Yep! Glad it all worked out for the best.

It’s just money at the end of the day. Fun to do néw things with one’s limited time.

Sam

Love this story Olaf. It’s scary taking risks and leaving high paying jobs, but it can lead to really cool opportunities. So glad it worked out for you and you’ve found something better than money (more time and happiness!!). Cheers to that!!

Soon after quitting, I had multiple part-time job offers come in doing exactly what I love: teaching finance.

Is it hard knowing I could be making large bonuses still? Yes. Do I regret it? No.

It sounds like you have found peace with your choice, as have I, and that is all we can ask for, isn’t it?

Cheers Joe :)

CONGRATS on reaching FI! What an awesome story and turnaround. Really proud of you for doing all the hard work and accomplishing things you couldn’t fathom earlier in life.

And thanks for encouraging others! Share your story far and wide — people out there need it :)

Hey AR! It really helped me writing all this stuff out. Reminds me that I am blessed with options in life, and taking responsibility for whatever direction I end up choosing, for better or worse.

Glad you are focussing on the now, and congrats on exiting when you did. I think it was a great move :)

There are always so many ways we could have made more money. And of course we all see them all in hindsight.

If I hadn’t left my CEO gig when I did, and hung on, perhaps I’d have saved enough to have mitigated any/all sequence of return risk. Or what about if I had made a few different decisions, I bet we could have sold our company for EVEN more money! I could go on and on.

But it is impossible to prevent the mind from wandering into this thought process. And like you say, you just gotta say shoulda, coulda, woulda.

The growth you have had the last few years from not working in that sales job is worth more in the long-run than any money. This is something that I need to remind myself as well.

Cheers!

If I had not graduated HS early and started college the year that I did and at the school that I did:
1) I would not have gotten a 4-year army scholarship – which lead to my
a) meeting my husband (now ex sadly) and having 2 wonderful girls and now 5 great grandchildren
b) having a military retirement pension.
c) If I had not gone in the military, I would never have earned my MBA in Management Information Systems and thus gone into the world of computers
d) I would not have traveled the far east and middle east.

2) If I had not gone earned my MBA,
a) I most likely would never have gotten to earning 6 figure income
b) I most likely would never have been on the computer anywhere as much which means I may have missed all the FIRE blogs and education I have received over the years

3) and all based on a single decision that sent me down this path, I doubt I would have been financially in the place where I get to choose to retire at the end of this year as a millionaire. Which even 10 years ago, I would never have been able to invision ever becoming one.

I want to thank the FIRE community for all the fantastic advice and encouragement over the years that kept me going and encouraged me to make a lot of changes in my attitudes which led to my financial changes.

I found DaveRamsey when I was 49 years old. He led me to get myself out of revolving CC debt.
This led me to actually have some money left over at the end of my pay periods and encouraged me to have an emergency fund.

Then I found the FIRE community via some of the DR people and my financial life truly changed.

I do not get to claim FIRE – but I do get to claim FI! I only found the FIRE community in my early 50s. So, while I don’t get to RE, I am retiring the end of this year at just barely 66years of age – and as a milliionaire.

So, I especially want to encourage those who are not young – that it really doesn’t matter how old or how young you are – today is the first day of the rest of your life and you can make changes and improve your life – if you just take that first step.