You Don’t Need Millions To Walk Away From Your Job

What would happen if I walked away from my current job? I have about $300,000 saved and invested. I have paid off all my student loans and bought my Portland condo in cash. My investments would continue to grow even if I stopped contributing to them. In 25 years my funds would be worth somewhere around $1.2 million in today’s dollars. That’s plenty of money to live on once I hit a traditional retirement age.

My minimum overhead to live in Portland and keep my condo is somewhere around $800/mo. This covers groceries, HOA dues, property taxes, electricity and miscellaneous. I could still enjoy free WiFi at cafe’s and the library. I could go to free events in town and hang out with friends. I can go hiking outdoors and ride my bike wherever I like.

In order to have a more realistic lifestyle I would need to purchase health insurance and budget some money towards entertainment. With an extra $500/mo I could easily cover those 2 categories. That brings my total to $1,300/mo.

I have enough cash savings to carry me through 2 years with the expenses above. I could put my medical license on hold and pay practically nothing for the next few years. However, I could also pick up 1 shift a month and make $1,000 gross per shift. After personal exemptions and standard deductions I would owe almost $0 in taxes.

What if I wanted to leave the country and live with overseas family? Or stay in cheap hostels? I could live on less than $800/mo and I would probably rent my condo out and net $500/mo which I could use for overseas travel and living accommodations.

What if I wanted to volunteer with an international group? I could once again either rent out my place or leave it as-is, drop my minimum expenses down to less than $400/mo. Plenty of organizations will pay for your accommodations, basic healthcare and your food. And my investments would continue to grow back home in the US.

The gist of this post is that you don’t need several million dollars to walk away from your job. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that I could be financially independent with the current $300k that I have invested but I certainly could throw my 2 middle fingers up and tell my job to suck it.

How close are you to being able to walk away from your job – if you wanted to?