When Sam Dogen retired in 2012 at the age of 34 with a $3 million net worth, he made waves as one of the pioneers of the FIREfinancial independence, retire earlymovement. Ten years later, hes making waves againfor saying its time to go back to work.
Dogen, now 45, has written the popular personal finance blog Financial Samurai since 2009. Through it, readers have followed his and his familys journey, from saving for early retirement to leaving the financial industry to writing a book and more.
There are multiple reasons one of the most popular members of the online early retirement crowd is now joining the ranks of the unretired. For one, his investment portfolio, like everyone elses, took a beating last year. Two, he also misses the camaraderie of a workplace. Early retirement is great, but it can also be lonely, he says. There are only so many pickleball games you can play in the middle of the day.
Perhaps the most pressing, though, is because he just cant make the math work on paying for his young childrens college education with his current financial situation. When Dogen retired, he and his wife werent sure they would even have kids. Now they have two, and are raising them in San Francisco. Its expensive, even when youre earning hundreds of thousands of dollars in passive income.
Life is full of ups and downs and unknowns. Youre trying to predict the future, you dont know whats going to happen, Dogen, who has grown his passive income from $80,000 to around $200,000 a year, tells Fortune.
Courtesy of Sam Dogen
And you could also argue that Dogen never really retired. Though he left the corporate workforce and lived mostly off of passive income, he also consulted start-ups, produced his blog, and wrote one traditional book and an e-book over the past 10 years. He just did it from the comfort of his home, something that itself is becoming more and more common as some COVID-19 remote work policies remain.
In fact, the more flexible working policies that many companies, particularly in the Bay Area, have adopted are another reason Dogen feels his desire to return to work growing.
For most people who want to retire early, the reason why is were trying to escape a terrible work environment, or were completely bored out of our minds, he says. Now if you want to take a nap during the day, you can. If I had this much flexibility back in 2010, 2012, I probably would have kept my day job for the next five years.
Making the math work
Though his and his familys day-to-day expenses are still covered by passive income, including from real estate holdings and his blog, he says theres no getting around the insanely high costs of higher education in the United States. He estimates it could cost as much as $1.5 million to send both of his childrencurrently aged 6 and 3to college.
Seeing how student loans set back many borrowers from achieving financial success and taking career risks, he doesnt want the debt hanging over his childrens heads. He plans to work through their college years and reassess from there.
For now, Dogen plans to take an entry-level role in video coordination with the Golden State Warriors. With a starting salary of around $40,000, hell work October through April or May 2024, depending on how the team performs.
When you get your first job, youre super excited. You dont get paid a lot, but the upside potential is huge, he says. Thats the feeling I want to recreate and feel again.
While it might seem absurd to some people to give up early retirement for a wage thats below even the average starting salary in the U.S., thats part of the beauty of attaining some level of financial independence. Dogen doesnt have to grind in an office or go back to the soul-sucking job he hated. Hes looking at jobs that are more passion plays this time around, even if they dont pay a ton. And Dogen loves the NBA.
I think we could all live three different lives, maybe more, he says. But were forced to choose one path and were forced to make the most of that. How cool is it to live a different life?
Another benefit of his situation, though, is that hes not bound to his decision. If he doesnt like the work or deems it not worth the money, he can try something else. Though money is an important factor in his decision to return to traditional work, its not the only factor.
Ive tried everything I wanted to try. So now, I like that idea of working for the NBA or doing something completely outside of my wheelhouse, he says. But hes prepared for that to change.
The future wont go according to plan. Stay flexible.
