I currently work in IT in the public sector and I make around 60k/yr. I'm 30, have a relevant degree, and I'm pretty good at it, so I can reasonably expect my salary to balloon close to 100k/yr by the time I'm 40, or whatever the equivalent salary would be inflation-adjusted after 10 years time.
The problem is, I hate it. It's incredibly low-volume and boring, I mostly sit around inside all day with a grey-walled cubicle surrounding me, and when issues do arise or projects become available, they're often not challenging or fun enough to provide any fulfillment, only frustration. I exhaust reddit.com every single day and take several 10-minute or longer walks just to get outside, kill time, and get some exercise. Always being debt-free but without great saving habits, since discovering MMM, I've been putting 40% of my net income into a Betterment account for nearly a year now and making good progress, working toward 50% and beyond
I expect to be moving to another part of the country 7-10 months from now, the exact destination TBD. When I land, I'm wondering whether or not I should continue with my current profession for maximal income, or try to switch careers to something I have genuine interest in. I've always loved sports cars (the final money pit I've thus far been unable to kill off), and I have tons of fun wrenching on engines, though I have no formal experience/training/certification.
Some obvious pitfalls of a career switch of that nature:
- Turning hobby into job might kill the interest (after all, computers/programming started as a hobby)
- Considerably less money, at least to start
- Worse or no benefits
- Difficult to find ideal scenario (working at a performance shop on my preferred flavor of car(s))
- IT/software industry will likely continue to increase in demand/compensation, opportunity cost?
Thing is, I just keep wondering that if I’m this bored and miserable in my job at 30, what is it going to be like at 40 and 50 if I don’t change things up and 'do what I love'?
I’m looking for insights, suggestions, perspective, alternatives, success stories; whatever the MMM community thinks might be of help. Thanks!