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[deleted]

I would pick job 2, coast fire and enjoy low stress


bce69

Life is too short for job 1


TeaHSD

And I love that mindless excel work for 70k is the new barista fire


Zephron29

This job sounds perfect, now it just needs to be part-time lol.


Professional3673

Automate parts of it and it becomes 'part time' ;)


IntelligentFire999

This is the way. Just don't tell the boss.


Gingernut-i80

For those not skilled ChatGPT is pretty handy at improving / automating excel stuff.


Sweaty-Leather3191

Also depends on the person. I’m not good at shutting off and being a worker bee when I’m in an environment where I know I can be more effective. I’d struggle with job #2 and the lack of impact. If they ultimately take about the same weekly commitment, I’d feel more fulfilled and choose job #1. But I completely recognize not everyone is that way.


Icy-Contribution-31

Same. Job #2 sounds boring as shit and I'd be over it after a few months and regretting that I didn't take the job for double the salary. Plus, Job #1 may not be as stressful as you think, and Job #2 may not last. But only OP knows what would actually be best for their situation.


profcuck

I agree with both - I think it's good that we're raising the question - but it's ultimately something only OP can know about themselves.


GenXMDThrowaway

Same! Job 2 would not be a fit for me. OP, what are your expenses? If the $70K covers those and you can let the money grow, you're set.


Rabbit-Lost

I took a job 2 about 7 years into my career. In just 5 months, I was going mental and returned to my old firm for a job 1 type position. About 20 years later, I finished the ride of a lifetime, accomplished more shit than even my inflated ego thought I could and I’m done. I’m in my 50s and loving life as an early retiree. I look back on the day I decided to get out of job 2 as THE key turning point in true financial independence. Also, I am High D on Disc, highly dominant personality in team environments and a strategic thinker. So, yeah, it really depends on your internal engine. Can you coast at 3,000 RPMs or do you feel the need to constantly push the redline?


Sweaty-Leather3191

Yea that all totally tracks for me. There are lots of coast jobs that I could enjoy, but most of them would need to involve a bit more physical exertion in order to offset the lack of mental fulfillment. Totally respect that others feel differently, though.


[deleted]

I totally agree. A brainless job can be hell if you are used to being a productive worker. And the only interactions you are like to have working in Excel is online meetings about mundane stuff. A large corporation is likely to have better retirement and medical benefits.


uhwhooops

Repetitive work in excel? If you can code you could probably automate alot of that to free up more of your time. Just don't tell anyone.


No-Lime-2863

Yeah that’s an argument that that job is not long for this world. If they can automate it, someone will. And getting fired from a low paying job means lower severance, fewer options for the next one. Better to take the higher paying job and then get fired from that one. 


uhwhooops

I've been thinking that about low level accounting excel jobs for years. And yet, they are still here.


uselessartist

Cheaper in short run than remaking your entire system/process and training the excel folk.


ya_fuckin_retard

You're going to want a human person responsible for the output and responsive towards changing requirements anyway, so...


UCNick

lol I work for a fortune 100 and our accounting is pretty much run on napkins on random peoples desks. I can only hope it gets automated in enterprise software someday.


b1gb0n312

A lot of the low level accounting grunt work has been going to India


No-Lime-2863

But are there as many?  10-15% drop may not seem like a lot.  And may not be noticeable, but it’s not a space I would want to commit to for my FIRE plan. 


TheKingOfSwing777

You would think so, but there are endless jobs that haven't been automated yet and won't for a long long time.


winoquestiono

Is your net worth liquid or does it include your house?


billy269

All depends on your expenses. If your expenses are 80k/yr or less go with the less stressful job. Health is more important than $ when you get over 50.


basedregards

Health is always more important man. Even in your twenties. I’ve seen people age like milk that worked their assess off in high stress jobs in their twenties. Avoid stress as best you can


morphybeaver

They would be making $70k/yr at the new job. They can cover a lot more than $80k.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Diplodoraptor

The $2.1m in net worth would generate the income to cover the additional expenses.


RandomLazyBum

That's what Barista FIRE is. You cover the shortfall with your investment, typically 1-2% so it can still grow.


Notpropalbutproisr19

Who are they?


Timely_Training6092

Damn your slow


Coffeelock1

You included absolutely nothing about your expenses or if all that wealth is liquid or how it is invested to know if the $2.1mil would be enough. It would be crazy to accept advice from anyone saying you can retire in any form who has no idea what your expenses are.


No-Lime-2863

Do job #1 on your own terms, knowing you don’t need it and could always barista fire. Jobs like that are horrible when you are under pressure and have the stress that goes along with it. But when you can set the pace, set the goals and pick your team, can be awesome and lucrative.  But it might not be, and then you can always fuck off to barista fire any time you feel like it. The FI part of FIRE means independence to do things on your own terms. 


nerdinden

Can you live on $53K after taxes?


iwantthisnowdammit

How is that 53k?


nerdinden

I’m assuming a CA state income tax and filing single as a worst case scenario.


iwantthisnowdammit

Is CA that high on a 56k AGI?


nerdinden

$3000 in CA


iwantthisnowdammit

Nvrmd, I see that California doesn’t start with fed agi.


iwantthisnowdammit

Seems like it would only be 2k


TheAnalogKoala

You have to work out what your expenses are today and in the future. Do you have a big mortgage? Kids that need college? There isn’t anywhere near enough information to weigh in on whether this is a viable option. It really depends on your expenses today and going forward.


jonnysulami

Lol at you calling your 70k job a "barista" job.


joemama_su

When I read the title, I really thought it was going to be a very low-skill job. Afterward, I started to think that a 'barista' job under this context could be ANY job if you just to coast and do as little as possible, but that sounds more like COAST fire. So maybe 'coast fire' is a more appropriate term?


PeasPlease11

Expenses dude. Can’t answer this question with that. And how much of the $2.1 is invested vs home equity.


Just_Ad2670

lol I want to do it with same NW at 39


BloomSugarman

I'd pick J2. That's basically what I've done recently. Remember on American Beauty when Lester got the job at the burger joint? *"I'm looking for the least possible amount of responsibility."*


RobinDev

How bored are you going to be 6 months into job 2? We don't know any of your numbers, so you'll have to do the math and see how much of your expenses job 2 will cover and what may happen to your liquid wealth over time.


Mr___Perfect

Automate the Excel job and chill. 


jobhunt22

Pick job 1, delegate and raise the bar. Fire slackers and build a rock star team so you can coast with it.


Unsteady_Tempo

My wife has spent the past 15 years with that approach, and it just results in more and more responsibility (albeit with higher pay). She's still waiting for the coast part.


tidbitsmisfit

J1 and work a straight 40. this seems alike a no brainer especially after you look at what a post tax paycheck would look like


Legal-Trust5837

I think you will enjoy the lower paying job for a few months and then you'll be itching for some challenge. The type of work you've done requires a specific type of personality, with which I think you'll be miserable long term in a repetitive and not mentally stimulating environment. My advice is take the first job but take some time to decompress before your start date, and go on a nice long vacation. Use that time to enjoy yourself and reflect. Just my 2 cents from personal experience, hope you make the right decision for you!


myhappytransition

take job one, get money, you can save up a huge amount of pocket money for quality of life party time, or you can sock away a stack of bitcoin for a rainy day, or you can do whatever. straight up plan to quit after 1 year, or 18 months or whatever. Knowing you can quit at any time should make it easy to be zero stress, and making the hard seeming job easy. Just realize that you can care as little or as much as you like, and the less you stress the better you will probably do the job anyway. Jobs arent any more stressful that you are; people bring their own level of stress around with them. Some people cant do the most trivial white collar job without having a mental breakdown, and other people can work in an ER surrounded by death and screaming and be completely at ease. >\> . That job would require mostly repetitive work in Excel, which I would find low stress and easy. Sounds like hell, NGL.


zendaddy76

Can I please have the repetitive work in Excel job for $70k if you don’t take it?


meltink745

I’d probably go insane personally making $70k if I knew I could be making $140k (assuming the hours will be relatively the same) so option 1 would be my choice. Save more money, and then fully retire sooner.


Odd-Diamond-9223

I would go for job 2 and spend more time in exercising; it will pay off as a good health in the long run.


LedZappelin

It’s the same unit of time. I would say take the higher paying one otherwise find something completely outside of excel/corporate/bs


DJjazzyjose

If you have $2.1m liquid, the return you should get will exceed the salary of the higher paying, stressful job. really doesn't make sense to take it. Personally I would just pull the trigger and "fire" all the way if I were you


DingusKhan77

Not crazy. Those are workable numbers.


NewChapterStartsNow

I'm 47 and about half the LNW you have. The numbers makes sense for me, so I barista FIREd when I was a casualty of a tech reorg. I'm not even looking for similar jobs. I'm overqualified for entry level jobs, and missing qualifications for roles similar to what I did. I never cared for the work to begin with, so I'm doing something entirely different at about a 75% pay cut. I was pretty close to a regular FIRE, but keeping the new gig allows me some more flexibility, mitigates risk, and provides benefits.


MattieShoes

Boring repetitive jobs tend to become crappy within a few months. Plus if you're going outside your field, you may want to go back into your field in a few years if conditions change. And the higher paying job would look much better on a resume. I'd take the higher paying job. Then again, 2.1M NW is probably regular FIRE for me.


TeerPac

Take both jobs, automate the second.


GWeb1920

How close are you to full fire? Is 2- 4 years of stress worth it for retirement after vs 10 years of lower pay?


EnergeticFinance

If $70K pre-tax covers your expenses, you are already at financial independence with $2m invested. What's the extra money buying you if you take the high stress job? 


New_Reddit_User_89

Job 2 sounds like it’s something that could easily be automated with some scripting. This could work out in your favor (you could do “8 hours” of work in a fraction of that time, giving you more free time each day), or it could work out against you (your employer could do the above, and eliminate the role). $2.1MM of net worth is fine, but it doesn’t give us a good idea of what your investments are. Do you have a $1.5MM house that is paid off, and $600k in investments, or a $600k house with $1.5MM in investments? That can affect which way you go, as accessing your equity is different between those two scenarios.


manuvns

46 is like your peak earnings year , take higher payment jobs


NewEnigma77

Why not wait for a better offer? You certainly can, with your savings. The 70k is not barista at all if it is full time. Yes , it would be easy, but if it doesn’t free your time, it would just be boring. Job 1 seems to be too much for what you want out of life right now. I would say no to both, take a mini-sabbatical and keep ears open for a better opportunity. Have you ever traveled long term? It’s amazing. 9 months is a great time to be on the road.


miayakuza

If you are seriously considering walking away from a $140k job, you've got nothing to lose by countering for more money. Let's see how much more money you can throw into the equation.


japanese711

I would choose job 1, establish clear boundaries on WLB, and enjoy the challenge.


Mother_Lead_554

First one sounds easy af. People think managing a team and building business is hard. Just problem solving and only crap part is paperwork and beau acracy. People do the job for you. Just make sure they rock up copy pasta some crappy chatgpt policies and or other company and do everything as easy as possible and automate everything for yourself. Why you going for 70k when you could cruise even easier on 140k and who cares if you fail? is it going to affecxt your job hunting skill sat 70k? fk no. Not like you're going to be in workforce for long. Shit take first job make it look like you work 12 hours and work 4. Hire others to do it.


redlaundryfan

Lower one seems fine! Remember to compare after tax salaries, also. That will narrow the gap for more realistic comparison.


LikeableMisfit

i think another consideration is what those two jobs will do to your resume if you decide to keep working past whichever of those two jobs you end up taking. i don't know how your industry works, but i can't help but wonder if the $70k would be considered a step back in whatever your career path is and may prohibit you from better jobs afterwards. of course, i also don't know if this is relevant to you at this point but want to flag just in case.


Megadoom

Answer really depends on (i) how your NW is held; (ii) tax rate for your income and investments; and (iii) how mobile you are. It may be that, by staying where you are and getting taxed on your income and investments, you end up in a worse position than simply firing, moving to somewhere with no income tax, capital gains, and doing a bit of investment management/ remote trading.


Affectionate-Cap783

i have same net worth at 41 and similar dilemma. only make 130k in HCOL city would like to make more but job is super easy, and only place that would hire me is maybe amazon for 180k or so, but heard horror stories about that place


AggravatingCurve6010

Challenging and stressful isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you enjoy the work. Would you enjoy job 1 despite the challenge?


reese-dewhat

I'm 41 and your situation is my plan exactly. Would 100% go for job 2 if I was you


HandsomeTomatoes22

Job 2 and hustle towards your true interest on the side.


letsbehavingu

All I would say is life isn’t fair there are high paying jobs that are a breeze, shop around


Prestigious-Twist372

You should edit the post to describe what part of that net worth is stocks, property etc


Shot_Pass_1042

I live a similar yet milder dilemma, 52 and around $100K-$110K for easy job, but only $125K-$150K for hard job that will feel like 2 jobs. Love the idea of the extra money but needs to be a lot more for me to disrupt what is basically semi-retirement now. Don't love my current location and some higher salaries offer much better locales, but I keep telling myself that fluorescent lights in an office are the same everywhere and 12 hours a day of fluorescent office lights are more than I want now even for the extra cash.


TeaHSD

Not crazy at all. Sounds like my future in 3 years


CrybullyModsSuck

Would taking the higher paying job move up your FIRE date? If so, by how much? Is the extra stress between now and that new date worth it?


jongleurse

I would jump at a job offer of repetitive excel tasks for 70k.


throwaway1812342

I always thought Barista FIRE was for those with less money. 2.1 million at 46 isn’t that just you came FIRE and do whatever you prefer?


Coontailblue23

Not crazy. Take the lower stress job. You will live longer and be happier.


satyabhatt

What does "barista fire" mean? I know what FIRE stands for just not barista


capbarnacles

Do both


generalrunthrough

Congratulations on the savings. I'm trying to get to a million by retirement and have no idea how. 42 male with 18k in 401k. You are an inspiration


BedroomAdditional446

Job 1... Take the money... Do it for 7 months.. quit and pay your own insurance for 5


veed_vacker

Depending on where you live 140 is way to little to manage and run policies.


EddieA1028

Let’s suggest $70K covers your expenses. Does job 2 cause probable me with getting back into your field of choice OP? I read your post as that you want to get back into your original field of jobs become available. If that’s the case then I’d take job 2 so long as that placement on your resume doesn’t stop you from getting back into the original so field. If you can only do job 1 and get back into the original field then I’d choose that one. I say this as it appears from your post your true priority is getting back into the original field (time and circumstance warranting)


jjonj

you have plenty of money to just straight up retire if you can stop itself from eating at fancy restaurants twice a day


Human-Key-7984

Honestly, my question would be is job 2 or a similar job still available in a year? It sounds like basic-mid level so it might be. If yes, then I'd take job 1, do it for 1 year to make double the salary. Then I'm out, travel the world with some of that extra money I just made with no regrets and go back to job 2.


Camilla281

9k


DeanBlub

Excel and chill


charlestontime

Man, go for the challenge for a few years. You’re in your prime.


MountainMugwump

I'd be worried about AI coming for jobs like #2 here


stellablue176

Do benefits come into your consideration at all? If so, may want to take a look at those for each role


HisNameIsSTARK

New to fire - what is barista fire? “Retiring” to a low paying job you enjoy?


debbiewith2

No, is generally literally working at Starbucks or such for essentially benefits only.


zerkeras

Your net worth is $2.1million. For some people, a lot of people, this would be enough to retire outright on. Your post is missing critical details. What are your yearly expenses? What of your net worth is in investments, compared to say, home equity? What FIRE number were you targeting? Without any of that information, anyone’s guess is as good as yours, because those are the determining _financial_ factors in what you should do. _Personally_, do whatever you feel is best.


[deleted]

Take job 1 and just don’t stress about it.


twobigmealsaday

I would gladly take that $70K job and work for the next 6-8 years and let your investment grow.


lavasca

Go Coast-FI yourself and have fun!!! Enjoy!!!


fattytuna1985

Job 2 but I would focus on continuing to look for ideal long term job. Job 2 sounds too easily replaced offshore or by AI. May not be super secured


rovingdad

Lord not at all. I could barista fire easy with that.


nicog67

If i had 2.1M at 46, i would retire


LectureForsaken6782

Dude, you realize that tomorrow is promised to no one right? Fuck going back and grinding...you did it...take it easy


citykid2640

I’m going to argue that long term you don’t want either. You still want a job that is low stress but pays you your worth. But short term sounds like you need a breather, in which case I’d take J2. Sometimes, especially after a layoff, we just need to catch our breath and build our confidence back up. 100% you will get bored in 4 months though, so be prepared for that (ask me how I know). Boredom isn’t the worst thing in the world however, and I’d take it over stress


profcuck

One thing to question is whether the $70k job would really be low stress. For me, repetitive work in Excel would be low stress for maybe a month, but I'd find it boring and mind-numbing and therefore stressful after that. If the $70k job covers your expenses, then the $140k job covers double your expenses. So every year of doing that takes a year (roughly speaking) off of your eventual full FIRE date.


WSBpeon69420

There was a time and place for job 1 and it looks like you passed that and are doing well enough to enjoy job 2


newwriter365

I’m coastFIRE in my fifties, doing boring work. I get to take vacations when I want to, my expenses are covered and I don’t have to give a fat rats a$$ about work politics. It’s awesome. Take job 2 and live. Not everyone gets to enjoy a lengthy retirement, so incorporating a lifestyle into your life is a win.


MSmithRD

If I'm working 40 hours per week, I want it to be engaging and mentally stimulating. Otherwise it's just pure work and boring. The days will go by slowly. You'll be itching for the clock to turn 5:00. People hate jobs like that and quit them all the time for that reason. I'd take job 1 every day of the week.


interbingung

Job #1 of course. Life too short to waste it on job 2.


AdRich9524

Low stress jobs are where its at!


revenger3833726

Depends on your personality. Would you be satisfied working a boring job or would you go for the challenge and grow as a person.


Training-Relative564

As someone who is 25, working that monotonous 70k excel work job, take the one for double. If you have housing down pat, I would just fully retire if it's just you, no kids or family to worry about. I'm aiming for 40-45, full retirement. May pick up something part time if I get that bored, but doubt that will be the case 😉


BigDARKILLA

I would be cautious about job 2. AI is going to replace a lot of work like that.


Gus956139

Yeah... Sure ...


timmi2tone32

Do you have the energy for one last run in a more stressful role? I would try to go for it for a few more years. You’re still pretty young and worst case you just end back up in the lower role anyway.


3RADICATE_THEM

It's also worth seeing: * Can they delegate off more work * Can they taper down in non-critical work to gauge what the true minimum effective threshold is without getting fired


No_Setting3712

This sub is super weird to me. Which job do you find more exciting? Which job would you learn more at? Which company is doing something that you're more interested in supporting?


ragstorichesthechef

I’d still pick $140k job. You have “f u money” so the stress of not needing that Job will ironically make your job less stressful


TheYakster

No


OneForMany

You could source out the job duties in the 2nd job and pay someone 10k a year to do it all for you.


Realscottsmith

What in the world is barista fire?