Re:Ask HN: Quitting a well paid job
by mark_l_watson on Friday March 09, 2012 @09:47AM
(#3684226)
+1 for giving him very good advice. If it were 10 years to economic independence, the advice would be different, but two years is worth it. My wife and I stuck out corporate jobs just long enough to have very long term financial security (with a modest lifestyle) and the flexibility of being able to do (mostly) just what you want is well worth it.
Working a few extra years to get a 1/2 million dollar sports car: NOT worth it!
Working a few extra years to get flexibility and independence: worth it!
As a guy that walked from a similar situation (next in line for CTO of a fortune 100). I would say stick out the two years. While the market is exciting right now, and yes my life has been exciting since I walked, there are times where I could have used that money. If you are two years out I would grin and bear it for that time, it will put you in a far better position when the time comes to pursue your own thing. HN and other sites can be a filtered bubble where only the success get's echoed. But the overwhelming odds are that any venture you embark on will fail. Failing is a lot easier if you have a bank account to fall back on. If I had it to do over, I would have built up my cushion a few years and then embarked on my own.