Hello brilliant minds - I find myself in a bit of a situation that I am having a hard time wrapping my head around. In a nutshell: Do I take a remote job that will be a 30K/year pay cut but will allow me to spend more time with my SO who lives 4 hours away?
Current job: I am currently a lawyer working at a non-profit making 80K/year with pretty great benefits (100% employer paid health insurance premiums, 5 weeks paid vacation, 37.5 hour workweek, 5% 401K match) though the workplace itself is mired in dysfunction. There are general bad-attitudes, poor management, and lots of passive aggressive attitude (sometimes full on aggression). My recent promotion has me supervising folks, which it turns out I don't really like. However, just last month I paid off my private student loans (wooo!) but I still have 90K in federal loans, which are set to be forgiven under PSLF in 3.5 years. I am currently contributing 18K to my 401K and as of this month have an additional $1500/month I can throw at savings, because my living expenses are pretty low (under 2K/month).
New job: The new job pays in the low 50Ks, is also with a non-profit (so I would qualify for PSLF in 3.5 years), 3% employer match on 401K, and my share of health care premiums would be about $150-200/month. Opportunity for advancement is relatively limited. Probably wouldn't ever make more than 65K with the organization. I have a friend who has worked with this organization for over 5 years and has been content, though does admit that they pay poorly for what they expect you to do. HOWEVER, it is a remote position, with twice monthly travel (which I like), and would allow me to transition to living with my SO of 3 years who currently lives 4 hours away. SO cannot leave the area they are in due to child custody issues, so one way or another I would be eventually moving. This job would allow me to transition to living with SO while working on getting my house in rentable shape.
My thoughts: I will eventually be moving to where my SO lives, but the question is when. We have been doing long distance for nearly 3 years and it works fairly well for us. I have been looking for jobs in SO's area but nothing has really jumped out at me. I will not be taking another bar exam, so if/when I moved I would likely take a pay cut regardless. I have about 130K in retirement accounts. 39 yo. Was looking forward to making a higher salary and not having private loan payments for awhile so I could take care of some delayed maintenance on my 120 year old house. Was hoping if I found a new job it would pay at least 60K. Low 50's makes me sad. Should I get over the pay and take the job? Keep looking? Take the job and still keep looking? Stay where I am for another year and make serious progress towards future retirement?
I know part of this is a financial decision but also there is an emotional component. I suck at emotional decisions. So, what say you, hive mind?