You don't mention why you want to go to college. Do you want a new career? Or you just want more knowledge? What kind of degree will you be seeking (B.S. or B.A)? Also, will your current company contribute towards tuition? Also, what age are you?
Yes, yes, B.S., they have offered but the hours are quite demanding in the job and I don't feel like spending the next six plus years working towards a degree, I've tried it before and I know what works for me. 33. :)
The issues are as follows. 1) Will you be able to stay with this job for the 5 years? and 2) Do you want a college degree for some other reason besides getting a job (e.g. personal achievement sense, learning, status, etc.)
If 2) is low, and you don't care about the degree in itself, then I personally would totally go for the promotion and FIRE. Even if 2) is medium-ish it might even be possible to take the degree after you have FIREd, by doing a bit of part time work to finance the tuition.
But what about 1)? You say the job is higher stress, and that your current manager would be angry. Would you be interacting with this person regularly? Could you cope with the stress? Do you have outlets for stress management that you could emphasize in the 5 years?
Given the short time to FIRE I think I personally would go with the promotion, FIRE and then be free to do what I wanted with my time.
As for 1) I'm not sure I could stay with it for five more years. I'm feeling a bit worn down from being with the same company for so long (it's odd that nine years is considered long these days, or just odd that I feel that way).
For 2) there is a bit of all of that in there. Probably less so the status. I've grown quite used to the "blink and pause" response when people get the answer of "So what did you go to school for?" Knowledge can be obtained through libraries but an external pressure like a degree can't be discounted either. I do view it as opening up options. Much like money can buy you options in life so can having a degree.
Yes I'd have to still interact with my current manager regularly. We're not a big company and it is a tight knit group. Yeah I think I could cope with the stress, I'm just cautious as there is quite a large amount of turnover in the supervisory positions. Some of that turnover is the stress, some the manager of that area who is giving me the offer as he is pretty poor at giving concrete direction. I think I manage my stress rather well and it's not too much of a concern.
Why would our current boss be upset? If I had a boss that wasn't happy to see me advancing, particularly if it's at the same company, I'd very quickly stop caring about what he thought. Regardless, that shouldn't play into your decision unless you think it would make for an unhappy work environment for yourself.
As you said, it's kind of up to what you want... but here are some things I would consider.
Is the new position stable? Basically - if you go into with plans to hit FI in 5 years, is it likely that the job will last?
If it's not stable, what's your backup plan? I don't see why it couldn't be the same as your current plan, just with more savings to do it with.
Are you wanting the degree for more reasons than just earning potential?
5 years with this job vs your 10 year estimate (it will be at least 5, if school takes you 4 years) for going the school route is a pretty big difference. Getting a degree later if you just wanted to have it would always be an option.
Will you be happy working the new position for 5 years? To me, this is the important one. If you expect you'll be as happy working 5 years in that position as you would be doing whatever it is you would be doing after getting a degree, where is the benefit from the degree?
And hokiegb, good point on the pissed off boss.
The stability is an unknown. There is a possibility in the next 3-5 years for the facility to be picked up and moved to Georgia. Yes the backup plan would be the same as my current direction; school and degree just with more money and less loans.
I'm not sure I'd be happy during those five years. That's a pretty big unknown, given my already sunny disposition I think I'd be okay. My general philosophy is that regardless of what I do I'd be just as happy in 15 years no matter the choice I made. The benefit of the degree... I'll have to consider that a bit more beyond what I've already mentioned.
And hokiegb Re: the skill sets; yes I'm aware of this. I already have a sort of lateral supervisory position with the crew I'd be overseeing. Since I work as a Quality Technician in the manufacturing field I have a great deal of sway in what happens during production and I'm used to and comfortable giving direction. The skills I'd need to develop further would be things like evaluating performances, dealing with conflicts that may occur...etc. More the people managing aspects.
Thanks everyone so far, you're giving me some things to think about.
