Blasted past “FI #,” still employed, loss of ambition/motivation?
My wife and I have eclipsed our $2.5mm investment goal and now stand at $3.5mm invested. Our spend would be about 2.5% of our nest-egg at this point. This does not include the value of my $27k per year non-COLA pension which will kick in at age 65 (that’s 17 years from now, God willing).
By any discernible measure, we could spend our days doing whatever we wish, which was the motivation for FI in the first place. Yet, our respective grinds continue. Neither of us are particularly enamored with our work but are highly competent and thus paid well.
We ratcheted down our lifestyle a while back “to hasten FI” … which flat out sucked. So, we ratcheted up our lifestyle again … which has been great and a return to normalcy for us. And, 2.5% SWR is where we presently stand, even after re-inflating our lifestyle.
I am beginning to wonder if I, specifically, have some mental hurdle that I will never clear. I daydream about hiking national parks, reading, oil painting, learning a new instrument or volunteering my time for financial literacy causes. Instead, I find myself making (SUPER) dull drives across the Midwest, making sales calls and staying in Marriott Courtyards. The corporate minions are pleased but, more and more, I am not. It is as though I am experiencing an inverse relationship between our net worth and my job satisfaction and, in turn, my general happiness.
To change things up with work, I recently moved to a sexier division (more attractive technology) and this does not seem to be hitting the mark either. It is the same game with a different widget and a bigger paycheck. It is exceedingly difficult to stay motivated when we have already won the game.
If anyone has been in a similar situation then I am all ears. How did you get off of the hamster wheel?
I do not believe I will ever fully retire but why I keep the golden handcuffs firmly attached in a high-stress field is officially beyond me at this point.
submitted by /u/NappyDanHinkle
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