How to survive as a ghost (1)
Even though my life as a ghost will be frugal, living only with the essentials, it won’t come free. One of the reasons I need this intermediate preparation phase is to ensure I can afford it when the time comes.
Since I’m getting older and running out of chances to start over if things go south, I’ll need something more solid than a single income stream. There are three possibilities: either I secure enough money upfront to never worry about earning again (unlikely), or I find a 100% reliable, steady income source (tough), or I set up multiple reasonable income streams so that if one fails, I can still rely on the others.
In the coming posts, I’ll dive into my current options. For this one, I’ll introduce my situation and share how it all began.
Just two months ago, I was a middle manager at a globally recognized company. My life was secure and stable, with solid working conditions. I had a seaside apartment (now for sale) and no real need to change anything. My plan was simple: coast to retirement, enjoy life and my hobbies, and call it a day.
Then, out of nowhere, I got an unexpected opportunity for a highly technical role at a major company in a completely different industry. It was pure luck—a fluke. I had zero knowledge or experience in the field, but the stars aligned, and the offer landed in my lap. It was a temporary gig (covering for someone’s medical leave for a few months) in a city in the middle of nowhere, with the company promising to train me. And after that? No clue. The skills and experience might open doors to similar roles, but nothing was guaranteed.
When I got the call that changed everything, I asked for 24 hours to decide, and they gave it to me. In that time, I wasn’t just choosing between two jobs but between two entirely different ways of living.
Roughly speaking, my old job would’ve kept me comfortable for about 15 years until retirement. Maximum security, stability, good conditions, a predictable life with zero surprises. But that call, and those 24 hours, gave me the chance to answer a question I hadn’t even thought to ask before: “I have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to choose. Since I can decide what I want for the rest of my life, do I really want to stay in the same chair, in the same office, for the next 15 years?”
(Read the next post here)