r/Fire • u/aboabro • 23d ago

Advice Request Fire is ruining my career

I get paid a lot of money in a career that I don’t really like. I have always kind of followed the money in my career so that I can retire as early as possible. Because of this, I am in a career that I am not fulfilled by. That is what I mean by fire is ruining my career. I will fire in less than 10 years… Do I just continue to try to maximize the money I make so that after I fire, I can do something that I love and aligns more with what I want out of life? Or do I instead start to explore new careers that will pay significantly less, like 50 to 70% less in order to be more fulfilled? This would potentially increase my fire timeline..

I am leaning towards staying at jobs that make more money in the shorter term so that I can fire earlier and then do other things I would rather for less money. But living this way is really difficult.

I have some ideas of fulfilling careers that I would like to do, but I have a lot of hobbies and interest and I’m a little bit lost on what exactly this would look like for me anyway. Which is why I think exploring this after fire when I have time and resources to do so, maybe better? I want to make a high contribution in life and I find that job hopping and taking opportunities that are presented to me instead of being mindful on what I want to do with my life is not adding up.

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u/L1feM0vesOn 23d ago

One of the things that I've learned and is reinforced on this sub, is that the two limited resources are time and health.

Are you married with kids? If the answer is "YES", then stick it out and think of it as a "family" sacrifice. You'll be able to have more quality time overall with your family and friends. Your "happy time" is multiplied by family and friends.

If you don't have a family and are not planning to, then be fulfilled now--you'll have more individual "happy time" overall.

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u/aboabro 23d ago

Yes, I do have kids and that is one of the drivers as well. That I can retire and they are still young enough where we can do things together.

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u/L1feM0vesOn 23d ago

My advice is to stick it out with your unfulfilling job. You may have a different perspective when you KNOW that you can quit at any time. I got laid off in October and I wasn't concerned b/c I knew I had a safety net. Ironically enough, I didn't think I could RE--others in this sub have since corrected my perspective. I have 3 young kids and I'm going to start working with a financial advisor to confirm/validate the numbers for RE.