to take a 50k paycut

[RiddleyW]

Bit if a WWYD I suppose.

I currently earn lowish 6 figures and a really really interesting job has come up but it's a significant paycut, around 50k at least (and more if I assume I get my max bonus in current job).

It has a somewhat better pension and 2.5 days more holiday a year. Probably similar hours to what I do now and similarly flexible.

In many ways I think this might be complete madness but honestly it is working for my absolute dream organisation.

As a family we could afford it but would mean some cutting back and definitely saving less for DS' future.

Feels selfish to even consider it really but I'm sooooo tempted!

So, would I be unreasonable to go for this job?

You can always go back to current role & pay if money is the most important thing to you.. take a risk ... or you may regret it ... if you have a 3 month notice period you can put away a not more to cushion the first 6 months in a new role

Branster

There is not a correlation between "working hard" and "earning lots of money"

Consider a care assistant or a warehouse worker. Minimum wage, no guarantee of hours, no job security, treated like filth.

Anyone who tells you to do this does not want to see you doing well. Especially if it's to the detriment to your son, of whom you have a duty to

Lol fuck no

I think it is insane to take a fifty thousand K paycut. Hell is other people. You could have a dream job assignment and work next to one of those people who scrape their yogurt containers with their spoons obsessively, and then it will all have been for naught.

No one really knows the culture of a workplace until they’re in it. And even that can differ hugely according to team

Well yes, but since we never know what the future holds, it could just as easily hold good things, wonderful opportunities and friends for life!

I also guess that if the OP was having all of her intellectual/emotional/whatever needs met by her current place of work, she wouldn't be considering a move.

I don't know, I usually find myself nodding along in agreement with your posts Laurie but I guess not on this one!

Sistersis
Anyone who tells you to do this does not want to see you doing well. Especially if it's to the detriment to your son, of whom you have a duty to
-
Oh gosh I encouraged the op to go for the other job, thinking she would be happier. I certainly want her to do well! It never occurred to me that anyone would want anything different.

I presumed the 'other' job would be well paid, just not as well paid as her current one.

I feel rotten now, (not that Riddley is going to take any notice of what I say).

25 years ago I took a pay cut (from !8K to 13K) to do my dream job. I was very very broke for a long time, but also extremely happy and fulfilled in my work.

PigletJohn I was making the point that the higher earners work hard for their money, they don’t take it away from anybody so there is no reason for the negative comments on this thread.
You are absolutely right with your examples. My grandmother worked incredibly hard all her life for a very low income. My mother worked incredibly hard for a very high salary. Within the same society, different life opportunities, different life choices etc.
All the households I personally know of with higher incomes between 100-500k bring money in by working incredibly hard, either through PAYE income or self employment. They put a lot of money into the economy through their spending and they contribute to the tax system.
None of them take money away from lower income households so nobody needs to be envious of them.
The only ones I have an issue with, are people with gains from immoral or illegal activities. I personally only know one case as such, incredibly high earnings , all legit so still paying all taxes due but the subject of their work is questionable and incidentally a very unpleasant creepy character. Not in the least jealous of their money but more disgusted with their line of work.
LaurieMarlow yes but you can still get a feel for it. Part of it also depends on expectations, adaptability and flexibility.

Unless I was desperately unhappy in my current role - I wouldn't do it. I'd be too anxious about my longterm financial future for me/DS

I'd maybe look at enhancing my life to incorporate more of what I love/a possible sabbatical etc

Personally I would ask the following questions:

Am I unhappy in my current job?
Why do I think the new job will be better? How have I come to that conclusion?
Once basics are paid for luxuries become a matter of balance is what you are giving up with what you will gain?
How easy would it be to go back to previous role/salary
If you divorced or DH diedwould you be able to support you and DS
Would you regret not trying the new role.

People on here have a weird atttitude to money. Yes your salary is relatively high compared to others but their salary is relatively high compared to someone making clothes in Bangladesh - do they feel guilty about what they earn/have?

I guess the point I’m trying to make (badly) is that it’s not as simple as ‘better job satisfaction plus lower pay’ versus ‘worse job satisfaction plus higher pay’ as some posters are tabling it.

The OP could move and find that she’s got worse or similar job satisfaction plus a big pay cut. I’d be damn annoyed to find myself in that situation.

I guess it comes down to how dissatisfied she is with her current job.

So you earn £115,000 to £120,000 or so a year, and your DH earns less than £10,000 a year???

This could be our household albeit in reverse. My annual salary is half of what my husband makes in a month. What’s slightly unusual here is that the OP earns more than her DH.

Good luck OP, whatever you decide.

"Once you earn over 100K you get taxed so much you're kind of better off being on a lower salary. Sickening how much tax is".
I agree tax is far too high but I don't agree that earning over £100m means you might as well not work which is why I suggested she tried to get to over £200k or more.

there is a band for which low earners will never be symapthetic of course, where tehre is a very high marginal tax rate, you will also lose your single person allowance entirely etc etc but once you are over that you go back down as it were to 47% upper rate tax and NI (45% tax and 2% NI). You also won't get any of the £2k per child state help with childcare costs and of course no child benefit either these days.

hbowever you still keep 53% of your upper earnings - i.e. about half. I think that shoujdl all be brought down to about a flat tax for all of about 33% or even 20% but we always seem to ghet high tax and high spent governments sadly - even BJ is proposing masses of spending so I am not holding my breath for fairer lower taxes for higher earners. I will continue working half of each day to pay direct tax/NI and half way through move into paying all the indirect taxes we all pay so many of too.

Think you are bragging and rather self indulgent posting on here! Take it you are not in a job that requires empathy and sensitivity?!

Think you are bragging and rather self indulgent posting on here!

Are people who earn in high figures not allowed to have personal dilemmas? Would it be OK if the OP was talking about a £500 per month pay cut on a £25K salary?
Stating facts isn’t bragging. Asking for opinions on a dilemma is y send-indulgent, it’s human nature.

Think you are bragging and rather self indulgent posting on here!

I don’t get this at all. Because the OP has a biggish salary she’s not allowed to seek opinion. Why?

@BBOA and another one! I forgot that you’re only a reasonable member of society if you earn below £25k a year and scrape by month to month! How dare anyone who’s achieved a senior position have a dilemma and ask for advice? There are many of us on here who may be in similar positions so it’s actually a reasonable and interesting question.

@BBOA - *Think you are bragging and rather self indulgent posting on here!

Think you are bragging by being on here. After all, not everyone can afford broadband. Take it you are not in a job that requires empathy and sensitivity?!*

What hope do we have as women if the response to something to this is endless bitchy comments about whether OP has any empathy or whether it’s a joke or stealth boast?

Can you imagine the same response on a male dominated forum?

Pathetic!

You haven't been here long if you think MN doesn't have a very high proportion of high earners. Spend five minutes in Style & Beauty and the travel boards.

@YippieKayakOtherBuckets yes, but sadly the inverse snobbery is coming out here and it’s just a real shame! I can’t stand seeing women shame other women for being successful.

You’ve just proved that mumsnet is for rich people. 🙊

I personally wouldn’t think someone earning in low 6 figures is ‘rich’ but appreciate that it is all relative - but that’s a whole other debate which I know has been had before on here!!

@maisedaisy doesn’t the fact that there are also threads seeking benefits advice or tips on cooking on a very low budget prove that MN (like real life) has a place for everyone in the conversation?