"Dear OK, I want to spend a year or two doing "dad" stuff with the kids, fixing up the house, actually going to the gym, and that kind of thing. I have no plan on what kind of work I'll eventually stumble into later, but the intention is it won't be in my current field. I'm pretty certain I'm not nuts, but with any big decision like this it's nice to have additional viewpoints."
"Assuming no complete market meltdowns, we'll have about $1 million in retirement and $1.3 million net worth. My wife (also 44) will keep working and is on track to receive a pension in retirement that would cover about half our expected expenses. We can pare back our current expenses to match her income, but it will mean zero additional savings for the two kids' college funds (we have about $25,000 total now), plus lots of little lifestyle changes. I'll presumably eventually wind up with some kind of job one or two years later, but nothing approaching my current income. Am I setting us up to screw up the ability to retire? For the kids to launch without crushing debt? The math says it's fine but the fear of scarcity makes a lot of noise."
"You're asking permission, but the math speaks for itself. The real issue seems to be that fear of scarcity you mention. So the real question is, what can you do to make things less scary-and scarce?"
The writer works in a highly specialized, highly compensated field and plans to leave next year to spend one to two years on family, home projects, and fitness. Retirement assets total about $1 million and net worth about $1.3 million. The spouse will continue working and is likely to receive a pension that would cover about half expected retirement expenses. Reducing household spending to the spouse's income would stop additional college savings (current total about $25,000) and require many lifestyle changes. Future employment is expected at far lower income, and fear of scarcity is the main emotional barrier.
Read at Slate Magazine
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