We were thriving in Seattle’s tech boom. Bianca, who is in the United States on a work visa, was a senior financial reporter for Business Insider covering how Wall Street’s biggest companies use and invest in technology. Also, Charlie, a software engineer in Amazon’s payments organization, worked for eight years working toward the role of principal engineer.
We had what people call golden handcuffs: good pay, advancement, and a sense that if we kept working hard we would keep making more money. The handcuffs weren’t too tight either. It was actually very comfortable.
But for us, quitting our jobs and spending time away from work has been a long-standing, albeit distant, dream. When immigration issues clouded the promise of international travel, we decided not to postpone our dreams any longer and started looking at the numbers.
Our planning started with a spreadsheet
For years, we have traditionally saved and invested. A 401(k), an apartment that will hopefully become your family’s nest egg, and high-risk exposure to the stock and bond markets. To quit your job, you have to find a way to balance your spending while on vacation without ruining the financial future you’ve spent years building.
So we did something that makes almost every big life decision a little less terrifying. I created a spreadsheet. We fixed the amount of daily expenses, trips and boats. Even though it was rough and I had a feeling that the estimate could be way off, when I put it in front of me, it felt like reality. It also gave me a chance to get used to the level of savings I could expect to draw down.
we quit our jobs and took the leap
By June 2025, we both planned to quit our jobs, sell our condo in Seattle, and buy a 42-foot sailboat. wind songthe beginning of what we now call my “first retirement.” Almost a year and a half later, we and our dog Stella have sailed more than 1,000 miles around the Pacific Northwest, traveled to more than a dozen countries, and spent more quality time with our family and hobbies.
As it turns out, the hardest part for us in leaving our lucrative jobs wasn’t planning our finances to go without a paycheck for a year and a half. I was becoming more comfortable with the uncertainty, the risk, and the impact it would have on my upcoming “final retirement.”
A little budgeting, reallocation of assets, and confidence in ourselves and each other helped quitting feel like a calculated bet on ourselves rather than a reckless leap of faith. For anyone considering such a plan, here’s how we did it.
The couple owns a 42-foot sailboat called Winsong. Provided photo
1. I decided to use some of my savings.
The main expenses in our budget are daily living expenses, multiple international trips, purchasing a sailboat large enough to live on for months at a time, and the unpredictable costs of owning a boat (especially unpredictable since we had never owned a boat before).
Up until this point, we had been fairly financially conservative and risk-averse people. We traded some of our savings for travel expenses, the purchase of a boat, and daily living expenses so that we could say goodbye with peace of mind.
This funding primarily came from Amazon common stock, which made up the bulk of Charlie’s compensation, and certificates of deposit, which had been slowly increasing. By diversifying my savings over the past eight years, I was able to maintain a brokerage account and 401(k) so I wasn’t starting from scratch when I first retired. I found that I needed to be prepared to spend 10% to 20% of my savings to achieve my personal goals during this holiday.
Bianca Boddy and the couple’s dog Stella on a sailboat. Courtesy of Bianca and Charles Boddy
2. Reduce carefree spending
I had a great time at work. All it took was a conversation to change that.
I quickly reduced my monthly expenses while I wasn’t traveling. We accomplished this primarily by cutting back on fancy meals out and being more intentional about big-ticket purchases like sports tickets and expensive clothing.
My expenses remained relatively stable throughout the trip. The important thing was to travel and enjoy the holidays.
3. We paid off our debt and moved in with our family.
Once you have personally determined how much of your savings you are willing to spend, the next step is to eliminate debt. Thankfully, our only debt is Remaining mortgage + HOA fees for condo — 1400 square foot unit on top floor with sweeping views of Lake Union and the Space Needle.
We bought it in 2022, near the peak of the housing market. Now that the Seattle real estate market, especially the apartment market, has gotten even tougher, I was worried that it might not be a good time to sell. However, the high monthly payments did not fit into their budget and the financial responsibility of being a landlord was too much for them to bear.
Fortunately, our condo sold quickly at our asking price through an off-market transaction. We decided to ask our family if we could live together temporarily when we weren’t traveling or on the boat. This is the first time since we were 18 years old that we have lived under the same roof as a family. We knew this wasn’t a sustainable long-term solution for us, but it was important to balance our budget and the benefits were worth it.
Return to Budgeting: Next Actions
Our time off from work was invaluable, but not when we look at what’s left of our nest egg. And when we first quit our jobs, we thought the perfect next step would fall into our hands and we’d know exactly what to do. That didn’t happen.
Charles Boddy cooks dinner on the deck of his yacht. Provided photo
We’ve been convinced for months that we want to buy small businesses and run them together. We want to work with our hands and work for ourselves. We are beginning to evaluate businesses that we feel will complement the lifestyle we desire. A marina located on an island in southern British Columbia. We were able to repair an inn with 12 cabins.
But we’re also itching for a place of our own, and we’ve been seduced by a well-designed, elegantly finished home nestled in the foothills of Vancouver’s coastal mountains, a home where we can imagine growing our family in the years to come.
With the money you have in the bank, you can’t afford both a home and a business, and your next steps are very uncertain. Unlike white-collar jobs, where the next step – a promotion or a new role – is very prescribed, the world feels like our oyster right now, and we’re finding it surprisingly difficult to be decisive.
Charlie’s father recently asked us if we had any regrets, a long way from our original decision to quit our jobs. This is a good question, especially given the meaningful tradeoffs and uncertainty about where to go next.
Our answer: 11/10 It was the right thing to do. still No regrets.
Bianca Boddy and Charlie Boddy were previously based in Seattle, where they worked as a reporter and software engineer, respectively. They are currently enjoying their “first retirement” traveling and sailing around the Pacific Northwest with their dog, Stella.
Have you made a life-changing financial decision or career change? Reach Editor Debbie Strong dstrong@businessinsider.com Share your story.