I followed the classic finance path for 14 years, top school + IB + PE + HF. Currently mid to late 30s, partner at a medium sized HF, net worth around $15m, income between $2-5m in the past few years. Married, stay-at-home wife and two kids.
Recently, I’ve been thinking of changing the direction of my work and life. Several factors: 1) work is feeling increasingly stressful, 2) I like investing but “managing volatility” isn’t super fun, 3) I have achieved financial freedom (not a big spender) and would love to do something with more purpose, 4) Thinking of moving back to continental Europe where my wife is from.
I look forward to more free personal time. At the same time, I do worry about falling into a hole if I stop this intense grinding that I have been engaged in basically since childhood because so far that has been my personal identity. I also ask myself whether I should shoot for a higher net worth target ($30, 50, 100) so I could have more impact just investing my own wealth. Of course I also know that there will never be an “enough.”
I would love to hear from you (especially older folks who made the transition but also younger folks) what you think. I welcome all perspectives. Currently I haven’t really figured out exactly what else I would do but could envision startups, non-profits, writing or even taking a long break for introspection. I especially welcome stories of people who have left the rat race - how do you feel about your decision and would you recommend it?
Thank you.
Know someone who was in the same position as you, maybe a few years older and a bit wealthier, but they left the HF world to become an environmental activist and write. Have enormous respect for this person for leaving behind a near term fortune but at a certain point you are just “comparing toys” and unless you love the game and must be in the markets, you should go do dabble in what you want. At that age you are relatively young and healthy, still have energy to make things happen but if you wait for $50m at 50 those things might not be true.
Ah yes the classic multi-millionaire who happily spent 3 decades profiting off of capitalism is now an "environmental activist"
You can be supportive of capitalism and still be concerned about the environment…
Am an idiot for not understanding what this guy is saying? Why does it have so many likes? Is he basically trying to explain that being an owner and building wealth through growing equity is different than being income based- isn’t that obvious?
Bro ripped a bong hit and went to town lol
Thank god I’m not alone, I have no idea what the fuck this guy just tried to articulate. Reads like a paragraph written by shitty AI
post this on reddit at r/fatfire they give great advice and will have more perspective than here
Personally I would buy a house with a beach view (somewhere along the Mediterranean coast since you said Europe), replace my entire wardrobe with linen clothes and float around in a pool with a steady supply of margaritas for the next couple years.
Sincerely,
An Alcoholic
3 angles you could take this:
Have a mentor that was in the hedge fund industry and left to pursue entrepreneurship. Think the guy could have ended up a billionaire if he stayed, but his philosophy was “what’s the point?” You only get one life and being a hundred millionaire and then taking on individual projects and business ventures is way more fulfilling than just “making the market more efficient” his whole life which even he admits is kinda bs. If you ever had some desire to learn a skill or pursue an entrepreneurial endeavor or change policy, you have earned that right with your passive income. The world is now your oyster and you can switch the model of working to live to working purely for enjoyment and fulfillment. That said, if you take the entrepreneurial path, you leave the game and it can be hard to go back also the stress of being “the guy” and not having a system of competent individuals around you can be frustrating. You need to be honest with yourself about what your relationship to your current role is and what you wish to get out of work and life that you currently feel is missing.