I was having a conversation with a good friend (who is also a client) recently about the corporate climb and how the desire to continue up that ladder has become inversely proportional to net worth.
Like me, my friend is a former C-level executive who has transitioned out of the corporate world. We laughed about the scene in Succession when Connor and Tom are advising Cousin Greg on the perils of a $5m net worth:
“You can’t do anything with five, Greg. Five is a nightmare. Can’t retire. Not worth it to work. Poorest rich person person in America… The weakest strong man at the circus.”
We put aside the question of whether five million is enough to retire on. It really depends on your lifestyle.
The “Not worth it to work” part is what we talked about. This mid-million net worth is when many people suddenly have enough saved up to viably walk away from a corporate salary.
And when you have enough to walk away from the corporate climb you start asking yourself a lot of questions once the kids are down and you’ve caught up on Slow Horses.
It’s not just about running the numbers again and again to see if you have enough to step away and start that boutique consultancy or live your dream of running your own coffee shop plus wine bar.
The biggest questions that confront you are those relating to your identity.
If you’ve spent nearly two decades climbing a specific career ladder, it will look like an awfully long way back down when you’re ready get off. Whether you have $5m or $50m, you’ve merged a massive part of your identity with your career.
Questions like, Who am I if I’m not the “Global Chief Information Officer” of a respected advertising agency? What if I become the person important people used to call, but no longer do? What if these are the golden years of my career and I regret stepping away when I was at the top?
It’s these questions that prevent many people from making that much anticipated jump off the ladder.
Instead of confronting these questions head on, you delay by telling yourself “just one more year” or “just another $200k” to be extra sure I have what I need to support my post-corporate lifestyle.
I encountered all of these questions when I left my C-level position.
Running the numbers over and over again was really just a proxy for the bigger questions that face anyone leaving the corporate track to start a second act.
At the end of the day, the numbers in a spreadsheet are just a part of the decision to leave a corporate career. The real fears tie to who you are without the title. It’s the fear of the silence. It’s the realization that when you aren’t the one holding the multi-million dollar budget, the phone might stop ringing. That’s a structural shock most advisors aren’t equipped to help you navigate since they’ve never done it.
Here were a few things that I found helpful in giving me the confidence to finally make that leap:
- Something to run towards: If you’ve been entertaining notions of leaving the corporate world for a while, there’s a high probability you’re burnt out. You’ve likely spent years thinking about what you’re running away from—the back-to-back meetings on topics that no longer spark curiosity, the client that always seems to have urgent firedrills, etc. But if you don’t have a clear vision of what you’re running towards, then you’re just jumping into a black abyss.
- Someone to talk to: I found it helpful to talk to other people who had made this decision. Very few people know what it’s like walking away from a C-level title and a yearly salary multiples higher than the average retiree’s nest egg. At Kangpan & Co. we’re not just building your wealth, we’re creating a close-knit community. If you’d like to talk to other former executives and senior leaders who have left the corporate world we can easily arrange that.
- An income-centric financial strategy: When I gave my notice, I didn’t want to rely on spending down a generic 60/40 portfolio that was subject to the whims of the market. I built a specific income-centric strategy designed to replace a steady paycheck. It turned my portfolio from a static number on a screen into a functional cashflow to support my next chapter. Some of you have asked about this income strategy in various conversations so I’ll write more about this in future posts. It is, of course, available to any clients of the firm.
I’m always happy to talk to any of you about the emotional as well as the financial side of making this kind of decision. Most advisors want to talk to you about your ‘Risk Tolerance’ for the stock market. I’d rather talk about your ‘Risk Tolerance’ for staying in a career that no longer fits the person you’ve become.
Nathan
Founder & Lead Advisor
Kangpan & Co.
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