EutecticPoint's Search for Meaning

Where are you and where are you going?
Post Reply
EutecticPoint
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu May 13, 2021 8:48 am

EutecticPoint's Search for Meaning

Post by EutecticPoint »

Hello,

I have been a long time lurker and thoroughly enjoyed Jacob's book, which helped change my relationship with money.

If you haven't guessed it by the title, I am definitely an INTP which means I aggressively search for meaning in everything I do. I recently completed a Masters in Materials Science that was paid for by my employer, so I am committed to my current job for the next two years (June 2023). Once my masters was completed, I had hoped to do more interesting work, but with recent layoffs and changes to management, it feels like I am working for a completely different company and doing any kind of research seems impossible.

I am an engineer in a very specific manufacturing field in the Upper Midwest with over ten years experience. I enjoy simulating manufacturing processes, which was the topic of my thesis, but I am currently unable to use these skills at work. I understand this forum is about retirement and very much against careerism, but I enjoy aspects of my work and really need my actions to have meaning. I care more about doing interesting work than how much money I will make. It would be feasible for me to do some simulations or research on my own but it would never be applied to anything. I need to decide what to do in the next two years and want to use money as tool to achieve those goals. Additionally sometime in the future, I would like to have a mortgage free house to help reduce expenses.

Options in Two Years:
1. Find a job in a similar manufacturing plant doing simulation work full time.
2. Get into a PhD program and try to do research full time.
3. Find a relatively easy job and try to find meaning in my free time.
-Financially, this is probably the best option.
4. Work towards Masters in Data Science in the next two years and find another job.
-The university I just graduated from has an online Masters in Data Science, and I would most likely have all the electives completed.
-Outside of simulations, I enjoy data science and regularly use R programming language at work. Additionally, I am thinking about
learning Python which I could use for Data Science and simulating Fluid Dynamics.

Additional information:

I am 37 and single with no dependents. Aside from my two year commitment to work, I have no debts. Currently, I live in a rural area within a two hour drive of most of my family and friends, so I could happily stay within my current geographic region. If I wanted to get a PhD, I would have to move to a much larger city which would be huge change for me. I really do not enjoy driving, so regularly driving in a big city would be terrible.

Even though I am not very good (1000-1100 USCF), I really like playing chess, which I haven't been able to play the last three years because of school and work. I would like to study chess more and play some in-person local tournaments (maybe once a month), which would probably cost $100-$300 per tournament depending on if I needed to stay in a hotel.

Current Assets:

401K: 65K (work matches 3% if I put in 6%)
Traditional IRA: 12K
Paid off Car: 2K (I drive 10 miles for work every day. Plan on at least 2 more years of use)
Savings for Next Car: 8K
IBonds: 25K (emergency fund, potential down payment for a house)

Total: $112, 000 (or 6.04x Current Expenses)

Monthly Costs:

Net Take Home: 2,400

Rent: 485 (Includes Covered parking spot and utilities)
Cell Phone: 60
Internet: 60
Netflix/Amazon: 20
Prescriptions: 20
Charity: 200 (This is very important to me.)
Food/Gas: 500 (I need to track this more. This is my weakest point.)
Misc: 200 (I buy too many books. I have to start using the library system.)
Total Expenses: 1545

After Expenses: 855 (This money is used to buy Ibonds, CDs, and max IRA)

I am hoping that tracking my expenses will help me save more and reduce how much I need to save. To be effective at saving, I really have to automate it as much as possible. Currently, I am putting 13% of my pay into my 401K, maxing my IRA (already reached it for 2021), and buying 10K in electronic IBonds (Mid-November).

In terms of investing, I am most influenced by Zvi Bodie and Mandelbrot, which makes me very risk averse and not a believer in an efficient market. I aim for my "Needs" to represent 90% of my investing and be in very secure assets like TIPS or IBonds. The remaining 10% is put in something risky which represents my wants. I plan on working in some way or another as long as I can, which could mean some type of consulting later in life.

If I ever did decide to buy a house, I would plan on taking 10k from my IRA for the down payment. If I did decide to get a PhD, I would use my IRA (+Rollover 401k) and ibonds to help cover whatever were the remaining educational expenses.

I appreciate all of your feedback.

Thanks,

EutecticPoint
Last edited by EutecticPoint on Wed May 26, 2021 8:59 am, edited 3 times in total.

User avatar
mountainFrugal
Posts: 1125
Joined: Fri May 07, 2021 2:26 pm

Re: EutecticPoint's Search for Meaning

Post by mountainFrugal »

Welcome @EutecticPoint!

User avatar
Jean
Posts: 1890
Joined: Fri Dec 13, 2013 8:49 am
Location: Switzterland

Re: EutecticPoint's Search for Meaning

Post by Jean »

Welcome fellow intp material science master holder.

EutecticPoint
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu May 13, 2021 8:48 am

Re: EutecticPoint's Search for Meaning

Post by EutecticPoint »

@mountainFrugal and @Jean Thanks for the warm welcome.

I have been going over a lot of the older threads.

I think a goal more inline with ERE philosophy would be to get small apartment downtime in the small city where most of my friends and family live. Then try to get a job within walking distance of the apartment. Most everything would also be within walking distance including the local chess club, and I could probably stop worrying about having a car. I could spend the next two years developing hobbies that have potential to become income streams someday.

EutecticPoint
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu May 13, 2021 8:48 am

Re: EutecticPoint's Search for Meaning

Post by EutecticPoint »

In the next two years, I am going to work towards the goal of getting a low stress job, maybe as a data analyst, and studio apartment in the small city where most of my friends/family leave. I asked some of my friends about it; they told me of a couple companies with good work-life balance. Afterwards, I'll work towards getting to the point of a part time job or no job with multiple side incomes.

Part of the reason, I put money into my retirement accounts and am interested in buying a house is that I am worried about bankruptcy risk especially medical bankruptcy. My mother died young after a long illness, which also bankrupted my father. There is no way my parents could have saved enough to cover the medical bills, and my father was a government employee so his insurance was good. I really do not like the idea of owning a house but see it more as an asset protected from bankruptcy.

User avatar
mountainFrugal
Posts: 1125
Joined: Fri May 07, 2021 2:26 pm

Re: EutecticPoint's Search for Meaning

Post by mountainFrugal »

There are a bunch of online resources, but one company you might check out is https://lambdaschool.com/. There business model is aligned with the student. You can pay outright, or you can pay a portion of your starting salary. They want you to get a job after doing their intensive classes and help with recruiting. They are well respected within the data science tech community. If you want to work as an data scientist, you can work just about anywhere. No need to go into an office.

EutecticPoint
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu May 13, 2021 8:48 am

Re: EutecticPoint's Search for Meaning

Post by EutecticPoint »

@mountainFrugal Thanks, I'll look into it

EutecticPoint
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu May 13, 2021 8:48 am

Re: EutecticPoint's Search for Meaning

Post by EutecticPoint »

I have been rereading Jacob's book. I am still acting like a "salaryman" just thinking about changing specializations. Designing manufacturing tools and running simulations is an extremely narrow specializations with probably less than 500 manufacturing plants specific to my field in the USA.

I need start thinking more like a "renaissance man", which frankly scares the crap out of me. My brain is just telling me that it will be way too risky because it is easier depending on a single employer to take care of everything.

I have always been more of the jack-of-all trades type, but when I started on my masters I had to completely focus on school and work. Previously, I had a lot more hobbies including chess, painting, drawing, printmaking, knitting/weaving, and R programming. I would never call myself great at any of these, but I could focus on developing some of these to at least make some amount of money which would put more slack in the system.

In addition to hobbies, I could get a part time job to develop more skills like a part-time cook or just a job I would enjoy like working at a library. Also, I believe with a masters degree I could potentially teach a class at a local community college. If I learn more about investing, I could potentially make a small mount of money each month as well.

The numbers are just rough estimates but I think it would similar to the two following figures. I was briefly furloughed last year, so I definitely understand my current situation is very fragile and tightly coupled to a single employer.

Image

Image
Last edited by EutecticPoint on Wed May 26, 2021 6:32 pm, edited 3 times in total.

User avatar
mountainFrugal
Posts: 1125
Joined: Fri May 07, 2021 2:26 pm

Re: EutecticPoint's Search for Meaning

Post by mountainFrugal »

I really like these diagrams! Not that these are exact numbers, but what I think that you underestimate is how much you might earn per hour doing freelance R (or Python) work. Either way, excellent visualizations to think about the mechanics of how these things work.

EutecticPoint
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu May 13, 2021 8:48 am

Re: EutecticPoint's Search for Meaning

Post by EutecticPoint »

@mountainFrugal Thanks!

The health insurance part really scares me; I know COBRA for a single person is roughly $600 in my state. I am currently paying 20% of the cost while my employer pays 80%, but I really never notice the cost because it is taken out before I am paid. In the next two years, I can get in better shape and look at high deductible plans.

The "businessman" perspective makes a lot of sense to me because I work for a company owned by a management company that controls several diverse sister companies. Every year at least one sister company will do poorly but the management company will always have some amount of money coming in for the other companies. I need to think of separate income streams as individual companies. With multiple income sources, I will become more antifragile even if I make less income overall.

In my current job, we are eligible for yearly bonuses and raises, but roughly a third of the years, there is nothing. With the salaryman mindset, my only option is quit or make some kind of ultimatum, but with multiple income streams I could just choose to drop one income stream and focus on something more profitable. I should see my current job as a way to develop new skills which I can sell in the future.

Post Reply