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?

Not for similar hours I wouldn't. I would keep going and invest the money to retire earlier.

Money isnt everything. You spend too much of your life at work to be miserable - but you aren't!
I was in a similar position 10 years ago. Earning 100k + and DH on slightly less. We did pack it in, BUT, our kids had left home, we had very low expectations and after having cancer and realising how short life can be, we went for it, and it was the best thing we ever did.
We have a dreamlife (to me, anyway, probably a nightmare to others)! But we just kept ploughing on whilst we had mortgages, children, responsibilities.
If you hate your job, change. If not, crack on and amass the dosh needed to do whatever you want to in future years.

Oh, and we are in the north, so cheaper lifestyle😁

@Isthisafreename
I'm not sure I understand..... the OP is in the 50+ k wage range- is that classed as low income?
Because it's really, really not! And it's one of 2 household incomes.

I do believe this is about values though- perhaps she feels she will make a greater overall positive impact with the new job.

I've done this (not so much of a drop) because it was my 'dream job' for an 'amazing company'. Once I started I soon realised it wasn't such a dream job or company and although the new job wasn't horrible I really, really resented the pay drop every second I spent there. I got a new job 18 months later but still not nearly as much as I was previously on.

Everytime you have a bad day at work you will hate your decision.

You never know what a job will be like until you start and even if you think you do (insider knowledge) that could change with new managers, restructures, redundancies etc. Not worth the risk for such a big loss.

Its an urban myth that the public sector is much less stressful.

There are still the same egotistical megalomaniacs, too much work and a load of corporate-speak bollocks to contend with.

I just got bullied out of my job in a public sector role, largely because I am a carer and my ex boss is a power hungry bitch who felt threatened by the quality of my work.

I would keep the money.

In my experience working for your dream organisation just ruins the dream.

@user1491678180 Can I ask what it is you do? I'm genuinely interested as I never even realised salaries went that high!

You could show us the courtesy of recognising that you earn more than 99% of could ever earn.

Don't assume that working in the charity sector will be some kind of stress free environment where everyone is always nice to each other and you can arrive at work anytime you want.

I'm not sure if you have put how much you are earning I may have missed it but I think it depends massively on that. As a PP said they get 350K a year so that 50K is not going to be a massive deal but if you're on 75K a year then it will do.

I would take the new job, there is so much more to work than a salary so long as you can still manage the pay cut of course!

@user1491678180. That’s a hypothetical chicken of course, we normally try and catch sparrows by lying in the long grass with water in our belly button hoping they’ll think we’re a water bath. Then we use the water as a stock and save the feathers for the kids to write with,

I think the thought that it might not be the dream job after all is exactly the issue. I’d really kick myself wouldn’t I?

The PP saying you did this but later when the children were grown, that makes a lot of sense to me. I probably do need to just hang in there for a bit longer and while the economy is so uncertain. I have a big mortgage and I’m in an area where house prices are falling.

I have taken a similar pay cut, and it was worth it. But only because it now allows me to work flexible, term time hours. I wouldn’t have taken it to have the same ties in terms of working hours etc

@Poppi89

user1491678180 Can I ask what it is you do? I'm genuinely interested as I never even realised salaries went that high!

whispers to poppi89.........

I am kidding. My salary is closer to the mid £30,000s!

i was just tekken the piss out of the OP.

I can stretch a chikken over 3 months though!!!

RiddleyW to add to my post, I am sole earner (DH retired), and my kids are grown, so not the same situation. I don't think I would have had the courage to take a 33% cut in pay when they were still at home, and the mortgage was enormous.

This is what happens when you give up a paid role to start your own business. It does take some getting used to and a rethink on shopping habits but the hardest part is around linking your feeling of self worth to your income. If you can genuinely untangle these and you are sure you don't have rose tinted glasses on 're the new job then go for it.

Dh did this and is in a job which is totally unique and the rewards and opportunities are objectively amazing.

His salary increased back to a pretty high level and I have no doubt he'd be able to pick up a ceo role elsewhere without too much trouble.

Do it!

I took a 40k paycut. So much better organisation and hours etc. Was worth it.

50K Pay cut? Oh poor you, please excuse me whilst i try muster some sympathy for you.

I think when you're in such a fortunate position to earn the kind of money you do you need to think long and hard about giving that up, especially as you don't hate your current job.

You say your DH is a fairly low earner, so imagine if something happens in the future where you need money, illness, relationship break up, something with one of your kids, or even just that you decide you want to retire early or travel or something like that. I know you'll still be on decent money, but you have the opportunity to really cover yourself for all eventualities earning what you do now. Some people would kill to be in that position.

I think with a job that you generally don't mind, it's too big a risk to take. If you hated your job or were extremely stressed, it would be different. You earn enough now afford to do many other fulfilling things in life to make up for the fact that you are a bit bored by your job. I wouldn't do this if I were you.

I work in the nfp sector and I think grim sums it up quite well. Start ups/ pilots are probably quite fun but medium sized are characterised by lack of IT/accounting/HR systems and large by skull crushing bureaucracy and lack of human capital. I always laugh on these charity threads where people are convinced that there are tonnes of massively talented, creative and motivated people prepared to do senior roles in the charity sector for less than 50k. Please pass me their CV's. I could sell them to the highest bidder.

It's not all bad but the nfp sector has all the issues of the private sector and then some of its own (usually called Joan and Dennis who have been volunteering for years and therefore think they can do whatever the hell they want, but only on the days they want to do it). You have to really be wedded to the cause or work in a charity that people want to work/volunteer for so much that they can pick and choose employees and volunteers (i.e. tell Joan /Dennis to jog on if they insist on treating the place like their personal fiefdom).

And exhale

@IamtheOA - the OP is in the 50+ k wage range- is that classed as low income? Because it's really, really not! And it's one of 2 household incomes.

I didn't say it was a low income. I said the lower the income, the bigger a factor money is. So for someone on 20k, an increase/decrease in income is a much bigger factor in a decision to take a job than for someone on 200k (within reason).

I do believe this is about values though- perhaps she feels she will make a greater overall positive impact with the new job.

Perhaps she does. But she needs to determine whether the pluses of the new job offset the negatives. And a 40% reduction in salary is obviously a negative.

50K Pay cut? Oh poor you, please excuse me whilst i try muster some sympathy for you.

Was only a matter of time before the People's Socialist Republic of Mumsnet turned up.

She wasn't asking for sympathy, she was asking for advice. Instead of sneering, why not be pleased for her, that she's got herself into that position.

Jealousy is a very destructive emotion.

settling in to watch the inevitable carnage

Yanbu. I've recently chosen to massively reduce my earnings for a while, to prioritise non financial things (family/time/health).

Having a fulfilling job with your dream organisation will enrich your life, as long as you can still afford the essentials (food, roof over your heads & the like). Money does not buy happiness & contentment.