Anonymous wrote:Become a teacher.

Worse advice ever! Lol

Guess you haven't heard about the droves of teachers who are leaving the profession because it’s so awful?

I would stay at home! DH and I combined make 300k, which is more than we need, but we need more than the 150k he makes. Wish one of us made that amount!

Why do you have a car payment if you have savings?

What field are you in? Can you consult? Do fractional?

45 is young. Take a few months off. Get recharged. Your husbands job could easily go away. You never know in this economy. Then you'll be without health insurance and you'll be without a recent job history, and in your fifties. I've seen it happen too many times to count.

No

Become a teacher.

Have you ever actually had a part-time job or volunteered? I’m in a similar boat as you and I wish I could find either truly satisfying, but I honestly don’t. I think part of it is just being in your late 40s though, and realizing that once you take the off-ramp, there’s no getting back on. It’s hard to let go of the possibility of ever making your own real money again.

Not sure about your family situation, but I would be thrilled if I made enough money that my wife could quit. She would be less stressed, and our family logistics (cleaning, pickups, sports, etc) would improve, etc. if your family can be sustained on just his income, I don't think it would be selfish at all to take a break from full time employment.

I wouldn’t work FT if my spouse made 300k.
So no, stay home or work PT/volunteer.

I’m similar in age. Just going to be honest—if you stop working now it’s going to be hard if not impossible to get hired in your fifties.

I think you can take 6 mos/a year, but if you’re not ready to retire for good, you should aim to get well back into it before 50. In your shoes I would not feel financially comfortable retiring yet. You have good assets but not enough for a comfortable 45/50-year retirement, if something happens to dh’s job or his health.

Work part time and focus on kids. It goes so fast!

You seem ideally suited to a part time position. I would look at your network and see if there is anyone might have something that is suited to part time. You don’t care that much about salary, so go after organizations that you really believe in the mission.

Listen to and believe your spouse. You don't "need" more income, so it is not unfair to him, unless he hates his job and wants to quit too. If he is continuing to work because he wants to, then good for him. You can contribute to society in a different way now and be the part of your family that is giving back. Volunteer for a non-profit board.

It seems to me that you're in a great position... you can keep applying, volunteering in the meantime... and take a part-time or full-time job that suits you if one comes around. You don't have to make a decision right now that's for the rest of your life. You do want to keep doors open in case a crisis happens.

I got laid off and am trying to think about next steps.

Assume:
- 3 kids, one late ES, two in high school. College savings for all is done.
- mortgage is $5k/month. Equity of 600k.
- car payments totaling $300/month
- 3.5 mill saved for retirement/brokerage. Continuing to save on DH’s income.
- DH income of 300k, pretty stable.
- no family help unless truly needed.

I’m 45, DH is similar. I’m not sure what I want to do with the rest of my life, but I have no motivation to get another full time professional job and jump back into the rat race. But, it isn’t fair to DH to support us all, and also, what if something happens and we need my income?

I could be more fulfilled with some volunteering and perhaps a part time job. That feels entitled to me, since DH will be working all day. He says he has no preference. Divorce is not on the radar but of course even his stable job could go away.

I don’t want to make an irresponsible decision because I’m burnt out. Any thoughts?