AIBU to take job in dream town but with huge pay cut?

[Waferbiscuit]

Have long been keen to move to lovely town where I know I'd love living. It's about 2 hours away from me.

Applied for job which is in my sector that is exciting and very desirable but salary wasn't stated in advert. Got offered the job but turns out the salary is a 30% drop in pay or less 15k pa or about 850 pounds/month after tax. My company also makes quite significant pension contributions of about 700/month so I'd lose that as well.

I could take the role just to make the move, settle and eventually look for something else at a higher salary. But the risk is that (a) there isn't 'anything else' at a higher salary or I just can't secure anything else and (b) I'm back at a lower salary so harder to climb up again or be seen as senior. I could, of course, wait for something else at a higher salary to come up but that's a risk too as it could be years...

Would welcome thoughts on what to do. I'm single, which means I'm flexible, but the drag is I don't have another income in the family to rely on.

At 50, definitely not. Focus on maximising pension / possible early retirement plans, explore your dream town without committing to it, and make it your retirement plan if you still want to move there when you know it better.

@SturminsterNewton snap 😁

Nope. Another 10 years with that amount of pension conts will mean you can possibly retire at 60 to your dream town.

You would be crazy to do this, especially to give up those pension contributions.

[quote Waferbiscuit]@MissSmiley I'm 50. Have been building pension for 20 years and it's ok but will need to contribute a lot to make up for current employer contribution (they pay 21%!)[/quote]
It's unlikely you'd ever get that with any job change to be honest, so if you don't want to stay with that employer forever you probably need to swallow the lower pension conts at some point, though lower % and lower pay is a double whammy of course. .

Is the new town cheaper to live, would your housing costs reduce?

Personally I'd do it now if you can. DH and I had big plans for a comfortable retirement at 55. He died at 54.

I'd do it.

Your life is the things you do everyday. Not the things that happen in the future.

In 10 years you'll have more money in your 'pot' but maybe house prices in this lovely place will have gone through the roof.

But don't over think. Grab your life. Live it now.

Your life is the things you do everyday. Not the things that happen in the future.

This is so, so true and I wish I'd learned it 30 years ago!

OP, it depends on:

Is DreamTiwn cheaper to live in?
Is property more affordable there?
Are there chances of promotion in new job?
Are your personal expenses likely to change soon (DC moving out, etc?)

Can you negotiate to wfh in your current role?

I'd probably be quite wary, I understand there is huge bias against women of your age and older in recruitment. You could be stuck on the lower salary until you retire, goodness knows what that would do to your pension and future life.

Stay in current job and ave as much as you can now ( does your pension allow AVCs?) and retire as early as you can to the dream town..
Could you afford to buy in dream town now and perhaps rent/ lodge where you are during the week? Then you can have weekends in DT until you can retire permanently

At your age I think I'd wait until I retire to make the move, and possibly work on retiring early.

I lost my job at age 50 and took the opportunity to move to a much nicer place .. the next job I got ( same sector) was paid far less and although I was doing the same work and was promoted I never regained what I formerly earned....
Different circumstances as I had to start over .. but if wages are generally lower in dream town you probably wont regain your previous salary there...

Would be happy to move there and WFH but having a small child (age 8) means that I need to be near school so commuting as a single parent is very hard to make it work!

I would do it, but then I moved to my dream area at your age 3 years ago with no job to go to and found a brilliant job paying the same as I was on. I love where I live and would not go back. Life's too short, sometimes you have to take a risk and follow your dreams.

21% job pension contribution is brilliant.. quite honestly I would stick with it until you are at least 55..
Look at buying in DT now and renting at current place? If you can afford to think of taking a15k pay cut that would play a weekly rent in current town .. perhaps you could do long term rent in premier inn in your current town during the week- decent accommodation, no outgoings...( youd get a good rate) and live on your own house in dream town at weekends. Being single, it could be done! You could have both!

Ah didn't realise that you had a child.... scrap that plan.

Having done it, I would caution against.
Moved from Beds to East Sussex 4 years ago. I love living here, and luckily my dh earns well. I have absolutely struggled to find decent work and though I now earn an average wage, it's masses below what I'm used to and out of that am putting money into my own pension.
I wouldn't do it at 50 and single.

Oh. With a young child if you don't go now you'll surely have to wait until she's finished school?

Is idyllic place any good for teens? I live in a far from idyllic place but it is way better than prettier places both in terms of things to do while they're young teens and employment prospects when they're older.

No. The drop in salary at your age is huge. And the loss of pension even more.

What's your working conditions? are you going to be working from home at all, in the office two or three days a week?
I would move, but keep old job.

Oh. With a young child if you don't go now you'll surely have to wait until she's finished school? I'm okay for her to switch schools @AndOtherStories

Town has population over +100,000 so should be okay for teens.

@Waferbiscuit

Oh. With a young child if you don't go now you'll surely have to wait until she's finished school? I'm okay for her to switch schools *@AndOtherStories*

Town has population over +100,000 so should be okay for teens.

You might be OK for her to switch schools, but will she as a teenager?

If you were saying more around late 30s then I'd say yes but your closer to retirement.

There is no way I would do that, I mean I'm late 30s and already job hunting to increase my pay because with all the additional increases (council tax, income tax, energy bills) its basically a £3k pay cut and with the government saying we can expect more tax increases in future absolutely not the time to be taking a pay cut.

Why not move to your dream location once you retire instead.

If ever there is a clear sign to make sure you have a good pension pot these past few yrs have opened alot of peoples eyes.

Would your living expenses be less in the new town?

For example are you moving from a city like London to an area where living costs are less expensive?

If so then it is worth considering. But if not then I’m not sure it is sensible.

Although we probably need more context. Would your standard / quality of life be better in the new location? Would you be happier?

Money isn’t everything but you sound like you have good benefits in your current role. Not many employers pay 21% pension contributions - that is something you need to consider.

The housing is slightly cheaper in the new town but not by much. New town is in Gloucestershire.