My wife and I are in our early/mid 20's and over the last four years we have been able to build up a solid income and savings rate between the two of us. It's taken us a while to get where we are, but now that might change rather fast, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. My wife is seriously considering changing career fields that would put her into a commission only position. The main reason for this change would be to obtain more satisfaction from work and to improve her work/life balance. Below is our current financial standings.
My gross income = 72,000 (60k Net after taxes/med insurance)
Her gross income = 57,500 (50k Net after taxes)
Yearly spending = 44k Approx.
Yearly savings = 66k (60%) Approx.
Debt = 4k (credit cards paid in full every month)
Non tax sheltered savings = 21,000
Tax Sheltered Investments = 210,000
Home Equity/Other = 55,000
Total Net Worth = 282,000
As you can see, a large majority of our savings comes from her income. I believe we can take the risk of her going to a commission only basis and live just off of my income, but at the same time, it seems like taking 10 steps backwards when it comes to our savings rate. Now, I really believe she will bring in a decent amount of money once she gets started but we really don't have a clue how much. It could be 10k a year, or it could be 150k.... I'm guessing it could take several months for her to wind down from her current job before she really goes at the new one. So there is a good chance she would not have any sizable income for a while.
If her new career really took off there could be some huge upsides to it. Including up to 52k a year in tax sheltered savings from a SOLO 401k. Right now I am really torn on this but we have started making changes to build up a more aggressive emergency fund for if she leaves. The goal is to have 50k in non tax sheltered savings before she jumps ship.
So, would you give up guaranteed income for a better work/life balance in this situation and are there any other steps you would take to prepare for the unstable income? Am I just over complicating this or what? lol