Engineer going rogue - headed for a simpler life.

[Mennoniteman]

Sounds like we could turn this into an engineering board pretty easily. I semi-retired at 41, I’d like to take credit but I recognize that good fortune, timing, some luck and the good lord all had as much to do with that as I did. That said, nothing was handed to me, aside from an education and a fantastic raising, Ive worked since age 10, slinging newspapers was my first job and never looked back. Snowracer, what worked for me was building a nut that I knew could support my family and my lifestyle first. Usually the hard part, but living well below your means can get a lot more people there. We seemed to have lost that ability mostly in the world of finance everything. Once that’s done, you have the freedom to check out of the corporate world if you choose to. Then find something that provides income, if it’s enough income that you’re not dipping into your nut for living expenses then that’s a really good feeling. It could be timber buying, running a woodmizer, plotting for others but I think that others have given some real good advice about turning something you enjoy into something you don’t. I don’t know anything about your chosen career, but I’d assume it’s pretty specialized and that with all the FDA compliance in a medical device manufacturing environment that you may find ample opportunities to consult and/or work on a contract basis short term. I have watched more than a couple of folks make that switch and make it work for them, usually making more and working less, though it’s a lot easier if you have a spouse that has insurance at her job. Watched a lot of SAP gurus do this. The obvious key is having a specific skillset that’s in demand. Could be pipeline welding, could be SAP either way I think it’d be preferable working 3 months in your old industry to make the same money as working 12 months in an outdoor related career. One ensures you have time to enjoy the outdoors, one potentially kills your enjoyment of the outdoors. The universal truth is that all of us have a limited time on earth, so whatever you do I hope it’s enjoyable and fruitful.


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Congratulations on your achievements. Very well written. I like taking advice from people that have actually already done whatever I am trying to do.

 

[MarkDarvin]

If you're looking for the next thing to unlock your passions and get your life back, start learning. Our biggest expenses in life, are life and taxes. The only way around them is to understand them, and pay for them with less and less labor. I'd recommend a pursuit of understanding taxes and the power of personal finance. I'm not talking about the free consumer advice either. I'm talking about cracking every single "widely held belief" out there, from the folly of tax deductions, interest, home ownership, electricity, debt, fees, mutual funds, bonds, etc.

I'd take the H&R Block tax class to get you in the game. After that, you'll be able to speak the language and teach yourself from there. Then start buying some old books and start reading. Books that are a few years old still have current info, but can be had for 99 cents plus shipping on Ebay. Here's a starter list and in the order they should be consumed.

Rich Dad Poor Dad
The Cashflow Quadrant
Other people's money
The richest man in babylon
Bank On Yourself

Lastly, start podcasting. Not Dave Ramsey. His advice is for kindergartners and is a gauranteed loser. If you want to defeat the rat race, start thinking. Check out the Choose FI podcast, and start with episode 21. Then choose as you find ones that interest you.

 

[MarkDarvin]

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[George]

Doing your own taxes for me is a bit like processing your own deer meat. Many times I've heard people say "at that price I can't afford to do it myself" where is I say "at that price I can't afford not to do it myself".

G

 

[Chainsaw]

Where are your cottages?

The cottages are located in the town of Sandy Creek NY (13545) directly on Sandy Pond which is a harbor to Lake Ontario on its' eastern end. Land wise it is 8.1 miles north of Salmon river and thirty miles south of Watertown. Our website will be updated soon to show only two cottages where now it shows three. The Tight Lines cottage is coming out of the rental program as we have completely taken it over for ourselves. Yippee!!!

www.lakeontariocottages.com

 

[THE LLC]

You can “Love” the country by living in it...I absolutely love being able to walk out of my door and being in big un-(high)fenced deer country where I can literally see anything at any time...

I was raised up when most of northeast Georgia was "country" (which it sure ain't now) and took that life for granted. Living here now, surrounded by libtards and yankees, I realize how good we had it, but don't want to ever take it for granted again.

 

[THE LLC]

The cottages are located in the town of Sandy Creek NY (13545) directly on Sandy Pond which is a harbor to Lake Ontario on its' eastern end. Land wise it is 8.1 miles north of Salmon river and thirty miles south of Watertown. Our website will be updated soon to show only two cottages where now it shows three. The Tight Lines cottage is coming out of the rental program as we have completely taken it over for ourselves. Yippee!!!

www.lakeontariocottages.com

Oh man, we might have to give you some business. We didn't get to come up there fishing last year because of my heart attack, but sure want to get back soon.

 

[j-bird]

Turning a hobby into a career is a mistake. It's a hobby because we spend lots of time doing it only because we enjoy it and we want to. Turning a hobby into a career instantly does two things; it turns the want to into a have to. And now our career is super busy at the exact time we used to do our hobby. Case in point, ask a Wildlife Conservation Officer how much time they have to go hunting?

My advice; save your money and become financially independent, then you can do food plots for fun all the time.

When my son was looking at going to college he wanted to go into wildlife management... I put him in touch with a CO and a state wildlife biologist. Both told him the same thing...go get an education in something you can make a ton of money at that you "like" to do. Then you can spend your free time and money doing all the hunting and fishing you want. Working in the wildlife world means your busy working when you would rather be out enjoying it. Also a lot of competition for those types of jobs and then tend to not pay well AND the educational requirements can be a huge financial burden as well. This my son is a mechanic. He loves it (because he likes cars)...but still has his weekends to hunt and fish if he wants. He still carries some debt from college...but nothing like he was looking at by getting a BS degree or even MS degree in a wildlife area... And he is where he wants to be location wise as well.

 

[snowracerh]

If you're looking for the next thing to unlock your passions and get your life back, start learning. Our biggest expenses in life, are life and taxes. The only way around them is to understand them, and pay for them with less and less labor. I'd recommend a pursuit of understanding taxes and the power of personal finance. I'm not talking about the free consumer advice either. I'm talking about cracking every single "widely held belief" out there, from the folly of tax deductions, interest, home ownership, electricity, debt, fees, mutual funds, bonds, etc.

I'd take the H&R Block tax class to get you in the game. After that, you'll be able to speak the language and teach yourself from there. Then start buying some old books and start reading. Books that are a few years old still have current info, but can be had for 99 cents plus shipping on Ebay. Here's a starter list and in the order they should be consumed.

Rich Dad Poor Dad
The Cashflow Quadrant
Other people's money
The richest man in babylon
Bank On Yourself

Lastly, start podcasting. Not Dave Ramsey. His advice is for kindergartners and is a gauranteed loser. If you want to defeat the rat race, start thinking. Check out the Choose FI podcast, and start with episode 21. Then choose as you find ones that interest you.

Thanks. If you had to start with one book on your list, which would it be? I have a good working knowledge of finance, taxes etc and do a decent job now managing money. Always looking for new ways to maximize - Im salaried, so I cant just put in more hours and get a few more bucks

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[snowracerh]

Another engineer here, I definitely dont' love my job (IT team lead over storage and virtualization) but it pays well and I have lots of freedom (flex-time, 3 hours a week of health and wellness, short easy commute etc) so I'm here until retirement or I'm taken off this planet. I'll retire at 57 with a nice 401K balance as well as my pension. Live simple and below your means as other have mentioned.

Same here. Im in good financial shape and dont hate my job, but dont want to regret missing an opportunity to do something I am more passionate about.

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[snowracerh]

Sounds like we could turn this into an engineering board pretty easily. I semi-retired at 41, I’d like to take credit but I recognize that good fortune, timing, some luck and the good lord all had as much to do with that as I did. That said, nothing was handed to me, aside from an education and a fantastic raising, Ive worked since age 10, slinging newspapers was my first job and never looked back. Snowracer, what worked for me was building a nut that I knew could support my family and my lifestyle first. Usually the hard part, but living well below your means can get a lot more people there. We seemed to have lost that ability mostly in the world of finance everything. Once that’s done, you have the freedom to check out of the corporate world if you choose to. Then find something that provides income, if it’s enough income that you’re not dipping into your nut for living expenses then that’s a really good feeling. It could be timber buying, running a woodmizer, plotting for others but I think that others have given some real good advice about turning something you enjoy into something you don’t. I don’t know anything about your chosen career, but I’d assume it’s pretty specialized and that with all the FDA compliance in a medical device manufacturing environment that you may find ample opportunities to consult and/or work on a contract basis short term. I have watched more than a couple of folks make that switch and make it work for them, usually making more and working less, though it’s a lot easier if you have a spouse that has insurance at her job. Watched a lot of SAP gurus do this. The obvious key is having a specific skillset that’s in demand. Could be pipeline welding, could be SAP either way I think it’d be preferable working 3 months in your old industry to make the same money as working 12 months in an outdoor related career. One ensures you have time to enjoy the outdoors, one potentially kills your enjoyment of the outdoors. The universal truth is that all of us have a limited time on earth, so whatever you do I hope it’s enjoyable and fruitful.


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Not suprised at the number of engineers on here. The strong drive for continual improvement and mastering the technical side of the world extends into their hobbies such as hunting and habitat. Its seems all Engineers I have met always will try to take things to a "higher level"

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[g squared 23]

I think engineers just love riding on their toy tractors. My FIL called his the “best investment he’s ever made”.


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[Stevieray]

I also was a manufacturing engineer in the medial industry for 33 years. I retired in December 2017 at age 60 with a pension to care for my wife who has a degenerative brain disease. I was pretty burned out with the medical engineering field and manufacturing. I say do want makes you happy, money is not everything. If I knew then what I know now I would have been a farmer/rancher instead of an engineer.

 

[Native Hunter]

I think engineers just love riding on their toy tractors. My FIL called his the “best investment he’s ever made”.

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[CAS_HNTR]

Bunches if engineering guys.....I'm a structural engineer (mostly bridges and heavy infrastructure). I enjoy it but can think of about 1 million other things I'd rather do for "fun". Dealing with deadlines and tight schedules and client hell sometimes drives me crazy, but I would be really hard pressed to quit considering the pay and age if my kids. Hope to push hard until about 50 (16 more years) and then back off hard!

 

[MarkDarvin]

Thanks. If you had to start with one book on your list, which would it be? I have a good working knowledge of finance, taxes etc and do a decent job now managing money. Always looking for new ways to maximize - Im salaried, so I cant just put in more hours and get a few more bucks

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Start at the top of that list. They're all easy reads. Even if you know some or most of it, you'll likely pick up something from each one.

 

[Triple C]

I've really enjoyed reading this thread guys. Only advice I'll offer for younger guys is that 60 will get here so much quicker than what you can realize. Save something early and often. I've been in the same field for 40 plus years and I've done it on my own and also the corporate side. Past 26 years has been on the corporate side where I had the opportunity to advance based on performance. It's been a really good ride for me, even though the stress level at certain periods was quite high. Along the way, I've had the opportunity to influence up n comers to advance their careers. The first thing I always observed was attendance and punctuality. Those that always showed up for work on Mondays and a few minutes early always caught my eye. Nothing frustrated me more than someone calling in sick on a Monday morning. If you work for someone else, you will most likely encounter periods where you simply don't like you job and hate Monday mornings. I've had plenty of Sunday afternoons where my wife thought I was in depression because I was thinking about all than had to be done the next morning. But...come Monday morning, I lived by this mantra and still do - Get up...Shut up...Suit up...And show up - ON TIME and with an inspiring attitude. The other thing that I try to do but don't always succeed at is to do a kind deed to stranger everyday. If you work for a company that you admire but are just going thru a blah blah period then perhaps you should just stay the course for at least another year and try to do more than what you are being paid to do. Other notice such things. You never know what events will transpire to cause opportunity to come your way.

 

[OkieKubota]

I've really enjoyed reading this thread guys. Only advice I'll offer for younger guys is that 60 will get here so much quicker than what you can realize. Save something early and often. I've been in the same field for 40 plus years and I've done it on my own and also the corporate side. Past 26 years has been on the corporate side where I had the opportunity to advance based on performance. It's been a really good ride for me, even though the stress level at certain periods was quite high. Along the way, I've had the opportunity to influence up n comers to advance their careers. The first thing I always observed was attendance and punctuality. Those that always showed up for work on Mondays and a few minutes early always caught my eye. Nothing frustrated me more than someone calling in sick on a Monday morning. If you work for someone else, you will most likely encounter periods where you simply don't like you job and hate Monday mornings. I've had plenty of Sunday afternoons where my wife thought I was in depression because I was thinking about all than had to be done the next morning. But...come Monday morning, I lived by this mantra and still do - Get up...Shut up...Suit up...And show up - ON TIME and with an inspiring attitude. The other thing that I try to do but don't always succeed at is to do a kind deed to stranger everyday. If you work for a company that you admire but are just going thru a blah blah period then perhaps you should just stay the course for at least another year and try to do more than what you are being paid to do. Other notice such things. You never know what events will transpire to cause opportunity to come your way.

Like, like like!

I called in 1 day in the past 3 years and it was because my mother had an emergency and was rushed to the hospital. I supervise several that have a “tell” that it has gotten to the point when I know they are going to call in...sometimes 3-4 days in advance...I always hire telling them I am a huge fan of punctuality and butts in seats ready to go when the clock strikes go time. I advance the ones who heed this and the rest hang where they are even though every 2 months I meet with them on goal setting measures and let them know where they would score at that moment if I was to grade them. I also ask them what I can do to help make them successful!

 

[Baker]

I've really enjoyed reading this thread guys. Only advice I'll offer for younger guys is that 60 will get here so much quicker than what you can realize. Save something early and often. I've been in the same field for 40 plus years and I've done it on my own and also the corporate side. Past 26 years has been on the corporate side where I had the opportunity to advance based on performance. It's been a really good ride for me, even though the stress level at certain periods was quite high. Along the way, I've had the opportunity to influence up n comers to advance their careers. The first thing I always observed was attendance and punctuality. Those that always showed up for work on Mondays and a few minutes early always caught my eye. Nothing frustrated me more than someone calling in sick on a Monday morning. If you work for someone else, you will most likely encounter periods where you simply don't like you job and hate Monday mornings. I've had plenty of Sunday afternoons where my wife thought I was in depression because I was thinking about all than had to be done the next morning. But...come Monday morning, I lived by this mantra and still do - Get up...Shut up...Suit up...And show up - ON TIME and with an inspiring attitude. The other thing that I try to do but don't always succeed at is to do a kind deed to stranger everyday. If you work for a company that you admire but are just going thru a blah blah period then perhaps you should just stay the course for at least another year and try to do more than what you are being paid to do. Other notice such things. You never know what events will transpire to cause opportunity to come your way.

I'm with Okie, great post !

 

[dogghr]

You guys do realize that type A personalities of which almost all of us on here are, strive on the demands of our job, and life?? Grab hold of the situation and embrace and make it yours. Success.