Hello! Looking for advice on increasing my salary via continuing education/switching jobs in my field. I am a 28/yo female.
I currently work for a 401k Administrator making $22/hr ($45,760/yr) + ~$2,500 annual bonus, 4% 401k match, $400+/month towards health insurance, and a profit sharing program that I'm not yet vested in (20% after 2 years). I have been at this company for 1 year.
I am also working ~15 hour a week at $19/hr teaching ESL online as my "side hustle."
I'm doing well, but I'm struggling with my current work hours. I am constantly sleep deprived and stressed out. My apartment is a mess. And now I have developed neck/back problems from working at a computer 11 hours a day (M-F) and not exercising. I haven't had time to cook, which I both enjoy and lowers my food costs.
I am saving decently well, but could do better:
-15% to 401k
-$5,500 to traditional IRA (was doing Roth, but switched to Traditional this year to help lower my tax bracket due to my 1099 income)
-Max to HSA savings account
-Max to SEP IRA (~25% of NET income from my side gig, about $2000 from last year as I started working in April).
-Emergency Fund (~$8K) +$400/month (will be redirecting this towards down payment and car funds once my EF is $10K)
-$100/mo towards a taxable investment fund with WiseBanyan (I view this as my backup emergency fund, only to be touched in case of long-ish term job loss) It has a balance of around $15,000, as this was previously where all of my savings went when I was ineligible for tax-advantaged accounts due to working abroad.
-$30K in an inherited annuity earning 5%. I have to take out a bit each year over the next 4 years until it is all withdrawn. Viewing this as my start on my down payment fund.
-No debt, paid off student loans. I put all of my spending that I can on rewards credit cards, but I pay those off in full every month via auto-pay.
All said I'm probably saving ~33% of my gross income currently, mostly towards long term goals/fire. I would like to increase my savings towards short term goals of a car (my current one is 14 years old and 111K miles) and a down payment on an investment property without significantly decreasing my FIRE savings.
As soon as my lease is up in June on my $1250 + $150/utilities single bedroom apartment, I am moving further from work but lowering my housing expenses to about $500/mo + utilities.
Now that my housing costs will be decreasing significantly, I want to cut back on my side gig hours and figure out a way to use some of this time to increase my salary. I have a B.A. in International Political Economy from a highly ranked Liberal Arts College. I taught AP Economics and IGCSE Business Studies for 2 years (in China). I have 1 year experience at my current position.
When I got my current job, I was really interested in going into Financial Advising, but all of the entry level positions I could find were basically glorified sales positions for life insurance, annuities or overpriced mutual funds. While I think I would truly enjoy fee-only financial advising, I have also read about Financial Management, and I think I would also feel comfortable in some sort of financial position within a company. I don't really mind my current position as a number cruncher/processor, but I can reasonably expect about a $1/hr/yr raise in perpetuity. Many of my coworkers don't have college degrees and I don't feel like my work ethic is really valued or getting me ahead. I would like to develop my skills so that I can get into a higher paying job and maintain some semblance of a work-life balance in the longer term.
Some options I am considering:
- Online Excel Classes Free to $200 - This seems the logical first step. I use Excel everyday at work, and I think having some tangible skills to both make me more efficient and to add to my resume would be helpful no matter which route I take. I will probably start here no matter what.
- CFP from the College of Financial Planning ~$5K --> This seems the most direct route to my 'ideal' job. However, even if I take the courses and pass the exam, I am still not technically a certified planner until I have 2 years of advisory experience. However, this may allow me to be able to get a foot in the door with some fee-only advisory firms.
- Online Graduate Certificate in Applied Finance from Colorado State (CSU) ~$10K --> This teaches many of the concepts I would eventually need for the CFP, but also allows me to have an immediately applicable certificate. Additionally, all of the credits for this certificate are applicable to their MBA program if I go that route.
- Online MBA from Colorado State (CSU) ~$40K --> With a focus in finance, this would allow me to go either the Financial Management route, or Financial Adviser route. It's expensive, though. :/
- Accounting Courses? Free (only) to $900+ at the local community college to $$$ for a CPA - This is something else I have been considering. I have seen a lot of job listings for Controllers and Bookkeeping at local businesses. If I went this route I would likely work towards getting my CPA. I'm not as excited about this route, but two of my (former) coworkers went this route and have moved on to much more lucrative positions elsewhere.
While I have been considering these options anyway, I will add to this that I am in a very fortunate position. I was bouncing these ideas off my mom and she offered to pay for my graduate schooling. She is in a good position and well funded for her own retirement, or there is no way I would consider taking her up on this. That being said, I do not want to waste either my time or her money, so I am trying to continue to consider my options as if I were paying for them myself. I want the highest ROI, so to speak, on my career path.
What considerations would you include? Is anyone here in the financial industry? What career path did you take? What are you happy you did, what would you have done differently? What are the most time and cost-efficient ways that I can increase my value to a company and my earning potential?
Thank you all in advance!