I do think about it a lot. Do I have any regrets?
The truth is, I don't know.
I can't confidently say yes, I have no regrets.
I also know I can't say no, I have regrets.
I'll explain what I mean.
This is the 2nd time I've had a period of unemployment. So I understand what it feels like through the whole period. At the start, it's always fun, there's the freedom, then after a few months, there's some fear and uncertainty, then that feeling will pass then there's the enjoyment again, then things settle down and some form of boredom sets in, and I think maybe I should've just continued working for a bit longer... things weren't THAT bad right??
If I had continued working, I'd have another 3 years of savings... definitely putting me on a steady track for full retirement. So I do think about what if I endured another 3 years. Then I quickly remind myself that my current mentality is NOT my mentality 3 years ago.
3 years ago, I was dreading to go to work. Sundays were miserable, the working environment in the new department which I transferred to was toxic. Everything was terrible, I felt trapped and entirely stressed out.
But now, things have settled down, life is nice and peaceful, I have a large chunk of free time on weekdays, which I can intentionally do chores, or decide to do other things. That's when I usually think, how about I go back to work for a bit. A bit more money and stress would be fun for a change maybe for 2-3 years...
So I do think about out quite often.
1) I cannot use my current mentality to assess working in my old job. I'm now well rested and not stressed up. Exactly 3 years ago, I was miserable at this time. So I should not think about "what if I had stayed on in my job."
2) Alternatively, I could have just changed another job instead. Continuing to work during that period for another 3 years would have put in far ahead in my wealth accumulation. IF we totally disregard the other intangibles that leaving my job has brought me/us.
3) Leaving my job has allowed me/us certain luxuries. I was around most of the time during my home renovation and for the delivery of items. This allowed me to ensure that our home was done up to what we wanted. This also allowed me to slowly look for deals, cos I had the time. But from a purely financial point of view, this was not worth it, cos I would probably have earned more during that period and still have money left over, even if I slightly over paid for most of my household items.
4) Leaving my job has allowed us to understand the luxury of free time. In my previous post on benefits of having someone unemployed in the family, due to me doing most of the daily stuff, we actually have a lot of free time on weekends, and have more time spent together. However, this is at the loss of real cash. But I know I can't always look at the monetary returns, else there's no end to it. There's always "what if I worked just another year".
5) Now that things have settled down, I'm happy, everything is fun and I'm ready to embrace some misery again. (Somehow, I think humans just don't learn their lesson.) I'm pretty open to find some form of employment. Part-time or contract work. Not as a career. I've realized that I'm not career minded. I have no incentive to be a senior manager or whatever, besides that it would pay more.
Optimally, I think if it fits into my current time table that would be great, but my current timetable is quite messed up, cos I send my wife to work early and pick her up early. Which leaves my free time to be only between 730am to 4pm. Not to mention, I tend to follow my wife around on biz trips cos she likes me to be around, (she says it makes the biz trip more enjoyable, cos with someone around, it doesn't seem entirely just a biz trip for work), but I suppose if I get any form of work that's probably got to stop.
A contract role would be possible as well, a 1-2 year contract/project would be fun. I would probably be spared the politics, cos basically, contract jobs have no real career progression in a company. I'm not talking about those roles where I'm hoping to get a full time position after the contract is up. I'm thinking about those contract roles where there is a large project coming up and the company hires a bunch of project staff to do the additional work. Then after the contract is up I'll be free to rest again.
There's a difference between a full time employment and leaving after 2 years vs contract role and leaving after the contract is up. Leaving full time employment is a proactive decision. If we look at the previous post, to leave full time employment, I would need to wake up one day thinking "I'm going to leave my job" and take active action. Whereas, for a contract role, there is an end date. The thing is, after my years of working in a highly political environment, I would prefer to just go somewhere where I can put in a few years of work to accumulate more money and pass time, and get to go home without all the stress of playing "games" with colleagues, to outmaneuver and try to gain brownie points in the eyes of the bosses.
Cos my main objective now isn't career growth, it's just passing time and more wealth accumulation.
I've also realized that many people aren't interested in career growth. Most people just want money. And actually, a lot of people would be happy staying in their same position and farming. BUT YET, most people feel jealous when they see others/peers rise through the ranks, so they themselves think that getting promoted is the "normal" thing, else they would feel like a failure, so they get themselves involved in the career growth and all the games and politics to try to get further ahead. And in the end, they may end up unhappy cos they just got sucked up in the heat of things and just went along the path like everyone else. Cos in truth, many people just want to put in a few years of good work earn their money and go home and play with their kids and live their lives. But since everyone is playing the game, they think they have to play as well so they just do what everyone else is doing. Not to mention it sounds bad if you tell your boss "Hey just leave me here to do my work, I'm not interested in a promotion to get more responsibilities. Just leave me along and just pay me my salary."... so everyone answers "YES BOSS, I'm ready to take up more work and get promoted and do more stuff!!!"
So my personal solution to this is to get a part time job or a contract role for a period.
I think it would probably be a win-win situation. I get a short term job to make some money and pass time, get all stressed up again and by that time, my contract ends and I can take a break again. I also get to avoid all the stuff which I didn't like in my previous job. The money will probably be less but "hey" as long as it fulfills my objective and keeps me happy, then I think it's probably a better solution than being fully employed and joining the rat race again.
Note: I'm considering the above. It's not a confirmed decision yet. My wife and I are looking at how things turn out in the next few months due to her job and my game project and everything.
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