The Money To Anxiety Ratio

In 2021 as covid vaccines rolled out the cycling group rides and races that are such an important part of my life came back.  While this provided a huge boost to my moral and my training, I also got some sad news.  In late spring just as my training was ramping up one of my main training partners told me she was leaving the D.C. area to take a job in Norfolk Virginia.

Crap.

Besides being a total badass on a bike and a former decorated college athlete, Melissa was also a great friend despite our age difference.  We lived just a few blocks away from each other and that made it easy and convenient to link up for training rides. 

After the initial craziness of covid waned in 2020 and we all stopped wiping down our groceries, Melissa and I started riding together a lot more.  With big rides and races canceled, Melissa provided a much needed social link to my riding in 2020 and into 2021. 

She moved in the summer of 2021 and I lost a great friend and training partner.

 

Show Me The Money

Melissa is a lawyer.  When she lived here in the D.C. region she worked at one of the famed big law firms on K Street in Washington. 

Regular Accidental FIRE readers know this, but others might not realize that of the top 20 counties in America with the highest household income, a staggering 9 are counties that surround Washington D.C. 

I bring this up to set the backdrop of how much a K Street lawyer makes in D.C.  Melissa is 31 and although I don’t know her exact salary before she left, she told me it was over $300,000 per year. 

Yeah. 

So we’re talking big bucks here, doctor money basically.  But we all know how this works, her law firm often owned her life.  She frequently put in 80 hour weeks or more. 

I can’t count the number of times we set up a time to ride only for her to cancel, even on weekends.  Once she traveled to Ohio for two weeks to take care of her mother who had knee replacement surgery.  She worked the whole time, about 12 hours a day.  She was on a big case and the case doesn’t stop because of her mother’s surgery. 

Although not “FIRE aware” as far as I knew, Melissa and her husband were pretty frugal considering how much she alone made.  She drove a Honda Fit, a $17,000 car. 

Her bike was a $1,500 model which might sound expensive but is literally considered a junker for most serious road cyclists who typically dole out $4,000 – $8,000 for their bikes. 

She told me quite a few times that she had no dreams of becoming a partner in her firm.  Those people were “often in their 40’s but looked in their 70’s” she said due to the stress and unhealthy lifestyle. 

In short, Melissa was one darn smart cookie in more ways than just law.

 

Anxiety To Money Ratio

A few weeks ago Melissa contacted me to invite me to a race in her area.  We started catching up and in short she couldn’t be happier.  Here’s the thing though, she took more than a $150,000 pay cut for her new job in Norfolk. 

Her new job is as a lawyer for the Department of Defense, aka the Federal Gubment.  And even though her pay was cut by more that twice the amount of the median household income in America, she’s happier than ever. 

At one point she texted me “my anxiety to money ratio is better than I could have ever imagined.  This is what healthy living feels like, I should have done this earlier.” 

Money to anxiety ratio.  What a great concept.

She now works 40 hours a week, no more.  She never works on weekends.  Her case load is reasonable.  So although her pay went down a shit-ton, her anxiety level went down even more.

 

Baby Steps

My anxiety to money ratio improved significantly over 4 years ago went I went part time at my job.  I didn’t just cut down to 32 hours or even 24, I went to half time, just 20 hours a week. 

My salary of course was also cut in half and I had to pay more to keep certain benefits like my healthcare plan.  So in truth my take home pay was cut by more than half. 

But my anxiety level? 

It wasn’t just cut in half, it was probably cut by like 70% or so.  I’m not kidding. 

This is of course a subjective measure and I’m trying to put a number on a very non-quantitative thing like anxiety, but it’s my best estimation.  I know myself because I’m stuck in my darn body every minute of every day, and I’ve lived the transition.  It’s a damn good estimate.

The very first week that I went to 20 hours it felt like a massive steel anvil was lifted from my shoulders.  Being able to go grocery shopping or to ride the notoriously crowded trails in the D.C. region on a weekday afternoon when they are kind of empty brought a level of happiness that I’m still enjoying today. 

It’s calmed me, and made me a more patient person. 

In short going part time is a great baby step to take to improve your money to anxiety ratio.  It’s not a panacea and of course being ridiculously wealthy and just fully retiring is probably a better path.  But that’s also a bit hard to pull off. 

So your turn financial warriors – is your money to anxiety ratio where you want it to be?  If you could take a 50% pay cut but decrease your anxiety by 70% or more would you do it?