– It’s been over 2 years since I left my corporate job. But sometimes I sit down to unlock my computer and subconsciously type in my old work password.
– A few weeks ago I jumped into my car and started driving on the wrong side of the road. It’s been 12 years since I left Australia and I thought I’d fully adapted to driving in the US.
Habits (especially old ones) are so deeply engrained in what we do and how we think.
We gotta be careful of the things we repeat daily… they affect us for many years.
Have an awesome Saturday! Cheers to building new good habits and slowly ridding the bad ones š
– Joel
*Photo by Lala Azizli on Unsplash
Hi Joel,
What is your insight after leaving the corporate job for two years?
WTK
I wrote a long article about that recently with various epiphanies. Check it out here and let me know if you have any questions, Iād be happy to share. Also would love to hear your input too as I heard you are off work too? https://www.budgetsaresexy.com/things-i-learned-while-taking-a-sabbatical/
Hi Joel,
First of all, appreciate your effort in providing me the link. Here are my takes based on my personal experiences:
– Since the start of my fledging career, I know that I am definitely not going to work till the official retirement age. Hence, I strive to achieve the FI and have the option to RE.
– I achieved FI a few years back and intend to earn more hay while the sun still shines. Sometimes in April 2019, I decided that this is final and I could not bring myself to work any longer after long hours of work.
– During these 18 plus full-time, I know that it does not pay to stay at a firm. The remuneration was unlikely to increase significantly have I remained at the same organisation. I made it a point to change the organisation once a few years and I benefited from the significant increase in the remuneration which allowed me to build a significant investment portfolio which generate the dividends on a continuous basis. The generated dividends cover my annual expense and this allowed me to make the decision to exit the full-time employment sometimes in May 2019.
– The pandemic is a test on the investment portfolio which is noted to have produced less than expected dividend. I expect it as there is bound to be a circumstance like that. The world will not be perfect and there are bound to have some negative events. Reduced dividend. What did I do? Reduced dividend means the reduced expense. I am a minimalist person and I am able to reduce the expense easily and I am able to live within the reduced dividend.
– This pandemic is a great test on the investment portfolio. I do not have the pressure due to the simple lifestyle. I can focus onthe things of my interest.
I hope that the above circumstance will be able to create some form of positive energy within you. I also cater for some form of back-up. In the event of the annual expense exceeds the generated dividend, I can take some side hustle to cover the shortfall. It’s not a big issue. I am glad to be in the current situation and having the option gives me the peace of mind.
My two cents worth of views.
WTK
Cheers WTK! I love how you can reduce your expenses to lower the impact of sequence risk and lower returns. I am building a lot of cushion into my FIRE number so eventually when I do “retire” fully (whatever that means), I can slim down if I need to during a bad couple years.
Thanks for sharing all this! Great to read about.