Where do I go from here?

Throwaway account. Thought I'd reach out to more experienced folks here before I consider therapy.

  • 31 next month and in good health.
  • Dual citizen Canadian+Euro Portuguese
  • Renting 1br in Toronto, Canada
  • Married, child on the way in <6 months
  • No debt, 100K in assets/investments
  • Degree in management and print
  • I work in project management making $4K, wife works retail making $2K (post tax for both)
  • Dual income savings rate averaging 40%/month so far in 2017. We track our expenses monthly.
  • We want to retire in our early 50's

I'm ashamed to say that I'm not happy with life even though most would consider I've got everything going for me; Good health, loving wife, great place to live albeit Toronto is becoming very expensive, real estate has been out of our reach for awhile but we're fine renting because of the flexibility in transit options (cycling, walking, public transit, car) and nearby amenities.

I have no passions, spent most of my youth working part time through high school, tried university once, dropped out, worked a slew of jobs full time in construction before deciding to go back and do a different degree at 22, got out at 26 with no debt while still working through school because I couldn't stand not having money.

After 5 years of working my way up I've reach a fork and am considering switching to something entirely different. The nature of my industry is heavily leaned towards servicing retail in an environment that can get high pressure, shit rolls down hill needless to say and print is the last link in the chain. I left my first real job after 5 years a month ago, I was 15 minutes away by transit, respected for my performance, but the role got to be too much for the pay, so I got into another company, now I'm servicing a fickle client that's more disorganized in a similar role for more money but now waste 2 hours a day commuting by car (I loathe commuting).

My wife has been nothing but supportive, even suggesting I quit and take a break while we figure things out. But then I think about the baby on the way, our finances, the fact that she will have to stay home after 1 year maternity because her wages practically only cover day care, our families are not in a position to support us, and the job market here is garbage for anyone not in finance, real estate or IT and even then I wonder about those folks.

I wonder if just going into the trades like my father told me to over a decade ago is the way to go since I can work overtime and make bank, even become my own boss eventually, is the route to take now. I just don't know, and now that I have a family of my own, just feel burnt out and stuck.

Thanks for reading.

Posted Jul 16, 2017, 10:29 PM UTC

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