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No one is saying go out and get MBAs or go into debt for school. There are many ways to increase wage income. It's as simple as targeting the next salary level position in your current field.
I'm an admin assistant at a CPA firm. My degree is in mechanical engineering, which, aside from being a degree, is about as useful as corset-making outside the engineering field, whose employment I've already addressed. There ISN'T any next rung on the ladder without another degree.
What's the deal with folks taking lower salaries? Since when in America is money not needed? Not spending it all should be the goal and the motivator to make MORE, not less.
Savings, investments, retirement fund, HSAs, 529 accounts, help elderly parents, take vacations, etc. Excess money is always needed.
Depends on where you're at in life. Career changers may need to take a lower salary. If your skills are only marginally above entry level in the new field you're trying to get into, you'll need quite a bit of luck to command your current field's salary for which you have years of experience. If you know your finances well enough that you will be fine taking the cut, why continue spending 40+ hours/week over the course of 30-40 more years doing something you've come to dislike or even hate? As mentioned in the post your quoted, it's a strategic maneuver for a better end result. And you can always work your way back up to and even beyond your salary from the old career.
I work for a large regional employer. Make a bit over $60,000 in a low cost area of Tennessee. Benefits are standard at best, on-call rotation, not the greatest, but relatively stable.
I had an offer for an onsite interview out of town. Better office, worse location. 10% raise is likely, 20% is unlikely. The hiring manager seemed disjointed, and the project I'd be on is new to this large business and seems very vulnerable to the next recession (working with my small home builders). At best, this seems more chaotic and startup than where I am.
I was kind of gung-ho Friday when they offered the onsite interview. After checking the site and town out this weekend, I don't think I want to burn the half day of PTO to even interview, much less move for a 10% raise at best.
What does it take for you to jump?
It needs to be enough that my quality of living will either remain the same (great) or be SIGNIFICANTLY improved, make it comfortable to explore and go out with new people, visit people "back home" IF I want to, and allow for greater savings.
Otherwise, why bother It's a lot of upheaval for nothing or very little.
Depends on where you're at in life. Career changers may need to take a lower salary. If your skills are only marginally above entry level in the new field you're trying to get into, you'll need quite a bit of luck to command your current field's salary for which you have years of experience. If you know your finances well enough that you will be fine taking the cut, why continue spending 40+ hours/week over the course of 30-40 more years doing something you've come to dislike or even hate? As mentioned in the post your quoted, it's a strategic maneuver for a better end result. And you can always work your way back up to and even beyond your salary from the old career.
Exactly.
There are people who never found what they enjoy doing. Some don't even know what they want to do even if it was handed to them. So they view work as miserable regardless of the situation. So to those people, maximizing dollars is all that matters to them, because they have nothing else in life. No joy from work, no joy from accomplishments, no joy from seeing their work matter to others. Those are the ones that cross off the days until they retire, complain about not having enough vacation days, and have their coats on 5 minutes before quitting time looking at the clock. This is nothing to aspire to be.
Depends on where you're at in life. Career changers may need to take a lower salary. If your skills are only marginally above entry level in the new field you're trying to get into, you'll need quite a bit of luck to command your current field's salary for which you have years of experience. If you know your finances well enough that you will be fine taking the cut, why continue spending 40+ hours/week over the course of 30-40 more years doing something you've come to dislike or even hate? As mentioned in the post your quoted, it's a strategic maneuver for a better end result. And you can always work your way back up to and even beyond your salary from the old career.
A strategic cut can definitely work out. The person a few posts up was not talking about a strategic pay cut.
What's the deal with folks taking lower salaries? Since when in America is money not needed? Not spending it all should be the goal and the motivator to make MORE, not less.
Savings, investments, retirement fund, HSAs, 529 accounts, help elderly parents, take vacations, etc. Excess money is always needed.
Well it depends on how your salary compares to your actual needs and your more important wants. More money is always better of course, but, if you are not spending your entire take home pay, you could, for various reasons, be willing to take a pay cut (how much is a different question) to gain some strategic advantage. Part of the strategic advantage is likely to be that say 5 years down the road, you are actually making *more* money than you would have made if you stayed put and didn't take that strategic step back.
My priorities historically have been 1) Pay, 2) Career Advancement, 3) Work/Life Balance, 4) Culture, and 5) Benefits. I live in a city where the COL has skyrocketed in the last decade, so keeping up with that, as well as trying to pay down student loans, save for retirement, and living a life has made Pay #1 priority for me. Of course, leaving a job has been a result of multiple factors as well. Sometimes it's a mix of bad culture and low pay. Other times, it was because the benefits sucked and there were no opportunities for advancement. Rarely has it been exclusively about one thing. However, my salary has increased 193% in 10 years since I left college, so I can say that changing jobs has been lucrative.
I make decent money now, I bought a place, and I'm married, so pay isn't as big of deal as it was 10 years ago. Of course, I don't want to take a pay decrease if I don't have to, so I'd want to at least make what I'm making now or more. My priorities today would be 1) Work/Life Balance, 2) Culture, 3) Career Advancement 4) Pay, and 5) Benefits. I have a family now, and I want to spend time with her more than I want to be handcuffed to my desk. And I'm old enough now that I don't really feel it necessary to deal with a toxic culture. I'd have dealt with a lot more when I was younger, and trying to prove myself. Today, I'd just tell them to *bleep* off and take my talents to South Beach .
Figure out yours and your family's priorities and go from there. They differ for everybody, so it's hard to advise on your case.
Last edited by Sir Quotes A Lot; 03-20-2019 at 07:54 PM..
When I was young (in my 20s & 30s), my main reason to jump was to make more money. I remained in the same industry, but worked on different projects with each new position. Each jump was accompanied by raises of 10-25%.
In my 20s I didn't care that much about being in a stressful (toxic people, long hours, very difficult work) environment. I job hopped constantly. I just wanted to achieve a certain income, and simultaneously improve my skillset.
By the time I was in my early 30s I had reached my target income. I was also exhausted by all the effort I had made to get to where I was. I wanted to start enjoying my life. My priorities switched to better work/life balance and decent work environment.
When you're young it's important to "jump" often and strategically to get lots of experience, and consequently increase your value.
I had money to move and get a paid-off house mostly because I was frugal. I wasn't going on fancy vacations or taking spa days or bailing out family members or buying middle-class bling. I sold my ridiculously overpriced house in Denver and bought a nicer but cheaper one in Indianapolis.
Uh, a nicer, larger paid-off house, plus cash, plus a paycheck that goes further is generally known as a life upgrade.
Last edited by sheerbliss; 03-21-2019 at 06:57 PM..
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