Ohhh Myst, I feel like I could have written this myself a few years ago!

I was so burned out on sales, I couldn't wait to quit. Then life made it easy for me!

However, I do have to say, being at home sounds good but it does get boring... quickly. I think people are very ingrained to identify themselves with their jobs and careers and when that goes away, it takes a while to get your "identity" back.

I love my life and I don't regret for a second the choices I've made, but I still have days where I miss that career driven-ness I used to have and I still have moments where I wonder how far I'd be now if I hadn't left.

So my advice is not to leave until you find something else you want to do, whether it be start a business, volunteer, go back to school, even have a kid! But just being at home all day without something its very hard.

Sales is a very tiring job, I don't know how people do it for 10+ years. Everyone in our sales department is required to bring in at least 4 accounts per month. Since I've been being promoted to an associated director, the work just stopped being fun and just bringing myself to work is a drag these days.

But I can't imaging home all day either.

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Life is short. Enjoy it while you can.

I was going to suggest the same thing as haus. Maybe it's time for a career change, either in a new field, or a new career in the same field. Or, as haus suggested, you could start a family or find somewhere to regularly volunteer. I would be bored out of my mind if I didn't have anything to do all day, though. Sure, it would be nice for a month or maybe even two, but after that, I would need something to give me some sort of purpose.

Myst, I can relate to your feelings, totally! I fell into databases and web development because it was easy for me (it has nothing to do with my university degrees at all!), and paid well. Unfortunately, I am bored out of my mind most days!

I have dreams of staying home, but know that I would get really bored quickly, since I am someone who needs to constantly be doing new things and be busy.

I think Haus is right, get something else that you want to do lined up before you leave.

(I'm not saying that you have no purpose haus, just that that's how I would feel if I stayed home all day!)

Also, I obviously don't know your personal financial situation, but I personally wouldn't retire (unless I was raising a family, in school, etc.) until I had enough money to live well until the age of 80 or so. Like I said, I don't know your situation, but I would consider my accounts/savings, not my husband's/fiancee's. (I'm not married or engaged, but hypothetically.) Part of this is just the way I like to live, though. I don't live extravagantly by any means, but I do like to have extra things when I can. So, for me, I would need almost $4 million in savings to be able to retire now. (I'm 26 also.) If you have that much after saving for eight years, let me know what kind of investments you made because I want in on them!

I can't give advice here since I'm the complete opposite.

I stay at home and in about 2 years my youngest is going to kindergarten. That means I should start thinking about what I'm going to do...either get a job in what I know or go back to school and try something that I actually want to do.

If you're really that tired with what your doing maybe you should take a break for a while and then look for something different!

haha kim! I didn't even pick up on that! So no worries!

It was really, really hard for me at first because I felt completely without purpose. I felt so useless just being home all day. But now I look back at all the things I've been able to do and I feel a lot better. I've been able to do much that I couldn't have done while working a full time job, so I'm good!

But its hard to find a sense of accomplishment when you're at home all day so thats why I encourage you Myst to find something or have a good plan.

Speaking as an old person...
Don't think about forever.
Think about life phases.
You're a student, then (if you're lucky) a young professional like you.
That is a very driven, career-building phase.

You're about to enter a new phase anyway: marriage. You will (presumably!) want some time to spend with your husband. That will be hard if you're at the office or traveling all the time.
If you plan to have a family, even if it's in five or so years, you could start changing gears now. Is there something related to your hard-won skills that you could do? Could you shift to part-time later on? Do you need any extra education to make that change?

What about helping small businesses and entrepreneurs market themselves locally?
My personal guess is that the current economy will spawn more of those new businesses in the next year or two, and existing ones may need more sales clout. You may not even need an office; visit theirs. Join the local business organizations to network. Connect with the local small business development office and/or Chamber of Commerce.
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Conservative in exile
Washington and Sacramento: Stealing our children's futures.

Must be nice.

Financially I'm pretty sound. My student loans are paid off, I bought my car cash, and pay my insurance off once a year. My biggest expenses are my mortgage and utilities. Ryo's is basically a trust fund baby so money isn't an issue for him. We're both not ready to start a family yet. The majority of our relationship has a long distance one and we agreed to wait a good two years of being married before we start having children. As far as savings, I've been lucky, my uncle is an investment broker and he's been helping me invest my money since I started. Best thing I can tell you kim, is buy low and sell high and keep you eyes open for new things that's popping on the net and when they are ready to go public. I bought $1k worth of shares when Google first went public in '04 and that's been a blessing for me.

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Life is short. Enjoy it while you can.

Oh, I was kidding Myst. I already do try to buy things right when they pop up. Thanks, though! I guess I just haven't been investing enough because I'm no where near $4 million right now!

lol oh ok. Mutual funds and money market CD accounts are a great way to go Kim if you make a good amount within a couple of years with them. I prefect them since they are typically safer than stocks and give great earnings back. But save you money up I've been reading that Facebook is getting ready to go public very soon.

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Life is short. Enjoy it while you can.

I spent 7 years working for a company that I hated and in a job I hated. I did what I had to do at that point though. There were many evenings I would come home in tears because of the stress of the job and the stress of hating my job. Things finally changed in my family and I was able to take another job somewhere else. Let me tell you how much of a burden was lifted off my shoulders. I now work for a great company in a job I love. It is amazing how much better you feel when you aren't on the edge of a nervous breakdown from work.

I would really recommend looking into a new career or a new job or a new company. I personally wouldn't be able to sit at home even if I was financially sound. I'd go batty without kids to take care of. I think maybe you should still work while you and Ryo are in the first few years of your marriage. Then when you have kids, you will be able to stay home with them if you want.

Yeah, I've had a Money Market account for a while, but I'm not thrilled with the returns on it.

And I have heard that about Facebook, but I've read that the founders are asking a kind of high price for it, so we'll see.

When we got engaged, we agreed to stay in the US for about 3 years and go back to Japan so he can take over his family's business and that's really the only reason why I'm giving myself 3 years top to staying in the field. I just realized that I don't think I can make it until then. And I'm not sure what I would do as a new career. To be honest marketing and sports are really all that I know. I love my company and I don't think I'll ever get to work for another company that allows it's employees the freedom that we have, it's just I just no longer have love for the work itself and I always told myself that the minute I stop having fun doing what I do, I'd walk away.

Kim if you don't mind me asking, who do you have the money market account with. I hope it's not Bank of America's. Their returns suck a** to be honest.

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Life is short. Enjoy it while you can.

I second (or third? fourth?) what Haus said about having something else planned.

I was jobless for a month when we moved, and it was the strangest time of my life. It wasn't terrible, but it was hard (and not financially, it was hard emotionally). Add to the fact that I had moved across the country and had no friends I could call up and hang out with, made life so different. It is a huge shock. And you really do lose your sense of "identity" or "purpose" very quickly. So I'd just suggest having something lined up - volunteer work even, just something to get through the days.

It's actually a local bank in Ohio called First Merit. I opened it when I was 18; I didn't really look at other banks like I probably should have, so maybe their returns aren't good, either.

If Ryo's not going to be working, I say you just don't work. I mean, if he was working all day, I'm sure you would get really bored, but if he's not working and you two will have a decent amount of money, you could have the chance to do some great traveling together. (I know you said you're tired of traveling, but I'm sure you would enjoy it a lot more if you were traveling for fun and not work!)

Myst if you plan on moving in 3 years you could do just 2 more years and take a year off.... or you could do a year and a half??

Maybe its like when I'm on the treadmill and I just say, OK, just 5 more minutes.... just 5 more minutes and then end up doing more.

The 1 and 1/2 year sounds like a really good idea Haus. I think that's probably the best thing I can do.

Ryo's is actually working right now. He's does freelance graphic design for fun and he accepted a position at the Japanese Embassy down in Miami as a translator. I just dragged him to the office with me today so that I wouldn't be bored while I got paperwork ready for tomorrow. That's him eating in my avi .

Kim, you should look around. There's some that gives really great returns back. Just to see which one that works the best for you.

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Life is short. Enjoy it while you can.

Ladie's it's 3 o'clock and I'm done with my work so I'm out of here! Thanks for all of the great advice... TTYGS
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Life is short. Enjoy it while you can.

I wish...

LOL sorry I am not one for advice here either since I've been "retired" and staying home for 10 years now. All of my children are in school, and I still have no desire to get a career at this point. I love being at home and having all the free time I want/need and being here for my family when they need me too.

You've gotten good advice here though and it's a very personal decision. You could even treat it like a sabatical type thing. Take some time off to think about what you want to do if it means change careers, volunteer, go back to what you were doing or go back to school for something totally different. Take advantage basically of the opportunity.

Good luck with your decision and I hope you come to a conclusion that brings you peace and fulfillment.