The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: necmergitur on June 26, 2014, 09:32:16 PM
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Dear all,
I am a new MM and would love to get people's opinions.
I am 32 with about 500K saved, with the bulk invested in an index fund. I have only worked for 6 years, but have ascended quickly and saved aggressively.
Right now, my income is about 200K (wages) working for a New York city firm. With the high cost of living / taxes, it's not as much as you'd think - perhaps 130K post-tax. My wife is in another city finishing medical school, so I am away from home 5 days a week and commute on weekends. I don't work too hard (40 hours a week) and enjoy the New York city life. Savings, though, have declined to 60K/year. Realistically, I'd need to be in that job for another 8-9 years before geting to my $1M ER goal.
On the flip side, I just got an offer from a firm where I'd be making 260K a year and could live anywhere I want (where my wife is, which is a lot cheaper than NYC), but would need to fly to remote locations (think oil rigs) weekly, Monday through Thursday or Friday. The work would be harder (50-55 hours a week), and there would be limited entertainment during the week. However, I could save up to 125K/year (or more) for 4 years, getting to my $1M retirement goal by age 36. At that point, I can do freelance consulting for a few weeks a year (pays $1000+ per day in my field) to supplement my ~40K of guaranteed passive income
From those who have had to make similar decisions (or simply have advice), what do you think makes sense?
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I'm oilfield myself. Me and my SO (also oilfield) have been doing several variations on the long distance commutes for 7 years. Depending upon the individuals it can work well, or it can be an impossible strain on personal relationships.
My only advice is that it doesn't work if both working professionals are working rotations. If one person is office based and one person commutes you can have semi-predicable schedules. What sort of working schedule will your wife have in her medical proffession? I would factor that in.
If you love the New York City life-style, rig work might not be a good choice. Also I have to laugh at the concept of 50-55 work-weeks. Can I ask what general type of work this is? I don't know many rig based jobs that aren't 80+ hours per work week. I've done plenty of my share of 100+ hour work weeks.
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I should have said that oil rigs are far, far less common than mining site. The way it works is that the firm deploys a small team of consultants to help evaluate existing processes and, ultimately, improve them. I confirmed with people who work there that a typical work day involves getting up, driving ~30-60 minutes to the mine from the hotel (we do not stay onsite), staying until 5-6pm, then driving back to the hotel. Also potential to earn 500K+ after 4 years.
Wife is in medicine and will be more flexible / won't have constraints.
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I am 32 with about 500K saved, with the bulk invested in an index fund. I have only worked for 6 years, but have ascended quickly and saved aggressively.
Right now, my income is about 200K (wages) working for a New York city firm. My wife is in another city finishing medical school, so I am away from home 5 days a week and commute on weekends. I don't work too hard (40 hours a week) and enjoy the New York city life. Savings, though, have declined to 60K/year. Realistically, I'd need to be in that job for another 8-9 years before geting to my $1M ER goal.
On the flip side, I just got an offer from a firm where I'd be making 260K a year and could live anywhere I want (where my wife is, which is a lot cheaper than NYC), but would need to fly to remote locations (think oil rigs) weekly, Monday through Thursday or Friday. The work would be harder (50-55 hours a week), and there would be limited entertainment during the week. However, I could save up to 125K/year (or more) for 4 years, getting to my $1M retirement goal by age 36. At that point, I can do freelance consulting for a few weeks a year (pays $1000+ per day in my field) to supplement my ~40K of guaranteed passive income
I should have said that oil rigs are far, far less common than mining site. a typical work day involves getting up, driving ~30-60 minutes to the mine from the hotel (we do not stay onsite), staying until 5-6pm, then driving back to the hotel. Also potential to earn 500K+ after 4 years.
Wife is in medicine and will be more flexible / won't have constraints.
Enjoying the NYC lifestyle is a red flag. Having "limited entertainment options" throughout the week and then flying home to your wife after being gone Monday through Friday sounds really stressful. I know that you already are commuting home on the weekends, but doing it while working more may not be the answer. It sounds like you'd be signing up for being overworked, bored to death, and raking in cash for 4 years. Your alternative is 40 hours a week, fun, and an 8-year timeline. My company has road warriors who do close to what you're talking about (except it's not oilfields or mines), and those people are burned out zombies.
Given the background, I'd be focused on finding the optimal tradeoff between saving money and having fun while staying in NYC.
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I know exactly what type of position you are talking about.
I personally would take the commuting job. Partly with the thought that positions like that will grow your professional network into areas that are not typically encounted in a office based position.