u/Ready_Pen7712

WHo elese feel like they got bamboozled by a bot spam army to buy into the frenzy

like a handful of folks, I've been second guessing myself on lot of things. So i thought to look for some advice/external validation/ reality check/ gentle roasting.

39M, single, 1 kid, + a 29F girlfriend in nursing school. HHI = $500k, only me.

Girlfriend doesnt make any money atm, but expected to make ~100k in 3-5 years after graduation and first 2y of experience. Her nursing field is proven to be lucrative (cosmetic surgery) and recession-proof so no concerns about her finding a job.

NW ~ 2M as below:

• 1M in brokerage stocks, heavily tech but fairly diversified. think fidelity FMA.
• 500k in 401k, another 300k in IRA
• about 250k in cash

I'm not accounting for

• 1 rental property in LCOL, valued 350k with 250k left in mortgage. Property is cashflow CF neutral. it pays of itself and we have ~$500/y left after accounting for everything including 100h management. We expect that in 10years, property will be paid off and will start generate positive CF. ~1500/m
• 1 rental property in LCOL that is CF negative. Bad investment, bought too high, with rates at peak. We're planning to sell within the next 6months, stop the bleed and recoup ~100k. this will go into our Cash position.
• our house, in HCOL. Value is ~600k with 450 left on mortgage. Depreciated a lot recently.
• 529 for the kid. about 50k that will grow overtime, even if we stop contributing.
• Car expenses, that have their own savings account of 60k for the next 10years. we both have very old cars that are expected to die soon and we've been saving ahead for their replacement.

Our burn rate is about 11k/month ( including travels, childcare, healthcare, nursing school etc..).

Question: I've been grinding/working since I was 16. Corporate has me completely demotivated and burnt out, and I might also be having a mild middle life crisis. I'm thinking about taking a 1y sabbatical ( mid 2026 to mid 2027) then finding a low key 70-100k/y job until GF starts working before retiring completely. OR keep grinding, try to reach peak income at 45 like all my peers seems to be doing.

I got into big tech "late" at 33 and feel I've been playing catchup since.

It's hard to let go, when I look at folks my age with 10 times the NW and going the extramile for more promotion and more money. I know comparison is the thief of joy.
Curious how anyone has navigated their decision making in that sense.