[mwerd]

I quit a high pay/low cost of living job to move to a high pay high cost of living job when I was young. The skills, connections, experience I got were great but eventually it was clear I wasn't on a path for long term happiness in that city. I then quit that high pay/high cost of living job to move to a low cost of living area. I bought a house, which was unattainable in hcol area. I ended up getting promoted to comparable pay after a few years. I am now planning to go from leader to individual contributor role soon. I have saved enough in retirement accounts to still retire early, but I'm not in a hurry because my partner wants to work another decade or so and generally be stable while we raise kids.

you might Google and read up on the concept of "coast fire", which is essentially front loading retirement savings then working lower paying jobs while you let your savings compound.

[charlie0]

Assuming the mythical black swan doesn't come in, drop returns 20% and stays that way for years, but yet, I'm too following this path. It's the best that can be done, black swans or not.