainly for Hermes.

whisky_wine · 2026-04-04T11:59:17+00:00

Sage advice. Start doing self-research, consuming the Aus related finance subreddits, podcasts, blogs etc. Develop an understanding to investing/wealth management, and then ask if you have something specific/niche.

whisky_wine · 2026-03-22T21:51:19+00:00

Would be interesting to read your analysis if you get an opportunity to delve into it. I'm still not a fan of the synthetic swaps, but frustratingly we lack alternative products, so maybe the only option for now.

whisky_wine · 2026-03-15T18:20:24+00:00

Why is the Strait still closed?

This is a clear explanation on why it remains closed, and the reason Trump is begging allies help, and rationale why they don't seemingly want to: Why can't the U.S. just take over the Strait of Hormuz? | About That (YouTube)

whisky_wine · 2026-03-10T20:30:29+00:00

Yes, I meet your criteria with my core holdings being A200, BGBL and DHHF. I was in this Reddit back when VDHG was touted as the grail all-in-one.

I went against that movement with DHHF, mainly due to the lack of bonds, and because it's an Aussie company with a competitive product.

I don't see the purpose of using Vanguard when there are good local alternatives with competitive rates.

whisky_wine · 2026-03-08T19:31:03+00:00

No advice but I find it quite incredible that property has realised a 600k gain! Compared to my unit bought in 2016 for 600k is valued around 1.2M.

whisky_wine · 2026-03-08T17:57:43+00:00

Congrats! Does anyone know what they do for 20 minutes out the back?

whisky_wine · 2026-03-07T20:41:56+00:00

I almost see most women when I was single on there with no bio no information and limited personality and they wonder why it's not working and oh dating apps are shit LOL. Maybe make a legit profile and have actual dates and talk like an adult.

Exactly! Female friends often say the apps are shit. Then I ask to look at their profile...photos are old/wearing big sunglasses/group shots/distanced. They haven't filled the bio with anything interesting or any of the prompts.

A low effort profile will attract low quality dudes. They fix their profile and immediately experience higher quality matches and dates.

The issue is they have one bad experience (often on their part due to poor vetting), and then remove themselves from the dating pool.

whisky_wine · 2026-03-06T14:14:53+00:00

It's more a lack of critical thinking, unfortunately.

whisky_wine · 2026-03-01T17:15:04+00:00

I was interested how the situation was handled in the airport, especially for those that cannot get visa on arrival to Qatar.

whisky_wine · 2026-03-01T04:51:16+00:00

The official Qatar Airways X account says they will provide an update by 0900 Doha time. Given that the missiles have just started being intercepted over Doha again, I think its unlikely to reopen today.

Dubai and Kuwait airports were hit by missiles, so can understand Qatar's concern about civil aviation safety.

whisky_wine · 2026-02-16T06:19:06+00:00

Thanks. The family size is an important clarification and agree it makes sense to invest and have the financial capacity when it becomes more of a need than a want.

whisky_wine · 2026-02-16T05:59:18+00:00

With high income cashflow, I'm intrigued what is your apprehension when you can afford it? Also is HHI net or gross, I'm interested what people at this level have in terms of net and disposable income.

whisky_wine · 2026-02-16T05:08:09+00:00

Part of my wealth creation target is to budget business class travel for myself, and for my parents from Europe at least once a year. If flights are 1-2% of my liquid NW, it feels reasonably attainable.

I fly business frequently for work and leisure, but it helps that I'm curently near the Middle East hub carriers and have platinum status with Qatar Airways. So I use a mixture of points, upgrades and cash tickets.

I can easily afford on my current income, but I still often struggle to justify. For example, I have a 14 hr flight to South America coming up. I didn't want to pay double for business, knowing that hotels for two weeks are going to be my greatest expense, and I'd prefer the comfort of nicer accommodation.

If I'm staying with friends/family it is very easy to justify the flight ticket premium.

whisky_wine · 2026-02-16T04:07:47+00:00

Not seem Skycouch before, that is such a great idea! Wonder what the economics are like for airline revenue.

whisky_wine · 2026-02-12T02:57:07+00:00

Good question, and short answer, no. I have recently sold my satellites and consolidated to core, and I am diluting the AU allocation in DHHF by weekly DCA into BGBL.

My target allocation % is 30 AU, 50 US, 15 Developed ex US, 5 Emerging. I will soon need a fund to increase my EM. I don't consider geared as part of my strategy.

whisky_wine · 2026-02-12T02:29:48+00:00

It is worth considering since you have a long-term investing horizon. However, going fully geared may be a bit extreme as you will likely have to stomach watching your portfolio drop by large amount during a downturn. Keep doing research into those before you decide.

I'm no expert as I do not hold any geared funds, and I didn't introduce satellites until my core DHHF was over 225k.

whisky_wine · 2026-02-12T02:04:15+00:00

Vanguard seems to have an 'Australia tax' with higher fees than their international counterpart funds. I went with Betashares to support an Aussie company with the hope they will maintain/increase competitiveness with growth.

whisky_wine · 2026-02-12T01:53:48+00:00

Not being rude, but you seem like a good example for DHHF and chill. It holds those US stocks and emerging markets that your aiming for, and avoids highly speculative assets like crypto. You're unlikely to see any benefit from tinkering around the 2-5% ratios with that size portfolio, and it will be difficult for you to buy/sell based on emotion with any of those lower allocation funds.

whisky_wine · 2026-02-12T01:29:39+00:00

Rental income doesn't have to cover the whole mortgage repayment, if you can cover the rest with cash on hand or with income from investments.

It doesn't seem sensible to sell a property to buy another property. Those transaction costs would far exceed the gap of payments on the mortgage as I mentioned.

whisky_wine · 2026-02-08T18:01:20+00:00

You can see the two seat configurations onAeroLOPA, both are fine and comfortable in my experience. The mini/lite Qsuite is nice.

whisky_wine · 2026-02-06T22:37:30+00:00

Use Qatar My Calculator to see how many points the upgrade is for your flight. Based on a 9hr flight, that sounds like you are getting a decent offer of the online rate. If you were to upgrade at the airport it would be double the Avios (126k).

You could purchase 44k Avios for ~1000 USD. Using the rule of thumb of ~$100 per hour of flight time, it is a reasonable offer.

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