43-year-old burnt out Singapore man considers ‘stepping down’ to a more manageable job after paying off HDB

SINGAPORE: A 43-year-old Singaporean man said he is considering “stepping down” into a lower-responsibility job with better hours after finally paying off his Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat after 11 years, as working in finance has left him burnt out and increasingly uncertain about the future of his job.

With artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly advancing, he said, “I suspect my job will be eliminated in a few years. I am actively using Claude for work and I can see how it will eventually replace me entirely.”

Although not as crippling as the burnout he felt at 33, which pushed him to pivot into his current work from a former tax consultant role, he said he is now wondering if others who have gone through something similar have taken the same path.

He shared on r/singaporefi that with just him and his wife, who currently works as a childcare teacher, no kids, they have about S$80,000 in emergency cash savings and a combined Central Provident Fund (CPF) balance of about S$240,000 after using a large portion of it to clear their HDB loan.

He also has around S$250,000 in stocks, a mix of income and growth investments, as well as an overseas investment property with about S$150,000 in equity.

While he’s not planning on quitting working altogether, he wondered if “just socking up another S$250,000 in VRWA (a popular exchange-traded fund (ETF) used by investors for broad, global stock market exposure) over the next three to four years and then calling it a day” would make sense.

In response, some commenters said what he was describing was similar to “CoastFIRE”, where one builds up enough investments earlier in life so their portfolio can grow into a comfortable retirement fund without needing further contributions, while shifting into a lower-stress, lower-pay job, just enough to cover one’s expenses.

Another added that CoastFIRE tends to happen naturally with retrenchment anyway, and in the late 40s and 50s, as in these stages of life, “you just can’t find the same high pay job back.”

A third advised that to people not planning kids, reaching the Enhanced Retirement Sum (ERS), the maximum amount of savings CPF members aged 55 and above can top up their Retirement Accounts (RA) to receive higher monthly payouts, could be enough.

However, other commenters took a different view, with one saying that with AI, it may be better to “step up” rather than step down, arguing that lower-level roles could be more easily automated and replaced.

The post author, however, reiterated that his goal was to “live a less stressful life” and that “stepping up” just defeats the purpose.

One commenter who also worked in finance and experienced burnout himself also reminded that burnout needs to be addressed, as it can “bleed into relationships.”

In other news, a 27-year-old man who was thinking of quitting after working for just two weeks, as he found his job “very dry”, was advised by netizens to hang on until another opportunity drops. /TISG

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