To ask if you would choose money or happiness (career wise) ?

[felttippenguin]

I'm at a bit of a cross roads career wise. I currently work in finance while I'm finishing up my degree. My field is charity sector and it's not well paid for how highly educated you have to be, jobs are also somewhat scarce so volunteering etc is expected to gain experience/make connections.

My finance job was a pay the bills jobs up until now. But I've reached a point where I could easily progress within the company and make a career out of it.

My earning potential in finance is higher but I do find it boring. I find the work in my field of education incredibly fulfilling.

I'm trying to think about my life in ten years. Will I regret choosing to work in a job that pays well and funds a good lifestyle but bores me to tears? Or would I regret having less money but an enjoyable job!

I know it's totally individual but I'm not the only one to make this choice and I'd love to hear what people think is more important? Money or happiness?

Money. It gives you far more options and choices.

I think that when it comes down to it, they go hand in hand.

Money. In the end we work to pay the bills and feed our families. You could always do something related to the charity at the weekends.

Hi OP, so I am in a similar position although my decision will be to stay in a boring finance job for money, or to be more available for my children especially when DS starts school in Sept and enjoy my life more that way (whilst still working part time in boring finance job).
Right now I am leaning towards being happier and earning less, I guess in some ways it's easier for me since the decision is what's best for my children, if I was you and questioning if I'd enjoy a different career more, I think I'd probably wonder if I would end up enjoying it more months down the line. Because at the end of the day it will still just be a job, one bringing in less money as well.
I would stick to your better paid job in your shoes I think but I'm sure others out there might have experience of this and say different hopefully!

At the moment, money.

I'd go for money.
More money means more income to enable me to do things I enjoy in my life outside of work. Work is to me just what you have to get through in order to finance your life.
Obviously there are limits. Eg bullying etc.

Work takes up the majority of my time, so personally I don't think I could spend the majority of my waking hours feeling bored and unfufilled and feeling bitter about never getting to use my degree in a job that I would prefer.- just to have some more money.
If you can live fine off the job you actually want, I would do that. I'd rather be happy and financially okay, than rich and bored.

Unless I was utterly life-ruiningly miserable, I’d choose money.

I work in a job that I mostly enjoy but I wouldn’t describe it as a passion, or something I have massive enthusiasm for. I choose it because it’s secure, flexible (in the sense there are jobs in it everywhere), generally well-respected, and most importantly, pays very very well.

I could’ve picked something arty or humanities based which would’ve been much more up my street, but fewer jobs, lower pay, and ultimately you work to make money. I’ve never regretted it for a second.

Money. As long as it's not a toxic, bullying, crying-in-the-loos situation (I've been in one of those for a year because I needed to stick around and it was damaging to the point 15 years later I still have occasional literal nightmares that I have to go back to that employer).

Boring but more £s will enable you and your family to have stability, comfort and less stress.

I've been on the poverty line for a few years as a young adult and would do - have done - everything to secure a well-fed, stable housing future. Money buys choices - it buys options and freedom that a poorly paid interesting job doesn't offer.

Obviously it depends on the detail (are we talking about a £100k/year finance job vs a £13k/year part time charity shop gig?) but the general theme is that I'd urge you to go for money first unless it's going to destroy your soul.

Money.

I think it depends.

We all need a certain amount of money to maintain an acceptable lifestyle, and if you're on a very low income, I would prioritise money. However, beyond that point, money doesn't really add to your happiness and other things are probably more important.

The ideal is to find a career that pays enough for a reasonable standard of living while still being sufficiently interesting. I feel lucky enough to have found that balance. I hope that you will find a way of doing it too.

Charities need qualified finance people, and many will pay decently for the required skills? Alternatively, find a job that pays and volunteer e.g. as a treasurer on a Charity Board?

Happiness, I couldn't (and haven't) give so much of my time doing something boring or unpleasant. I suspect you know you can make it work financially doing the rewarding work.

Unless it made me miserable, money.

The difference in earning potential is hard to say. Because I'm at the start of my career the jobs are around the same at the moment, but in finance there's much more room for growth whereas the absolute max salary I've seen for what I'd call my "dream job" is about £40k. Not a pittance by any means but those jobs are rare and I wouldn't walk into one and that would be about as high as I could go. In my current company I could be earning that within a few years.

Everyone's answer is different, and it may well change at different stages of your life.

I feel I've found a good balance point between both. I need my work to be reasonably interesting and challenging, and I also want it to pay well. And it does. I push for more money when I think I can reasonably get it without giving up something I don't want to give up. My current job has a less good pension offering than my previous, but the commute is a dream. It's a constant balancing of priorities.

I think balance.
I am in a career I enjoy as much as I would enjoy any job. It will max out at 46k unless I go promotion. Realistically not looking at ever earning above 55k unless I go for more promotions which take me far away from the actual work I enjoy.

However, that’s a decent salary. My partner earns in the same range and I think we will have a very comfortable lifestyle on that figure (I’m on a progressive pay scale so currently 32k).

I’m not unintelligent and I think I could earn a lot more if I took my career in a different direction but I also want to be happy.

It really does depend on the detail but I’d say that I underestimated how important money is. You need it to have option in life.

As long as my salary was reasonable, I would choose happiness/job satisfaction over a career that was more highly paid. I always needed to be able to look forward to going to work but obviously needed to earn enough and a bit more so I could relax.

Would the work you love give you enough money for a life you'd enjoy? If so, do that.

I think as well sometimes it's easy to get hooked on salaries, people thing 50k is double the take home of 25k - but it's not quite.
The more you earn, the more you're taxed. And of course you will have more disposable income the more you earn. But in my opinion a 5k pay rise, that brings a huge amount of stress and responsibility that would cause someone to be unhappy, is not worth 5k (or whatever the actual difference in take home pay per month would be), so it's also weighing it up that way too.

That 100%.

The thing you have to look at is how likely is it that you'll earn £40K doing the job you love? If those jobs are scarce then you're taking a hell of a risk.

Could you work in finance for a company that you find interesting? Would that help?

Money, up to the point where you can be secure and comfortable and not worry. But I think it’s important to consider that it’s more difficult to be really successful at something you have to force yourself to do, and that will limit your earning power. Also that every hour you spend working and thinking about work is time you’ll never get back, and that life is too short to spend every Sunday evening dreading tomorrow.

I do a job I love for 50K, my real perfect job pays 22K but I know the enjoyment of that would be taken away by the money stress. I could also earn more but not enjoy my job so I guess I’ve found a middle path