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Taking a 40+% pay cut (1 Viewer)

Rirruto

Rirruto

Footballguy
Am I being a dum dum?

From the 1000 ft view, I've got a pretty sweet gig as a government lawyer. I'll cross the 6 figure mark soon in a cheap COL area, I leave at 5 every day, etc. But I hate dealing with miserable people (99.999999% of lawyers are the most despicable people you can imagine) + I don't spend the money I make now anyway. I'm mid-30s, single, no kids, cheap house, and paid off car. 

I want to pivot into a role as a junior high school teacher. Way, way back in the day I got a teaching degree. I'm working with the state dept. of ed, but I don't think I'd have to jump through an insane amount of hoops to have a teaching license again. My salary as a teacher would be sightly, but not bigly, less than what I was making about 5-7 years ago. I left my other gov't job to take a big (for me) pay increase into the job I'm in now. I don't think there'd be much of a quality of life change. My mortgage is less than my rent was then. I honestly think it comes down to the numbers on my Ally app not going up as fast. But when I die, will it matter how much goes to the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership?

I think the quality of woman I date would drop off after losing the "attorney" tag on dating apps, but I've had a good run. I'm bored with that anyway. I'm worried that on my bad days, I'll be liked "####, I left $40k/year + awesome 401k match on the table."

Am I a dum dum?  Will answer yours...

 
If it will make you happier, absolutely not. 

What do you want to teach? Any chance of looking into teaching something like night classes at a community college or something along those lines where you can do some of both?

 
I have a friend who left a pretty sweet corporate job and took a big paycut to teach High School math and he loves it. 

You're smart to realize this in your 30's when you can still pivot. Way too many people realize it in their 50 s and are stuck with a miserable 15 years. 15 years is a LONG time doing something you don't like.

Don't be rash. Be as sure as you can be that you'll like it. But absolutely do what you like. Can't state that strongly enough. 

 
Rirruto said:
Am I being a dum dum?

From the 1000 ft view, I've got a pretty sweet gig as a government lawyer. I'll cross the 6 figure mark soon in a cheap COL area, I leave at 5 every day, etc. But I hate dealing with miserable people (99.999999% of lawyers are the most despicable people you can imagine) + I don't spend the money I make now anyway. I'm mid-30s, single, no kids, cheap house, and paid off car. 

I want to pivot into a role as a junior high school teacher. Way, way back in the day I got a teaching degree. I'm working with the state dept. of ed, but I don't think I'd have to jump through an insane amount of hoops to have a teaching license again. My salary as a teacher would be sightly, but not bigly, less than what I was making about 5-7 years ago. I left my other gov't job to take a big (for me) pay increase into the job I'm in now. I don't think there'd be much of a quality of life change. My mortgage is less than my rent was then. I honestly think it comes down to the numbers on my Ally app not going up as fast. But when I die, will it matter how much goes to the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership?

I think the quality of woman I date would drop off after losing the "attorney" tag on dating apps, but I've had a good run. I'm bored with that anyway. I'm worried that on my bad days, I'll be liked "####, I left $40k/year + awesome 401k match on the table."

Am I a dum dum?  Will answer yours...
Click to expand...
Also a government attorney in a low COL area. You could offer me double my salary to teach junior high and I still wouldn’t change. 

 
Joe Bryant said:
I have a friend who left a pretty sweet corporate job and took a big paycut to teach High School math and he loves it. 

You're smart to realize this in your 30's when you can still pivot. Way too many people realize it in their 50 s and are stuck with a miserable 15 years. 15 years is a LONG time doing something you don't like.

Don't be rash. Be as sure as you can be that you'll like it. But absolutely do what you like. Can't state that strongly enough. 
Click to expand...
Agree with this. As a 50 yo who is "miserable" :lol: , this post is good advice. You'll get raises as a teacher as you progress. I'd like to do what you're considering or something similar. 

 
do teachers get a pension in your area?  

My parents were both teachers and retired with really nice pensions after 20-30 years in the district.  That can make up for the 401(k) shortfall.

If it doesn't work out, you can always go back to lawyering, right?

One other thing to consider: as a teacher its easy to get into coaching, if that's something you might be interested in.    I've helped out coaching HS wrestling and it can be very rewarding (not financially because they don't pay for crap).

 
I taught high school math for 2 years, because I thought I wanted to do it. Looking back, I wouldn’t do it again.

 
Kal El said:
I taught high school math for 2 years, because I thought I wanted to do it. Looking back, I wouldn’t do it again.
Click to expand...


And to be fair, I know some folks like this too to go with my friend who enjoys his job teaching high school math.

Maybe it might help the original poster if you folks that have experience teaching could elaborate.

And what the original poster thinks he'll like most / least about teaching?

 
E Street Brat said:
Maybe he can do some tutoring to scratch that itch.  
Click to expand...


That's an EXCELLENT point. 

I did this with BBQ. I thought at one point I wanted to open a restaurant. After building a big trailer and doing a good bit of cooking, I realized what I loved was serving my friends food and making them happy. That's different than a restaurant. 

So I get what I want out of cooking once a month or so without all the other stuff I wouldn't want in a restaurant. 

 
Joe Bryant said:
And to be fair, I know some folks like this too to go with my friend who enjoys his job teaching high school math.

Maybe it might help the original poster if you folks that have experience teaching could elaborate.

And what the original poster thinks he'll like most / least about teaching?
Click to expand...
Good point, I knew that it was going to be challenging teaching high schoolers, what I wasn’t expecting was for a sizable portion of the kids actively choosing to make my job harder because I taught a subject that apparently nobody likes. Not having administrative support in Year 1 didn’t help, and likely explains why I didn’t get asked back. The new school was better with support, and even the kids seemed willing to at least try to get through the class(by the way, block scheduling sucks fat donkey nuts and we should abandon it), but I taught math, and nobody wanted to do it. I got rated highly effective, but didn’t get asked back, though I had gotten hired a week before the year started to replace a guy who left to build an app, and I think he came back or was available or something. Still, not doing that anymore. I don’t have the personality to be a teacher, especially a disciplinarian type.

 
gianmarco said:
If it will make you happier, absolutely not. 

What do you want to teach? Any chance of looking into teaching something like night classes at a community college or something along those lines where you can do some of both?
Click to expand...
this

 
Look into teaching night school in prisons....not schtick.  Friend of mine did it and loved it

 
After a couple years of teaching junior high kids you'll want to feed them to your lawyers...

(I agree - follow your passion!)

 
1: follow your passion

2:  if you've never taught before, you have no idea if teaching is your passion.  Even the best teachers are generally miserable the first few years until they find their groove.  I would imagine this is less true in elementary school and more true in high school.

I recommend finding a way to dip your toe.  That said, if you're miserable as a lawyer, there's nowhere to go but up in terms of job satisfaction.  If you're just miserable lawyering in this job, maybe there's other options in your current field to pursue simultaneously that could give you the fulfillment without sacrificing the salary?

 
Depending on how many years you need for a guaranteed pension/medical retirement benefits/etc, I'd probably grind it out a little longer.

Maybe retire early and do the teaching as a 2nd career?

40% is a big drop. You'll miss it. Any thoughts on getting married and having kids? You'll definitely miss the extra money then.

 
The real simple answer is do it if you are passionate about it and really want to.  Especially if you are miserable in your current job.

I have days where I think I want to change jobs but it's almost always just frustration with a person or project and/or being tired.  I would absolutely quit what I do and go be a park ranger or something but I don't know if the grass is greener and I make way too much money to do that and there's still a sense of satisfaction in my current job and with what I do.

One thing that I don't think was mentioned - make sure you have the flexibility you need/want.  That's a huge part of work nowadays.  Teaching should provide you with a decent summer break and other breaks.  With Covid I moved to WFH full-time, that's my big selling point now.  I want to keep this for the rest of my career.  Any place that won't allow that flexibility is probably out for me.

 
After graduating college, I was a long term sub for a couple years for a high school district. I taught/took over for math, English, history, chemistry, and biology teachers. I've strongly considered "retiring" and teaching high school math until my kid graduates from high school (3rd grade currently). Math was both easy and rewarding to teach. Also, grading/keeping up with homework was an order of magnitude easier than the other subjects I taught. I have a ton of respect for English teachers - the amount of "take home" work is insane if you are prepping kids to pass standardized writing exams. Reading hundreds of 5 paragraph essays every week might drive a man to drink.

 
Joe Bryant said:
I have a friend who left a pretty sweet corporate job and took a big paycut to teach High School math and he loves it. 

You're smart to realize this in your 30's when you can still pivot. Way too many people realize it in their 50 s and are stuck with a miserable 15 years. 15 years is a LONG time doing something you don't like.

Don't be rash. Be as sure as you can be that you'll like it. But absolutely do what you like. Can't state that strongly enough. 
Click to expand...
That's how I left the P.O. at 34.  I was miserable and in constant pain. The downside is that covid killed my real estate business, and now I'm broke.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
fatguyinalittlecoat said:
I was a lawyer for 20 years, just quit to become a teacher.  Happy to share my thoughts later but I’m in class now.
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Sorry, still planning to write more but it’s a lot harder to find the time these days.

I’ve barely started with this so I can’t say for sure that it was the right decision but it feels great so far.  My primary advice is just to look inside yourself and stop asking other people what will make you happy. We don’t know you nearly as well as you know you.  Good luck.

 
My wife was a middle school teacher.  Had her masters and over 20 years experience, was making good money, I believe around $65-70k with pension. The kids at the school were terrible.  They would tell her to F off and no support from the principal.  There was a guy that came into the school after the school day that came into her room to ask to use a phone.  Was sketchy looking and she was smart enough to say lets go to the office and use the phone.  While walking down the hall she encounters the principal and tries to alert him to the situation and he doesn't get it.  Anyhow almost to the office and the guy bolts.  They call the cops and find out this guy just assualted someone and the cops were looking for him.  Anyhow she raises a stink about the security and the principal turns it around and blames her for the situation.  She had it and just up and quit.  I was pissed at the time because I told her we could've figured a way to make the situation better but it is what it is....We don't have kids and I make enough to support us.  Anyhow the following year she found a job at a private school (parochial) and loves it.  The principal is supportive, the kids are well behaved and she enjoys teaching again.  The pay is almost half (think $38k) and no real pension anymore but she is happy and not complaining about work every day....so anyhow do what makes you happy, wish I had the courage to do that!

 
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