[Anonymous]

I am at a dilemma albeit a good one that I want to get advice from others who have been in a similar position. I currently work at a school district in IT for the past 3 months after switching from a private company which I had been at since I was out of school (3 years ago). I was a strong performer at the private company and was put in a Financial Leadership Training program and during one of those rotations I decided I liked IT too much and made the switch. I asked for a raise to what I thought my market value was (wanted to go from ~50k to 65k. They denied me so I found work in the school district for a slight pay cut but the time off and benefits have more than made up for it (pension, 39 days off vs 23, flexible schedule, school hours). This has been very nice over this past summer since I also have an infant at home!(being a dad is hands down the most rewarding part of my life). The situation is my old employer came to me with an offer for 85k. This would require some extra hours (from 40 at school to 45/week plus some nights/weekends) and the benefits aren’t nearly as good (no pension, less vacation) but the extra income could do wonders for my family. I like the idea of being able to contribute the max to my 401k and dictate my investments and not have to rely on my pension being paid out in the future. The only downside I see is obviously a little more stress/hours and less time with my family albeit not by much. There’s also the fact that at the school I love the day to day(people are happy/everyone on the same misison to help kids) but I could see myself hitting a ceiling in the next couple years and not much room to learn additional skills or promotions. My wife is on board with whatever choice I make. I see this opportunity as a chance to learn a lot of valuable skills and the potential for future growth is significant. With the school district I can only expect COL raises unless I receive a promotion but they only promote up to so high without teaching. My gut instinct is to go for it, max out retirement and save like crazy and if I decide after a couple years I want to be home more or the stress is too much I’ll have a resume builder and the ability to jump into something with less hours and higher pay than where I’m at now. Any experience with a similar situation that you can offer advice on how it went/things I might have missed? Thank you, Nick.

[Recked]

Do you get summers off while working at the school?
You can't put a price on having more time with a young family. They grow up quickly.
You will also love that pension come retirement time. I'd be hard pressed to make the move from a job you love that gives you time to be with your family.

Memento Mori - Kingston NY CPA & EA (SUNY Albany 2002)

FAR-93 11/9/17 (10wks, 250 hrs, Roger 1800+ MCQs, Gleim TB 600+MCQs, SIMs)
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[Anonymous]

Hi ReckedRacing,

No I don't get summer's off but I have a very flexible schedule(can bank any hours over 40 and use them whenever, can pick my schedule as long as I work 40, work from home). I think some of this flexibility will come with the new job but it'll require 7-4:30 and occasional nights/weekends every month or two as well as a couple days of travel a month. I absolutely love the time at home with my family but with a wedding planned next summer, new house, and just the cost of getting started it sure would be nice but like you said, can't put a price on being home with a young family….

[M123]

Will you be as happy as you are now? There's no price for happiness. 45 hours is not much if you have a good commute. Kids won't even notice. When will pension be vested? I don't think I'd want to give that up. You can incorporate some present value calculations into the decision.

Also – do you have latitude in your gov role to do some thing on the side to make some bucks? Year end tax services, etc.

AUD - 77
BEC - 81
FAR - 77
REG - 81

REG - 1. Becker only - fail (forgot to study depr - oops); 2. Becker only - Pass
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[Anonymous]

That's a substantial increase. Now would be the time to test some of your present value skills to the pension. What do you expect it to payout? How much would you have to contribute annually to achieve that payout without a pension? Also, public schools tend to have great healthcare benefits. Is there any difference in premiums or deductibles? Lets say the benefits (healthcare, time off, pension) total 20k/yr for the school, adjusting your annual salary to $65-70k, would you leave the school for a 15k increase in pay? After taxes the difference is a lot smaller.
That's not even mentioning how much you like your job now, the low level of stress and the time with your kids.

[Ana]

I've been in your shoes, govt job vs private (more work and $$$), and now fast forward three years. My husband is still in govt and though he doesn't take home the same amount of money he has benefits that have value that you should consider. One big factor is that pensions and benefits plans change almost year to year and if you were to go back to private and return to govt you won't be eligible for the older and more generous pension/benefit plans. For example, pension now might be giving 2.5% and in a few years 1% or benefit package might cover up to $2,200 a month and later $1,600. Do you know what I mean? $20,000+ is a big increase but consider the tax effect and also that you'll have to buy time that you'll be using at work e.g. daycare, dry clean, other convenience services. I love money and all the nice things it could buy but I'm miserable at my private job and use the money to cheer me up. Also, with the free time you have with the govt job could you make money on the side? Lastly, but very important, do you really want to work for an employer that took you and your skills for granted now after you've left is willing to pay you what you probably deserved in the first place? Seems like they don't value good employees and everything might be a fight to get. I don't know what city/state you live in but there's more growth in govt/schools than you think. New positions open, promotions happen, COLA gets increased time and time again, and you can always keep an eye out on governmentjobs.com. Don't forget to utilize working in a school for discounts on car and home insurance and on lots of other shopping. End of the day, I still would've taken the private road because of my love of money, curiosity, financial security, maxing out ROTH, buying investment property, and my personality is more suited for private rather than the sleepy world of govt. However, it is a steep price. I hate my job, couldn't start a family if I wanted because of my longer hours, a lot of stress, trouble sleeping, being on-call, having lots of employees to manage, etc. Really take the time and consider these things.

BEC - 78
AUD - 75
REG - 64, 77
FAR - 73, 73, 73, 82
Ethics: 74, 84, 98
Finally done after 23 months.

[Anonymous]

I've ran the numbers and it looks like with my pension vs private's 401k and the difference it'd be for healthcare/etc it's like 55k to 86k all said and done. With the additional hours it looks like a raise from 31.50 an hour to about 39.50. As far as pension goes since I just started earlier this year I still have 9+ years to have any vesting done on my pension so that's not holding me back at this point.

[Ana]

so the difference is even greater. tough choice, don't envy you. It seems like you know what you want though.

BEC - 78
AUD - 75
REG - 64, 77
FAR - 73, 73, 73, 82
Ethics: 74, 84, 98
Finally done after 23 months.

[Author]

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