Personal Finance

We make over $400k per year as a couple but want to spend more time with our kid - how do we adjust without hurting out retirement plans?

Joey Frenette

Published: October 17, 2024 5:59 pm

Sometimes, there’s more to life and happiness than just money. In the case of a Reddit poster on r/chubbyFIRE, a well-off couple in their 40s inquired if they’re in a good spot (they most definitely are with millions in assets) and their desire to spend more time with the kids. Indeed, the couple pulls in a jarring $400,000 income. With a high income comes a hefty time commitment that could have otherwise been invested in quality time with loved ones.

Indeed, childhood comes and goes at the drop of a hat, making the quantity of time spent an incredibly important factor that one may not be able to quantify. Indeed, if you’re making a huge six-figure annual income, it makes sense to go all-in on that. Right?

Though the opportunity costs of spending more time at work than with the kids will differ for everybody, there is one crucial thing to consider. You can trade time for money, but you cannot buy time for it.

Key Points About This Article

• Taking a step back mid-career can make sense, especially if one isn’t spending as much time as they’d like with a child.
• Exploring remote work options and beefing up the passive income can help one find their perfect time-for-money balance.
• Also: Take this quiz to see if you’re on track to retire ^(Sponsored)

The perfect time-for-money trade-off will be different for everyone

It’s a one-way street. And for many, it may make sense to take a step back from one’s job, provided they have the right amount of assets in place to act as a safety net. In the case of the 40-something-year-old couple, it’s my humble opinion that they’re not only “on track” but potentially already past the retirement finish line.

Indeed, everybody has a different finish line, and one can easily keep pushing it further out as one’s net worth swells in size. Additionally, everybody moves at their own pace. For some, the race may be more easily won by going at a tortoise’s pace rather than a hare’s.

In the case of this couple, it’s clear they have a new slate of priorities now that they have a young child. With so much banked, there are numerous options they can take so they’ll continue down the “chubbyFIRE” track while also getting more time at home with the youngster. Essentially, they have options to have their cake and eat, too.

Let’s look at two adjustments the couple can make to give them more time without slowing their wealth-building pace by too great a magnitude.

Re-evaluating career options makes a lot of sense.

As is often the case with high-paying jobs, things can get stressful in a hurry, and one’s passion for one’s career can erode. Given the couple’s wealth of assets and high incomes, they can consider living off one income for the time being. Notably, the 41-year-old dislikes her job and may be able to take an income hit for more flexibility.

Some options they can explore are requesting remote work, part-time hours, or even quitting in search of something less stressful and time-intensive — think something akin to Barista FIRE, which entails working at a more chill job on a less-frequent basis to supplement one’s semi-retirement lifestyle.

Undoubtedly, each option, I believe, is a win that could buy them the perfect balance of “time” and income generation. As always, one should ask their financial advisor to ensure they’re making the right move for them.

Of course, each one of the options will come at the cost of somewhat less income. With that, the couple will either need to cut their expenses accordingly (assuming lifestyle creep has gotten to them over the decades) or reposition their portfolios, focusing on increasing passive income.

Adjusting the portfolio with passive income in mind

Adjusting the portfolio can make sense if a couple is poised to take the foot off the career accelerator by a bit. Dividend stocks and high-yield real estate investment trusts (REITs) can help one supplement their passive income stream. With a substantial sum ($1 million) in the non-retirement brokerage, the couple can reposition in steady higher-yielding plays, like AT&T (NYSE:T), which yields north of 5%, or even Verizon (NYSE:VZ), if they want a yield north of 6%.

Undoubtedly, the REIT universe can also offer such generous yields in the 5-6% ballpark. By constructing a portfolio of passive income investments to average a 5-6% yield, a $1 million invested sum would amount to $50,000-$60,000 in annual income. And the best part is that the amount can grow by a single-digit percentage amount in any given year, assuming you own the shares of firms with a track record of dividend growth.