Klubbie
Recycles dryer sheets
I am curious to hear the thoughts of those on this forum at the prospect of taking a paycut when changing jobs. Or advice from anyone who have done it themselves.
An overview of my situation - been with company about four years in the same role. There is some toxicity in the work environment but it's manageable. My role itself is not challenging and very soul sucking. The work that the job requires does not require me to really use my brain. The way day to day "essential" tasks are structured makes it difficult to pursue creativity and alternate solutions myself. I have found some ways to inject more creativity and skill development in the job, but it is not always possible or easy to do so. I have stuck with it for as long as I have as it made it easy to go through some major life transitions (getting married, buying a home, having a child).
I am very well compensated, probably too well compensated for the market I am in and stage I am at career wise. My base is about 120k and I get a target bonus of 20% of base as well as about 10k annually in RSU. I have about 38k of RSU and they start vesting this year, with more than half vesting in 2019 and 2020.
We have about 80k in student loan debt left that at my current compensation level (assuming bonuses payout annually and company stock doesn't tank) my wife and I think we can get paid off in late 2020.
I have been job searching for a year and it's simply been difficult to find comparable pay. I am considering pursuing lower paying jobs as a way to take a step back to then take a step forward. I am simply bored at my job, not challenged, and not developing or using skills. For various reasons I have determined staying with my current employer in a different role is not a viable option long term.
However, I am finding it difficult to walk away from the pay and restricted stock that will begin vesting with the student loan burden. It's like I am close enough to paying them off, but far enough away that it's a long time to just "tough it out".
I am also concerned that staying in a role that isn't challenging and is not helping develop skills for my career is a bad career move to make, just to stick around and pay off my loans.
I mentioned the student loan payment, we also have high daycare costs. Between the loan and daycare we are spending about 2500 a month on those two items alone. Daycare costs will trend down some, but remain high for the time being.
From the research I've done (I have turned down similar offers this past year because I was trying to match comp), I could likely land a role that is about a 15 to 20% paycut in base salary and a total cut of about a third of total comp when you consider bonus and RSU in my current role. I'd also be waking away from the RSU that starts vesting. I could also potentially find an job matching my base or within 5 to 10k meaning that my paycut becomes smaller off base and more around walking away from the annual bonus or un vested RSUs. Taking the paycut would also mean we pay off the student debt in five years instead of 2.5 because right now we are taking the bonus and RSU money to pay down the loan further.
My wife also works as a nurse and could up her hours which would add roughly 5-7k of annual income if needed, primarily to offset a paycut I would take. But we like her being home more to keep our daughter out of daycare some days and to help with some of the stuff at home that's harder to keep up with when we both work a full 40 hours.
We are 36 and 34. No plans for anymore children. I worry that sticking this job out until I am approaching age 39 will make it harder to switch career paths. Plus bonuses could suddenly disappear for various reasons if management wanted it to.
I would be taking a paycut to pursue work in the data and analytics world. I have some experience in that space on my resume (enough that I have gotten interviews and some offers at lower comp levels). I enjoy the work and think there is a ton of potential there going forward. Most of my current experience is in banking in audit and compliance type roles.
We are very blessed in that this type of decision comes down to "do we walk away from money that will help us pay our loan down quicker to pursue a more satisfying career, or tough out a boring soulless job to pay debt?"
Taking the paycut I've described would have some impact on our monthly cash flow, but we would still be generally fine - especially if my wife picked up more hours.
So I am curious, what have others done in similar situations? Have you taken a paycut in your career to pursue more interesting work? Did it pay off long term? I am genuinely curious how others have responded when faced with this type of situation under whatever circumstances led them to consider it.
An overview of my situation - been with company about four years in the same role. There is some toxicity in the work environment but it's manageable. My role itself is not challenging and very soul sucking. The work that the job requires does not require me to really use my brain. The way day to day "essential" tasks are structured makes it difficult to pursue creativity and alternate solutions myself. I have found some ways to inject more creativity and skill development in the job, but it is not always possible or easy to do so. I have stuck with it for as long as I have as it made it easy to go through some major life transitions (getting married, buying a home, having a child).
I am very well compensated, probably too well compensated for the market I am in and stage I am at career wise. My base is about 120k and I get a target bonus of 20% of base as well as about 10k annually in RSU. I have about 38k of RSU and they start vesting this year, with more than half vesting in 2019 and 2020.
We have about 80k in student loan debt left that at my current compensation level (assuming bonuses payout annually and company stock doesn't tank) my wife and I think we can get paid off in late 2020.
I have been job searching for a year and it's simply been difficult to find comparable pay. I am considering pursuing lower paying jobs as a way to take a step back to then take a step forward. I am simply bored at my job, not challenged, and not developing or using skills. For various reasons I have determined staying with my current employer in a different role is not a viable option long term.
However, I am finding it difficult to walk away from the pay and restricted stock that will begin vesting with the student loan burden. It's like I am close enough to paying them off, but far enough away that it's a long time to just "tough it out".
I am also concerned that staying in a role that isn't challenging and is not helping develop skills for my career is a bad career move to make, just to stick around and pay off my loans.
I mentioned the student loan payment, we also have high daycare costs. Between the loan and daycare we are spending about 2500 a month on those two items alone. Daycare costs will trend down some, but remain high for the time being.
From the research I've done (I have turned down similar offers this past year because I was trying to match comp), I could likely land a role that is about a 15 to 20% paycut in base salary and a total cut of about a third of total comp when you consider bonus and RSU in my current role. I'd also be waking away from the RSU that starts vesting. I could also potentially find an job matching my base or within 5 to 10k meaning that my paycut becomes smaller off base and more around walking away from the annual bonus or un vested RSUs. Taking the paycut would also mean we pay off the student debt in five years instead of 2.5 because right now we are taking the bonus and RSU money to pay down the loan further.
My wife also works as a nurse and could up her hours which would add roughly 5-7k of annual income if needed, primarily to offset a paycut I would take. But we like her being home more to keep our daughter out of daycare some days and to help with some of the stuff at home that's harder to keep up with when we both work a full 40 hours.
We are 36 and 34. No plans for anymore children. I worry that sticking this job out until I am approaching age 39 will make it harder to switch career paths. Plus bonuses could suddenly disappear for various reasons if management wanted it to.
I would be taking a paycut to pursue work in the data and analytics world. I have some experience in that space on my resume (enough that I have gotten interviews and some offers at lower comp levels). I enjoy the work and think there is a ton of potential there going forward. Most of my current experience is in banking in audit and compliance type roles.
We are very blessed in that this type of decision comes down to "do we walk away from money that will help us pay our loan down quicker to pursue a more satisfying career, or tough out a boring soulless job to pay debt?"
Taking the paycut I've described would have some impact on our monthly cash flow, but we would still be generally fine - especially if my wife picked up more hours.
So I am curious, what have others done in similar situations? Have you taken a paycut in your career to pursue more interesting work? Did it pay off long term? I am genuinely curious how others have responded when faced with this type of situation under whatever circumstances led them to consider it.
