Well said!

Also, humans apparently are very bad at predicting what will make them happy. So perhaps it’s all just an inefficient trial and error process.

Thank you so much for this thoughtful reply, Bob. I’ve seen your experience repeated with the Coast FI approach: Folks still need to work, but still aren’t satisfied with what they thought would be a dreamy part-time existence. Perhaps the truth is that the seemingly harmonious, zen-like balance between work and life is mostly an illusion. Some days, months, or years feel good, and then the pendulum swings again. Speaking for my wife, she seeks comfort in a steady paycheck. It’s not about material ambitions. It’s simply safety. And I appreciate the thoughts on the PhD. Those reflections are well-aligned with the other opinions I’ve gathered.

Two aspects didn’t go as planned though. I found out the hard way, that I deeply disliked the increased responsibility / risk of my new venture. It opened up my life to new tail risks that felt neither wise nor worth it.
The gig also turned out it be more work and more income than planned. Plus stock markets rallied.

So I got out after just a few years. Given the positive financial development, the motivator of residual money scarcity is gone. I know, it’s certainly not the worst problem to have certainly. My point is, for anyone considering the approach of only covering essentials, which some might call “barrista FIRE” or “coast FIRE”, be aware that those can easily develop into at least lean FIRE much more quickly than one might expect (but also much more slowly than one might hope).

To be clear, my point is not to caution anyone not to go this way. But it might not last long as a motivator.

Now I find myself *sort of* wanting to do more useful work (paid or not), but really struggling to find the motivation to start anything. I’m fascinated by people who have enough and are still driven. How to you do it?

Does your wife feel motivated to earn extra money that most likely will never be spent? Or might she be tempted to spend a lot less than she could? Maybe both?

As a side note, having gotten a PhD, which I do not regret, I do believe you have the right Idea of not pursuing a regular academic career. Even before post doc limbo, the PhD program itself can be quite difficult psychologically. If it weren’t for my career prospects, I quite possibly might not have found the motivation to get through the deep valley of frustration. If you don’t need the money / career, you can probably find ways to play in academia without having to go through the series of pressure cookers.