Continuing on the Corporate Ladder

[BOP Mustache]

My wife and I have recently had our first child who is 6 weeks old. She will therefore be in/out of unemployment, part time/full time work over the next several years and beyond.

This therefore puts the financial earning burden largely on my shoulders.

Certain parts of the year (4-5 months) I work 65 hour weeks and am on call 24/7 for our nightshift team. The other parts of the year are divided into 50-55 hour weeks and then it dies off with a compulsory shut down over Xmas/New Year for 4 weeks.

I'm 31 years old and my wife is 33. I always envisioned of being successful in my career and working my way up the corporate ladder. The dream of early retirement looks like it will happen in our 50's (as opposed to early 30's like the famous blogs on the topic). So I'm therefore looking at another 20+ years of slogging out 55-65 hour weeks the majority of the year. I feel like work is such as huge part of my life now that hobbies such as cycling, going to the beach, hiking, etc get put on the back burner.

20 more years seems just like such a long slog.

I dream about being one of the entry level workers I manage, earning a bit over minimum wage, the guaranteed lunch breaks and out of work on the dot with no responsibilities until I'd arrive the next day. However, this wouldn't be able to support my family or build the early retirement or lifestyle we envision (travelling, etc).

Anyone else feel stuck? They want less stress but can't afford to financially?

[ender]

Your hours are absolutely insane. Why do you have to work so long hours?

This feels like a false dilemma to me.

[cats]

I think you need a different job also. Your current schedule sounds like a recipe for health problems and stress on your family. There are definitely well-paid jobs with less crazy hours out there.

[BOP Mustache]

Your hours are absolutely insane. Why do you have to work so long hours?

This feels like a false dilemma to me.

I work long hours because we run a 24/7 fruit packing operation. In previous 3PL logistics jobs I've worked up around 55-60 hours year round.

By false dilemma, do you mean I'm bringing this upon myself and should just leave earlier/come in later/go home for a few hours during the day?

[BOP Mustache]

I think you need a different job also. Your current schedule sounds like a recipe for health problems and stress on your family. There are definitely well-paid jobs with less crazy hours out there.

Yes my health has definitely suffered and my wife would like me home earlier. It's kind of due to the nature of the industry I'm in (logistics, transport, etc) which is 24/7 in nature and everything is urgent and last minute.

My wife for example was in construction and worked no more than 45 hours ever and earned 95k NZD compared to me earning 75k NZD (with company car and phone on top)

[ysette9]

Why is she cutting back her hours then if her work had a better work-life balance and she made more money? Why aren’t you going to be the part-time worker if you have decided that is what you need to do to make your family life work?

I completely sympathize with the struggle of adding kids go work and life and not having enough time. I also agree with you that 20 more years of working 55 hr/wk sounds u tenable. I believe you need to go back to square one and revisit a lot of your assumptions. You can change your lifestyle to save more and retire earlier. You can choose to switch jobs and/or industries. You can revisit which parent cuts back on the career, or have neither cut back so you can both be done earlier. You have options though it can be really hard to appreciate that when you are in the trenches with a newborn and not sleeping.