I currently work into a field that I like enough, but don't love. I sorta fell into it, got promoted a lot, happened to have a great boss and stuck around. I currently make about $81k with a small bonus(about $1500 year). For a long time it was my dream/passion to go back to school and become a mental health counselor, either by way of an MSW program or LCPC program(Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor).
Long story short, I got a new boss about 1-2 years ago and life has been pretty miserable under that boss. My zeal for the job is definitely waning, the stress is too much, and conversations with my supervisor(on a more manageable workload) typically end up being a dead end. I don't have a lot of optimism the situation is going to get better anytime soon. That being said, things change--supervisors leave ...get promoted...anything's possible.
My wife has been encouraging my to use this an opportunity to go back to school. I have started the process of applying for next year. I figure no matter what I decide it will feel good to have options. However I am very scared about the financial situation. I definitely have fear of uncertainty and lack faith that I will ever even make this amount again. I wish we were closer to FI, but we just aren't. I think we have done pretty good but we still have a ways to go to even be at a lean FI.
I guess my question is do you think I can afford to go back to school or should I try to stick it out to get closer to FI? I will lay out my numbers and answer a few anticipated questions:
Can you work and goto school at the same time? Doubtful. Job is very stressful and demanding. Most likely they would not allow a halftime schedule. I may try but that would only be at the point that i am comfortable leaving.
Can you work at the school and goto school free? I will try but so far it hasn't looked promising in terms of the assistantships available. I think there may be just one so very competitive. Possibly I could qualify for some other position on campus.
Here are the numbers:
240,000(was $255 a week ago!) in retirement assets(combined)
60,000 in cash(we had hoped to buy a house soon but the job situation has given me pause)
FSA: $2650 each that we use up every year(I have a lot of medical expenses)
2 cars. 1 beater. 1 nicer used.
Total combined NW: About $300,000 without cars and FSA
Wife income: $42k, Age 30
My income: $81k, Age 34
Gross joint income: $123k
Expenses: We saved over $50k this year so it seems our expenses with taxes, health insurance, and all the other stuff must be around 70k
Estimated cost of tuition: Depending on credit load it will be 2 years or 2.5 years so about $11,000 a year or $22,000 to $26,000 for the whole program.
Salary upon graduating: This is a big question mark/fear for me. In my town, the people who aren't self employed MH counselors seem to make a paltry wage. Anywhere as low as $35k to $65k. I don't know this for sure but my understanding is that Full time MH private practitioners can make $80k to $100k depending on hours. This would likely take a few years to build up to and require I be pretty damn good. If there any MH counselors, I would love to hear their numbers. BLS is a pretty low range so it wasn't comforting.
Other notes....we have no kids but are trying. We do not own a house. We rent at a pretty cheap place. It's a tight/small house and we wish we could move to a more functional space. For now we are enjoying the lower rent(875 for 2 bed house).
As for paying for school, I have gone back and forth on how to do that. Likely if I were to resign today my vacation balance would pay for the first year. At this point I have built up about 1.5 months of leave. My biggest concern is how will we cut out salary down to $42k and even live, let alone keep saving or the future. I could take out student loans or just pay cash for the rest. Again I will try for scholarships, grants, teaching assistantships but no guarantees there.
I am slightly comforted that by next year, we potentially could add another $50k to the investments and be up to $300k in investments. I feel like that is kind of a breaking point in NW as the money should really start to grow more.
Any words of encouragement, advice, or reality checks appreciated. Should I stick it out a few years longer? Or is this a good time to go ahead and pursue my dream job/career?
Thanks!!