Looking for some courage/advice on leaving a job for a 40k pay cut per year?

[Luked]

I had a similar thing happen
Quite one Job that I was the manager on a weekend shift. Worked 3-12 hour days Friday-Sunday.
Sounded good at first with 4 days off through the week etc.
But I have 2 kids and they both live with their mother so I got to see them on 2 weekends a month and 2 evenings through the week.
It got to where I was never really able to do anything with my kids or my wife as I was working when she was off and the kids were there.
It drug me down bad.
Was making more money that I ever had before so that part was nice. But I was not a happy or pleasant person at all.
So I left and took a $30k a year pay cut and its been the best thing I have ever done.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Think of this way, can you live on $600-ish less take home per week? And will that have any impact whatsoever on anything in your life (other than saving a little less)? If the answer to those are yes and no, it's a no-brainer.

 

[jtg88]

I recently took a $60k/year pay cut due to my wife and I having our first child and wanting to be home more. In my previous job, I worked every other weekend, lots of evenings and nightshifts, and wouldn't have been home to see the kid but maybe 1 night a week, if that. New job has no weekends or holidays and flexible daytime hours during the week. Yes, there are days that I miss being able to go grab a $1500 scope or a new bow on a whim but I don't regret making the change.

 

[SloppyJ]

I worked in the private sector civil engineering field for years. Late nights, travel for ~5 days/month, and high stress were the norm.

My son was 2 and I knew i needed to make a change. I had an opprotunity at a local municipality and I took it. It will allow me to retire early and it was an up and coming team. However it was a ~15k pay cut. At the time that was a lot for me! But it would allow me to work close to home and get off at 4pm every day.

That's been quite a few years ago. I was hired onto a team of 2 people. I've built that into 10 people and manage the team. I make almost double what I did along with all of the perks of a stable job regardless of the economy. I've never worked harder in my life but I can get off in time to coach baseball, grab the boat and take the family out, or do whatever I want. It netted me at least 7hrs per week at home.

It was a great decision and I don't think I'll ever think it was the wrong choice.

 

[CHGray]

You can’t put a price on peace of mind.

Does a career change for family time or the additional financial security for your family do it for you?

It’s a tough decision. A lot of talk about a mother’s love but rarely about a father’s sacrifice.

 

[bdg848]

I took a $20K paycut going from a medium sized city cop to an airport fire response/police officer position but now I have ZERO stress compared to city policing, I only work 9 days a month, and I sleep for 8 hours of my shift lol. If you can pay your bills with only the money from the new job (don't drain savings), then do it. The only thing I'd say is try to make sure you have the possibility for career advancement at the new job even if it still doesn't reach what was possible at your current job. I went from a department of 200 guys to one of twelve....It's just us line guys and then the chief...no room for advancement (but in my 18 days off each month, I'm working on something outside of this place). Long story short, It's only money......life is more important.

 

[Miloiii123]

Think of this way, can you live on $600-ish less take home per week? And will that have any impact whatsoever on anything in your life (other than saving a little less)? If the answer to those are yes and no, it's a no-brainer.

Such a good way to break it down and look at it. Always makes it seem more understanding versus the large chunk of cash.

 

[cbat]

I was busy building a company and had several employees counting on me to succeed. Had a young one at home . Was working 6 to 7 days a week long 14 to 17 hours days a lot. I made the money at the expense of time with the family. Divorced after 14 years and have a distant relationship with my son. Take the cut if you can

 

[DAOutfitters208]

There is the right way to work hard and provide for your family and the wrong way. It’s all about balance and how you interact with them.

 

[tdhanses]

Well my wife left $200k a year to spend time with the kids and be in their life more, she works 2 days a week now as they are getting older, I think the time with kids is way more valuable then the money.

I have a good buddy that owns his own company, he has busted his butt and is planning to sell it and retire at 55, kids out of the house and he’s buying a yacht, he missed a lot of time with kids.

I personally would rather work till 65 and have spent the time I do with my kids and being there for them vs retiring early.

Half the time I drop my kids off at school and pick them up, run them to all their various activities and do a few trips a year, I can’t imagine not being there.

When I was young my VP at the time told me how he regretted not being in his kids life when they were young, I decided at that point my kids would always come before a pay check, I made that decision years before having kids and it has worked out well, I have a great work life balance, I make a decent living but less then had I worked 80hr weeks and put work first and I will not be retiring early, lol.

 

[Loggerdude]

Children need a father in the home, and a wife needs a husband to help.
We all know to many people that sacrifice home life for money and everything suffers from it. Not saying that working extra in seasons isn’t bad or side hustles help. Also if you raise your children in the way they should go they will not soon depart from it.

 

[weaver]

Night shift is soul-sucking. I did it for a year as a single man and cannot imagine doing it married with a kid.

 

[CodeMonkey]

A man smarter than me once told me that your career should act like a service to the other aspects of your life.

 

[NuclearTsunami]

Keep in mind you need to net that 40k down for taxes, always easy to forget that part when you're talking about salaries

 

[PredatorSlayer]

Timing is everything. I prioritized time with my family until it didnt matter anymore because the kids were grown. I was very strategic and patient with my promotions so I could coach sports teams and be to recitals etc. My youngest graduates in May and my wife went back to school and started working full time a couple years ago. Last month I took an executive position with a nice corner office with the agency I have been with for the last 14 yrs making more money than I ever dreamed. Nice pension that will end up being 6 figures a year in retirement plus two 401ks etc. I kept busting my butt and everyone knew I had the potential to be where I am at, so the kept asking me if it was time and I kept telling them no until I finally said yes. I am only 43 and I dont regret the time I took less money to be home more.

 

[unfazed]

Sounds like you’ve made up your mind. You also sound like you are financially able to afford the pay cut. As a father of two young kids, the time spent with them is invaluable. You won’t be taking your last breath wishing you kept the 13hr work days and made the extra 40k, but you would be wishing you made it to more dances, ball games, and made more memories with your kids.