Great question. In my case it was less what I did and more where and how I did it.
I specialize in marketing for financial services. Hence my bogleheadedness![;-)]( "Wink")
My last corporate gig was absolutely awful. I made, for me, a ton of money, was yelled at constantly and worked with people who lived in constant fear of losing their jobs. I was counting the days until my bonus and was planning on quitting immediately. As it happens I was one of the people laid off. Got my bonus and a decent amount of severance in exchange for not suing.
The bad news - it's been three years and I still haven't found a full time job. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong age...
The good news - I consult almost full time from home. Minimal stress, enough money to pay the bills, a great deal of flexibility, interesting work and nice clients.
Where this matters is that by changing my environment I've been able to keep working and save a little more. I still do what I do but in a way that's more of a middle ground between corporate life and full retirement. I'm off to chaperone my kid's pizza party in a few minutes, then a little writing for a client this afternoon.
I could do this for a few more years easily. My portfolio went down over 20%, now it's back (plus a little more.) A few more years of compounding (or at minimum not drawing down) and I'll be in better shape. I'm not denying myself anything to keep working. Rather the work fits around the life I want to live. In that way I'm able to do it longer than I expected to.
Good luck OP!
I specialize in marketing for financial services. Hence my bogleheadedness
My last corporate gig was absolutely awful. I made, for me, a ton of money, was yelled at constantly and worked with people who lived in constant fear of losing their jobs. I was counting the days until my bonus and was planning on quitting immediately. As it happens I was one of the people laid off. Got my bonus and a decent amount of severance in exchange for not suing. The bad news - it's been three years and I still haven't found a full time job. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong age...
The good news - I consult almost full time from home. Minimal stress, enough money to pay the bills, a great deal of flexibility, interesting work and nice clients.
Where this matters is that by changing my environment I've been able to keep working and save a little more. I still do what I do but in a way that's more of a middle ground between corporate life and full retirement. I'm off to chaperone my kid's pizza party in a few minutes, then a little writing for a client this afternoon.
I could do this for a few more years easily. My portfolio went down over 20%, now it's back (plus a little more.) A few more years of compounding (or at minimum not drawing down) and I'll be in better shape. I'm not denying myself anything to keep working. Rather the work fits around the life I want to live. In that way I'm able to do it longer than I expected to.
Good luck OP!
Statistics: Posted by BrooklynInvest — Thu May 09, 2024 8:57 am — Replies 94 — Views 12595