I am honestly considering a huge risk

[arkjack]

I guess if your retirement investment portfolio is extremely large because you bought Google early on its worth doing. If you can foresee your nest egg lasting a long time, and being more than you need and still have a cushion, then as has been said, life is short, no guarantee about tomorrow, and you can't take it with you. Its also something you should do and get out of your system in case you do reach a spot in life's road where you take on the family commitment. Its a lot harder to walk away form a wife and kids you love, than it is a job you don't love..... ArkJack

[vicky]

The world of music is so big!!! I think many musicians that do well have many, many irons in the fire....My biggest tax issue is keeping track of how much I actually make because there are so many sources....and cash and that's all I can say here After college I took a year off to practice....now I wasn't leaving a full time job, because I didn't have one, but it was time I needed to get rolling, and starve for the next five years....without ever a vacation or even day off.....Now this also includes every itsy bitsy job I could find playing music...and clubs to churches to hospitals to hotels to festivals to restaurants, etc....playing rock, jazz, country, funk, and whatever....Even though I have recently included taxi to the list of income and income possibilities, I see it would very difficult to put a plan together for library music without all the recording experience, and musical experience.....I don't know who's making money or not from the forum, but there are definitely some experienced people contributing...I would take a year off to work on skills, and your craft....i never regretted the year I took off, even once......you only live once...good luck,Vickywarning ...advice is coming from someone who thinks they're going to buy a house in San Francisco because of meeting everyone here at Taxi

[hummingbird]

Here's my take on it. I work in music full-time. I started that journey in 1996, and it took me til 2002 to let go of the part-time & contract work. In addition to the consideration of income, which in the world of music requires long term thinking & is not linear/regular, you also need to think about the costs of doing music full-time. Which include, for example, websites, professional memberships, recording equipment, musical instruments, professional development, as well as rent & bills & food, not to mention submission fees. The truth of the matter is, even if you made 50 submissions this month and 20 of them were forwarded, you might not hear from any of those folks, or you might hear from a couple of them a year or two from now... meaning that any concievable revenue coming from today's submission is likely a couple of years down the road. OTOH, I think people should follow their passion, but with common sense. So my advice to you is -- change the job. Find a job share, or a part-time job for 20 hours a week and spend the other 60 hours a week doing music, and grow into making music & making placements until you can let the job go.Hope that makes sense.cheersHummin'bird

[squids]

I agree with Vikki. I cut back on my classes this semester (I'm shocked I did this) so I can concentrate on the learning curve of this new equipment I'm hoping to pick up next month. I worry I'm doing the right thing but I think there's always a bit of that if you're following your gift. OTOH, the sure thing out there isn't always a sure thing, either. Layoffs happen, people get fired, companies go bankrupt. They'd just like us to think it's safer holding down a "regular" job because it's societally the norm and has some kind of retirement bennies (which could easily be stolen by your CEO, now that I think of it, lol).You can always try it, see how you like it. If not, you can always go back to the shirt-and-tie thing.

[steini]

hear your pain, but do it in steps, cut down on work, try to get vacation time, maybe without pay and try it out.However, I would never want to hold some dream back..... you never know what could happen.

[anne]

Hi McCanty, I saw that you are an airline exec. From watching the airline's news lately, I wonder if that financial unpredictability is the bit you hate about your corporate gig? Being nosy; you don't have to answer that!Anyway, on a practical level, if your 32 and have money saved up at all, that gives you 30 years of interest on that money that you are actually spending down. Figure what leaving your savings alone would earn you in 30 years. If you have enough saved for your retirement with that calculated result, than you are in great shape to make the jump. First, keep working until you save up enough money to live on in the meantime __without___ touching that amount you used for the calculation above ever. That way you aren't jeopardizing your retirement when it will be too late to make more money, or which you may not be able to save up for easily if you are a full time musician, and you'll be able to feel more secure about your decision to make the leap. On a spiritual level, yes - its far better to do what you love. But remember, you gotta' eat!Just my 2c. I wish I'd known about that little plan before I'd made some changes in the past!

[mazz]

I support an incremental approach as suggested by Vikki and others.Here's a question you might ask before you make this big step:How does my songwriting today match up with what I hear in the world? It may take some custom critiques from TAXI and others, maybe songwriting classes and seminars and a lot of soul searching and honesty to see where you stand. I think that will tell you a lot about whether now is a good time to take the plunge. Maybe the year is spent honing your craft and then you'll have a catalog that you can start submitting confidently.Maybe you already have a great catalog and will spend the year intensely marketing your songs and traveling to Nashville and LA and New York and making pitches and trying to get a publisher, etc.I guess the real question is: what exactly do you want to do? Wanting a career in music is probably a bit too general. I know because I spent a lot of time wanting to be a musician until I realized I already was and just had to call myself that. Then the question became, "so what, now what?". Honing in in what you want to do/be is a great exercise to start doing to get you started on your path. It will change inevitably as you go on but you gotta start somewhere.If you don't have a lot of obligations right now other than the job, you're young enough to pick it back up if you want to later. Following your bliss is always recommended but going in with both eyes open is strongly advised.Good luck, Mazz

[mcanty]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the support. Just for the record I am spousless and childless.Thanks once again for the advice.

[squids]

Well, I think that's a plus. Don't get me wrong, I'd die for my kids (and almost did a couple of years ago) and my hubby is slowly learning to appreciate my music......but it's hard to squeeze the time in for music between school and family obligations. I would think this would be another factor for anyone to consider. Not that it should chase them away, but something to add to the list of things to think about and perhaps adjust expectations accordingly.....Everyone here had great advice. I hope you find what you're looking for.Squids

[djdeweese]

Hi mcanty,I left the professional 8-to-5 thing three years ago because I was sick of it, despite a great salary and relatively easy job. I then split my efforts between real estate investing and recording the last few years worth of music I'd written. I've done alright getting some rental properties, and I've released a CD project and recorded another few dozen pieces to submit to Taxi. However, I've gone through quite a bit of savings too, only sold a couple hundred CDs/downloads, and had no response yet from my 25 Taxi forwards to date. I would have never left the safety of my full-time job, but for the support of my wife (who had built her own business while I was working at the office for all those years), and the fact that I was diagnosed with a medical condition that potentially makes my need for retirement funds irrelevant. My advice is that if you can get serious about the music thing now and really generate a catalog, maybe get some forwards at Taxi and keep your job, you should spend the next year or two working really hard to get your music career started while you're still getting a paycheck. But most importantly, work hard on your music. Life can be short, and if you HAVE to leave your job to do what you really love, you should take the leap of faith. None of us really knows how much time we have, and you don't want to run out of time with your music still inside you.BTW, I read an interesting book called "What Should I Do With My Life," by Po Bronson, that told stories of many people changing jobs/careers mid-life and gave me some insight into the truth that lots of individuals make big changes and follow their intuition to make their life more relevant to their values. Best of Luck-----