24/7 Insights

• This Redditor is tired of working 80-hour weeks. 
• He’s also concerned about missing his daughter growing up. 
• An inheritance is coming, but the amount isn’t guaranteed. 

When it comes to a moment in time when you tell strangers on the internet that your job is “grueling, stressful, and I hate every minute of it,” then you know something has to change. This is the exact scenario we’re looking at with this Redditor. 

Posting in r/ChubbyFIRE, this individual has saved $2.4 million and is also looking to inherit a good chunk of money. The question is, where does he go from here to better his health and his financial position? 

What I love about this post is the raw honesty that comes from someone examining several different roads, including one that leads to a hospital, and knows a change must be made. 

The Scenario 

Let’s be honest and say this post has scattered thoughts about where to go next. The Redditor, a 45-year-old male, has a wife and four-year-old daughter and around $2.4 million saved in S&P 500 index funds. Based on his current work, he can invest an additional $300,000 for every year he keeps working. 

However, after 15 years of owning a small business and working 80-hour work weeks, burnout is becoming a reality. He says his cortisol levels are always spiked, which is a definite health concern. More importantly, he doesn’t want to miss the most precious ten years of his daughter’s life by always working. 

Things get interesting because he also wants to split a $20 million trust with three other siblings. The hope is that this will create around $500,000 annually in passive income split four ways. However, the trust is heavily invested in real estate in Florida, where hurricanes have recently damaged some of the property. 

The Recommendation 

Understanding that I am not a financial planner and cannot give educated financial advice, I still have a few thoughts. To replace his current lifestyle, he needs around $120,000 post-tax to live or around $150,000 pre-tax. He also knows he can’t live as if the trust exists since he won’t inherit until after both parents are deceased. 

He plans to keep working for another two years and, assuming a 6% return, reach approximately $3.4 million, which will allow him to withdraw $100,000 annually from his savings. 

Of course, a single recommendation gets challenging as he runs through several scenarios, like what happens if the market drops in half. There’s also a note about how his business revenue will dramatically reduce if he stops working, but he doesn’t specify how much. He plays it coy, leaving little room for debate on the exact impact on his earnings. This adds up to more questions than answers, which is a concern. 

The Takeaway

Ultimately, the biggest concern here isn’t necessarily the economics of this Redditor’s situation but his mental blocks toward stopping to work. His concern over a potential “revenue drop” if he phases himself out of his business is problematic. However, it sounds like the best solution is to sell the company entirely, assuming there is a market for his work without his involvement. 

While we don’t know how much he can earn from selling the business, assuming the revenue it generates, it likely has to be worth something to someone. If this is the best way to get him toward his goal, he can sell his business, and then if he needs or wants to work down the road, he can find something with less stress. 

While I’d recommend contacting a financial advisor first to review several scenarios, the bottom line is that he likely needs to work for a few more years. It’s that or he should sell the business to achieve his financial goal if he doesn’t want to miss his child growing up. 

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