Reply to Did you give up a large portion of your income in pursuit of a happier life?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I can point to three points in my career when I made choices that sacrificed money for family/meaningful work. Looking back, I would change my decisions.

Being financially stressed in middle age when care of parents and facing college with almost no savings is miserable. Did you know you can save cash by going without health insurance for two months a year without penalty? Sucks to be me.[/quote]

Thank you for sharing this. Having grown up poor, I think people here are romanticizing 'a simpler life'. Although to be fair, it sounds like most people are talking about going from being wealthy to being comfortable, not poor. Think about what you may give up - the ability to pay for an unforseen medical emergency, help out a relative going through a crisis, or your child's college undergrad.

Obviously the above may not directly apply to the OP - I think 150K is still very comfortable in most places in the US.  [/quote]

It's one thing to go from 300k to 150k to reduce the work week from 80 hours a week to 40 hours, or to regain your soul. I can understand that, provided whoever's doing it can cut out the European vacation or enjoy living in Gaithersburg.

It's another thing for a woman living in NWDC whose husband works Big Law to become a preschool teacher, non-profit worker, etc. She is able to make herself feel better but isn't really going to suffer any material repercussions.

Then you have a GS-11 that decides she wants to be an "artist".

My point is that a cut in income needs to be balanced with a cut in lifestyle expectations and then being really okay with the cut in lifestyle. It's one thing to move to a condo or to an emerging neighborhood because you want to cut back/simplify. But then don't whine about the upstairs neighbors making noise or the young men who seem to have no jobs but infinite time to sit on their front porches. (Or maybe moving out to WV and then complaining about Trump voters.)[/quote]

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