Some context. I am 32, have been working since I was 15, and have lived in substantial poverty. (On welfare, living without utilities, etc.) I took about 7 years to get my bachelor's degree using loans while working and supporting my mother, and after marrying my husband we threw all of our income as software developers at our house, which as of April 2017 is now owned by us free and clear. Five years total of paying a mortgage.
After paying off the house, our total monthly expenses are about $800. (Utilities, phone, internet, home taxes, home & auto insurance.) We have zero debt; all student loans and cars paid off.
The effect it's had on me is staggering. Emotionally and mentally, I have made it. For once, I feel like the load has lifted and I no longer need to struggle. The contract I am on at work is a hot mess of bloated, poorly documented java code and the team working on it is less a team and more a group of people forced to work together. Because of my apathy towards my work since paying off the house I received a "needs improvement" mark on my last review and only received a 1% raise. Not that it really bothered me. I love the company I work for, but it has gone somewhat downhill over time in some ways. I've been there 5.5 years and I'm vested in a private guaranteed pension.
Husband and I don't intend to have kids. But I have a lot of dreams deferred that I could work on in the comfort of our home. He once told me that after we paid off the house, if I wanted to quit to work on those, he'd support me. At the time I told him, that is the greatest gift you could give me but I can't do that. But more and more all I can think about is what he said.
If I quit my job, I'd be losing about 60k in net pay per year but gaining substantial benefits to my mental health. Husband has insurance through work he could add me on. I've got about $60k in my 401k, $16k in stocks, $10k in savings.
What do you think, r/personalfinance? I don't think this would be a permanent exit from the workforce. I'm even thinking, I could take some sort of part time job, online or somewhere local, just to keep from dipping into my savings. All I know is that when I'm at work, all I think about is what I could be doing in my office at home.
Hopefully you'll all forgive me for not thriving in an environment others would kill to be in.
Submitted February 07, 2018 at 01:37PM by Qu33nW3ird0 http://ift.tt/2nQQT6E
