I don't know about OP, but personally, I sold my house, moved to the third world, and retired in my mid '40s last year when it became clear I would never again a job making as much as I did in 2019. 2019: 325k. 2020: Laid off the day the Covid layoffs began. 2022: All salary ranges were below $150k.

I used to live this industry, but not enough to take a 55% pay cut and keep working 50-60 hour weeks. Fuck it.

The companies who have called me in the last 3 years have all been shitty crypto companies, half of which now bankrupt, so I decided 45 was a good day to buy a 16-unit apartment building in the Balkans become a rent seeking landlord.

> I used to live this industry, but not enough to take a 55% pay cut and keep working 50-60 hour weeks. Fuck it.

But there are companies out there that do not force you to work 50-60 hours/week. I'm not sure about your particular situation, but in general as I get more experienced, I tend to work less. For instance: I work as a regular employee, 40h/week (8h/day), but I put around 3h/day max. everyday. 3h/day of focused work is enough to get things done and say something in the daily standup of the following day. But yeah, pay cuts suck.

I think it's a lottery. You can be lucky and find good companies, or you can be unlucky and end up in toxic environments. Personally I was too trusting of teams who put their best foot forward in the interviews and are at best, misleading of the actual culture. It's a very abusive industry, especially working for start-ups.

I’d be interested to hear about your Balkans real estate investing if you’re up for a convo.