@hmatts

Sacrificing a year in my late-20s

Kind of fukked up.

Have had a very mid life.

3 options (none great)

1) Get my CFA and learn to code and live at home for a year while I study and save an extra 50k - then move back into the city (at 29)

2) Get my CFA and learn to code and live in NYC and survive but at the margin not saving much and study most of the week

3) Just learn to code and live at home/NYC. And then basically be free in 6 months instead of 12. The 6 months is also a lot lighter than the hellaciousness of the first two options studying for two things for a year

Turning 28 in 4 months, and need to start feel like I'm grinding. I want hella money saved up, I want to date and have fun times in the city, and I don't know if sacrificing a whole year is worth it. I lived there for 3 years and just moved home - working remote

Stats: 100k total saved rn. Body Count ~15.

That you've got options is better than having none at all. The problem as far as I can tell is that you don't know which to pick first. While I could join everyone else and offer an answer, I'm not the one living your life, and won't be on hand to offer you counsel should your circumstances suddenly change. If you want to rebuild a social life, try eventbrite dot com or meetup dot com and see what activities people are hosting in your area that may interest you. They don't need you to register to find out about events and that should keep you busy as far as free time goes.

While you're mulling over what series of professional choices to make, consider getting your hands on Aaron Clarey's "Worthless: The Indispensable Guide to Choosing the Right Major". and Aaron Clarey's other book The Black Man's Guide Out of Poverty: For Black Men Who Demand Better. The books are dirt cheap compared to any textbook you'll be getting and will provide you with more value in return. I would suggest you review his blog to get a feel for his views on money, dating, relationships, education, and work to see if they're aligned with what you aspire for yourself. However, this comes with a few warnings in advance. The books are both around a decade old, so while they're likely available on libgen and other ebook sites for free download, portions of the information will be outdated. In particular, the suggestion of the military as a career.

And as for women, consider investing into a reliable ready reference you can pick up and study to better prepare yourself for engaging the opposite sex. I'd suggest that you get yourself a copy of Doc Love's "The System: The Dating Dictionary". Doc Love, who until his passing was also known as Tom Hodges, wrote a weekly advice column that's archive is mirrored on several mens focused sites and a podcast. His media is a bit pricey, but it's a solid foundation a guy can branch out from in RP aware circles. I'd suggest you review his advice column to decide if his view on dating and relationships is aligned with what you aspire for yourself. To save yourself a search, give this scribed link a gander to find out if his book is something you'd like to add to your library.

If you want to check out any other books that could be helpful to you, then consider the books tribe here. I can't speak for others, but pretty much everything I share is available for free in digital format.