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I think quitting my job would make me a lot happier. I know that. I could do small side jobs while I search for something else. I could probably live up to a year without ever getting a real job. Of course I would have to give up healthcare and 401K.
Caldus, I think you should pay off the car loan and roll over that 401K money ASAP. I agree with everyone else that you should seek counseling before making a big decision like quitting your job. I don't know what your line of work is or what sort of side jobs you might be qualified for, but this isn't a good time economically "to find" yourself. Believe me, I really do understand about not knowing what career you want or knowing what to do with yourself. I was anxious and depressed for years. Sometimes that old feeling creeps back up and makes me physically sick. I'm very, very sorry this is happening to you. Finding a good counselor to help talk you through things can help more than you might think.
In the meantime, pay off all your debts; don't acquire any new ones; and save, save save. If quitting your job is an option, the more you have saved the better. You also could start cutting back on expenses - sort of a trial run. You need to have a large savings pad, not just for day to day living but for unexpected medical expenses. Even something as small as a sinus infection will set you back quite a bit with no insurance.
Good luck to you. Again, I've very sorry you're going through this. It's very painful, I know.
Sounds like your job is what's causing you to be unhappy. Look for something better, but don't quit your current job until you find one. As for "finding yourself", forget about it. We don't find ourselves, we create ourselves by trying to find happiness with whatever hand we are dealt in life. You can only control so much, the rest you have to live with. Most, or many, people have jobs they are not really crazy about, but, hey, it pays the bills and you can find happiness - or "find yourself" - in other things, like hobbies, friends, family, a second low-paying but more rewarding part-time job, volunteering with a charity, sports, joining a club/organization, etc.
Don't let your depression define you. Everyone goes through tough times in life. You can't change what has happened to you, but you can change how you will let what has happened to you affect you the rest of your life.
Also, try to differentiate between being financially secure and being emotionally happy. Many poor people are happy and many rich people are not happy. But the best position is to be financially secure (even if that means sticking with a crappy job for the time being) and finding happiness in other areas of your life. Even people who have the job they always dreamed of will at times find it boring or not quite as fulfilling as they expected.
What is your job and what would you like to do? Do you have any interests outside of work? Maybe we could give you suggestions on these things. (May need to relocate to another forum in City-Data.)
I think quitting my job would make me a lot happier. I know that. I could do small side jobs while I search for something else. I could probably live up to a year without ever getting a real job. Of course I would have to give up healthcare and 401K.
Strictly from a financial standpoint quiting your job and ceasing all those valueably early 401(k) contributions and other investments will cost you a lot in the long run - all due to the power of compounding. The small amount of dollars invested early have a much bigger impact than larger investments later. At least find another replacement job - $70K is a nice salary at your age - it would be a shame to give up that powerful cash flow during your critical saving years.
Also, the longer you delay entering the workforce or are absent from the workforce means you lose your biggest earning years. Assume a person has a 40 year career and gets an average of 4% raise every year. Starting at $70K, your final years' salary are ($K)
$276
$287
$299
$311
$323
$336
If you only work 35 years those numbers are
$227
$236
$246
$255
$266
$276
So you're chopping off your latest and greatest earning years - makes a big difference for pension calculations too.
Honestly here's what I would do. Find a woman and a job that you can love forever...bust your a** for the next 30+ years...and retire to a stress free location of your (and spouse's--if you last) choice. Welcome to life.
**Disclaimer: Odds are you well end up in a divorce, broken, your kids will be a disappointment, and you will end up working till you are 67 and retire to a condo in Palm Springs with the rest of the blue hairs playing shuffleboard talking about the good ole' days--and claiming the Government is broken.
Get yourself a backpack and a moneybelt, and go around the world, traveling light and cheap. You can live easily in that style, for less than a thousand dollars a month, and pretty soon you'll learn to do it on $500, and might even find a place you can stay for months for a couple hundred a month. You'll never regret it. You'll even ingrain in yourself the fundamental principles of frugality, and learn to feel comfortable with them, which will save you another $10,000 a year when you get back into the ratrace. Or, even better, you might discover that you don't want to go back to the ratrace.
It's not too late. I didn't start doing that until I was 30. And I was still doing it when I was 58.
At the end of your life, your regrets will not be for anything you did---only the things you did not do.
I've been going through depression and anxiety for many years and as a result just have not been good about managing money. All of the emotional stuff aside, here's my situation:
- Checking account with over $30K.
- Over $30K in a 401K from a previous employer, haven't rolled it over yet.
- New 401K with just a few hundred in it.
- Car loan with $9K left on it.
- No other debt or loans.
- I just have a debit card.
- No mortgages and don't really want to move into a condo/home yet.
- No desire to get a masters degree even though I could get one for free at work but then I have to be enslaved for several years after.
- Make $70K a year at my job.
- Single with no wife or kids.
I feel like quitting my job and figuring out what I want to do in life. I could probably survive a good year without making a single dime. By then maybe I'll have a new stream of income that allows me to still have a soul. Aside from all of that, what obvious adjustments do I need to make today?
I would ask, what is it that gave you this feeling about trying to figure out what you want to do in life?
Did you just woke up one morning and felt you needed to find out?
Is work enjoyable? If not, why not?
Can't you figure out what you want in life on your off time and still have a job?
You can go to some type of retreats on weekends or during leave and when you return home you can still do some introspection and figuring out things, can't you?
You may want to talk to different people like counselors, spiritual advisors, preists, friends, etc.
I suggest that you can do your personal quest in life and still keep your job. Money is not that easy. I am not saying you cannot get a job later or that you cannot make it later. However, it is good to keep personal economic solvency and do your life figuring, can't you? If work is not enjoyable and you are not happy, maybe then you need to leave and do your journey, take care.
At the end of your life, your regrets will not be for anything you did---only the things you did not do.
Calling bs on that. Sleeping with "that" person could have a lasting effect on someone if they get something from them.
As for the OP. Sounds like you need a woman to straighten you out boy. Or at the very least find a new place to live. Some where, where it's nice during the winter.
Go to Dental school and become a dentist in NC. Do not take patients with insurance. Only take cash paying patients and charge 1/2 of what the other dentists charge. You will have more patients than you can handle but unfortunately you will only make one half of what the regular dentist make.
You might have to settle for making slightly less than a Million a year.
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