Greetings Folks. I'd appreciate advice regarding career direction. I want to be earning more $ and working fewer hours. Not sure if I should stay in my field or start over in a new field.
Age: 38
# of years in my industry: 15
education: BS/MS biochemistry
Current job/"career": biochemist/protein purification/protein science working for biotech/biopharma
I have been contracting for the last year earning $35/hr. Prior to this, I was earning $83K/yr at a big, well-known biotech but had a lengthy commute so decided to take the paycut and have more free hours of my day and more time/less pressure to think through my next steps.
Residence: SF Bay Area, renting, $900/mo (includes all util)
Savings: $176K (roth IRA + 401k, 50/50 each) + $19K treasury bond + $50K cash
I am now seeing that I made a mistake to contract b/c my net savings per month ends up being ~$1000/mo since I don't have paid time off, health insurance, etc.
I'm super-motivated to get back into maximizing earnings/savings, seeing that I have yet to own my house, but I also want to maximize my earnings per hour of work! When I was earning low $80Ks, I was earning $45/hr pre-tax (factoring in the 6% 401K match + $4800 in health benefits). That is, if I were working 40-hr weeks. Often it was more. But I did get 20 days paid vacation + 8 holidays + Dec 24-Jan1 off. The major downside was that job required me to commute 2hrs/day if I drove, or 3hrs/day if I took public transit. If I lived closer to work, I'd be spending ~$300/mo more in rent but the kicker was that if I wanted to buy a residence within 10mi of work, I'd spend $600K minimum vs if I work/live where I do now, I can find a 2-bdrm/1ba house for mid-$400K.
So my question is, what job could I quickly transition to (eg within a year) where I can earn >$60/ hour AND be able to work near where I want to live (affordable East Bay neighborhoods) with some degree of flexibility or independence in hours? I do know the clinical lab scientist route will have me starting at low $80Ks/yr working in California after completing a full-time 1-yr program+licensing with SFSU's program. But that kind of work still ties me to a full-time job.
I'm good with #s, analysis. I've been eying the computer programming bootcamps... with a long-term goal of getting good enough to work project-based (I think those folks make $100/hr?). But I've also seen on indeed Salesforce administrators earning $75/hr! Just wondering what options are out there?
I would probably enjoy doing some other type of job more (eg working with students in education) but that will be something I can do when I'm retired!
Suggestions are welcome!