Answering questions about my part-time work
Whenever I feel a little bit bored and sitting in front of my computer I browse the “Ultimate List of Blogger Net Worth” for new entries. And so I stumbled upon http://retireinprogress.com/. I commented on his post about working 80 %. He starts working 4 days a week in January 2017, for me it ends.
After some back and forth he asked some very interesting questions, that warrant a longer answer:
Do you consider your part-time experience a failure for your entrepreneur endeavor or for your overall life quality?
What I read is that you ended up being lazy in the 20-40% time you got back compared to a 100% position. What makes you think that when fully FI you won’t be lazy? What makes you feel that when fully FI you won’t fill your life with small chores, errands and meaningless activities?
The answer is not easy or straight-forward for me. Let me explain my current situation a little bit: I’m feeling very stressed. Time is too limited between multiple jobs (“main job”, side job, side hustle, active investing) and family and house. We prioritise the kids very high, so besides working almost everything else is neglected (e. g. house is dirty, chores get done on the last minute). I see this with worries. My wife not so much – she thinks everything is “fine”.
I would like to escape this stress by quitting my main job. This would give me plenty of time for all the neglected stuff and also for my interests. After talking with my wife about this, there are two ways for me to achieve this: net worth over 600k or having a “business” with at least 1,000 Euros profit a month. If all goes like planned, we might have a net worth of 600k mid 2020. This would mean 3.5 more years to endure. So, the business option could be a short-cut time-wise. I’m still working on it, but time is more limited than last year.
Now, with the stage set, let’s answer those questions:
Do you consider your part-time experience a failure for your entrepreneur endeavor or for your overall life quality?
Yes, it is clearly a failure for my entrepreneur endeavors. My overall life quality was better. But having the goal to work on your business and in the end not doing it, gives you guilty conscience. So I did not fully enjoy the leisure days.
What makes you think that when fully FI you won’t be lazy?
Isn’t that the point of being FI? Joke aside, I have a lot of interests, that are parked now, because I don’t have the time. I’m quite certain I would work on them. And I would spend more time during the week with my kids.
What makes you feel that when fully FI you won’t fill your life with small chores, errands and meaningless activities?
I guess a big part (at least in the beginning) would actually be small chores and errands. There is so much neglected. Every room I enter I see stuff that should be done. 2017 I would like to work more on these things, because some of them can be done while working full time. It is a matter of organisation (and goal-setting).
Sorry, this was a lengthy post and in the end I’m just hoping. Nobody knows how it is really going to be. I accept the critic that my free days 2016 showed a more lazy future. I counter that with a need for decompression. After that period I will be productive again.
EurFI - European way to Financial Independence 
Mr. RIP 11:34 on 2017-01-21 Permalink |
Thanks for your answers EurFI, the picture is clear now 🙂
I can see that with just a single extra day available per week you’d just do urgent but not important stuff and will reach your long term goal later, which is not good for now.
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Team CF 15:58 on 2017-01-26 Permalink |
Same as you, I’ve too many things I would like to do and feel that when FI I would finally have the time to do those. I have absolutely no worries that I can fill my time (and then some). You would also have the ability to schedule all these things the way you want, this gives the feeling of freedom which is something I also look forward to in FI.
What will likely happen is that Mrs. CF will continue to work (because she loves it), while I persue other opportunities. Might already happen in 2018….well before FI!
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eurfi 18:53 on 2017-01-26 Permalink |
Already in 2018 – congratulations.
I have (theoretically) this possibility as well. But I need another income stream with about 1 – 1.5k per month. Then my wife would let me leave my jobs and pursue the business. Currently at zero, unfortunately.
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Financial independence 3:26 on 2017-02-01 Permalink |
First of all – many thanks for sharing. i would perceive 600k a risky scenario , as it does not seems to cover higher/cumulative inflation over time, potential loss and fact that it is much more difficult to get a job once you have been out of it for a significant period of time.
as we have similar situation st home in regards to chores , i think it is matter of priorities and something will always take precedence, as they are already low on priority list. this needs to be sorted in the current constrains, if considered important.
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eurfi 21:40 on 2017-02-01 Permalink |
I agree with the 600k. Especially after I now realised, that our FIRE spending won’t be 2.1k (as originally expected), but more like 2.6k. On the other hand, leaving my job will open new income opportunities. And as software developer (who intends to continue programming) I will find a job again. I’m convinced I could make a killing as freelancer (if I wanted to work full time).
So, I consider 600k as a starting point for discussion, where I could (and probably would) leave my job. My wife wants to stay – even better for the math.
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