Looking for advice from those further along than I.

Early 30s Couple with 1 baby. ~2M liquid. ~500k HHI.

Should I take a step back to a ~300k/year exit or continue to grind up to MD (800k+).

Mathematically I should continue to MD, because number bigger = good, but unsure if the ending point of $10M+ is a different endpoint than $5M and the lifestyle will be worse than the exit from a balance standpoint. Looking for advice on trade off.

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Here is my two cents and take it how you will. The cost of having a family the traditional way is more expensive than it was when we were kids. Parents who made $250k HHI could comfortably send their kids to private schools and college debt free, afford an upper middle class class home, save for retirement, and could probably even have time set aside for family. Today, that just isn’t the case. We want to be able to have time for our kids and give our families the life they deserve, but today going the traditional route will come at a cost. So if your question stems from grinding = takes time away from family, but income = high resources, that’s basically the crux here. So it highly depends on the life you want to provide and what you are willing to sacrifice to provide it. It might mean spending less time with family to do so. If you choose to go the MD route, make sure you are at peace with yourself as to why you are doing it. My dad wasn’t around much because he was a surgeon. But we had a great life because of the sacrifices he made everyday. And I intend not to squander it moving forward. Hope this helps with your decision making process.

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I am grappling with this now except my kids are 2 and 3 and I’ve been an MD for 3 years. But we’re at over $5m now and I don’t care about the next $5m and just want time with my kids now. Life is short and precious. Plan is to find a more flexible job in the next 6 months or just quit the workforce at that point as my spouse wants to continue working. The only way I would consider leaving is if I have complete (barring hyperinflation) financial security and trust in my partner. We have 1 pot for everything. I would also put a fence around certain pools of funds, e.g., my 401k and my kids’ 529s are fully funded. The only concern is if my spouse becomes unemployed we would have to tighten our belts, but it’s doable. On top of that, I think it’s important for kids to see you pursue your dreams and have joy in your career. I wonder about the example I set for my children. Sometimes I still love it but lately it’s been more negativity and bad days. So it’s time to move on, at least for me. Basically, once you feel comfortable that you’ve reached a decent next egg, it’s not about maximizing dollars anymore. It’s about optimizing life.

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I don’t feel unfinished at all. If anything I feel like I’ve stayed a bit too long because I haven’t solidified my next steps and inertia. After years of hustling for the next bonus, next raise, next win, next promotion, I think I’ve given too much of my life to my job and career and treated it as an end in itself rather than a means to an end. If I died tomorrow I would regret it. Ask yourself the same. It’s all a sunk cost.

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Grind up and retire at 45

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What field are you in where the both of you combined are making 500,000 while being your early 30s 😭

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By all means

How did you get 2M liquid in early 30s? Honest question.

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High incomes and low expenses with market index funds. Nothing crazy like crypto or an inheritance

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Model your time to FI and differential consumption spending (if any) on each path. Think carefully about the lifestyle impact of each path for the period you are working. Boil it down to explicit statements on each side. Then you will be in a position to mull it.

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That might be an answer by itself. :)

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My son is 4 years old. Our HHI and NW is roughly similar (-$1ish mil). I’m on a sabbatical and love SAHM life. It’s been amazing for my son and husband. I am starting up a side business in my spare time which I’m not sure if it’ll end up becoming anything but it’ll give me joy. I am planning to quiet quit and/or find part time 1099 work when I go back.

Maybe do a trial and figure out if SAH life is ideal for you first?

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I don't think the grind to MD level is worth it - especially with a 2 income household. More stress, more hours to maybe shift retirement by a few years.

You could probably retire mid 40s on your current path if you wanted to.

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Will you continue with the same lifestyle or will there be creep?

PE1, helpful. To your point, even scaling back would leave us at 300k/year HHI, which is (statistically) more than enough to raise a couple of kids.

Really appreciate the perspective that if you redid it you’d scale back earlier.

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I would grind up but I understand for sure that 10 or 12 million may not be very different than half that. This would be a matter of preference

Grind up and get spouse to stay home.

Agree with doing a personnel long term model on how the scenarios look. There are a lot of rules of thumb and generic bits of advice that don’t translate well into high earner / high intensity careers. Would also suggest considering going for MD but trying to manage work life. Delegate and manage responsibilities. You can always leave that job later.

I was in a similar boat as you 5 years ago and took a step back. Best decision I made. Spend a lot of time with my kids as I work remote now, work 40 hours a week, have time for hobbies, my time off is actually time off. Not to say you can’t do some of this in consulting but I could not. Not a single regret!

I would just suggest don’t look at binary 5M vs 10M

7.5M is a huge differentiator vs 5M but very
Similar to 10m etc so build a bottom up annual budget
And multiply by 33 to account for health care , some taxes and a SWR of 3.5 % or so that is your number

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