What is the end goal. What will you be happy with?

[acuriousgirl]

@4x4toy I don’t really have an end goal, I was always saving to have a big emergency fund, mainly because I work in construction and have a fear of another big crash coming. I bought a house at a great time and I only buy used cars so my expenses have never been too high. The last few years have been good with promotions and salary increases so now I’m at the point where I could pay off my mortgage and still have €50k left over.

Now that I am comfortable and very financially secure I can focus on saving for my kids, I’d like to be able to give them a huge head start when they get older, whether it’s a fund to pay for college or to put towards buying their first houses.

 

[christine2756]

@4x4toy I have a six figure income at a job that doesn't stress me out, id be a fool to want more than that

 

[lvsjesus]

@christine2756 Then you’re living the dream. Too many “influencers” are pushing the entrepreneur lifestyle and “everyone should be a founder” but honestly I just want a decent paying 9-5 that isn’t unbearably stressful, hence why I’ve switched into tech and will hopefully get there soon.

 

[christine2756]

@lvsjesus I'm sure you will mate, eyes on the prize and advocate for yourself at every opportunity

 

[adonys]

@4x4toy Mortgage cleared, cushy pension, funds for kids, nice cars, savings, good insurance, min 4 trips/ holidays per year & regular meals/nights out. Not having to check current account every day & can spend before checking. Oh and maybe hire a cleaner.
Probably get there mid 50's but the world always has surprises for us

 

[emojigirl]

@4x4toy It’s different for everyone, and simply finding out the key to your own happiness is a massive first step.

Me personally, I believe owning my own home will bring a level of peace and security that I need to be happy and fulfilled. Oh and a dog. A big fluffy, goofball of a dog. Those two things and I will be in paradise, regardless of how other aspects of life are going. Good luck on your search!

 

[danjpos]

@4x4toy Recently left a job like you’re describing after a few years with really good earning for my age (no kids / mortgage). I decided to take the redundancy package after making enough to buy a property outright.

Loose plan now is find more meaningful work that pays less but I feel better doing and spend more time doing what I love.

For me it was either get out now or keeping climbing ladder and be unable to cut back once kids came along.

Been out 6 months and I’ve never been less stressed. Don’t know 100% what I’ll do in the future but I’ve loads of options if I’m willing to take the pay cut.

It’s what suits me and my partner and circumstances right now. Maybe in future I’ll get an itch and try and get back to big money but I don’t think I’ll miss it.

Also Working 6 days a week is unsustainable why not start by taking back your Saturdays? Can you automate / delegate any work? Check out AI assistants which are improving a lot to do basic tasks

 

[4x4toy]

@danjpos I hope to cut it back to 4 and a half days a week pretty soon. I won’t be losing a tonne but to be honest the amount that I won’t be earning from reducing hours, I don’t want it. I’m comfortable money wise but I’m finally starting to burn out/ lose a real passion for the job. I absolutely love my job and could talk about it all day but lately I feel that I’m just the guy that never stops working. And I really want to start giving my other half more evenings in/ weekends because she damn deserves it , she’s a saint. I feel so so guilty for working so much, however if I hadn’t done so for the last year or so we wouldn’t be set up like we are and would probably be arguing about financial stresses. I am and probably will always be an absolute workaholic but moderation is a word I’m starting to understand the importance of lately.

 

[danjpos]

@4x4toy It’s great that you love the work as well. All the more reason you should cut back before you burn out. You’ve obviously got very good at some very marketable skills. How can you use your mastery to win back time while sacrificing as little as possible of the extra income? There’s lots of people out there doing 80 hour weeks for big money and lots of people also make the same in 40. Can you Focus on highest value work and refuse the rest?

 

[4x4toy]

@danjpos This is something that I’ve been thinking about lately. Stopping doing the smaller jobs alongside and just focus on bigger projects. I’ve always had a list of big/ small tasks and the small ones are always very handy. Quick money makers but high volume of working with different clients= lots of effort .

I’d like to be able to just focus on 2/3 big projects each week or two and charge accordingly . My only draw back is the small tasks is how I stared my career and I’d lose a tonne of regulars who helped build me from the ground up. I’d essentially be moving away from 75% of my original client base.

Tricky one but I suppose I have to grow and develop in some way ….

 

[danjpos]

@4x4toy Do you know very good people who you can recommend to look after your smaller less profitable jobs?

Your smaller clients don’t really need you they need a solution to whatever problem they have. Try to offload customers to someone you trust. The world will carry on

 

[samz1992]

@4x4toy Can you hire someone to do that high volume low effort 75% of your clients (& potentially grow that work stream?).

Also hire someone to do the 2-3 big projects each week

You sit back and review and issue, or alternatively, go out and bring in more and more business so need to hire more and more people to keep up.

One thing I often see online is to keep increasing your rates until you find balance where you are working less but earning the same total amount.

 

[wavesuponthesea]

@4x4toy I think this is a very personal topic. I don’t think there is a universal answer to what is enough.

To reframe your question, and steal an idea from Ramit Sethi, what does a rich life look like for you? When you define your rich life, work backwards and see how much you need to afford it.

I would tell you to stop working so much. Get a hobby, spend time with friends and family. You’re never gonna look back on your life and think god I’m happy I worked all those Saturdays.

 

[slim101]

@4x4toy If you’re expenditure increases in line with your salary you’ll never have enough.

Nothing wrong with working hard if you enjoy it. Sometimes working hard is more about being diligent and having pride in your work, and the salary is just a bonus.

End goal for me is an amount where I can live off withdrawing 4% a year. I enjoy work though so even that may not make me retire.

 

[annaguerrero]

@4x4toy I think you need to look at your expenses, how much your net worth is and map out your runway for what is enough as in how many years could you sustain your lifestyle if you were not working.

In doing that you can decide how much you want to work and how hard you want to work into the future.

I burned out after some stress related illness but had the ability to retire in my early forties. I do wish I hadnt of worked so hard given I got so sick and missed a few years of my kids childhood.

 

[rosyy57]

@4x4toy TBH those are kinda normal hours for a business owner, are you an employee or owner? Is there potential to delegate some of the work and focus more on the higher earning aspects of the job?

If you are happy doing it keep at it. No point in forcing yourself onto a golf course where you are miserable. Main thing is to know you are doing it by choice and decide to enjoy the journey. Also treat yourself from time to time to reward your efforts.

 

[4x4toy]

@rosyy57 I am employed but also subcontract which matches my work hours. So you could say I’m double jobbing ? But I want to go self employed and potentially take somebody on. I would have someone trained up pretty quickly and they could for sure do the “easy tasks” to start with.

Love the golf course analogy….. that hits home