After I had my emergency heart bypass surgery, I was discussing the future with someone from my church small group. His comment was that my previous life was over and I need to think about how to live my second life. For now, I’m going to go back to work but really think about what to do with the rest of my life. 25 years in finance is a long time.
One idea is to find a job closer to home, but several levels below my current position. I’ve been in a director level position for the past 8+ years, which means managing staff that manages other employees. A lot of my time is spent mentoring instead of getting tasks done. Maybe I can take an analyst position nearby and take it easy, but for a lot less pay.
Another idea is to find another career in an entirely different field. I really enjoy putting trips together. On our 2015 family trip to Japan and Taiwan, I spent about three months researching and organizing a detailed itinerary that even included train schedules and restaurant listings. I managed to get it down to two pages and we carried it with us all trip. However, usually when you start a new career at the bottom, you have to work really hard. I don’t mind working hard but I don’t really have a career goal at this point. Also, how do you start with no experience? Do I need to take classes in school again?
I looked at tour operator sites like Abercrombie & Kent and it seems like there are pretty healthy profit margins. Closer to home, I found this tour at Kensington Tours that charges ~$5k/person for six days in Southern California. Assuming they will operate the tour with just two guests, that’s a budget of ~$10k. Let’s break down the itinerary:
- Accommodations at Chamberlain West Hollywood: about $400/night for Deluxe suite
- Accommodations at Hotel Indigo: about $265/night for King Skyline View room
- Day 1: pick up guests at airport
- Day 2: 4 hour tour of Los Angeles: the only place that looks like it needs tickets is La Brea Tar Pits ($22/person); not sure if lunch at The Ivy is included; parking at Griffith Observatory is ~$10/hour
- Day 3: 9.5 hour trip to Santa Barbara: visits to a bunch of public places so if there are tickets and parking, it’s probably not too expensive; again, not sure if lunch is included; winery tours are probably free; private wine tasting seems to be $35/person
- Day 4: 6 hour drive down to San Diego: all the stops in LA are public locations and free
- Day 5: 4 hour tour of San Diego: only place that costs money is visiting the USS Midway Museum ($26/person)
- Day 6: drop off at airport
If we pay the tour guide $30/hour and we include 10 hours/day, then it’s ~$2k for labor. Accommodations for five nights is ~$2k, and everything else is probably <$1k (transportation, parking, admissions, maybe food). That leaves ~$5k of profit for only two guests (50% margins!). If you have two more guests, just rent a minivan and get another hotel room. The profit margin is even higher with more guests. Of course there are risks, such as sitting around having no customers, but it sure beats working fast food. Maybe even better than working as a finance director.
Life with chronic diseases 