Would you go "backwards"?

[boner]

So here's the deal. My wife and i are in pretty good shape $$$ wise. Debt free with the exception of a line of credit we recently opened for the express purpose of finishing the house renos. At current income levels and savings rate, we'll have it paid at some point next summer.

Once the renos are paid for, my wife and i are 100% debt free living in a home we want to start and raise a family in. Salaries at that point are for savings, kids and the occasional toy/replacement car.

That financial ability is because of my current position. I am a gov't contractor making an obscene salary for what the job actually entails (yaya sux to be me i know). Thing is that i freaking hate the environment in which i work. I am a mechanical engineer and i currently write proposals.... NOT even ClOSE to what i want to do with my life. Not to mention the fact that the environment i work in is absolutely terrible and full of crusty old people who don't wanna do squat. And then add the politics that comes with working with gov't workers.... I realize that i am in a pretty desirable position and the shyte gravy train that i am on is the one that has enabled that. I know i am lucky and so i cant complain toooo much



But I want to work as an engineer again godamnit! But to do so will undoubtedly result in a (probably significant) pay cut. Not to mention the fact thqt i haven't been doing it much flr the past 5 years... The result of this and the environment now is that i am likely getting dumber.

Would you do it?? Stick with the gravy train as long as you can even though you hate it and wanna shoot yourself by coffee time every day? Or find a job that makes you happier and hopefully provides a better career path at the expense of money?

[MeineFolks'wagen]

I more or less did what you are thinking about and 10 years later, I'm paying the price. Here's a brief history of what happened:

I was working for a federal law enforcement agency and I was making close to $80K for basically sitting on my a$$ to do nothing. I was bored, getting burned out, wanted a change, etc. My wife was working full time as well, so we were pulling in over $100K combined salaries, no kids, etc. They transferred me to D.C. and that was for a promotion and was supposed to be a good thing. It wasn't - we had our first kid, things were still OK. Had our second kid and things were not OK. We were in D.C. at the time and anyone who has lived out there knows that while that kind of money is pretty good, in D.C. it isn't that great. We ended up in a position where we could either pay for day care for the kids or make our car payments, but we couldn't do both (yes we had other debt, so we weren't in a debt free situation like you are talking about). So the wife opted to stay home with the kids and there went her salary.

Anyway, I ended up taking a job with another law enforcement agency and took a bit of a pay cut. Was there for about 2 1/2 years, realized it was a horrible situation, and went to a different agency (local agency this time). Took another pay hit, but had some OT, but it still made it worse. Well, I ended up getting hurt on that job, ended up being out for 7 months on the injury losing all of my OT, court time, etc. and we got even more behind. Long story short at this point is that we ended up losing our house and my parents agreed to relocate us back to Texas. That was a year ago and I'm now working at a job where I am making less than 50% of what I was making - so we are destroyed financially.

How it relates to what you are talking about is that we basically went from making over $100K a year (80 of it mine) to making around $55K when I changed jobs. That then went down to around $48K with the local department and now I'm not even making $40K at my current job. On an absolutey DAILY basis, I mentally kick myself upside the head for doing what I did. If I had stayed with that federal agency and NOT taken the promotion to D.C., we would be sitting so freaking pretty right now it wouldn't even be funny. Instead I'm living off of my parents (they are paying for the house) and I'm barely putting food on the table. We've been surviving on about $25-$50 between paychecks right now and I just found out today that my freaking health insurance is going up $130/month. That means that I'm now going to be paying $1300/month for health insurance and we are officially screwed. That extra $130/month is now going to be a bill or groceries that I can't pay.

While my situation might not be 100% like yours, I live with regret every day for that one horribly incredibly stupid decision I made. My advice? If you guys are sitting that pretty, stay with it and deal. Those frustrations and burned out feelings that I had over 10 years ago when I made the switch are NOTHING compared to what I'm dealing with now. Take it for what it's worth and good luck either way

[2slojetta0L]

As the above person stated- stick with what you have. Get a hobby or part-time consulting job if you are bored in your current job, do not give up the pay. I also went from a 80+k job to a 40k job and it sucks, although I prefer my current job, leaving so much money has put alot of pressure on us.

[scandalous_cynce]

What does your wife think? Do you think you guys could live happily with less money but more fulfillment in your career?

I like what the person above said about getting a hobby or side job to help counteract your unhappiness at work. I'd definitely keep your eyes and ears open for a position that you'll like that wouldn't be a huge pay cut, if possible.

[boner]

thanks for the responses guys.

i gotta say, my mind changes day to day. on the one hand, i wanna pull a milton and just burn the place down. on the other, hell, getting paid great money for nuthin is a dream for many. my current contract ends next june but i have been told i "will be taken care of". that said, it ain't like i trust the system here at all.

side busniess is definitly an attractive option. to that end, i am pursuing my P.Eng designation in order to get me some legitimacy. but in the end, this is a sleepy gov't town. not many people do anything here requiring my expertise... but the same can be said for most of this country unfortunatly....

i guess in the end, it must be said that i have it pretty effing awsomne really and i shouldn't complain. i try not to but godamnit the boredom is killing me. just a case of the grass is always greener? i guess once the wife starts popping out rugrats, i'll be praying to have such a slow work environment right?!

[MeineFolks'wagen]

thanks for the responses guys.

i gotta say, my mind changes day to day. on the one hand, i wanna pull a milton and just burn the place down. on the other, hell, getting paid great money for nuthin is a dream for many. my current contract ends next june but i have been told i "will be taken care of". that said, it ain't like i trust the system here at all.

side busniess is definitly an attractive option. to that end, i am pursuing my P.Eng designation in order to get me some legitimacy. but in the end, this is a sleepy gov't town. not many people do anything here requiring my expertise... but the same can be said for most of this country unfortunatly....

i guess in the end, it must be said that i have it pretty effing awsomne really and i shouldn't complain. i try not to but godamnit the boredom is killing me. just a case of the grass is always greener? i guess once the wife starts popping out rugrats, i'll be praying to have such a slow work environment right?!

The way my buddy did it (him and I were partnered up when I was still a fed) as far as coping with the boredom and monotony was this - he got it into his head that he was making a killing doing /very little for the money we were making. So he basically just lived for taking time off and going on vacations. He was single, so he would always go on hikes, camping, etc. We were both assigned to work in Utah, so the outdoors scene was pretty good. He found a way with coping with it (basically laughing to the bank) and I continued to brood about being bored, wanting a change, etc. You know how I ended up from what I posted. He stuck it out and I think he's pulling in close to $100K by himself now and he ended up marrying an attorney who worked for our same agency and she's also making close to $100K. So while I'm struggling to eat, they are living the life

It's one of those things that the only way I can explain it is like this - you know as you are growing up you always meet those older people who try to give you advice? It's usually something along the lines of "don't do what I did" or "trust me, I know what I'm talking about" or something along those lines? And your normal response is something like "yeah, yeah, whatever pops - I'm not going to end up like that"? It's something like that - now I think back to all of those people that tried smacking sense into my head and I just laughed it off. Now I know what they were talking about and I find myself trying to give people the same speech

[boner]

Bahahahaba. Sucks getting older doesn't it?!!! In the end i guess i should be so lucky.... The only thing i want to avoid at all costs is to end up a crusty b*stard like the people i work with right now and for the foreseeable future. Hard to do tho when surrounded by them.... In the end if they didn't pay me for this, they'd pay someone else....

Head down and make life what it needs to be i suppose....

Hope things turn the corner for you. Sounds like an incredibly shyte situation. I would think it makes motivation quite difficult in the very least.

[MeineFolks'wagen]

Bahahahaba. Sucks getting older doesn't it?!!! In the end i guess i should be so lucky.... The only thing i want to avoid at all costs is to end up a crusty b*stard like the people i work with right now and for the foreseeable future. Hard to do tho when surrounded by them.... In the end if they didn't pay me for this, they'd pay someone else....

Head down and make life what it needs to be i suppose....

Hope things turn the corner for you. Sounds like an incredibly shyte situation. I would think it makes motivation quite difficult in the very least.

My only real motivation is the fact that I have to work for my pennies so that I can eat What really sucks now is that my current job is actually pretty cool, it just doesn't pay jack squat and the organization I work for is full of special snowflakes that can't handle our personalities (when I say "our" - there are five of us doing the job and we are all ex cops or ex military and we're just used to acting/doing things a certain way. Most of the organization we work for are all women or people that have never had to worry about anything in their entire life). But yeah, getting old sucks. With age comes wisdom right? So I'm now officially obligated to say - "Don't do what I did kid!!"

[FISCAL]

I can totally agree with yall. Here is a little bit about my situation.Early this year my former company offered me a promotion and a increase in pay, like all craziness I did not listen to anyone hell I took it and got relocated to another state. This resulted in a burden in my relationship with my wife. She had to take huge paycut, so we decided to got back to our hometown and of course I had to get a demotion. Long story short once we got back to our hometown. I was always having the feeling "what I about if I would have kept...I wish I would that...,etc Anyway I felt burned out since I got back, so I told myself screw it and I quit. I took another job with another paycut with the hopes that there was going to be more career growth, etc. Now to this day I regret all the moves I made. I should had stayed in my old job-it offered a great salary, flexibility, etc. To conclude, all I can say- the grass is not always greener on the other side. I learned my lesson the hard way.

[PolskiHetzen]

I'm thinking of switching jobs here and this is scaring the s--t out of me.

[MeineFolks'wagen]

I'm thinking of switching jobs here and this is scaring the s--t out of me.

[In a condescending lecturing tone] "Don't do what I did"

[6cylVWguy]

Would I go backwards?

Hard to say. I like making a good living and the things that come with that. Having said that, if someone from motor trend offered me a job reviewing cars for half my salary, for example, that would be a difficult decision. Especially if I had to relocate to do it. Young and single, sure, I pack up and go all day long. Older, with a mortgage and wife/family? I'd certainly entertain the offer, but it would have to be something where there would be no reduced quality of life and where my SO/wife could maintain the same type of job she has now. If me making such a move would change everything in our lives just so I could drive cars all day, I'm not sure it would be the best move. Then again, if we both hated our current situation, such a major situation could be just what we're looking for and worth the risk. Realisitically speaking though, both of us are fairly happy where we're at and moving backwards (pay-wise) would definitely create some tension.

[germanrox]

There really is no such thing as "going backwards". Life is always about progressing forward. In the end, your work-life-finances balance is completely up to you and can't really be determined by the successes and failures of others.

Do what you want, trust the money will come, and don't look back!

Good luck OP

[moose82]

There really is no such thing as "going backwards". Life is always about progressing forward. In the end, your work-life-finances balance is completely up to you and can't really be determined by the successes and failures of others.

Do what you want, trust the money will come, and don't look back!

Good luck OP

I agree with this. I'm currently in a high stress, very type-A career and am RAPIDLY burning out. My end goal isn't to make partner: I'm not driven by money to that extent. I am seriously contemplating a 10-15% pay cut for a job I enjoy much more, requiring fewer hours with less stress.

To me, that's not a step backwards. Sure financially it is, but to have more free time, not having to worry about work constantly, freeing up my weekends, etc. is a big win in my book. Life is too short to really not enjoy work. I understand it may not be the most exciting part of your life, but if you're miserable, it's time to cut bait and run. it sounds like you can afford a pay cut without a dramatic impact in your life.

Good luck, either way.

[boner]

Well, the solution that has come outta this is: work on multiple fronts to find some stimulation while also ensuring i stay on the gravy train for as long as i need to (aka finish the house renos). And if opportunities come my way, they will be entertained.... And ya, gonna start applying inthe new year when i hopefully have obtained my p.eng.... Just to maintain sanity

[1stRabbit]

Well, the solution that has come outta this is: work on multiple fronts to find some stimulation while also ensuring i stay on the gravy train for as long as i need to (aka finish the house renos). And if opportunities come my way, they will be entertained.... And ya, gonna start applying inthe new year when i hopefully have obtained my p.eng.... Just to maintain sanity

I've had a number of coworkers contemplate leaving current positions and most of them have come to the same conclusion you had... Stick it out for the time being until they increase their credentials and then find a better opportunity. It's an employer's world so doing everything you can to get a leg up while you can get a leg up is a good idea.

[Quattro Krant]

You're talking about kids and taking a job making less in the same sentence???????????????

Also, I *LOVE* how in this thread people who left a job making more to make less say "DON'T DO IT!", but in a different thread, I told someone that the warm and fuzzy feeling you get from a place that you like isn't worth $hit when the money isn't there, I was the a$$hole.

[moose82]

You're talking about kids and taking a job making less in the same sentence???????????????

Also, I *LOVE* how in this thread people who left a job making more to make less say "DON'T DO IT!", but in a different thread, I told someone that the warm and fuzzy feeling you get from a place that you like isn't worth $hit when the money isn't there, I was the a$$hole.

I don't think there's a clear cut right answer. There are too many factors: how much money do you need to live comfortably? How big is the cut? How much better is the work/life balance? Is the commute shorter? Etc.

This is a very personal decision.

[Quattro Krant]

I don't think there's a clear cut right answer.

True. But, when I hear "significant pay cut", I think a good amount of money. And I have more then enough interests out of the work setting to just go in, do my job, and enjoy the money when I'm doing what I want. Maybe I can tune out stupidity better then others, I don't know.

[ab8349]

I hear 'significant' in terms of a pay raise or cut, and I'm thinking at least $12k/year to see any real difference.

[BetterByDesign]

In this economy and the fact you are married and looking to maybe have kids.

NO.

You have the luxury of a good paying job and TIME. In other words ENERGY to look at the engineering field after work or perhaps during work. Talk to ppl in the field to see get some sense of what is actually going on and you may find your job isnt so bad afterall.

Keep in mind though the window to get out wont always be there. Even if there are opportunities with equal or more pay. You dont want to be writing government proposals for 10 years then expecting companies to welcome you with open arms.

I do think you should research like crazy and understand your options and timing, and if and when the opportunity rises and your family is ok then you make the jump; but if and when you have kids you probably won't care.

At least understand and actively keep you options open so you dont become one of those unemployable retards at the government.

[tbvvw]

I am married, 4 kids and been working in financial services: consulting, IT, project management, etc for 22 yrs.
I would NEVER go backwards...EVER! To go from one "job" you have and don't like to another "job" you might like better...it's still work and there's no guarantee that the grass will be greener! (Your potential new job might look better on paper...but all it takes is a horrible boss and you'll regret it)
Ride out what you have and work your a$$ off to find an opportunity that pays =/> or keep looking. In this economy...the time it takes to get back to your current state is too long and too uncertain.