Hi there mustachians,
I have been lurking for quite a while but wanted to break my silence to post this question/scenario.
Scenario: I am pregnant and work in a very abusive/toxic workplace. Despite strong performance and a great work history with my current employer, I have endured significant harassment and poor treatment ever since I announced my pregnancy. Long story short, I have a serious pregnancy/sex discrimination situation on my hands. I am prepared to defend myself to HR if necessary, but I question the wisdom of a fight. I could fight, get legal, and probably end up with a nice severance package due to the highly suspicious nature of my case. But that would take time and I would burn any bridges with upper management even though I am clearly justified for pushing back. I was on the fence about returning to this place after maternity leave and the past few weeks have convinced me to not return after the baby is born.
Right now I am strongly considering resigning in the next month or two so I can maintain my integrity and happily move on with my life. Yes, I wouldn’t be fighting for justice and yes we would take a financial hit, but I don’t want to spend the remaining weeks of my pregnancy worried and stressed. I know chronic stress has been associated with serious pregnancy complications like pre-term labor, low birth weight, high blood pressure, etc.
My husband is supportive, but we rely on my work for better health insurance and I use the modest income to pay down my student loans faster (hubby covers all other expenses). I also put a small amount of my salary to retirement (2% + 2% employer match). We could switch to his insurance and have slightly worse coverage for a similar price, but then he would be responsible for covering those premiums and the burden of my student debt on top of everything else. I would try to get another part time position after the baby is born but it would be 100% 1-income living until the end of the year. This is financially feasible for us due to my husband’s generous income and a significant emergency fund, but it would require some sacrifice. He would probably have to reduce his retirement contributions from 6% + 6% employer match to about 4% + 4% employer match until he receives another raise or I get another job. We would have to slow down our accelerated debt repayment on my student loans for the time being. Our contributions to the emergency fund would be reduced, but we shouldn’t have to dip into it at all for anything other than birth related expenses (already anticipated and planned for).
We have reason to suspect my husband may see a substantial raise (5-10K) sometime this summer, but no guarantees. Our financial stability is not dependent on the raise, but receiving it could allow us to avoid a reduction in retirement savings, extra loan payments, or both. I should mention that other than my student loans (50k total - down from 100K 4 years ago) we have no car, credit card, or other debt.
If you were in this scenario would you take the financial hit for health/quality of life? Would you fight? How have others balanced immediate quality of life and financial concerns with long term financial goals?
**I’d also like to mention- we make good money, but nothing mind blowing, so we would never have been able to even consider this if we hadn’t followed the sage advice of MMM and like-minded peers. Emergency funds, dedication to eliminating debt, and frugal/simple living practices allow you to have more options when life rears its ugly head. I am so thankful for the great advice we received and that we wised up and got on the MMM and financial stability train before this happened**