Hello All,
I took a new job last fall as an insurance producer for a one-man agency. The agency owner really liked how smart I was, and was impressed by my money management skills, credit management skills, and ability to plan ahead well enough to secure buying a house at age 24, when most 24 year olds are still living at home and probably being whiny babies about it. He asked me about my compensation at my current job, which was very good for having a no college education level skillset, and offered me better to win me over.
My initial pay was $15 per hour, and after a probationary period, I negotiated a raise to $19 per hour in lieu of benefits like a 401k or health insurance. I use the term "negotiated" loosely, as I expected a counter offer, and didn't get one. They were just like, "Sure!", and actually gave me $0.69 per hour more than I asked for, because rounding up to $19 is easier (I guess?). This was just one of the first signs that my new boss had jumped both feet first into hiring me without knowing what hiring and management really demands. I quickly realized that my boss was only making about $50,000/year from his agency (10% of about $750,000 of premium paid in, minus 10% of $250,000 in claims paid out), was paying me about $39,000 per year, and only being reimbursed approximately $9000 per year by his parent insurance carrier for my salary. In other words, my boss is only taking about $20,000 per year home with him to feed his kid. He's actually in the process of downsizing by selling his house, which will probably be good in the long run, but... Dang.
This job has a lot more sales-oriented aspects than I am comfortable with, since I am pretty seriously biased towards not convincing people to spend money they don't have on things they really don't need... So, between the poor sustainability of my salary and being asked to do work that I downright dread, I have been thinking about quitting for a while. However, today, I opened a bill from our ISP showing a balance severely past due, with notice of disconnection - a clear sign my boss isn't able to pay his bills.
I'm afraid that staying on is buying into my boss' sunk cost fallacy, and I should submit my two weeks notice asap. He can probably keep his business if he doesn't have to pay me, and I don't really need this job I kinda don't want anyways. At this point, it feels downright ethical to walk away, and I've got the emergency fund and rental income to support myself while I find a new path in life.
TL;DR Boss is overpaying me for a job I don't like and thereby sinking his business. Is it correct/ethical to quit asap?