

Why 2013 May Be The Year You Quit Your Job - codenerdz
http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/12/10-reasons-why-2013-will-be-the-year-you-quit-your-job/

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jdminhbg
The piece opens with "People read TechCrunch because they want to create
something..."

These people are most certainly Doing It Wrong.

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rprasad
It was a typo. They meant to say that "People read TechCrunch because they
[don't] want to create something."

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codenerdz
The article is mostly scaremongering, but the reason I posted it was mostly
the 401k comments.

Any "old timers" (meaning those that put money away into 401k through out at
least 2 recent market crashes, dotcom and the financial one) here willing to
comment as to how their 401k fared? The biggest advantage I see(especially
working for the company that does the matching) is that

a) Its a saving account that you cant take money out on a whim

b) Employee matching is free money

c) Youre not paying taxes untill youre ready to take it out and when you do
take it out, your tax liability will be lower due to lower income

So you have all these financial advantages in 401k, the disadvantage is that
you have to invest these funds wisely.

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rprasad
Until late in 2012, I came out ahead far more by paying down my graduate
student loan debt than I did by contributing to my 401(k). However, that is
because my graduate student loans are statutorily fixed at 6.5% or higher,
whereas market returns have been close to zero or negative.

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muzz
Market returns have been _volatile_. S&P 500 for the past few years [1]:

2012 16.00% 2011 2.05% 2010 15.06% 2009 26.46% 2008 −37.00% 2007 5.49% 2006
15.79%

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%26P_500#Total_annual_returns_...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%26P_500#Total_annual_returns_.28b.29)

~~~
rprasad
Yep, missing a word in my original comment... my _net_ market returns were
close to zero or negative until late 2012.

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Joeri
And over here in a socialist northern european country record numbers of small
companies are going bankrupt, going into business for yourself is seen as a
crazy risk, everyone is looking for a reliable j-o-b type job, retirement
plans are still a healthy choice, and the middle class is holding steady. Are
we really in such an antithetical situation from the U.S., or is this article
part fabrication?

~~~
guylhem
Don't worry, it will happen in Europe soon too.

The only question is whether you start planning in advance, or if you want to
be hurt.

I'm not expecting to see a single cent from the money the government is
robbing me under the pretext of "retirement" to fund its massive ponzi scheme
dependant on an always growing working population.

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vignesh_vs_in
I have decided the year i quit day job is 2013, not after reading this
article, but i have been planning it for the past 2 years.

2 years might seem like a lot of time but i started from absolute 0. Now i
have few mobile apps in market through which i earn 50% of my sal every month.

Making lists really helps, but even if you loose the list your passion will
find a way to get you back to the list.

Keeping this as wallpaper helps too
<http://d24w6bsrhbeh9d.cloudfront.net/photo/5536250_700b.jpg>

Edit: And the only reason i want to quit is freedom

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omd
Good for you for hanging in there. 2 years is not long at all considering it
takes the average person at least 6 to 8 years to get an education and build
any kind of career.

When I made the decision to switch I planned 3 years but life got in the way
and eventually it took me 5 years before I was there. People sometimes comment
5 years is a long time to achieve your goals and I always answer that doing
something you don't enjoy for 40 years is a lot longer.

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niggler
Every year is the right year to quit your job. The real questions are:

\- do you have conviction in what you are doing?

\- have you taken every step possible to advance the idea or development in
your current position (noncompetes obviously restrict what can be done)?

\- do you have sufficient money to survive six months if you aren't showing
any revenue?

If so any time is the right time.

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yeureka
In my case 2013 may be the year I go back to a steady job.

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porter
Why is that? What happened?

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yeureka
I quit my previous job to freelance in an area I enjoy more. 2 years after
that my savings have dropped considerably and I need to start thinking about
getting a mortgage and help my parents as their financial situation is very
risky even though they have always worked insanely hard. I hope to go back to
what I do know but the urgency of positive cash flow is more pressing at the
moment.

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codegeek
This article holds true for any year.

~~~
muzz
There have been a lot of middle-class-is-dead, be-your-own-boss type pieces
recently, with only the macro trends mentioned changing.

Perhaps this appeals to the libertarian tendencies of many of us. I personally
learned nothing new from this piece, and the factual inaccuracies in it make
for a weaker case.

