Tech lead as… a new grad? That sounds like 0 mentorship to me. I would go with new grad in USA, but to each their own.

New grad being a tech lead is nuts. You need people to mentor you. Go to big tech and earn your stripes and that TC+stability bro.

I'm in PE. The way we work with founders like you is to recapitalize the business which gives you a huge chunk of money now, but also leaves you with a large ownership stake in the go-forward. You remain as CEO.

As an example, if this business is making $5m EBITDA, let's say we value it at $25M just like you said. We would finance that with 3 turns of debt ($15M). Therefore we need another $10M of equity to add up to the $25M purchase price. So for example's sake, we would inject $6M, and have you inject $4M.  This would leave you with 40% ownership of the company's equity, and $21M in cash in your pocket.

As you say you already have $20M NW, so you're already rich. So doubling up in cash is not really going to change your life or derisk you in any way. So it's more about what you want to do.

The trick is to know that PE typically does NOT want to manage your company. Their goal in life is to own a box that makes money that they can sell again in 5 years for more than they bought it for. So having a hungry CEO who knows the business is a dream.  They can give you cash to buy other businesses, play at a different level, etc.

Happy to chat if you want to DM.

The performance bands at the FAANG I work at have recently changed. In the previous year the lowest performance band was for 10% of employees. This mid year cycle they increased it to 18%.

This is an indication that this year the layoffs will be even bigger and headcount will probably shrink a bit.

We had a townhall where leadership spoke about job losses due to AI. They said that the AI agents are capable of writing low complexity code so the need for junior/mid level devs is reducing. They mentioned that to be safe the engineers needed to be promoted to senior level and focus on the wider business domain, design/architecture, and projects with increased complexity.

We are getting to the point where there is no point in hiring a junior dev to write basic code and handle simple/straightforward bugs.

You aren't a tech lead. Also, the main point of a startup is the equity. Which you aren't even getting. So go get that big tech on your resume and learn things relevant to your actual level of experience

Apply for unemployment and do any gig job you can while applying. Gl

As you approach retirement your emergency fund needs to transition into the 24-36 month cash buffer that protects you against sequence of returns risk. It’s important to have 24-36 months of expenses in cash so you don’t have to sell equities in a bear market

Most of the personal NW posts are possible, but Reddit or the internet doesn’t exactly hold a lot of credibility for truth in this area either.

Is there a chance your biz goes to 0 in 5 years and would it bother you?

Im fighting to keep the staff i have employed with jobs. no hiring, not even interns, for at least 6 months to a year.

Not really about emergency at that point, it is about holding 2-3 years worth of cash equivalents.

Our budget is flat and we're spending more on software. Vendors say they are using AI so annual increases are higher, whether or not they are actually using AI.

The good news is that when someone leaves, we are actually backfilling. The bad news is that they are contactor roles with worse pay and benefits.

Nobody can answer this question without knowing how much you spend. I think we also need to know how much you will use to purchase property, assuming you’ll be doing that.

I imagine that you have thought about the fact that your highest needs kid will likely outlive both of her parents … so your situation is more complicated than typical FIRE if you intend to provide for her financially after you’re gone.

I would consult a proper financial advisor if I were you. You might want to set up a special needs trust (or two) and other things that are above Reddit’s pay grade.

Similar here. 48, 2 boys. Was making well into six figures, with experience in big firms and startups, and have an MBA from a decent school. I even have real-world experience in all the buzzwords and acronyms everyone supposedly wants (AI/ML/Digital/IoT).

Had a ton of savings, a deep network, and a killer resume, but 20 months and over 400 applications later and I'm still looking.

I do agree, though, that extra time with the kids is sweet. Don't take it for granted.

Whoever mentioned doing gig work, that's solid advice. You have cash coming in, but also a little more family flexibility. Just don't wait. You'll just be depleting more of your savings. I've been doing some contract consulting, but it's tough EVERYWHERE. Nobody's spending externally either and you have to eat what you kill. You'll have to hustle. 

It's probably going to take 10 years to recover from this financially. 

TL;DR - The white collar recession is real. Don't sit around.

What did you do before? How long have you been laid off for?

Net 16/hr, assuming 84 hours per pay period. You could do better or you could do worse, also depends on what else is available to you. I wouldn't call it terrible.


EDIT: I earlier made a silly arithmetic mistake (19 corrected to 16)

don’t split the $ 50/50 if your letting her keep the house. 
split everything 50/50. if she gets the house you keep more of the money

You already have two degrees. I wouldn’t go back to school for anything else unless you were out of student loan debt, or wouldn’t add more to get it and you have a burning desire with a plan for what you will do after. Regardless of going back to school or not, you need to know how to talk about this job in interviews and how you will respond to questions about what happened and why. You will get asked, you don’t want to be a deer in headlights when it does.

No specific advice but I'm also in tech (sales), further along than you, and this is my fear as well. The Glory days seem to behind us and I'm hoping I'll be FIRE by the time it rebounds, if ever. I was hoping these next 5+ or so years would be glorious coasting years but that's not how it seems to be unfolding.


If I ever get too in my head about things not going to plan, I try to zoom out and review the progress I've made and remind myself that it's commendable. I also try to appreciate the journey and not lose sight of why I'm on it and let go of the expectations that I had and that life hasn't met all of my milestones exactly.


I envision myself at the end of this and I anticipate I'll shake my head at how anxious I was and how much energy I spent worrying instead of appreciating. This calms me because it's exactly how I look back on my journey so far.


Writing this as much for myself than for you. Good luck, keep at it.

Further along but deeper in dispair? 


Two years ago, I was stashing away about 50k annually. Today I'm unemployed...again. Last year I was laid off from corporate. This year I was caught up in the federal government debacle. I feel cursed. 


I was aiming for 2029. I did not see myself limping to the finish line. I thought I was going to struggle with OMY. Thought I had reached FU stage but in reality, I'm in unemployment morass and have applied to one job in two months. I just don't have any spark or gumption.


I daydream about Leanfi but then look at my vet bills as I deal with geriatric pets and chicken out. But it's not enough to motivate me to look for a job. 


During the last year I feel like I am snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.


Cue tiniest violin. 

Sounds like your kids have 2 great parents who love them. Take careful care of yourself in a hard transition.

With your degrees you can do a variety of things. With your monthly bills so low and your savings so high you are in a good position to find a job that is a good fit. Getting fired is like a right of passage and it does not equate to failure. Get on unemployment, rework your resume and be prepared to answer honestly why you were let go. I would think healthcare and human services are always hiring. Avoid government jobs and it’ll work itself out eventually.

I highly encourage you to say you were laid off when applying to other jobs.  A lot of companies will not hire you if you tell them you were fired at your last job.

It’s only good if you’re happy with the results. I personally couldn’t live off of that income, nothing to do with the shift.

I recently read Simple Path to Wealth, Common Sense Investing, If You Can, and Die with Zero. I liked Die with Zero but only recommend it as a balance to the books the heavily emphasis saving and investing.

  
This got me reflecting on my grandparents. They essentially gave me my inheritance from 18-30. I received between $5000-15,000/year during that period and I'd estimate it at little over $100k in total. I  took hard course loads in college and worked throughout but they gave me enough money that I didn't have to take out student loans, I had money to buy an engagement ring, and money for a downpayment on first house (though it was 2008 and the house cost $125k). 

When my grandma died last year, there wasn't much left in her estate. My grandparents gave in a perfect way where there was no strings attached. They grew up in the depression and worked blue collar jobs but lived modestly and saved. At 40, a home owner with a good career and a happy marriage I can't help but feel gratitude and wonder where I would be if they hadn't done that. 

I like using the 4% rule for estimating how much to save for financial independence goals but those models all assume you're going to end with a chunk of money at the end. I'm beginning to shift my thoughts of ending with just enough to cover my retirement home expenses till 95 and trying to give more to my kids in the 18-30 year range. They're 12-16 right now. 

Curious how others think about this. What assumptions do you use for withdrawal rates or savings if you plan on giving out "inheritances" when you're still living?  


Giving my kids money in their young adult years instead of leaving an inheritance

Hey Guys,

I finally got my first job offer since applying for the last 4 months, and the culture, people, and pay is great for my first job out of college. The only thing is that the majority of my job will be using COBOL/JCL and the more I learn about the language the less I like. I'm also not wanting to get trapped in a hole where the only jobs I'm qualified for are legacy systems or ones using COBOL. Tbf they said that they were trying to migrate off of it, but it will most likely take a long time before that can happen. 

I'm having trouble figuring out if I should keep applying to other jobs while I work this one or not look a gift horse in the mouth. I would feel guilty about leaving say a month after they finally train me as I told them that I had no prior COBOL experience and are willing to train me. Can anyone else give me advice about whether this experience will carry over to a new job or if I should just keep applying and leave whenever I get a new offer. 

Finally got job offer but it's COBOL.

Is it okay to spend $12,000 to buy a car out right with no payments with $19,000 in savings?

I don't currently have a car and am a full time student but plan to work full time this summer and part time in fall to graduate in December. 


My Family Thinks I'm Insane

From loyal husband to unemployed designer in one week. Life moves fast. 
A few months ago, I went through a rough period in life. I lost a lot of my possessions to the divorce. My wife was cheating on me with my best friend, while I was working my ass off to pay the bills and put food on the table. The final nail? I lost my job. All of this spiraled me into depression.

I was eating out of what little I had left, and now I'm all out of money. I finally kicked myself in the guts and decided to offer what I'm actually good at.
I was designing logos for a living. That was my day job, until I lost everything to depression. Now I've started again. But this time, I'm doing it freelance. I'm offering logo design, as well as content creation for social media.

Today I secured a deal to design a grocery store logo in my neighborhood for 590.

I know $590 isn't much, but I'm already all out of money. So this is my start. This is where I reclaim my life.

So I have this one question for you guys, A few days ago, I saw a post about a fancy studio converting potential clients into paying ones. I don’t have the money for that. What can I do to improve my odds at securing more leads?

Someone suggested reading How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. They say it can help convert leads.


Lost my job, my wife, and my pride. Being broke is one hell of a wakeup call

I bought a new car in May with dealership financing in Washington. Two weeks later, the dealership told me the loan didn't go through. I have already driven the car around 400 miles.

The condition of financing contract says they must notify me within 4 business days if my credit isn’t approved, or the contract is void. They told me after 10 days.

- Can they still force me to return the car or pay cash?
- Do I have leverage to ask for a discount if I agree to pay cash now? If so, how much discount (in percentage) should I ask?

Looking for advice on what my rights are and how much wiggle room I have. 

Anto loan rejected after driving the car home

So I got an internship at a huge company (F50) this summer and I'm 2 weeks in. After finishing up onboarding stuff they introduce me to their tech stack... aaand there is no tech stack. We're literally just configuring 3rd party software to meet the company's HR needs. 



You guys know Workday? The job application / HR software with a terrible UI and endless window popups? That's our "tech stack". We create different configurations in their no-code environment after getting requirements from the business people. No programming languages, no networking, no databases -- none of the challening problems that make this job interesting. We don't even have version control. 



This absolutely sucks and is extremely disappointing for someone who really wanted dive deeper into stuff like infrastructure and cloud technologies. I've talked to a lot of people to try to get this team placement switched or at least get my hands on something interesting, but things are moving pretty slowly and I doubt I can make a lot out of this summer. 



Looking to hear anyone's thoughts on the situations or relevant advice. 

Not doing Software Engineering at internship

Well, this is it. RE Day has arrived at long last. Yesterday was my last day of work! FREEEEEEEEDDDDDOOOOOOMMM!!

You can find my previous posts here: [Post 1](https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence/comments/1i4c4d2/6_months_to_re_canada/) and [Post 2](https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence/comments/1jby0ya/3_months_to_re_canada/)

I’m a regular poster on the various FI forums under my main account. I’m using an alternate for these posts because I periodically purge my main. I'll probably post an annual update going forward.

Cross-posted to r/fican

**Numbers**

44F. Single. No kids. Medium-High COL. Ontario, Canada. All numbers in 2025 Canadian dollars.

*Assets*

Overall, my assets are holding steady for the year so far. I had hoped to be closer to $1.4m by now, but the markets are gonna market. The local real estate market has been hinky for the last few months, and my rental property dragged down my portfolio before I could offload it. It doesn’t change my plans at all.

|\-|January|June|% Change|
|:-|:-|:-|:-|
|**Net Worth**|$1.97m|$1.98m|\+ 0.5%|
|**Retirement Assets**|$1.30m|$1.31m|\+ 0.8%|

*Retirement Asset Allocation*

I currently have about a 75/25 allocation spread across several accounts including RRSP, TFSA, Non-Registered, and a Defined Contribution Pension. I’m still tweaking that allocation though. I’d like it to be closer to 80/20, but it’ll take some time to move things around in a tax friendly way.

65% of my holdings are in non-registered, taxable accounts.

*Future Income*

|Source|Gross Annual|Start Age|
|:-|:-|:-|
|**DBPP**|$18.3k|60|
|**OAS**|$8.5k|65|
|**CPP**|$16k|70|

My Defined Benefit Pension is still in flux. I just found out that I may be eligible to take the commuted value. It’s not indexed to inflation, and I won’t be touching it for 15+ years, so there’s a compelling case there. I’m currently running the numbers on that option. The psychological comfort of having a guaranteed income is muddying the waters a bit on that decision too. TBD on that one

I also might be in line for a 6-figure inheritance in the next 10-20 years.

*Expenses & WR*

I’ll be using a variable WR strategy. I can live comfortably on \~$40K per year (3%). My preferred spend is double that. I can also live on less, if needed. I’ll be starting on a 5% WR and using a guardrails strategy to scale my spending up and down as required.

I plan to rebalance and withdraw from my accounts 2-3 times per year. I’m going to be using a mixed withdrawal strategy across all of my accounts for tax efficiency. I expect to have an effective tax rate of about 8-9%.

My first year of retirement is fully cash-funded. I plan to pay myself biweekly at first to simulate a paycheque and ease into spending my savings. Switching from a savings to spending mentality is going to take a bit of effort!

**FAQ**

*How does Day 1 of retirement feel?*

Weird. I’m feeling really out of sorts today. This morning, everything just feels…off. I will admit that is partly because I was out celebrating last night and didn’t sleep well! 😆🍺🍺

I thought this would feel just like any other weekend, and that it would start to sink in on Monday. But I’ve already noticed the lack of urgency. Up until now, my life has been about an 80/20 split of “should do’s” to “want to do’s.” Overnight, that ratio has flipped. What would normally be a full weekend of scrambling to get errands and chores done is now pretty chill. The pressure has been lifted, knowing that anything I don’t get done this weekend I can do on Monday. I don’t have to rush around or feel guilty about having a lazy day. It feels wrong somehow. Lol!

*What are you going to do first?*

My number 1 priority in RE is focusing on my health. I’ve got some stress weight to lose and some muscles to rebuild. Beyond that, I’m suffering from choice overload. I have sooooo many neglected interests and hobbies that I don’t know where to start. I’m struggling against the feeling that I need to do everything at once. I’m also managing burnout recovery, so my ability to focus on some things is still limited.

Surprisingly, I’ve already seen some health improvements. Over the last few weeks, as my work responsibilities have ramped down, there has been a marked improvement in my sleep and stress levels. As per my smart watch, I previously had an average daily stress level of about 40-50. I’m now down to an average stress level of about 15-20. For sleep, I would typically get only 10-15 minutes of deep sleep each night. With the exception of last night, I’m now getting 60+ minutes of deep sleep each night. It will only continue to get better.

I have a loose idea of how I plan to eventually structure my days. But the first couple of weeks will mostly be relaxing and adjusting to not working.

*How much notice did you give at work?*

Too much. My retirement plans were an open secret for many years. I told my boss a year ago that I was planning to retire this year. I gave official verbal notice about 6 months out and official written notice at 3 months. My boss still complained that I blindsided him, and he squandered the extra time.

The never-ending parade of people stopping by my office and asking me the same questions was also getting really tiresome. I should have gone with the Irish exit 😆

*Any post-RE income sources?*

I’ve got a few small consulting gigs lined up already. I also do some freelance writing which I’ll likely do more of in retirement. Plus, a few of my hobbies have the potential to be monetized for some extra pocket change.

I’m not actively seeking out any work or additional income any time soon. Everything currently in the pipeline was basically handed to me on a platter.



*Edit -* the tables are killing me...again!

RE Day!! (Canada)

Hi, Luna here.

I left a solid career at L’Oréal and AWS in 2023.

On paper, things looked great. But inside, I felt stuck.

I wanted to start a startup.

Didn’t think it’d be this messy though.  
\---

Try #1: Print on demand phone case (failed)  
Try #2: Anti-hangover jelly (failed)  
Try #3: Automate the process of creators building a skincare brand. (??)

**Then I built a simple tool and it went viral**

I made this tiny AI brand strategy tool:  
paste your socials →  
get a vibe check on your brand →  
see product fit and potential revenue.

It was supposed to just attract a few creators for the skincare thing.  
Somehow it blew up.

**8,000+ leads. 700+ booked calls. No ad spend.**  
**-------**

Suddenly, folks from my old world: L’Oréal, Amazon, early-stage startups, started asking:

“Can you build a tool like this for our brand?”

That was the first time I thought: maybe I’m onto something.

Maybe I’ve just been circling the problem from the wrong angle.

Now I’m working on something new:

* A SaaS that helps brands make AI Lead Magnet like the one I made
* Using what I know about brand, strategy, storytelling, all of it

I’m still not there yet.  
No big revenue. No team. No exit.

But for once, it feels like I’m finally facing the right direction.(?)

**What I’ve learned so far**:

* Solving a real problem beats chasing a trend
* Start with a tool, not a platform
* Three failed projects doesn’t mean you’re not close
* Most people give up too early

Still building. Still figuring it out.  
If you're on the same path, or thinking about starting, let’s talk!

Quit my job, failed 3 times, built a tool, got 8,000 leads

I got a message recently about a retirement annuity my partner and I own.   There's several pages of legalese but here's what it says, and I quote:   

>PHL Variable will not pay more than $250,000 from its general account under your annuity contract.    If PHL Variable's financial condition further deteriorates it is possible that guarantees under the contract may be further reduced. 

Backstory: my partner had an SEP IRA as an employee of a consulting firm.   To save on costs (or something) the consulting firm moved everybody's SEP IRA to an annuity with an  advisor network, which sold the firm on an annuity for each employee.   

Even back then we knew annuities were generally a bad idea, but we (my partner and I) had no choice, or say, in the matter.  We could have opted out but we would have had to take the money out of SEP IRA and would miss out on the tax benefits and a rather generous employer match.   We were told that if we did this and ever wanted back in we would have to sit out a year, e.g. not be able to contribute pretax earnings and would lose the employer match during that period.   

Last year (2024) what was known as Phoenix Variable Life was seized by the Connecticut Insurance Commissioner which has been running it since.    There was no notice or indication that financial state of Phoenix Variable Life was financially unhealthy (the reason for the seizure).  It is now known as "PHL Variable in rehabilitation."   

We've been watching it since the seizure and thought we'd be OK.  We were wrong.      

Hindsight is 20/20 but now I really wish we would have taken out the IRA and rolled it over on the first mention of 'annuity' by my partner's employer.   

Learn from our misery.    Walk away fast, or better yet RUN when somebody mentions an annuity.           

If you're being pitched an annuity you should know of my experience

I get this call from my local bank saying they want to "talk to me about my banking relationship" once every couple months. So far ive been ignoring it lol. But what could they possibly want to talk about?

I get this call from my local bank saying they want to "talk to me about my banking relationship" once every couple months. So far ive been ignoring it, but any idea what that could be?

I’m a 28 year old female. I hold a Masters of Science Degree in Health Administration and a Bachelors of Applied Arts in Human Development and Family Studies. This past week I was fired from my job of 2 years and 2 months for doing something I wasn’t supposed to do - I’ll leave it at that. They gave me a class C workplace violation (tardiness, dress code, things like that). I was a Peer Review Specialist for a Healthcare Company. 

I feel like a failure. I feel embarrassed. I feel lost. I just bought a house in March. I have $48,000 saved in the bank as an emergency fund. My bills a month are around $1200.

Thank GOD I held on to my long time per diem position at a hospital I work at just being their unit secretary, not complaining at all as it’s a good fall back and I’ve already picked up some shifts so that’s good to make some money! 

I have a very loving and supportive boyfriend who works over full time. 

I have already applied to some positions. But I’m getting scared as I’ve seen some things that have said the job market is crazy tough right now. 

I was once upon a time in nursing school, but could not balance the time as back then I worked full time as a unit secretary on nights and went to school full time in an accelerated program. It was rough as heck. I’m considering going back as I’m a lot more financially, emotionally, time management stable and have a supportive other half. I did love the content and patient care.

Just seeking advice for positions I could apply for with my current degrees? Thoughts on going back to nursing school? Has anyone ever been fired and things got better? 



Got fired from my job this week. Any advice or guidance on what to do next? Anyone here ever been fired from a job?

I'll be graduating university in Canada next summer (I'm a Canadian citizen) and am thinking about which offer to take.

I've done internships at both companies so am already familiar with my team + general work culture. Note all numbers below are in US dollars, not Canadian dollars.

**Offer 1:**

* Role: New Grad SWE @ Big Tech in USA
* Compensation: 240K TC (180K base + 60K in RSUs)
* Location: Bay Area, fully in-person
* Pros:
   * Getting a big company name on my resume is good for career growth
   * I work on large-scale distributed systems, using Rust and Golang, which is really cool
* Cons:
   * Higher cost of living than Canada (food + rent)
   * It's fully in-person in the Bay Area, so I'll be away from family and friends in Canada
   * Below average work-life balance (it's common to work until 6pm)
   * I have to be part of an on-call rotation, and it's fairly common to get multiple alerts everyday
   * RSUs are at a high valuation, and will only increase in value if AI continues to rapidly get better
   * RSUs are not liquid since it's a private company

**Offer 2:**

* Role: Tech Lead @ Tiny Startup in Canada
* Compensation: 240K TC (240K base + no equity)
* Location: Canada, fully remote
* Pros:
   * I can live at home in Canada, free rent and healthy food (if I move out to live on my own, cost of living is cheaper)
   * Better work-life balance, since work is remote and on-call only happens during big feature releases a few times a year
* Cons:
   * Company is tiny, so only person above me is the CEO, so there's very little room for long-term growth / pay raises
   * Company is not well-known, making it harder to switch to a higher paying job in the future
   * I work on same (good, but kinda boring) TypeScript tech stack I've been working on for years, so less career growth

I'm tempted to choose the easier, less risky option of the Canadian startup.

The compensation is what I expected to be making near the end of my career, not the beginning, so maybe I shouldn't worry about career growth as much? In Canada, 240K USD is a crazy amount, especially for a New Grad - it's about about how much Google & Apple pays for senior engineers.

**Which offer should I choose?** I'd love to hear all of your opinions. Especially if you're a Canadian who has worked in the US before (and either stayed or come back to Canada after a few years).

\---

**Edit:** Someone in the comments said that my usage of big tech was too broad. To clarify, the company I was referring to is one of the leading LLM model companies in the US. There's very few, so take your guess.

**Edit 2:** I'm obviously just gonna put "Software Engineer" on my resume if I accept the Canadian company offer, not "Tech Lead". I'm 100% not claiming I'm anywhere near as experienced as a senior software engineer. This is just the title the company gives me, which is why I put it in the post.

**Edit 3:** The startup is more stable than the US company because they've existed for a decade without firing/laying off a single person. I guess they're more of a small business than a startup since they've been around for awhile.

Which New Grad offer to take: Entry-level SWE @ US Big Tech OR Tech lead @ Canadian startup?

Like I stated in the title I'm 31 yrs old feeling old and just had a job where I was damn near hitting 6 figures for the last two years but I was away from home all of the time wasn't spending much time with my kids at all it was messing with my mental health a lot. Fast Forward to 2025 I get laid off from that job and now I'm at home more than enough and I'm enjoying my children but I need to provide I don't know how many options I have. I apply to jobs every day I think about trading school every day I don't have any debt so I guess that's good but I'm in a situation where I need to be the provider right now everyday I'm stuck in though about what do I need to do what are the next steps. And I can't for the life of me think what I need to do any and all advice is appreciated. I mean I know it could be a lot worse but I know I am a provider and I'm just trying to get back aligned with that narrative open to all suggestions 

I’m 31 2 kids with one on the way. Recently lost best job I ever had living off of my savings trying to start over before it’s too late

Whats the update on the job market? Getting better? Getting worse? More jobs? Less jobs?

Need input on this, I make $1,600 net biweekly working four 12 hour night shifts a week. It’s brutal. Is this good money you think? I’m in north Atlanta suburbs btw

I make $1,600 net biweekly working four 12 hour night shifts a week. Is this pretty bad? Location below

$465k NW, lost my tech job due to the layoffs/crashing tech bubble and am going through a bit of a mid life crisis as a result. I landed in an adjacent role, but took nearly a 25% pay cut as a result. I'm okay with it, but realizing there are a lot of financial repercussions and that the glory days of how much I've been able to invest and squirrel away may be behind me.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation? I feel like I've been head down working so hard to get to this point, and now I'm in no man's land with a big question mark about career looming over my head. I'd also like to have kids soon and it's throwing all of my financial priorities into question.

TLDR: I was focusing too hard towards FIRE that I forgot about the actual life stuff that gets in the way, that wasn't necessarily accounted for.

Made it to the boring middle, but lost my tailwind (and direction)

Rant: Lurker here, but i see a lot of posts about people in their 30s saying they hit 100K, 500K, 1M+ and for a sub reddit thats about retiring early, theres often a lot of hate towards people who are younger with more. Theres nothing unrealistic about a 25 year old having 100K, 500K, 1M, etc, just because it didnt happen to you, does mean it happening for someone else mean there odds where better than yours. This is life, were all a statistic, there will always be some young rich kid, some rich mid age person, old rich person. some who worked for it and some who didnt. End of the day, its was just as realistic as you being that 1M at 25, etc.

Just because you didnt have XYZ NW at when you were X age, doesnt make it unrealistic

Mid-late 20s with a $20M NW.  $2M in primary residence and rest in stocks/cash.

I recently got an offer to sell my business for $25M to PE and it’s a business that’s been a passion of mine for many years and I still have a lot of motivation to keep working on it out of personal goals for where I see it being able to go.  If I were to keep it in my hands, I’m estimating it’ll take at least 5 years to make that amount from the business and there’s a lot of things that can go wrong in the meantime that can have a large effect on that.

The problem I have is that I’m still young with no kids or any other hobbies or passions so I don’t want to sell the business and fall into aimlessness and hedonism, which has been the case every time I’ve taken time off of work.

I don’t see the business as being replicable and even though I’ve pushed myself to the limit working as hard as I can, I also realize I’m undeniably extremely lucky to be in this position.  That’s why I’m viewing this deal as a situation where I would “cash out” and move on.

What would you guys do?  Sell the business and figure it out later or keep it without looking too much into the numbers?  I figured I’d ask here since I don’t want to bring it up to anyone I know and I think most people outside of this sphere would only look at the numbers and not be able to relate to the psychology behind it anyways.

Is it worth selling a business if you have nothing to move on to afterwards?

Or 25x or more even

Like at what point are you just not thinking about it like an emergency fund and more like a FIRE approach (even if you lose work and want to find another job)?

I'm thinking to reduce my hysa and put more in market given this.

How to think about emergency fund when net worth is 20x expenses?

Hey all.  I’ve been a member of this subreddit for a few years and have found it super valuable.  I was able to FIRE 4 years ago, at 46yo.  At the time, I was at $8M in. MCOL area, and felt pretty good.  Married with 2 kids. (Wife has been a stay-at-home-mom for 10+ years, as both of our kids are special needs and it was hard, and unnecessary financially, to both be working.). 

Sadly, I find myself on the precipice of a divorce, and we will be splitting everything, including custody 50/50.

Total net-worth is close to $9M now, and I’ll walk away from the divorce with about $4.5M, with the need to buy/rent something new as I’m letting her keep the Family residence.  Things are relatively amicable with STBXW, including agreeing to split all costs for 2 kiddos moving forward.

For full transparency, I’m pretty depressed about this turn of events.  The stress of parenting two significantly affected special needs kids was hard, especially for my wife, and is a big reason why we are splitting.  Hard to focus on a marriage when you’re constantly in survival mode for your kids.

Logic/Math tells me that I should still be okay FIRE’d.  I guess I’m needing some affirmation from this group that I should be okay as a divorced Dad of two kids, especially given that the ex will be equally capable of helping our kids long term.  (At least one of them will need life-long support, possibly even living with parents for the rest of her life.)

And besides affirmation, I’m open to any advice/relevant life experiences, about what verbiage that I should include in the divorce agreement, and/or things to keep an eye out for moving forward.  TIA.



I selfishly need a “heat-check” on new circumstances

Back in May, President Trump announced this big plan whereby American tech giants would participate in major AI projects in both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The announcement has created divisions within the White House, and more generally among people who are thinking about the intersection of artificial intelligence and geopolitics. One argument is that this is great news geopolitically, because it gives American technology a beachhead in this crucial region. Another argument is that by exporting the chips abroad, it creates a possibility that some of the technology will leak to China, or benefit China in some way. On this episode we speak with Bloomberg News reporter Mackenzie Hawkins, who covers tech and geopolitics in Hong Kong, about the deals, the divisions, and what to watch next as the US looks to maintain its edge in these key areas. Only Bloomberg.com subscribers can get the Odd Lots newsletter in their inbox now delivered every weekday plus unlimited access to the site and app. Subscribe at  bloomberg.com/subscriptions/oddlotsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Back in May, President Trump announced this big plan whereby American tech giants would participate in major AI projects in both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The announcement has created divisions within the White House, and more generally among people who are thinking about the intersection of artificial intelligence and geopolitics. One argument is that this is great news geopolitically, because it gives American technology a beachhead in this crucial region. Another argument is that by exporting the chips abroad, it creates a possibility that some of the technology will leak to China, or benefit China in some way. On this episode we speak with Bloomberg News reporter Mackenzie Hawkins, who covers tech and geopolitics in Hong Kong, about the deals, the divisions, and what to watch next as the US looks to maintain its edge in these key areas. Only Bloomberg.com subscribers can get the Odd Lots newsletter in their inbox now delivered every weekday plus unlimited access to the site and app. Subscribe at  <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/subscriptions/oddlots?in_source&#61;oddlotspodcast" rel="nofollow">bloomberg.com/subscriptions/oddlots</a>See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener" rel="nofollow">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

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