“I was like 10 years old when the previous recession started,” he said. “My sense is you might as well make the most of it and see what this moment has to offer.”
Jay Zigmont, founder of financial advisory service Live, Learn, Plan, said he’s seeing more clients aim for an approach he calls “FILE” — Financial Independence, Live Early. That contrasts with the popular “FIRE” movement, an acronym for Financial Independence, Retire Early.
FILE “means having enough financial independence that you can pick what you want to do rather than just do it for the money,” Zigmont said. “The bottom line is it is a search for joy and happiness rather than just a paycheck.”
Read more: US Job Jumpers Reconsider and Quit Again Months Later
Lifestyle Changes
For many Americans, the pandemic has fueled a sense that life is too short to get stuck is an unsatisfying job. Anita Garcia, a software engineer in Monterey Bay, California, faced the deaths of six relatives last year, and the lead developer on her team at work died of Covid. She knew she had to make a change, swapping her full-time role for a new part-time position.
Now, she works less than 30 hours a week for a state-funded program at California State University helping students break into the tech industry. Despite the risk of a recession, she has no regrets.
“I started asking myself, ‘If I were to pass away today or tomorrow, would I want to die in this role?’” she said. “And the answer was no.”
Heidi Dusek isn’t worried about a recession rattling her plans either. The 42-year-old from Wisconsin has decided to “downshift” her job as the executive director of a private family foundation.
Along with her husband and three kids, she’s driving their new RV to Alaska while working three days a week on a partial unpaid leave. She enjoys her work, but needed more flexibility.
She currently plans take all of 2023 off, with her husband resigning from his job as a teacher.
A potential recession “has us thinking a little bit differently about our budget,” Dusek said. But most of the funds for their year off are already stashed in a savings account.
“I don't want to look back on my life and think, I wish I would've,” she said.
--With assistance from Ryan Cavataro.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.