Making a job change possibly...what would you do?

[cgasner1]

I think he sells feet pics.

Everything is negotiable

 

[Keep'er Movin]

This conversation I may really be coming off as a asshole but my wife has also worked in athletics at a college for over the last 15 years it’s a labor of love she is over worked and under paid such as yourself. I tell her the same shit if you don’t like it quit. She is worth more but even at a college level the money isn’t there. By trade I’m a journeyman lineman. The gives up a fair amount of my time to teach a apprentice class for a utility that is across most the state of Montana

Fair enough. My dad was a lineman as well.

 

[cgasner1]

Fair enough. My dad was a lineman as well.

He chose a great trade hope he kept all his fingers.

 

[Keep'er Movin]

He chose a great trade hope he kept all his fingers.

He did...worked a hell of a lot during all types of terrible weather.

 

[ignorethefringes]

My wife is a teacher for 16 years. Currently making less than $30K teaching at a small private school in Tennessee.

Yes the job is hard and often sucks. On a yearly basis, she works less than I do but makes substantially less money also. But there is never a shortage of open teaching positions. But you might have to move districts.

Your power to negotiate is that there are fewer teachers than the market needs. Go where they pay you the most if you aren’t getting paid enough. If that’s not an option because of your spouse and his/her, you’ve chosen your highest value item and that’s fine. But don’t complain there are no options. A lot of professions would require you to move to find the best opportunity, teaching is far from the only one.

As far as your conundrum, you’re in the middle of hunting season and early in the school year. You’ve missed this hunting season already. Tough it out the rest of the school year while finding the best possible next job for you with the right combination of pay and schedule.

 

[Steelsearchin]

Man, good luck. 15 years ago, while wife was preggers with #2, I turned down $35-40k/yr for trout and a 2# gray bird. I don't regret it for an instant.

 

[FI460]

I'm not trying to be inconsiderate to teachers. However, there are a LOT of jobs out there that don't really allow you to take off much time on your schedule.

Don't I know it. I keep telling sammichfreak I'm just a slave to the grapes until the Cabarnet gets harvested.

My job has evolved to keep me on site from mid September to mid November which is super annoying, but my schedule is still significantly more flexible than my wife's.

 

[Johnny Bravo]

Those that can do. Those that can’t teach. May be a slow learner

You have it a little wrong.... It's "those that can't do, teach, those that can't teach, teach gym"...lol

 

[NEWHunter]

@Keep'er Movin I don’t think I could offer any thorough advice without more information. I’ll ask some questions and make some observations instead.

I’m fairly analytical and I’d be running a lot of numbers around that pension. What would you get if you hang it up after this year? How much would you get if you stick it out for the 8 years?

My wife’s district gives 3 days with 5 years. Can you move districts and pick up an extra personal day or two and possibly shorten your commute? I just had a great three day weekend in Vilas County hunting grouse.

There’s some good ideas and things to think about in the thread so far. Others have already made good points about not selling yourself short, trying to find another state job, etc. Also, you can get a lot of hunting done from September through November on the weekends with a long weekend or two sprinkled in. Or maybe focus on the hiking, kayaking, and fishing now with some hunting thrown in and then look at hunting more down the road.

I’ll note that I have relatively average insurance coverage available through my job at a bank. We are on my wife’s insurance through her district. Even after what Walker did, her insurance still saves us over $2,000 a year.

At the end of the day it really comes down to what you and your wife are comfortable with financially and how you want to live your life together. If she is good with you being gone more often to pursue your passions and the numbers work, do it and don’t look back. Hang in there. Good luck with your decision.

 

[CPAjeff]

Here’s my $0.02:

You can always make more money, you can’t make more time. When your hourglass runs out, you’re done. Take less money and see if it works out. It’s not like you can’t go back to teaching if the new opportunity doesn't work out.

 

[bluespruce]

Maybe the answer got lost in the discussion but do you actually find the new job interesting and think you would like to do it?

I've only seen comments on how good the schedule is. If you are considering it solely for the schedule, I question whether it will work out. I mean taking a pay cut to do a job you don't like, no matter how good the schedule is, doesn't seem like a recipe for happiness.

 

[ignorethefringes]

Maybe the answer got lost in the discussion but do you actually find the new job interesting and think you would like to do it?

I've only seen comments on how good the schedule is. If you are considering it solely for the schedule, I question whether it will work out. I mean taking a pay cut to do a job you don't like, no matter how good the schedule is, doesn't seem like a recipe for happiness.

It’s in “distribution” which I’m pretty sure means he’s turning into Walter White. Though that makes the $40K suspect

 

[Rugern01]

Not sure if this was brought up: You're a teacher and likely are done with school between 3:30 & 4:00 pm every day? Plenty of time for afternoon hunts until daylight savings time? Plus you have weekends and most holidays off for additional hunting time along with your 2 personal days to extend weekends. Or, are you thinking along the lines of hunting trips - 1 - 2 weeks long? If so, I'm not sure that dropping $40k a year is going to produce a few hunting trips a year. (Drop $40k gross = $26k net cash and spend an additional $2-$10k net on trips. Total net decline would be $28-$36k net or $43-$55K+ gross) From a financial standpoint it would be a no-go for me, from an emotional standpoint it's your choice. Good luck with whatever you choose!

 

[RemingtonRules]

Cut your pay now and see how it goes. Just sweep the difference to a savings account and live off the reduced amount for several months.

 

[Keep'er Movin]

It’s in “distribution” which I’m pretty sure means he’s turning into Walter White. Though that makes the $40K suspect

I knew it would only be a matter of time before a drug reference popped up.

 

[ignorethefringes]

I knew it would only be a matter of time before a drug reference popped up.

My first post was serious, I figured I had liberty to make a fun one too. You chose "distribution" for some reason rather than giving a better description. It was either drugs or MLM lol.

 

[Ben Lamb]

My wife is very supportive. When we were first married, it took her awhile to get herself established in the corporate wellness field. We moved a lot, I commuted as much as an hour and twenty minutes one way while she was "growing her brand" so to speak. She landed in a fortune 200 company and made great money but they owned her. Her last year at her former company we ate dinner together at home a total of 3 times the whole year (not including time off/holidays, etc )during a Monday through Friday work week due to corporate expectations. She eventually quit, took a 50% pay cut and now works 5 min away from our home in a totally different field. She loves it, I love it, and I love being able to see her. We lost well over 2500 a month in disposable income, but I would never want her to go back to something like that. I think she sees this (a potential career change for me) as a way to now support me in return for sacrificing for her while she was finding her path.

Money is a tool, not a god. If your retirement is taken care, your income is good enough for both of you and your spouse is good with this, then take the ride and do it.

The American ethic of working until your dead doesn't serve your soul.

 

[Cammy]

At the end of the day you will always regret what you didn't do. Cemeteries are packed with people who wish they had just one more day to do something they loved. I left a job that paid me a ton of money, I was really good at and really enjoyed because life is short and I was done chasing money. Sitting in my PJ's typing this on a weekday at 0800 thinking about heading to the rifle range today. Wife and I are not filthy rich by any means but we are happy and have enough for us.
Everyone here knows what Randy has to say about this situation, "Hunt while you can because you are going to run out of health before you run out of money". Substitute any activity for the word hunt and apply it to your every day life.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Money is a tool, not a god. If your retirement is taken care, your income is good enough for both of you and your spouse is good with this, then take the ride and do it.

The American ethic of working until your dead doesn't serve your soul.

"Hunt when you can. You're gonna run outta health before you run outta money." Wisdom from the top HT sage, the Big Fin.

 

[Lostinthewoods]

I feel like at this point there is no magical nuggets I can give you that wasn't already said, so I'll just echo some points that I think are most important.
Also these are just genuine answers I'd give anyone so don't take them as me digging in.

1) Don't run from something; run to something.
Lots of people don't like where they are at and they will take the first thing that gets them somewhere else. Often not the best option...
You have a vision, but I'd make it more clear and work towards that. I mean a real clear vision.
2) Two options aren't enough.
If I find myself with life changing decisions and I only have two option, I will always reflect to see if there any more. I personally loved the post that said Option 3. More time and more money.
You have years of experience that can be applied to other careers. I don't know what this "distribution" job is, but my mind says you are likely way too qualified and the world is losing out on your experiences and capabilities.
3) Math doesn't lie.
I'm not sure how old you are, but I saw you have 8 years left until you could hit a pension. Just run the math and make sure your decision is also backed with math, not just your emotions.
I am military and I've hated the last couple years of it. However I just have 14 months left and I can retire with my pension, medical, etc. The math was I could have left ages ago, but I would be missing out on $X.XK monthly pension for the rest of my life just to wake up, medical coverage that saves me $X.XK a month, and more. All at the age of 38. The math made sense for me long term in my life, but I didn't like it in the moment.


I'm going to put it like this. If you want something bad you obviously need to figure out a way to get here.
You're a teacher - start some side hustles now. Go tutor, teach online classes, go cut grass, etc.
If you work hard you can find that now you have the power to create an income without the traditional means and also master your schedule.

Imagine this - you wake up and cut a few lawns, bird hunt or play outside all afternoon, and then corrected college papers for the online classes you taught in the evening.
Then you casually tutor when you want to save extra for some out of state hunts. You do all this when you want and make more money than you ever have.