Hey guys, I've been incredibly unhappy in my job and career for about 3 years now. I'm 27, and think that I should really "follow a dream" or two while I'm still in my twenties.
Some stats: -I paid off my student loan debt ~4 months ago and have no real debt left besides monthly bills -I have ~$10,000 in the bank -I have ~$25,000 saved between a Roth IRA and a 401k. I would like to follow typical advice posted here and not touch this -I have enough credit card points to fly anywhere in the world.
There are two "big" things I'd like to do: 1. Learn Spanish through immersion in a Hispanic country. I've always wanted to be fluent in another language and I already have intermediate-ish Spanish. I have been looking at language schools in Guatamala. $160 / week which includes 20 hours of one-one-on lessons, 3 meals a day, and a place to sleep with a host family. Pretty good deal, but it would be hard to have an income coming in.
- Since I've always wanted to see the world, a sustainable way to do this seems to be teaching English abroad from my research. I have been considering Asia the most, since they pay the best. Vietnam in particular, because from my research it seems that I could work ~25 hours a week and make enough to still save ~$1000 a month according to many sources. The downside is that I have no predisposition towards learning Vietnamese and it seems like a tough choice for a guy who isn't even fluent in Spanish yet. With that said, a job working part time where I make enough to live seems ideal to me. It would free up my time for me to pursue entrepreneurial ideas much more strongly than I can now. It also would allow me to enrich my life with following some other goals such as learning Spanish, reading more, working out more consistently, and just in general spending some time getting to know myself better. The job I'm in now is very stressful with lots of travelling sporadically, late nights, and working on the weekends.
FINALLY, to the crux of the issue (well, one of them) that keeps me awake at night (although I would love to hear any general input on that you guys have). I am trying to figure out what I should do about healthcare. COBRA is super expensive for me. Can I just apply for Obamacare in the middle of the year? Are there any better options? I looked into plans and saw one w/ a monthly premium of ~$150 but it had abysmal coverage if something was to happen. The next step up is a lot better but it costs ~$250 a month; not an insignificant difference. I compared some medical travel insurance as well and it would be ~$3500 for me for a whole year for an average plan. I'm worried about what this would do to my savings.
I am of course worried about my career in the long term. I am getting to a very desperate point with my job, and think I will pick up a waiting gig for a few months just to catch my breath. And like I said, I want to see the world in my twenties, even if it isn't the best financial decision. I am hoping that I can jump back into the white collar world in a few years (if my own business ventures fail and I get tired of teaching English) and work in a business capacity rather than engineering. I graduated with honors with a degree in electrical engineering....I chose engineering because they told me that you could do many different things with this degree. So I am hoping that this is true and I will be able to find non-engineering professional work at some point (maybe technical sales). But I'd like to focus on myself for some time. Everything has just been progressing so linearly, and I really can't take this job anymore. It is severely negatively impacting my health mentally.
Thanks guys! I read this subreddit obsessively when I first got out of college and it was such an enormous help in wrapping my head around finances as a functioning adult. I don't read it so much anymore but figured it really applied to my current situation. Hope everyone is having a great Friday.
Any advice or words of wisdom is appreciated.
Submitted July 21, 2017 at 09:33AM by aneweraccount111 http://ift.tt/2ui1lH6
