[USER]

I recently got let go from my job. I’m 33 years old with a net worth of $1,104,322 (down $41k in the last 30 days).

My FIRE goal is/was $1.25M-1.5M.

Next year in the fall I’m hoping to secure a part time job (through nepotism) that will pay me ~40-45k annually.
Do I need to get a new job now?

(I have high anxiety and am now medicated for the stress of my last job)

Does anyone have a good financial counselor or fee based advisor that can help me understand my options?
Additional Context:

Monthly expenses: $4,400/mo without health insurance, so probably $5k with insurance

Emergency Fund/Cash Reserves:
7.5 months in a HYSA (a portion of this will come from my severance package)

Liquid Portfolio: I have a large portion of my net worth in my brokerage and some in a Roth IRA. And a rental property that nets $400/month.

Family Situation: I do not have any kids or pets. I do have a partner with a full time job.

Health Insurance: My former employer is paying for full health insurance for the next 4 months, then I will go on ACA.

I probably will not qualify for Obamacare due to the amount of money I’ve earned this year.

[Noa]

In your shoes, I wouldn’t. I’d probably travel to LCOL areas for a year until next job, and see how my portfolio evolves in the next year.

[Suzann]

Thank the universe for giving you a paid vacation (unemployment) & take care of your health.

[Amethyst]

$4,400 is pretty high for expenses. I live in a high-moderate cost of living area and mine are around $1,000 less than that.

Is there any way you can bring down your expenses, which would allow you to live more comfortably (ironically) on what you already have?

[Ron]

When you are giving your net worth does that include any home equity?
If I were in your shoes, honestly, I’d probably secure or eliminate all my expenses in the US, take off and travel/live internationally.

You’d need to pay someone to manage your property.

If you own a home that you are living in now, you’d have to rent it out.

With $2000/mo in spending you could have adventures in 75% of the countries in the world.

[Sarah]

I would apply for unemployment and look casually for the perfect job, and take it if it turns up.

Otherwise, I’d just focus on self-care for now until your other job opens up next year.

You have enough saved to take it easy for a while.

[Amy]

ACA is Obamacare. What you may not qualify for is the ACA subsidies. That said, if you aren’t going to qualify for ACA subsidies for 2025, I would suggest looking at the cost of going on COBRA for the rest of 2025, as it may be less expensive than ACA without subsidies, especially when you consider having to start over on a new deductible.

You may also want to look at whether your partner’s coverage will cover domestic partners, and what the cost of adding you to their coverage would be.

(I will point out that if your partner has self-only HDHP coverage and adds you, so that you both have family coverage, you will both be able to make HSA family contributions for the time you have that coverage.)

[Jay]

You are in a wonderful spot overall thanks to your decisions of chasing fi. You are way beyond coast fi.

At this point if you have anxiety-it sounds like an entry level job would be enough to pay your annual as l expenses as well for your health insurance if you wanted it. Like you can explore other jobs.

Even McDonald’s, Starbucks, target, Publix, post office, hospitality, bartender etc… definitely doesn’t have to be a forever job that you line up.

Just something to pay the bills and get insurance. You can always get into something different later.

you have done a wonderful job having a high income/low expense and most people wouldn’t be able to handle this situation you are in. Be proud of yourself.

(Not saying any of this is easy)

[Brendan]

Sorry to hear about the high stress & job loss. The good news is you’re in a great position to prioritize yourself & your mental health and wellbeing for a bit!

– You could already be firmly in CoastFI territory, provided enough of your net worth is liquid & accessible to you that it could cover your expenses (not tied up in home equity, 401(k), etc.)

Finding a low-stress job that covers your current lifestyle without worrying about further savings/retirement contributions while your nest egg grows could have you at your FIRE number within 5 years.

– You could likely fund a gap year for yourself traveling, taking time off to reflect & recalibrate what you want the next chapter(s) of your life to look like, exploring hobbies & passions, etc.

Even if it cost you $100k, you’d still have $1M left in your nest egg and be in great shape to CoastFI when you’re ready to get back to the grind.

– The part-time job you’re eyeing for next year could stack nicely with either of these ideas. So, what you do until then is really up to you!

The two big things are (as others have said) health insurance–make sure you have a plan for this while not working, and (as I mentioned above, but it bears repeating) making sure you have enough of your net worth somewhere you can access it over the next 2-3 decades if you get to a point where you’re ready to retire/enter draw down before you can start accessing traditional retirement accounts.

[Audrey]

Apply for unemployment. Do you have liquid savings that you can use to supplement unemployment?

[Natalia]

Apply for unemployment right away. And apply for Health insurance through health exchange (ACA).

If you didn’t earn a lot of money this year yet, you may qualify for Medicaid.

[Bryan]

First – congrats! You freaking did it!
Second – you could take a part time job just so you don’t have to draw down (as much), especially in a down market.

Look for something that you enjoy and is low stress.

The beauty of the math is that even a little income replaces thousands of dollars needed in a nest egg.

Likely, your at barista FI which basically means you can work a chill, lower income job and supplement with your investments.

$40k job is hardly nepotism in my book.

It needs to be undeserved and over paid for my definition. Don’t degrade your value just because you know the owner.

[Keith]

You’re missing some key details to get helpful feedback. A couple of critical things would be:

1. What do your monthly expenses cost?

2. How many months of cash reserves do you have?

3. Do you have the ability to easily liquidate other assets if you needed more cash before you get to the Fall?

[Shannon]

Hi anon! I think you can ride out unemployment for the next 6 months. Recently had a similar situation, happy to chat if you ever want to DM…

I’m 6 weeks in to freedom and loving it

[Caroline]

Ask your partner to check with her/his HR resources about requirements to be considered a “domestic partner” for purposes of her/his health insurance.

If you qualify, then it may be easier (and cheaper) if you get health insurance coverage through that route

[Felicity]

I’d take a month off to reset and destress, use your EF. After that look for a job that won’t add to your anxiety, who cares if it’s not in your exact field as long as your bringing in enough to cover exspenses.

[Eric]

You have way more than I did at 33 and I was a single income. I took a sabbatical for a short time in 2018.

Decided to extend it by picking up small part time side gigs and cutting my expenses and selling some things.

I’m going on year 7 still on my sabbatical.

You should take a break. Also medicated for high stress job and anxiousness back then.

Totally get it.

[Preston]

Sorry to hear that. You’re 33, with a million net worth. You can take a break, for quite a while, if you want, and go back to work in a lot of different capacities down the road.

I’d take some time off, de-stress and get off the meds. Easier said than done.

Best of luck to you

[Tre]

1) No. Definitely file for unemployment if eligible – depending on the state you are in this should cover 30-50% of your expenses based on your FIRE number (excluding healthcare).

You should also look into if your state has a low income healthcare program and your eligibility.

While ACA healthcare is an option, they go off of annual income – my bonus pays out in Q1 so this would be unfavorable to me versus my planned annual spend in FIRE.

However, my state has state run low income healthcare, which is based on monthly income, with no asset test.

If yours has that as well, you could try to see if your eligible for that.

COBRA has a 60 day period after losing eligibility – so after confirming with HR your last day of medical coverage, you have some time to figure out what you want to do for healthcare.

[Kristin]

Take your unemployment and use this as an opportunity to decompress as a mini retirement.

I did 3 months after a job loss last year and it was very helpful to see exactly how the ACA insurance works (or doesn’t) and how much I actually need to live on.

Enjoy this time!

[Alex]

If you’re FI number is that close, you should be able to pretty easily pay your bills with that $45k job and maybe some interest from.

your investments for a year or two while the rest of your investments grow to your full FI number.

[Author]

Posts