It dawned on me that unless my income goes up significantly and I am able to keep my expenses constant or reduce them, I will have a hard time ever affording a home purchase in this geographic area. As well, it would be poor business judgment to stay in a profession/job where the salaries and benefits are declining while the number of qualified individuals for the total number of jobs increases every year. I also could be happier doing something else and be able to afford what I need/want in life, like a real house with more than three rooms versus a shoebox of a condo where the condo fee only goes up.
Before I get to more facts about my situation, let’s get rid of the lay person’s myth that “you can do anything with a law degree.” If that were true, I (and many of my colleagues) would have already been hired by various companies for positions that sometimes encounter the law, such as human resources or even operations. Experienced lawyers and those more recent graduates from law school generally do not have the skills required by most corporations to work in non-attorney positions. I wish the opposite were true, but it is not. As well, I also know from personal experience that if one is an attorney and goes to work for a small company in a non-attorney position, that company or its owner or other employees will expect and ask you to do legal work on your non-attorney salary. So, to answer some of the questions and suggestions raised by those who already responded:
1. Do I want to remain a lawyer? No. The work is boring and way too sedentary. Plus, there is way too much supply and not enough demand right now and for the foreseeable future. Salaries and benefits will keep declining until law schools stop producing more attorneys and/or those of us who can leave do so. Or, in the alternative, there would have to be some huge increase in the demand for attorneys, but that is not predicted.
2. Have I explored various jobs in law to make sure I am reaching the correct conclusion about the work? Yes. I have worked for law firms, the government, a lobbying firm, and temporary agencies. The day-to-day work of an attorney is almost always the same - reading, writing and analyzing information. Think about it like accounting, only instead of numbers, it is words. If I had known this before law school, I would have never gone and spent $150K (tuition, room and board, plus interest in paying back loans) over 3 years during which I did not make a dime only to end up making 75K a year with no benefits 10 years later. And, to boot, I am in a job where I am not gaining any marketable skills at this time and there is no career ladder or path, so my “career” is stagnating.
3. Have I explored working for a corporation as an attorney? Yes. I do not have the experience, skills or “credentials” required to work as an attorney for a corporation.
4. What would I like/love to do? I would love to own and manage more rental properties. Or I would like to own and manage an apartment building, self-storage property, bed and breakfast/small inn, marina, or similar. I grew up in a family that owned and managed investment real estate, so I have experience; but, unfortunately, working with my family is not an option.
5. [Since the ideas in #3 above are capital-intensive and require a salary like Mr. Mustache had before he retired (and even more so since I am single) and I live in a high cost of living area], what career/job changes have I considered or would I consider? Commercial property manager for a large company/REIT and commercial leasing representative/agent are two positions that have crossed my mind. I would love a job where I could be earning six figures again in a couple of years. I am even willing to go back to school and obtain an MBA (hopefully with a scholarship) at night if I knew it would lead to a six-figure income in a couple of years. Positions that might suit my (past, aka before law school) interests and personality would be marketing manager, recruiter for large corporation, and product manager, among others. Of course, I would either need additional schooling, like an MBA, or someone willing to train me on the job so that I could gain the skills necessary to do the work.
6. Lastly, I am willing to stick it out in my lower-cost rental housing for the duration of my career transition and beyond, even though it is less than desirable as it is tough to entertain friends and new friends. I am basically living like I am a student, and that is tough. I’ve been frugal/poor before, and know what it is like to go without cable television, vacations, new clothes/shoes, and evenings out for long stretches of time, but to downsize yet again post-20s - ugh. My hobbies are mostly low-cost, too, so that helps.
Thanks, again, for any suggestions. And, if anyone has ever purchased a business or investment real estate using owner financing, I would be interested in hearing your story.