Burned out and desperately need a break- what would you do?
38 yo with 2 kids 3 and under, utterly burned out and mentally drained from the corporate grind. I am sick of being mentally ill, unable to be mentally present with my family and seriously considering taking a couple of years off from my career to focus on my health and my family 100% and welcome this community’s thoughts.
- We have 1.6M liquid, of which 1.1M is in retirement accounts, the other 500k is split 80/20 taxable brokerage and cash.
- We own a house with a low rate mortgage in a VHCOL area (400k equity, 700k mortgage balance outstanding at 2.8%). Annual expenses including this, are about 120k.
- if I took the break, I’d qualify for maximum ACA subsidies due to low income, so healthcare would not be a significant expense. I might also harvest some capital gains to take advantage of the low income.
- Current income: 300k (single income)
- Likelihood of getting a similar job in 2-3 years: probably not that high, but very high chance of getting something around 150k range. It’s a professional non tech field. Unfortunately part time with my current job is not an option.
What would people in my situation do? I’m prepared to accept retiring a bit later if it means I can get the time now while the kids are young and not in school. Some crude projections show that even if I do this, a retirement in my late 50s is still very possible, but I’m happy to work into my 60s if it’s a sustainable (even if lower paying role). I am aware it will not be the financially optimal decision, but with the current situation there is 100% chance I will look back and regret not spending more time with the kids before they reach school age.