To stay in a job that's really tough going for the money?

[Hop27]

I appreciate I'm in a fortunate position...but. I've found myself in a very good job, but with it comes long long hours, weekend work stress and general grind and I dislike it more that love it. But I've managed to gain equity and we are going through massive growth so I could end up with a very sizeable financial reward over the next 10 years 'if' we achieve our forecasts. My salary is more than I ever thought I'd be in the position to earn. DH, DSS and I have a really nice lifestyle. Through work I get lots of bonuses as we are privately owned, and some 'personal expenses' are covered by work.
We could live on one wage, either mine or DH but lifestyle would move if I wanted to make a change. I wouldn't get as strong an equity position if I moved firm in the same industry, and if I'm honest it would be the same expectation. I assume most people don't 'love' their jobs, so at least I'm benefiting financially. I'm early 40's do I just grind out the next 10 years and reap the rewards? Get DSS through uni, house deposit or do I chase a pipe dream of being happy in my work?

Clearly the £40k has helped you to make your decision.

First world problems.

Cartier may well retain or in some cases increase in value, however If the OP puts the equivalent amount she wants to spend on Cartier Jewellery into a pension, she already gained 45% in saved additional rate income tax. That will then be % compounded over however many years before she draws it to retire.

I have always had hard going jobs, currently on 30k so I know I would do the same for lots of money!

Ask for someone else to take on some of your work. BIL is a bigshot & he has minions. Still works long hours around FTSE reporting dates, but he does not do it on his own and is not expected to.

I'm so sorry. Wishing you both good things, living for the moment.

10 years is a long time and a lot could happen. It's a very long time if you're finding things stressy already.

Of course it’s your choice and money is important but no one dies wishing they worked more. I’d be wanting to be much stricter with working hours if you do stay, or can you reduce hours?

How's about a time frame of say 2 more years of hard graft. Max out your pension and savings and then ease out and find a role with better life balance even if it pays a lot less. I saw a job advertised recently that I'd be well qualified for, advertised at almost twice my current salary. On considering it I realised there is no way on earth I'd give up my flexibility (wfh) and perfectly decent pay (c.75k) for a role that'd require a significant commute, managing a bigger team and therefore meaning complete prioritisation of work over the rest of my life. Also peri menopause for me has been a genuine struggle so I'm immensely grateful for my relatively low stress work set up. I think a more intense job would break me and I'm generally pretty resilient.

Absolutely this. Make the most of it, and make sure you and the family are able to reap the benefits of your work now without going silly, ie decent breaks away (hard if you feel you need to work weekends to get through it all but you've got to keep juice in the engine otherwise you're no use to anyone), some nice toys now, rather than thinking you can do all that "when I retire" as the carrot to keep going.

Goady post?

That pay rise is almost 2 years of my earnings.

It’s £10k more than mine 😂

this!

Figure out which bits of your job are causing you the most stress and get yourself an executive coach or mentor in your sector (e.g. a retired director or similar) and use them to bounce ideas, problem solve, and explore options. A really good one will be expensive but they’ll be worth their weight in gold.

Going into the weekend, I feel like I need to work both days to try to catch up

Do you have to though? is there a way to protect private/out of work time? Put boundaries around your work and focus more on out of work?

Does not sound like much fun to me.

But I am not really interested much in expensive "things".

No I would never compromise happiness for money, I don't believe anyone should personally

Well then you're very lucky. It's really unfair to say you disrepsect people who don't love their jobs, and that it's a waste of a life. I'm pretty sure that care assistants wiping bottoms in nursing homes, or mental health workers who expeirence abuse at work, or even shelf stackers don't always "love their jobs". It's quite ok to do a difficult or job and feel gratified that you're making a difference, or doing essential work, without "loving" your job. Plenty of people really don't have any opportunity to find a job that they love.

OP, I'd say if that if you're receiving your payrise and seeing Cartier watches floating in front of your eyes that you can get NOW rather than an early retirement or a part time more fulfilling job in 5 years' time, then I don't think you're ready to leave yet. You're not seeing the payrise as an exit opportunity. You're seeing it as chance to acquire THINGS. That you probably don't need. So you probably value them more than you think.

If this were me (and it will never be me because your pay rise alone is more than twice what I earn) I would be making an exit strategy a couple of years down the line, and pouring money into planning for that. It's amazing how your mindset can change when you know you're not going to be stuck somewhere you hate for the rest of your life.

I wouldn't take on a job like that in the first place. Money isn't everything.

Let’s be honest the majority of us would never be offered a job like that.

I'd quit. No question. Life's too short to look back and wonder why you wasted all that time. I've spent years in two different jobs that on paper were 'dream' jobs that I loathed, whilst everyone else was saying how lucky and successful I was. Have had another job which everyone thought was crazy and was much 'lower status' but I loved it. Follow your heart, I say. Unless there's a specific time bound reason to stay in this job e.g. if I do a year I can afford to pay for a graduate degree in X so I can do my dream job. Good luck either way!

Not an answer to your question but I’d strongly recommend you listen to the ‘enough’ podcast series by Dr Mandy Lehto. She’s amazing and discusses exactly these sort of life moments.

I’d stay. BUT I wouldn’t look at it as being for 10 years as that would exhaust me. I’d aim a year at a time. I say this as someone in their late 40’s who is no longer interested in doing such a good job as 10 years ago.

Definitely give yourself treats and holidays/relaxing time but not overly spendy so if you can’t make the next 5-10 years in this high paying job, then you can move into something else and have a good amount saved.

I’d also be looking at what other options there are in the same company / industry where you can just work 5 days a week rather than feeling like you need to work 24/7 and if possible move into this type of thing mid 40’s. Hopefully you can find a balance between working hard and earning lots but also having weekends to rest and enjoy life. Otherwise you don’t want to burn out.

There are lots of different options available now for more flexible working and if you want a change it doesn't necessarily mean all or nothing...how about if you looked into changing your hours to suit you more ? longer shifts but more days off or reduce your hours in the well paid job but still work part-time (could potentially increase again in the future) and then pick up some flexible work or supplementary work in the area that you really love, meeting your own needs in the middle...not as scary a move then.

If you have those options of course