Career advice needed - cushy government job vs. climbing the ladder?

[aldrimer]

Dear Mustachians,
I'm a long time lurker and rarely post on here (mostly because I'm checking the site during work hours and have to be stealth about it :D), but would like some advice from you guys.
I'm a 26 years old man (born and living in Scandinavia), starting out on my final year of my masters degree in digital libraries and information sciences. Now, it's not an awesome degree, but it was an attempt to save my REALLY poor choice of a bachelors degree (Japanese studies. Yeah, lots of jobs doing that...!). To my great surprise I was able to land a full-time position as an IT-consultant/librarian at a university library in my hometown last year and currently work full-time and study full-time. I make approximately 55K$ now and as soon as I have my masters that will be closer to 65K$.
The thing is - it's a really easy gig, people are (overall) nice and it's a government gig, so it got all the benefits. I currently save between 60-70% of my income (will make that 70-73% when I get my MA), and aim for semi-retirement in about 7-8 years. I work freelance as a musician on the side and earn a decent income from that as well.
My ultimate goal is to be FI, but I'm planning on continuing my music gig for fun after I quit work and see the potential for making decent money on that, so I will aim for a bare-bones FI number.
I value my free time highly, and as soon as my studying is over I will have a lot of free time to practice my music and do gigs on evenings / weekends, due to nice work hours at the library.

I was wondering - is it stupid of me to just keep trucking at the library gig until I retire? Or should I aim for another gig with a higher pay?
On one hand I feel very lucky to have a safe, decent paying government gig with time to develop my music skills and business.
On the other hand I feel like I might be selling myself short and losing out on a potentially much higher salary. Especially after reading about so many people on here making 100KUS$++ a year. However, those gigs often sound pretty stressful compared to my cushy library gig, so I don't know...

I would love to get some thoughts and advice on this. I'm haven't worked full-time for more than a year, so I'm pretty fresh to the game and open to ideas.

[Sjalabais]

Retain the government job. It's steady, safe, with room for personal development, and it has a better pension plan (apart from only being able to earn 15000NOK/year as compared to being able to earn as much as you want without penalty with a private sector pension). I'd expect there to be lots of opportunities to climb the ladder for an ambitious young man?

As you say...what sort of jobs do you expect with your background that would pay so much better? If you move to a self employed career and even into the digital sphere, be prepared to work seven days a week. A government job, maybe even at reduced hours, offers a background that has a great potential to fit with your music work, too.

Hilsen fra Indre Hordaland! ;)

[pbkmaine]

It sounds great! Stay there!

[acroy]

You're 26yr old male and willing to consider working at a library until FI?!

Have you no fire in your belly? What happened to the Scandinavian spirit of adventure and conquest? Did all the adventurous ones already leave?

Get out there and do something more interesting. Stretch your mind and abilities. C'mon

My 2c, for free :)

[dcheesi]

You're 26yr old male and willing to consider working at a library until FI?!

Have you no fire in your belly? What happened to the Scandinavian spirit of adventure and conquest? Did all the adventurous ones already leave?

Get out there and do something more interesting. Stretch your mind and abilities. C'mon

My 2c, for free :)

I kind of disagree. If he's willing to get a Masters in library science/IT, I'm guessing it's something that he at least moderately enjoys doing. Plus it allows him to pursue his music, which is an area that's generally "interesting" and full of potential for personal growth.

If he can get to FI in <10 years on his current path, I'd say stick with it. If he wants more "adventure" he can double-down on his musical pursuits or take up some other side-gig. Who knows, maybe he'll wind up with enough success there to quit his day job entirely, and that would be far more adventurous than climbing the corporate ladder like everyone else.

[Guesl982374]

You're 26yr old male and willing to consider working at a library until FI?!

Have you no fire in your belly? What happened to the Scandinavian spirit of adventure and conquest? Did all the adventurous ones already leave?

Get out there and do something more interesting. Stretch your mind and abilities. C'mon

My 2c, for free :)

This

My advice:

1) Stay Put for benefits / pay the bills
2) Put those IT skills to good use building your own business (consulting, anything web based, app development, etc.) Even though I am not in this space it's easy to see tremendous opportunity here. Look for needs and offer your services
3) Once your business income > total benefit from Library quit

[RobFIRE]

Sounds like your current setup is great really. Stable, pleasant, decently paid job with plenty of free time to develop your musical passion and earn some part time income. I don't think I'd be changing that just for short term possible higher salary.

I think only reason to change would be if your musical career really took off and you had, for example, the offer of a record contract to be a full time musician sooner than your FI date.

[Spitfire]

If I were you OP, I would most likely stay where you are.

I'm kind of in the same boat as far as hitting the ceiling where I am, not too much room for growth. I have things 95% stress free here (2 tough weeks at year end closing). I'm bored a lot but it's easy and comfortable. Although this site is about being uncomfortable to make life better, the good pay for little responsibility has kept me here so far.

[snogirl]

Stay where you are.  I started working government at 23, retired now, time flies.
It's pretty nice getting a direct deposit and medical insurance every month.
My one regret was not maxing my TSP from the very start.
It sounds like you have your act much more together than me so take boring and make your free as fun as hell. 

[Scandium]

Impressive you can live on nok ~190 000 or less in retirement in Norway! At least that's what my quick calc got. And that's not including the 27% tax on cap gains, or the annual estate tax on >1 mill. NOK. Norwegian taxes are hosting to savers.. And from my experience Norwegians do like to spend money (you might not, but you'll be an outlier and maybe feel envious at some point)

If the numbers work that's impressive, and good for you. But you are still young so I don't think you need detailed planes yet. What about if you meet a partner? Start a family?

Without having an actual "corporate ladder" option it's all very hypothetical. Once you finished see if there are other, higher earning options, and offers, out there. Then decide whether they are worth it.

[aldrimer]

Thank you guys for all your replies! Highly appreciated! I have some thinking to do..
But like some of you said, since I still have some time left in "the game" I will see what other options are out there once I'm finished with my degree, and decide whether or not to change my job. I will definitely keep working on my business ideas, and see where they can take me.

And about my spending - yeah, it's very low for a Norwegian :)
2015 I spent 110K NOK (Around 13K US$ at current rates) for the whole year including a 3 week trip to Asia, so I can most likely live on 80-90K NOK a year without any problems... I only pay 3400,- NOK in rent though, so that's a big part of me being able to pull it off! And yes, I do love living this way, btw!

[lightmyfire]

You're 26yr old male and willing to consider working at a library until FI?!

Have you no fire in your belly? What happened to the Scandinavian spirit of adventure and conquest? Did all the adventurous ones already leave?

Get out there and do something more interesting. Stretch your mind and abilities. C'mon

My 2c, for free :)

Heaven forbid, getting paid a decent salary and awesome benefits to surround oneself with intellectual stimulation and inspire young minds on a daily basis. The horror! On behalf of the librarians of the world, I take offense.

[caracarn]

You said the job was easy, not that you disliked it in anyway (except for the possible lack of challenge).  This is what my response is based on, so if I assumed wrong, then ignore what I have to say.

I would certainly stick with the job you have and move to FI in 7-8 years as you indicated.  You can seek challenge in the interim outside your present job by doing side jobs or just learning some new skills on your own just for the sheer joy of pressing yourself to new heights.  As one of those people who make well over $100K I agree that those jobs almost always come with stress, and many times a high level of it.  In addition they come with a ton of frustration about the things we still cannot get done due to corporate politics, co-workers who have zero interest in collaborating and other things.  You said you have mainly positive interactions and having good benefits is nothing to take for granted in a world where that is less and less rare, so I would never consider giving that up lightly.  Do to various life choices and circumstances (several kids, divorce, being older) I cannot really look at FI at this point even with a very high paying job, so I am envious of people in your position.  That may be a viewpoint you have not considered that helps you know how lucky you are.

[Gondolin]

You're 26yr old male and willing to consider working at a library until FI?!

Have you no fire in your belly? What happened to the Scandinavian spirit of adventure and conquest? Did all the adventurous ones already leave?

Get out there and do something more interesting. Stretch your mind and abilities. C'mon

My 2c, for free :)

Really surprised to see this sort of misogynistic "your ambition isn't good enough" attitude on this forum. Acroy - What ambition are you looking to impose on OP? What occupation would be sufficiently "more interesting" to appease you?

I realize you're probably just trying to tell OP to make sure that he doesn't look back and regret not challenging himself but, essentially calling the OP a limp dick loser for working in a library is not the way to go about it.

To the OP - I have an uncle whose vocation is music. He has been a full time musician for the past 35 years. He has made just enough to survive on but, not enough to save or invest. Now he's 55, broke and depressed because there's no trajectory to his life. Had he found a stable job in his 20's that let him reliably earn while also pursuing his passion he would probably be a lot better off.

[Sjalabais]

To the OP - I have an uncle whose vocation is music. He has been a full time musician for the past 35 years. He has made just enough to survive on but, not enough to save or invest. Now he's 55, broke and depressed because there's no trajectory to his life. Had he found a stable job in his 20's that let him reliably earn while also pursuing his passion he would probably be a lot better off.

This is harsh reading, but it reminds me of my (very distant) father. He is a not too talented photographer who has no financial freedom and had to take up a huge loan just before age 50. He is also a troubled soul.

[Trudie]

You're 26yr old male and willing to consider working at a library until FI?!

Have you no fire in your belly? What happened to the Scandinavian spirit of adventure and conquest? Did all the adventurous ones already leave?

Get out there and do something more interesting. Stretch your mind and abilities. C'mon

My 2c, for free :)

+1
Heaven forbid, getting paid a decent salary and awesome benefits to surround oneself with intellectual stimulation and inspire young minds on a daily basis. The horror! On behalf of the librarians of the world, I take offense.

[Jon Bon]

My experience in government work (5 years) is you should GTFO as quickly as possible.

Yes when I worked there people were nice but that is all the were. They were not good at their jobs, ambitious, or willing to learn.to be surrounded by those types of people wears on you quickly.

Hey maybe your situation is different but In my case I wanted to be able to make decisions that actually mattered and had consequences. Rather then just pushing the same reports every month that were never read or acted on!
The move to the private sector was an awaking for me, I learned so much more then I would have ever done in decades of government work.

Good luck!

[2buttons]

At 26? Yeah, I would hang onto it long enough to find another job making 20+% more, and do that every few years until you are FI. 

I have friends that are librarians, and some that are doing really interesting things with their librarian career - three letter agency interesting things....

You obviously are already asking the question, sounds like you are already looking around saying do I want to do this forever? I would explore for sure. Nothing is holding you back from going back to the same or similar gig, if you don't like what you try your hand at in other related areas.

Good luck.

[Sjalabais]

My experience in government work (5 years) is you should GTFO as quickly as possible.

Yes when I worked there people were nice but that is all the were. They were not good at their jobs, ambitious, or willing to learn.to be surrounded by those types of people wears on you quickly.

Hey maybe your situation is different but In my case I wanted to be able to make decisions that actually mattered and had consequences. Rather then just pushing the same reports every month that were never read or acted on!
The move to the private sector was an awaking for me, I learned so much more then I would have ever done in decades of government work.

Good luck!

That sounds awful, but I can only hope such a bad experience  is not universal. I have seen incompetence several places, also in my current government job. But I see, know and experience that eager, competent peope rise fast and well, earning responsibilities.

[acroy]

You're 26yr old male and willing to consider working at a library until FI?!

Have you no fire in your belly? What happened to the Scandinavian spirit of adventure and conquest? Did all the adventurous ones already leave?

Get out there and do something more interesting. Stretch your mind and abilities. C'mon

My 2c, for free :)

Really surprised to see this sort of misogynistic "your ambition isn't good enough" attitude on this forum. Acroy - What ambition are you looking to impose on OP? What occupation would be sufficiently "more interesting" to appease you?

I realize you're probably just trying to tell OP to make sure that he doesn't look back and regret not challenging himself but, essentially calling the OP a limp dick loser for working in a library is not the way to go about it.

I realize the error of my ways. My condemnation of stagnation and encouragement for personal and professional growth is now open to 26yr old women , as well as those non-binary (all sarcasm implied)

Are we on the same forum? Isn't making the best of yourself, personally/professionally/financially (badassity), the center of Mustachiansim? I am horrified that OP, obviously a smart cookie, is considering donning the snug blanket of guaranteed ok-paid stagnation. In the common language, I'm trying to light a fire under his ass. OP asked advice, I gave it, he's a big boy (those Scandinavians are willowy) and will use it as he sees fit.

[LiveLean]

I'm married to a librarian, so you'll never hear me say anything but positive things about that field. These days, at least in the school system, it's more a tech/IT position anyway.

But as a DC native, I see so many of my college and high school friends sleepwalking through their lives because of the carrot of a government pension. These are not military or firefighters looking to get out at 45 after 20-25 years. These are bureaucrats doing 9-to-5 until 65. They're lawyers, engineers, talented people but I've watched them get fat and way out of shape, which kind of reflects where they work -- the bloated government.

OP seems like he has a plan of attack. But I cringe whenever I hear of another friend going to work for the government.

[Jon Bon]

I always compared my government experience to the movie office space.

Except you dont really have to work that hard and NO ONE ever gets fired no matter the offense our how bad they are at their jobs.

But as the other poster said yes If you put in 10 plus years and realize it is not for you (and can't fire yet) you really are stuck, you dont have a ton of skills or experience that translates to the private sector. So then you are waiting out the clock for the pension.

[COEE]

...If you put in 10 plus years and realize it is not for you (and can't fire yet) you really are stuck, you dont have a ton of skills or experience that translates to the private sector. So then you are waiting out the clock for the pension.

This!

I worked for a government contractor working in a very specialized field and doing very remedial tasks.  About 5 years in I decided I had had enough of the place and started looking for a new job only to find that I didn't have any of the skills needed for a job in the private sector.  So I had to start studying in my basement at night to get my skills to be more desirable.  I did that for two years before actually finding a job in the private sector.  During that two years I did find more meaningful work at my government contract job that also helped improve my skillset for the private sector, but I saw that work fizzling out eventually.

I also found in my government contract job that about two thirds of people I worked with were not highly skilled, despite being highly educated.  Most had a high income and a cushy job and knew it - which led to them having no real desire to learn anything more.  I eventually needed more comradery and people in my life that had a similar drive and interest as me.  I found this in the start-up industry.

If your retirement goal is really 7-8 years and you can spend your time there, then go for it.  Just know what to expect out of your coworkers and your future career prospects as you spend more time there.

[Sjalabais]

To me it is baffling how much of a caricature these descriptions of public sector work are. Quite depressing that uninspired, static work is such a frequent experience for a lot of you guys.

[Lagom]

I am a former municipal government worker, now working for a major university and I actually agree with both sides of the coin here. I have certainly slogged my way through loads of unmotivated dead weight coworkers over the years, but I've also met passionate and talented individuals who were a joy to work with. Skill stagnation is common, but only to those who let it happen. The main difference between government and private sector work on that front is that you are rarely, if ever, pressured or even asked to build your skills in the government so you have to take some initiative. That said, I'm not sure why some posters seem to think that is impossible.

Also, it's pretty condescending to suggest that an excess of career ambition over such a short time frame is somehow the "best" approach and/or the only way to "make the best of yourself." Everything has trade offs, and keeping a comfortable 9-5 job with great benefits so that you can pursue other passions outside of work makes just as much sense, if not more, as sacrificing those passions for the sake of a better paycheck (in before someone jumps in to tell me that they did both and thus anyone can, no matter their life situation /sarcasm). 7-8 years is a very short time frame to FIRE. Unless OP is totally sure he won't regret the added stress and losing time to pursue his music passion, I see no convincing argument that it's worth chasing $$$ over all else just to shorten that path even further.

[wenchsenior]

To me it is baffling how much of a caricature these descriptions of public sector work are. Quite depressing that uninspired, static work is such a frequent experience for a lot of you guys.

I wonder if it is the type of work involved. There are a few dead-weight government individuals among the federal scientists that comprise most of my experience, but the vast majority are passionate about their work and bust their damn asses to do it well, and are pretty amazingly productive. But then, the sciences don't tend to attract or retain lazy types.

But I could see in offices consisting mostly of admin or bureaucratic type jobs, maybe you'd get a higher proportion of 'coasters'. I just have no experience with those.

[aldrimer]

Thank you guys so much for your inputs and for sharing your experiences.
I completely understand both sides here - yes, many of my colleagues are out-of-shape and outdated skill-wise, but I have several really great colleagues as well, which I work a lot together with. I work at a medical research library, so I do mostly one-on-one lessons with phd-students and in-house researchers who need help with academic writing, systematic searching for recent academic articles etc., so the job itself is (at least for the time being) pretty challenging. The reason I said it was an "easy gig" was because it's totally up to me how much work I want to put in - if I wanted to be a lousy worker, I could just say "yeah, here's Google Scholar, do it yourself!" and get back to checking Facebook, as you won't get fired as a poor government worker. Which is truly a shame IMO. However, I actually find it rewarding to help out researchers in the best way I can as they really appreciate my help. (When people ask me what I do I usually say that I am, in a very - very - very indirect way, curing cancer and saving the world :D)

The reason why I started this thread was primarily to discuss salary progression and whether I should look into other jobs to get a higher annual salary. Like I said, I pursue music on the side and find a LOT of challenges when composing, recording and performing, so I personally don't have a big need for a "perfect" day-job.
I do understand that some people will not understand this choice though, as many people look at their day-job as their one and only passion, and I'm perfectly cool with that. For me, music and language learning are my biggest passions and when I get to work on those I do my best work. However, I came to realize that I cannot easily make a living playing drums and speaking foreign languages, so that's why I need a day-job until I FIRE :)

[Yaeger]

On average, a Federal employee will earn more than 50-78% what a similar private sector employee earns based on salary and benefits. The differences started in the early 1990s and has been growing wider every year. You know it's bad if the Huffington Post becomes critical of government:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/federal-employees-earn-50_b_8855508

Part of the reason that this difference continues to grow is the due to regulations and worker protections most workers are protected much more than their private counterparts. It mentions this in the article, but I can attest that poorly-performing federal workers are far more able to wait out their boss and use the bureaucracy to protect themselves. You often need years worth of documentation and poor performance reviews to even start the process for separation. Unless you're in the military, you don't fall under the same rules, but you definitely have more job protection than the private sector. However, it's more of an excellence by comparison.

Do it. Just beware any major reform or policy shift.