u/utvols22champs

I was in IT management at a financial institution. Between leadership changes, outsourcing pressure, burnout, and a PIP that felt more like a slow-motion termination, I finally decided to walk away. I start a new job in a couple weeks, so thankfully this isn’t a disaster scenario.

What’s strange is that my wife and I (49/50) also just crossed a $1M net worth milestone yet I still don’t feel financially comfortable.

Breakdown is roughly:
$250k home equity
$350k brokerage account
$320k retirement accounts
$20k crypto
$50k savings

Our household income will be around $150k, but real monthly spending still lands around $5k-$6k once life happens. Home repairs, healthcare concerns, travel, helping family, etc.

I think I expected hitting $1M to feel like “we made it,” but instead it mostly feels like:
“We finally have a decent cushion if nothing major goes wrong.”

Did anyone else here hit their first million and feel surprisingly underwhelmed or still financially uneasy? Especially when so much of it is tied up in home equity and retirement accounts?

I’m 50 and have dealt with this for over 10 years. I fall asleep fine, but after about 5-6 hours my lower back starts hurting bad enough that I have to get up. If I stay in bed longer, it gets worse. Doesn’t seem to matter what mattress I sleep on, and pillows haven’t helped much either. I’m mostly a side sleeper. During the day my energy is actually pretty good, so it’s not really insomnia or exhaustion, it’s just that my back seems to have a time limit on how long I can stay in bed.

What’s weird is sitting upright for 15-20 minutes helps a lot, and this morning my fiancée used her foot to put pressure on the muscles on both sides of my spine and the pain almost disappeared. That makes me think it’s muscular, but I honestly don’t know anymore. I stay active and lift weights regularly, overall in really good shape.

I’m curious if anybody else around my age deals with this exact kind of thing and if you found anything that actually helps long term. I’d love to get 7+ hours of sleep but I have to figure this out before that happens.

I was put on a frivolous 90 day PIP so I immediately took 90 days of PTO. When I return from FMLA, I plan to say my goodbyes to a few coworkers and then turn in my resignation.

I’m debating whether to keep working or taking early retirement, but either way, I won’t be using them as a reference. How should I go about resigning? I prefer to go straight to HR since my direct report is the reason I’m leaving. I also plan to resign on my first day back, maybe after lunch. I’ll turn in my laptop, keys, and badge, then head out.

Is there anything I should, or shouldn’t, do? I plan to keep it short and simple.

I received an offer yesterday. I started my job search about 6 weeks ago and submitted a total of 5 resumes. Not bad considering some of the stories I’ve been seeing.

It’s not a bad offer but I don’t think I’m going to accept it. Mostly because there’s an on-call schedule. At my age (50M), I don’t want to give up any more of my personal time than necessary. I’m also fortunate enough in my career to be very selective and intentional with the role I choose.

But I did find the job through Hiring Cafe and it was overall a success. I thought I’d throw it out there for those feeling defeated. Just know, there are jobs out there.