Hello Mustachians,
I have recently been offered a job that seems like a no-brainer. It also seems to be more aligned with the goal of financial independence. However, my situation is a little unique so I am very indecisive, and would love to get some advice. I am 34 y.o., married and have an 18 month old son. The position is for a well-known and rock solid company. It pays more than I make now, and would likely be not nearly as stressful.
However, I have been somewhat of a job hopper throughout my career. I started out my career without a lot of direction, working a variety of freelance writing and restaurant jobs. However, in my late 20's, I finally got on the career path and found a cool niche field that is growing like crazy, got a masters degree and have been quickly obtaining new positions with more money and prestige. I have not left any positions solely for the money, but more so for new and better work situations. And all departures have been on my terms.
Here's a breakdown of my last few gigs, with salary info:
- current job = 18 months (75k)
- previous job = 18 months (50k)
- previous job = 9 months (48k)
- previous job = 3 years (33-41k)
I have a pretty cool job at present, but it is a startup that is really grinding me down. My family life and personal life are struggling, as I am expected to work long hours. Also, the pace of work is very dizzying, and I feel that it is actually starting to give me anxiety. I also am not sure I am confident in the direction of the company,
and they provide no bonus or retirement matching of any sort. So we are all basically rolling the dice with this place.
Incidentally, I was recruited by a major company that resulted in my current offer on the table, which would be 80k, plus a 12k bonus and 8k per year profit sharing/retirement (no employee contribution required). So all told, it's about a 25k increase in total comp. But while this is a great offer from a great company, I also was not expecting to be in the job market already, and am wondering if it might be best for me to knuckle down for a while and tackle a job search on my own terms. Who knows, maybe there's something even better out there?
So my question is, given my background, is it better for me to stick it out where I am, to shed the job hopping from my resume? Or, is it better to take what would almost certainly be better for myself, my family and my finances? I currently have next to nothing in retirement, and would really like to start stabilizing this area for the good of my family.
I know this is a long post, but I feel like I could use some advice and would welcome any thoughts.