I know we have a retirement thread and a what’s happening thread…but I was moved to start this by a comment from @wyld.at.hrt in the Man Utd thread.
He has moved from a successful career, taken a salary drop and negotiated with his wife to try something different. Follow a career pathway that he wants and enjoys.
Its a brave and inspiring move. I’m not sure I could have done it. A career in pensionable employment in health services was hard to walk from, though I would have preferred to be a writer or poet…neither of which would pay the bills. Obviously.
Anyway, post retirement I get to do things I want…but what freedom would we experience if we had the bravery or wildness to do something different.
Fair dues to @wyld.at.hrt …brave and happy.
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Not as inspiring and brave as @wyld.at.hrt, but I’ve also ‘done somehting different’ and gone from a high paying stressful career where things were zero sum - ie. I win, you lose - that I ultimately came to hate to something where helping others is the core of my work. I’m very fortunate to be able to walk away from the money and make this change while my family and I are relatively young and its just such a privilege getting to spend a large chunk of my work day really help people through tough times.
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I took a decent voluntary redundancy package at one job and within a month I noticed I was full of ideas again.
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Well I went down on this path in 2020. I was doing a good role for a MNC, earning good money and getting to travel all over the world. Then in 2020, COVID hit and I was let go. I was proud and thought I could continue living at the usual standards for a year without a job and take my time to look for a job. Ended I remained jobless for 2 years. My savings pretty much dried up.
But I thank God because this was probably the most important period of my life. For some reason, because we were on lockdown, I managed to lose 40kg of my weight and my doctor took me off my meds - 8 pills a day for diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol. I never managed to get back to a full time job. I took on freelance jobs and God has always blessed me with enough, in fact more than enough. Despite being in my late 40s, without a full time job in expensive Singapore, I never felt like I was in a dire situation.
5 years down the road, I did put on some weight, but still healthy thankfully to still be off medication. While my peers talked about the stocks, the next car to buy, I had to give up my car and live a simpler life. But I never regretted because my current life frees me to do things I probably wouldn’t do in the past. I only earn 25% of what I used to but I never felt richer than now.
Money is very important and necessary. But how much is enough? When we talk about resources, it’s always money but we forget that there are perhaps more important resources in our lives like time and our talents. And yes you can use those resources to make more money or perhaps you can use them for things that may not leave behind more inheritance but a legacy and memories of a life more fulfilled.
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I took a redundancy opportunity about 15 years back now - switched from the corporate world to the education sector - have been much happier. Still working in IT but it makes a huge difference when your employer’s focus is on providing education and not shareholder value. Came with a decent reduction in salary, and associated sacrifices, but also ditched travel as part of my job which was important as had young kids at that time too. A better work life balance overall.
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