Follow Up To “The R Word”

Last week I shared The “R” Word.

The post was about trying to reframe a career in a sustainable way. In a way that aligns with how our idiosyncratic energies work. Aligned with the types of people we want to be around.

The largest payoff to this isn’t immediately obvious. It relieves the pressure to build a nest egg with an overengineered margin of error. Instead of relying on assumptions of things that are out of your control like returns and inflation you choose to rely on your human capital.

The key is that you will still be excited to employ your ability and the returns that come from being a willing perma-learner. You won’t have a strong desire to stop working since you chose a stroll that forgives you for meandering instead of a sprint. A sprint taxes you not just physically, but mentally, by making you think there’s only one way to win. Racing is insidiously expensive because it directs your gaze to a finish line. A bizarre approach to life, since tomorrow is never guaranteed.

The post led to many responses (it’s the most reactions I’ve gotten from a post, especially as a percentage of total views). Many of you are thinking deeply about the same topic. I’ve had a few young people respond. I am impressed at how deliberate they are about their long-term strategy. I was never that mature. Unsurprisingly, most of the responses came from finance/trading folks of similar age as me. Many extremely financially successful or downright rich. Some of them have been sick of their profession for years but in the absence of a roadmap can’t pry themselves away from stacking more chips.

I keep thinking about this. I keep coming back to a half-baked thought but I’ll blurt it out and you can finish it in your own oven. It could be a wasteful or irresponsible thought. Or it can unlock more thoughts and break inertia. I take zero responsibility, blame, or credit for what you do with it.

You will never walk away from money without a reason. But money is not fungible with risk. Actually it’s a risk-absorber. For many, the feeling of a life well-lived requires risk. If you accumulated more money than you need, you have sterilized a lot of risk. And you’ve sterilized the feeling of being alive. There are many types of risky pursuits. Some are fun but not meaningful. Some are meaningful but not fun. And everything in between.

Before making any changes to your life think about:

• The size of risk you need to feel engaged
• The nature of the risk you need (where is it on the fun/meaningful spectrum?)  

With the answers to these questions, you will know whether you just need a new hobby…or if you need “a man to come through the door with a gun”.

Finally, I’ll point you to 2 terrific related posts that have lingered for me.

• The Path (5 min read)
  Chris Wong

  Excerpt with my emphasis:

  For me, The Path started when I began my career in finance in 2002. Actually, I’ve probably been on The Path even longer, since middle school. Get good grades, get on the honors track, do extracurriculars. Get into a good college. Get a good job. Get promoted. Get a better job. Get promoted. Get a better job. Get promoted.By the time I turned thirty, I had begun to question The Path.

  The real reasons were that the money was good and The Path was a siren’s call to a life of comfort. The money to me was security and optionality. But I wasn’t using the optionality to do anything and because I had already stopped spending money on things I didn’t enjoy, I had a degree of financial security. Why be inauthentic to myself in order to pursue goals that didn’t interest me? In finance, the answer to the interview question “Why do you want this job?” is a dirty open secret. You are not allowed to say money. Even though that is everyone’s real answer. You must make up an answer to prove that you are not a masochistic psychopath. I couldn’t lie anymore. The only reason to stay in this job was money, but to me cash was the applause of Performance Art and I would rather put on my own show in an empty theater.

• Speculation: A Game You Can’t Win (More To That)
  Lawrence Yeo

  Risk aversion is the idea that a loss of X hurts more than the joy of winning X. That means the profession of investing has an emotional volatility drain that wears us down. This short post will similarly resonate with traders. If you are not a trader and it resonates, I’d suggest you are misallocating your time.

  Excerpt from Lawrence’s post:

  …financial freedom isn’t about money, it’s about attention. The less you have to think about money, the more free you actually are. Speculation is the antithesis of that statement.

  Read the whole post here.