Mission complete?

[speling bee]

Honestly, does it make you feel important?

Zen is not about self-importance.

[woohoo]

Whereas the relentless pursuit of correct apostrophe usage can make you pretty Zen-like.

Honestly, does it make you feel important?

[tomtomagain]

What does your other half ( if you have one ) think? Have you got any kids? If not, will you have any?

Downsizing sounds appealing if you are not enjoying what you are doing. Personally I think that the idea of pottering around the house and just scraping by for the next 40 years doesn't sound appealing either!

[speling bee]

The relentless pursuit of money for it's own sake can make you pretty miserable.

I've been forced to work less since I was diagnosed. I'm not rich but I have enough money coming in to get by and a bit left over to spend on things I want as long as I'm not silly. When I was was working full time I always felt like I was too busy and when I did have free time I just didn't have the energy left to do something demanding. Now I have time and energy to spend doing stuff I enjoy and playing with some of those expensive toys I've acquired over the years but rarely had time to use. Were it not for the illness I'd say I've never been happier in my life and on a day to day basis I actually am far happier than I was when I was stuck on the treadmill.

Flexible working helps a lot as well. I still get a lot of satisfaction from the greatly reduced amount of work I do and I'd miss it immensely if it wasn't there, but because I can choose (within some reasonable limits) how much and when I work it never feels like a burden. The funny thing is although I work only 1/4 as much as I used to I still get around 1/2 as much done.

The secret IMO is to have enough money to cover the cost of living so you aren't struggling to make ends meet, and enough money left over to do the stuff you want to do. Beyond that, you are better off doing the stuff you want to do than putting it on hold and chasing after more cash.

I'd also say it's better to have more time and less stress all of the time than to have bursts of overwork interspersed with breaks. Unfortunately contracting tends to encourage the latter.

Whereas the relentless pursuit of correct apostrophe usage can make you pretty Zen-like.

[lukemg]

I am going through a bit of this too and wondering how much is enough to see me through.
Few people on the web in the same boat and the answer is always 'it depends' but there are some general principles:
- Accepted withdrawal of 4% of your investment pot/annum is generally accepted as meaning you won't run out of money - ever, see firecalc for details.
- Alongside above, I saw one chap saying a gradually increasing percentage over time would work to make sure you don't run out of cash but don't leave much behind !
- Few people saying 25x your current annual expenses is 'enough', invested with some caution will easily see you through - be honest about your expenses though !!
Even simpler than this, based on mortgage paid.
1000/month - basic requirements covered but not much jam on top
2000/month - comfortable with the odd holiday thrown in.
3000/month - plenty enough to cover expenses and multiple holidays/breaks/occasional indulgences.
These sound about right for me but 'it depends' on your current lifestyle/expectations.
I am not worried about the money side, it is more adapting to the lifestyle after being institutionalised to be a worker drone for 25 years.

[doodab]

The relentless pursuit of money for it's own sake can make you pretty miserable.

I've been forced to work less since I was diagnosed. I'm not rich but I have enough money coming in to get by and a bit left over to spend on things I want as long as I'm not silly. When I was was working full time I always felt like I was too busy and when I did have free time I just didn't have the energy left to do something demanding. Now I have time and energy to spend doing stuff I enjoy and playing with some of those expensive toys I've acquired over the years but rarely had time to use. Were it not for the illness I'd say I've never been happier in my life and on a day to day basis I actually am far happier than I was when I was stuck on the treadmill.

Flexible working helps a lot as well. I still get a lot of satisfaction from the greatly reduced amount of work I do and I'd miss it immensely if it wasn't there, but because I can choose (within some reasonable limits) how much and when I work it never feels like a burden. The funny thing is although I work only 1/4 as much as I used to I still get around 1/2 as much done.

The secret IMO is to have enough money to cover the cost of living so you aren't struggling to make ends meet, and enough money left over to do the stuff you want to do. Beyond that, you are better off doing the stuff you want to do than putting it on hold and chasing after more cash.

I'd also say it's better to have more time and less stress all of the time than to have bursts of overwork interspersed with breaks. Unfortunately contracting tends to encourage the latter.

[Troll]

Isn't the name of the game "whoever dies richest wins"

[vetran]

I've long decided that retiring at 67 or more is no way to live and turned contractor to save up and retire a bit earlier, if possible.
In a way that is done - I've paid off my primary mortgage, but there's obviously lots to be done - the car is an old clunker and there is no escaping that life still costs even w/o the rent.
As part of my business, I have gradually grown into a habit of spending more to earn more and a part of me now wants to downscale that high-stakes life.
So a potential plan is to get a lower paid (or ideally just less hours) and more time at home and in exchange curb spending a bit.
But this probably won't work for a few reasons:
a) the clients usually can't be bothered with some strange arrangements such as every other Tuesday except full moon - they usually need the job done asap
b) the lazy part of me won't be getting out of the house much if I don't have to, not even to socialize
c) the lavish part of me won't take the spending curb lightly

Has anyone succeeded in downscaling and how did it go?
If you had a choice would you want to just earn more and more or consciously downsize a bit at one point?

I downsized. Hardly noticed except the bank account has plenty of savings.

Take X out of your account to savings every month, increase X over a few months until you decide what's left is what you can live on. Overpay your Mortgage if you want, not the best use of cash but very satisfying when you see the statement.

Get a budget, keep to it, enjoy keeping to it. Saving money can be fun. You can have some great fun with no money. Mate of mine is on the breadline but his kids love every day with him because they go to the park daily, cook together etc.

Set deadlines to do project A, B & C make sure you have the money up front from what remains.

Not good at cutting back the work though. I do find the more savings I have the easier it becomes.

[yasockie]

I've long decided that retiring at 67 or more is no way to live and turned contractor to save up and retire a bit earlier, if possible.
In a way that is done - I've paid off my primary mortgage, but there's obviously lots to be done - the car is an old clunker and there is no escaping that life still costs even w/o the rent.
As part of my business, I have gradually grown into a habit of spending more to earn more and a part of me now wants to downscale that high-stakes life.
So a potential plan is to get a lower paid (or ideally just less hours) and more time at home and in exchange curb spending a bit.
But this probably won't work for a few reasons:
a) the clients usually can't be bothered with some strange arrangements such as every other Tuesday except full moon - they usually need the job done asap
b) the lazy part of me won't be getting out of the house much if I don't have to, not even to socialize
c) the lavish part of me won't take the spending curb lightly

Has anyone succeeded in downscaling and how did it go?
If you had a choice would you want to just earn more and more or consciously downsize a bit at one point?