I'm about to wrap up my second year at a Big 4 firm as a tax accountant. I currently make about $65k and should make a little north of $70k when raises kick in in September. I have a Master's in Accounting and I got my CPA last fall. The experience at this Big 4 so far has been good. I lucked out by being in a group that does not have busy seasons. My group does work unrelated to compliance deadlines and thus how busy you are is dependent on the project. I don't think I've ever worked over 60 hours in a week and I'd say that at least 80% of my work weeks have been less than 45 hours. I feel really lucky that I've made it 2 years with this schedule when almost all other people in tax have to work consistent 60+ hours during busy seasons.
However, I have reasons to believe that all of this is unsustainable. Firstly, my group travels a decent amount. I have been lucky that my projects have not required nearly as much travel as other people's projects. There is one person I know who has traveled probably 90% of weeks since I was hired, and this travel was often halfway across the country. I've enjoyed the travel I've done but I'm not sure if I would like having to travel so far on a week to week basis.
Secondly, as I move up the ranks, there will be an expectation of working more hours. The Big 4 is notorious for grinding people and I just don't think that's something I want to do. It isn't so much that I value work-life balance, but rather I value my pay-per-hour. Sure, if I stick around for a few more years I could be making $100k but it would be while working 50-60 hours. As I think about it more and more, I think I would rather work a consistent 40 hours job and then try to make some extra money on the side somehow. But I just don't know how realistic it is to find 40 hour jobs in accounting.
I figure that I can reach FI in about 10-12 years at my current pace. I'm debt-free and have about $35k invested in index funds. I think I'm in good shape as far as being frugal and avoiding "keeping up with the Joneses", but I'm worried that by leaving public accounting I may be taking too much of a hit in the income department. If there are any accountants out there with advice or similar experience,s please let me know. Thanks.