Downsizing Salary
Discussion
Hi
I currently have a well paid job. It allows myself and family to have pretty much what we want/ need but I am not at all happy within the role or working for the company.
I am geographically (potentially!) constrained and there are not many jobs which will pay so well. But I would like to move on to pastures new.
Have others on PH moved from a well paid role into a lesser role which may have offered better job satisfaction/ quality of life? How did you find it? (We would not be on the breadline - but may not be able to afford as many weekends away, meals out, frivolous purchases etc.)
Mike
I currently have a well paid job. It allows myself and family to have pretty much what we want/ need but I am not at all happy within the role or working for the company.
I am geographically (potentially!) constrained and there are not many jobs which will pay so well. But I would like to move on to pastures new.
Have others on PH moved from a well paid role into a lesser role which may have offered better job satisfaction/ quality of life? How did you find it? (We would not be on the breadline - but may not be able to afford as many weekends away, meals out, frivolous purchases etc.)
Mike
I think it depends on how pressurised you'd be in looking for a new job and how easy it would be to find one.
I took a lower-paying job for a couple of years (it was roughly a 50% pay cut) but it wasn't a problem because, like you, we were still relatively comfortable, my wife gave me 100% backing, I really wasn't happy in my job and the kids really appreciated daddy not being a grumpy sod every day and working most weekends. I was also fairly confident that I'd get an equivalent role if I needed to.
I took a lower-paying job for a couple of years (it was roughly a 50% pay cut) but it wasn't a problem because, like you, we were still relatively comfortable, my wife gave me 100% backing, I really wasn't happy in my job and the kids really appreciated daddy not being a grumpy sod every day and working most weekends. I was also fairly confident that I'd get an equivalent role if I needed to.
Well, I'm 41, and I went from well-paying Senior Management roles, to starting up a small business and making close to feck-all, to selling that business to begin a 3-year University degree and being so skint, it's unbelievable.
My last managerial position paid circa 75k. These days I start to panic when the tax-disc on my 14-year old car starts to come up for renewal. I moved back into my Mum's house in order to do my degree - oh, and the starting salary for my new position when I graduate is circa 25k.
However. I cannot remember a time in recent memory when I've felt this happy and free from stress. My degree involves doing 1500 hours of work placement, and whenever I am out working (which as a student I obviously don't get paid for!) I love it immensely. I cannot wait to graduate and start working for real.
I concede that I have never been married or had kids - in fact I even split from my G/F a year or so back, so have no dependents. Doing something so drastic would probably not be an option for someone with a family and a mortgage obviously. I think that, yes maybe I miss not having a family and children - but on the flip side, it has allowed me the freedom to just make a huge change at such an age.
I remember the ridiculously long hours in management - being the company's b
h, the buck stopping with me when things got fked up, the constant battle to look after and manage staff and all their st, endless dull board meetings in endless dull grey buildings on nondescript industrial estates, not to mention the horrible 'commutes' alongside millions of other 'sheeple'...it sucked the life out of me totally.
I'm now committed to never earning decent money again (well, not for at least 8 years when I get to the top of my pay scale - which will still only be circa 40k at best) but....if I get out of bed looking forward to going to work to really make a difference, well that's worth any money in the world to me, especially psychologically.
We have one, very short life - don't forget that this is it - there is no 2nd chance, no rehearsal....why be unhappy at the place where you spend the majority of your day? It's nuts if you think about it - good money or not.
I'd say go for it. Trust me, it's a major refresh!
My last managerial position paid circa 75k. These days I start to panic when the tax-disc on my 14-year old car starts to come up for renewal. I moved back into my Mum's house in order to do my degree - oh, and the starting salary for my new position when I graduate is circa 25k.
However. I cannot remember a time in recent memory when I've felt this happy and free from stress. My degree involves doing 1500 hours of work placement, and whenever I am out working (which as a student I obviously don't get paid for!) I love it immensely. I cannot wait to graduate and start working for real.
I concede that I have never been married or had kids - in fact I even split from my G/F a year or so back, so have no dependents. Doing something so drastic would probably not be an option for someone with a family and a mortgage obviously. I think that, yes maybe I miss not having a family and children - but on the flip side, it has allowed me the freedom to just make a huge change at such an age.
I remember the ridiculously long hours in management - being the company's b
h, the buck stopping with me when things got fked up, the constant battle to look after and manage staff and all their st, endless dull board meetings in endless dull grey buildings on nondescript industrial estates, not to mention the horrible 'commutes' alongside millions of other 'sheeple'...it sucked the life out of me totally. I'm now committed to never earning decent money again (well, not for at least 8 years when I get to the top of my pay scale - which will still only be circa 40k at best) but....if I get out of bed looking forward to going to work to really make a difference, well that's worth any money in the world to me, especially psychologically.
We have one, very short life - don't forget that this is it - there is no 2nd chance, no rehearsal....why be unhappy at the place where you spend the majority of your day? It's nuts if you think about it - good money or not.
I'd say go for it. Trust me, it's a major refresh!
mike9009 said:
Have others on PH moved from a well paid role into a lesser role which may have offered better job satisfaction/ quality of life? How did you find it?
Yes. I took a pay drop in February when I changed jobs. I went from a large company (around 200 employees) to a smaller organisation (around 20 employees) and my quality of life has improved ten fold. I only took a drop of around 2,000 per year but it was still a difficult decision to make. Everyone is friendly, there are no power struggles and even my wife has commented that I come home from work (on time) in a better frame of mind.
I have no regrets.
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
Well, I'm 41, and I went from well-paying Senior Management roles, to starting up a small business and making close to feck-all, to selling that business to begin a 3-year University degree and being so skint, it's unbelievable.
My last managerial position paid circa 75k. These days I start to panic when the tax-disc on my 14-year old car starts to come up for renewal. I moved back into my Mum's house in order to do my degree - oh, and the starting salary for my new position when I graduate is circa 25k.
However. I cannot remember a time in recent memory when I've felt this happy and free from stress. My degree involves doing 1500 hours of work placement, and whenever I am out working (which as a student I obviously don't get paid for!) I love it immensely. I cannot wait to graduate and start working for real.
I concede that I have never been married or had kids - in fact I even split from my G/F a year or so back, so have no dependents. Doing something so drastic would probably not be an option for someone with a family and a mortgage obviously. I think that, yes maybe I miss not having a family and children - but on the flip side, it has allowed me the freedom to just make a huge change at such an age.
I remember the ridiculously long hours in management - being the company's bh, the buck stopping with me when things got fked up, the constant battle to look after and manage staff and all their st, endless dull board meetings in endless dull grey buildings on nondescript industrial estates, not to mention the horrible 'commutes' alongside millions of other 'sheeple'...it sucked the life out of me totally.
I'm now committed to never earning decent money again (well, not for at least 8 years when I get to the top of my pay scale - which will still only be circa 40k at best) but....if I get out of bed looking forward to going to work to really make a difference, well that's worth any money in the world to me, especially psychologically.
We have one, very short life - don't forget that this is it - there is no 2nd chance, no rehearsal....why be unhappy at the place where you spend the majority of your day? It's nuts if you think about it - good money or not.
I'd say go for it. Trust me, it's a major refresh!
That sums up life.My last managerial position paid circa 75k. These days I start to panic when the tax-disc on my 14-year old car starts to come up for renewal. I moved back into my Mum's house in order to do my degree - oh, and the starting salary for my new position when I graduate is circa 25k.
However. I cannot remember a time in recent memory when I've felt this happy and free from stress. My degree involves doing 1500 hours of work placement, and whenever I am out working (which as a student I obviously don't get paid for!) I love it immensely. I cannot wait to graduate and start working for real.
I concede that I have never been married or had kids - in fact I even split from my G/F a year or so back, so have no dependents. Doing something so drastic would probably not be an option for someone with a family and a mortgage obviously. I think that, yes maybe I miss not having a family and children - but on the flip side, it has allowed me the freedom to just make a huge change at such an age.
I remember the ridiculously long hours in management - being the company's b
h, the buck stopping with me when things got fked up, the constant battle to look after and manage staff and all their st, endless dull board meetings in endless dull grey buildings on nondescript industrial estates, not to mention the horrible 'commutes' alongside millions of other 'sheeple'...it sucked the life out of me totally. I'm now committed to never earning decent money again (well, not for at least 8 years when I get to the top of my pay scale - which will still only be circa 40k at best) but....if I get out of bed looking forward to going to work to really make a difference, well that's worth any money in the world to me, especially psychologically.
We have one, very short life - don't forget that this is it - there is no 2nd chance, no rehearsal....why be unhappy at the place where you spend the majority of your day? It's nuts if you think about it - good money or not.
I'd say go for it. Trust me, it's a major refresh!
Being happy and having energy once home is better than driving a 520d on £70kpa and too tired to have fun.
So many grey faces commuting etc.
This time last year we relocated from London to Devon. (We means the wife and I, and our then 7m month old son.)
I went from 60 hours a week to 40 hours a week. My commute went from 4.5 miles by bike, or the Tube if raining to 9 miles by bike, rain or shine. Ive lost about 20kgs, becuase everywhere is up a hill too. My salary halved. My wife didn't go back to her pretty well paid job at the end of her maternity leave. We sold a 2 bedroom flat in Clapham, and bought a three bedroomed semi with a garage for 5/8s what we sold the flat for. So our mortgage is roughly a third what it was.
I leave at 8am, cycle to work, do a job that I enjoy more than the old one, and cycle home to arrive by 6pm. Our garden has a summer house and looks out onto a field with cows in it.
I'm not sure I miss anything of the London life, but am really glad we were there when we were.
Now aged 19 months, my boy runs around in the garden safely, and my missus is growing potatoes and tomatoes in the garden.
Sometimes I stop, look up the valley we live in, and think I'm one of the luckiest chaps alive. When its pissing it down, and I'm dragging my arse up the hill out of the valley on my bike, I'm still happier than I was on the Tube.
Life is good.
I went from 60 hours a week to 40 hours a week. My commute went from 4.5 miles by bike, or the Tube if raining to 9 miles by bike, rain or shine. Ive lost about 20kgs, becuase everywhere is up a hill too. My salary halved. My wife didn't go back to her pretty well paid job at the end of her maternity leave. We sold a 2 bedroom flat in Clapham, and bought a three bedroomed semi with a garage for 5/8s what we sold the flat for. So our mortgage is roughly a third what it was.
I leave at 8am, cycle to work, do a job that I enjoy more than the old one, and cycle home to arrive by 6pm. Our garden has a summer house and looks out onto a field with cows in it.
I'm not sure I miss anything of the London life, but am really glad we were there when we were.
Now aged 19 months, my boy runs around in the garden safely, and my missus is growing potatoes and tomatoes in the garden.
Sometimes I stop, look up the valley we live in, and think I'm one of the luckiest chaps alive. When its pissing it down, and I'm dragging my arse up the hill out of the valley on my bike, I'm still happier than I was on the Tube.
Life is good.
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
I remember the ridiculously long hours in management - being the company's bh, the buck stopping with me when things got fked up, the constant battle to look after and manage staff and all their st, endless dull board meetings in endless dull grey buildings on nondescript industrial estates, not to mention the horrible 'commutes' alongside millions of other 'sheeple'...it sucked the life out of me totally.
Rayh, the buck stopping with me when things got fked up, the constant battle to look after and manage staff and all their st, endless dull board meetings in endless dull grey buildings on nondescript industrial estates, not to mention the horrible 'commutes' alongside millions of other 'sheeple'...it sucked the life out of me totally. Thanks for that! I am 40 and this small paragraph pretty much sums up where I feel I am at the moment - except the 'orrible commute, living where we do is pretty special to us.
I used to love my job (same company 15 years!) but not now. Great food for thought.
Obviously if it all goes tits up, I can now blame you!!!
Mike
mike9009 said:
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
I remember the ridiculously long hours in management - being the company's bh, the buck stopping with me when things got fked up, the constant battle to look after and manage staff and all their st, endless dull board meetings in endless dull grey buildings on nondescript industrial estates, not to mention the horrible 'commutes' alongside millions of other 'sheeple'...it sucked the life out of me totally.
Rayh, the buck stopping with me when things got fked up, the constant battle to look after and manage staff and all their st, endless dull board meetings in endless dull grey buildings on nondescript industrial estates, not to mention the horrible 'commutes' alongside millions of other 'sheeple'...it sucked the life out of me totally. Thanks for that! I am 40 and this small paragraph pretty much sums up where I feel I am at the moment - except the 'orrible commute, living where we do is pretty special to us.
I used to love my job (same company 15 years!) but not now. Great food for thought.
Obviously if it all goes tits up, I can now blame you!!!
Mike
It's funny, but - I chased and secured my first Managerial position by my late 20's, and when I commenced my new position, I had to start wearing 'a suit' - but I loved that, and I thought I was the nuts, had made it, had joined the beginning of the 'top tier' - the key to enlightenment, the big salaries, the privileged few. The fact that I could now use a nicer 'executive' toilet gave me goose-pimples.
For a while.
Until I started to realise that it was all, basically, b
ks.It's amazing how vacuous, false and insubstantial, the traditional idea of 'aspiration' really is. I worked hard to get there, sacrificed many hours of my life that I will never get back...in return for boardroom and company politics, the flattery and arse-licking of greedy and demanding shareholders, my own complete boredom, and basically a total all-round sense of un-fulfilment and disillusionment!
But as I now sit here, half-way through my training as a Student Paramedic - I have found out, and realised what life, fulfilment, a sense of real achievement and purpose as a human being, really is.
The utter privilege, and sense of grave responsibility that is bestowed upon me, when a complete stranger, who is experiencing an uncomfortable and scary compromise on their health, welcomes me into their home alongside their family, and gives me total faith, trust and honesty in order that I may help them and alleviate their pain and suffering - well, I will never get bored with that, or get used to it, or treat it flippantly.
I am so fortunate to be training in, and looking towards qualifying in, something so utterly unique and life-affirming, that I almost feel like I would get up and go and do this job for free, such is the feeling of satisfaction.
When we attend a patient with a life-threatening medical condition, as I have done many times already, and realise that our identification, intervention and treatment on scene, plus rapid conveyance to a specialist Hospital unit prevented their demise....well, that's reward itself waaaay beyond financial remuneration. Especially if I visit them on a ward a week or two later, and they grab my hand, squeeze it hard, and break down in tears, thanking me for saving their life, in front of their family....I cannot think of a job which can provide a better sense of a useful existence on this planet?
Anyway - gaaahhh, sorry, I've done my trademark 'massive PH post' yet again, sorry for the tangent! My words are possibly a wee bit self-indulgent I agree...but I have tried to demonstrate that there is no need to be unhappy in an employment position - there is just not enough time, or room, in a precious life, to waste doing so.
You have no real debt to a company - you owe them nothing, despite what some of them might try to imply. Your life is your own, and runs out very quickly. Make no mistake - if at any time your company decided that you didn't 'fit' or had to shed staff in order to save money - they would drop you like a piece of hot coal.
The fact that you've thought about your happiness and posted on here indicates that all is not well with you psychologically. I just hope that you are willing and able to do the right thing in order to find a better sense of calmness and fulfilment in your life. If it isn't right for you - get rid of it.
Let us know how you get on my friend
About a year ago I took a drop from 28k to 22.5k, I despised my last job and everything about it, I've still not come down from the high of leaving that hole so I have 0 regrets. I live in the north east tho so my mortgage is only like 380 a month in a good area. If find that this is the lower limit of my income threshold, I have a LOT more money worries than I used to but I'm still metric fktonnes happier
ktonnes happier If you can't stand it any more, definitely consider making the leap. You might not be able to afford as many holidays but then you probably won't need to "get away from it all".
"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."
Or to put it another way, I fking love Mondays!!
"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."
Or to put it another way, I f
king love Mondays!!I used to be an IT contractor and very comfortable financially but I hated working away from home, the admin and the lack of training to keep up to date (the software company I specialised in only trained permanent staff of the companies that bought their software).
I took the leap back into permiedom with a 50% paycut which stung but I now work with a great team, get lots of holiday, training, good pension, perks etc...
Sure, I'd like more money, who wouldn't, but I still have enough to pay the bills and I'm happier overall.
I took the leap back into permiedom with a 50% paycut which stung but I now work with a great team, get lots of holiday, training, good pension, perks etc...
Sure, I'd like more money, who wouldn't, but I still have enough to pay the bills and I'm happier overall.
A different view - I largely hate my job - am bored by it etc etc... but it pays very well so I reckon on retiring from it 10-15 years earlier than I otherwise would on a lower income doing a job I MIGHT enjoy more...
Obviously once retired (about 12 months away now...) I can do what the hell I want whenever I want to!!!
Cheers T
Obviously once retired (about 12 months away now...) I can do what the hell I want whenever I want to!!!
Cheers T
It all depends on what you want from life and what your happpy to sacrifice.
I have family in the south east they both are quite high up working for a large building society.
They get up, get there child up drop her off at nursery before train/tube to there place of work , pick there child up at 7 return home bath child and put her to bed, weekends they do nothing as there just knackered.
Yes they earn st loads but they also spend st loads on mortgage and keeping up with the neighbours with cars, they have a st relationship with there child because they never see her and when they are at home there too tired to do stuff like take her places or even simple stuff like go to the park or a bike ride.
Another family member lives near the coast, they are on pretty rubbish wages but they earn enough to pay the bills.
Mum drops children at school , dad picks them up and gets tea on , the last 2 weeks they've had bbq's on the beach everyday because the weathers been so good, weekends are spent down the beach or off camping somewhere.
There realationship with the children is 100% more healthy as they have time to do stuff with the kids and the whole family is just so much more relaxed instead of being stressed/tired.
Only the original poster can decide which option is right for him and his family.
I have family in the south east they both are quite high up working for a large building society.
They get up, get there child up drop her off at nursery before train/tube to there place of work , pick there child up at 7 return home bath child and put her to bed, weekends they do nothing as there just knackered.
Yes they earn s
t loads but they also spend st loads on mortgage and keeping up with the neighbours with cars, they have a st relationship with there child because they never see her and when they are at home there too tired to do stuff like take her places or even simple stuff like go to the park or a bike ride.Another family member lives near the coast, they are on pretty rubbish wages but they earn enough to pay the bills.
Mum drops children at school , dad picks them up and gets tea on , the last 2 weeks they've had bbq's on the beach everyday because the weathers been so good, weekends are spent down the beach or off camping somewhere.
There realationship with the children is 100% more healthy as they have time to do stuff with the kids and the whole family is just so much more relaxed instead of being stressed/tired.
Only the original poster can decide which option is right for him and his family.
timbo999 said:
A different view - I largely hate my job - am bored by it etc etc... but it pays very well so I reckon on retiring from it 10-15 years earlier than I otherwise would on a lower income doing a job I MIGHT enjoy more...
Obviously once retired (about 12 months away now...) I can do what the hell I want whenever I want to!!!
Cheers T
This is exactly the position I'm in apart from I'm a lot further from retirement. I just think if I got a worse paying but more enjoyable job I might end up getting fed up with it anyway but would have to do it for much longer. I find people who love their jobs generally haven't been doing them that long. Even fighter pilots and ski instructors get sick of it.Obviously once retired (about 12 months away now...) I can do what the hell I want whenever I want to!!!
Cheers T
Steve7777 said:
timbo999 said:
A different view - I largely hate my job - am bored by it etc etc... but it pays very well so I reckon on retiring from it 10-15 years earlier than I otherwise would on a lower income doing a job I MIGHT enjoy more...
Obviously once retired (about 12 months away now...) I can do what the hell I want whenever I want to!!!
Cheers T
This is exactly the position I'm in apart from I'm a lot further from retirement. I just think if I got a worse paying but more enjoyable job I might end up getting fed up with it anyway but would have to do it for much longer. I find people who love their jobs generally haven't been doing them that long. Even fighter pilots and ski instructors get sick of it.Obviously once retired (about 12 months away now...) I can do what the hell I want whenever I want to!!!
Cheers T
Could be because there are only 6 of us, we worth very in the local community , have no direct managers and get 13 weeks off a year.
Foppo said:
What a great last post.Takes guts to do what you did.May the gods be with you.>
Agreed - refreshing, liberating and brave - but I suspect only applies if you don't have others who depend on you and your earning capability, as Ray has stated.Conversely, I was a bit of a failure in my early career - flitting from one job to the next, getting fired from one or two of them, because I simply didn't take my career (or my future) very seriously.
I bought things I couldn't really afford, re-fi'd mortgages to stagger from one crisis to the next and generally drifted along (despite having a wife and a child who both depended on me).
I only wised-up in my 40's when it dawned on me that one day I was going to retire and had made pretty much f
k-all provision for that time.Due to a combination of luck, circumstance and ducking and weaving on my part, I managed to emigrate from the UK to the US and worm my way INTO corporate employment. That said, I'm no 'suit' or cubicle farm peon - I provide research consultancy to large (gigantic global) corporations and yes - I have to attend those bulls
t meetings and mindless conference calls that Ray escaped from - but my drive is the need to pile cash into my retirement and dotage. I don't have the balls to go it alone and doing something all fun but few $$$ will have me packing groceries in the local SaveMart when I'm 70 in order to not starve.Our individual circumstances drive our choices.
I did smile when I read Ray's post - good for you - very inspiring and pleasing to read. Good luck to you - and anyone else teetering on the precipice.
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