40M. Married, with a toddler in daycare. I'm in professional services. I've worked crazy hours for many years to the point where I'm now making somewhere between 400 and 500k / year w/o having to work as much in terms of hours (but it's still a lot of pressure, stress and anxiety).
I'm very good at what I'm doing and have an enviable position with one of the top employers in my field, but I don't like what I'm doing any more (in fact, I'm wondering if I ever really loved what I'm doing). Having a kid also made me realize that there is more to life than working like crazy all the time.
It's quite possible that I'm a bit depressed / experiencing a bit of a burn out. The ownership and corp structure of my employer has changed a few years ago and it kind of killed the vibe. I can't really take a 6-month break and come back to the same employer. I could easily get a similar job elsewhere but I have no appetite for it.
I have about $3.3M in investments (not including my wife's) and completely debt free. My half of the house and cars probably add another $0.7M.
My expenses (my half of family expenses + personal expenses) are about $60,000/year now that I no longer have car payments or a mortgage. I have tried a bunch of different FIRE and retirement calculators and they all are telling me I can retire today (even if I take into account the fact that my kid will cost me more as she gets older). I'm currently able to save close to $200k a year; I could try to continue for a bit longer to increase my NW, but I don't see the point if I have enough already and it's becoming more and more difficult to continue. I have been thinking about retiring for over a year now.
Am I missing something?
My main concerns/hesitations are:
- My main concern is the fear that if I were to ever regret my decision (does it happen?), I would not be able to go back to the same type of position/salary (especially if I'm out of the field for a few years).
- My wife is not planning to retire now. She's also in professional services and is working more than I'm doing now (for less). I will obviously not spend my days playing video games or doing nothing, but still, I'm concerned that overtime it could create friction if she's the only one working (even if I continue to pay for half of our family's expenses). That said, she says she's supportive of me retiring if I can, to take care of our daughter, etc.
- Will I get bored? I have many ideas such as going back to school just for fun, spending more time with my daughter while she still wants, doing more sports, volunteering, etc. but as a overachiever/workaholic I have never been good with having too much free time (although I'm getting better at it now that I have a family) and I'm only 40...
I'm more concerned by #1 and #2.
(Throwaway account)