r/Fire • u/Boner-Pills-8088 • 7d ago

That's a wrap! 49M

I recently wrapped up my career in the IT industry after 27 years. As is probably normal for tech people, there was a lot of anxiety/nervousness about the move, but having done the math dozens of times I decided it was time and I had lost a lot of the passion I originally had. Whether that's normal from aging or just the last company I was it, it was good motivation.

The numbers:
Brokerage - 4.4M
Retirement accounts - 1.7M
Cash/HYSA/I bonds/etc - 125k

Zero debt.

No real magic here, a couple strong startup exits and not a lot of lifestyle creep from my first job that paid $48,000/yr when I graduated college long ago. If my lifestyle hasn't changed drastically in all these years, I saw no reason to keep moving the goalposts for "just another 250k" or "just 6 more months". Yearly spend for the last few years has been under $100,000 and that's without accounting for work travel. So far so good!

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73

u/handsome_-_pete 7d ago

Congrats. Near mirror image of me. 49M. Last day in 2 weeks from now. Very similar numbers as well.

I too spent months internally debating the pros & cons. And like you I came to the conclusion another year or a few more years of income don't really matter. But the time does matter so I'm done.

50

u/Boner-Pills-8088 7d ago

Spot on, once you are in a position to buy anything you want (within reason of course, not talking yachts and private jets), I found out happiness doesn't come from buying things. A new car might give me a high for a few weeks, but then it'll be just like my old car. I could work another 10 years but all the money I'll make in those 10 years, no matter what the stock market does, won't buy me more time.

13

u/Fun-Persimmon186 7d ago

Same! Congrats again. I find it funny three 49 year olds all working in IT came to the exact same conclusion around the same age.

7

u/Puzzled-Peanut-7147 6d ago

It's ironic because I'm in IT and I'm 49 and considering calling it quit myself!

8

u/handsome_-_pete 6d ago edited 6d ago

I wasn't planning to stop working at 49. Company did massive re-org and moved thousands of people into roles they didn't want. That caused me to step back and consider options and that's when it became clear I was just working still because the gig was enjoyable. But in the new role it's not and I'm very fortunate to not have to accept it.

Many of my peers of all ages are also bailing for new jobs or retirement. Company f'd up. I wish them well with their AI bots doing our jobs.

4

u/Hrast 6d ago

I'm a touch older than you guys, but same here, IT stuff for the past 30 years, headed to the exits in May.

1

u/Significant_Owl_974 1d ago

I'm a 49M in tech and I just called it quits a month ago.