I would kill for that level of financial stability. Ride it out and find passion in hobbies outside of work.
this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2026
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Dude, that job pays THREE TIMES as well as the equally-dead one I currently have (even more if you include benefits). Just accept the good fortune bestowed upon you, get paid to do practically nothing, and find a new hobby to invest all your new free time into. Like, how is this even a question?
Edit: I redid the math and turns out you're making 3x what I do, not the 2x that I originally said
I'll chime in as another in a job with worse pay and benefits going nowhere.
That was my thought too lol, this is essentially my job but with better pay and benefits.
Are you happy?
Regardless of the answer, I'd follow this up with "Are you unhappy?" If you're happy-ish or at least not unhappy, then the peace of mind that comes with job security is a big motivator.
You can always seek happier happiness outside of work so long as the work itself doesn't promptly steal it all when you go in the next day.
It’s an optimization problem.
There are a lot of factors that could go into what you or I end up calling happiness. We probably see things differently after all. Job (life) security, being wild and free, location, family, friends, money.. the list goes on. Optimize for what makes you happy.
I'm a contradiction. I'm no more unhappy than I am happy. Pay isn't the best, but the certainty and creature comforts make it tolerable.
My take - based on everything you are saying in this thread, it sounds like you aren't happy, but that you are balancing that unhappiness with potential unhappiness you are worried about facing if you were to try for another job.
You talk about pay and creature comforts - but you seem to be avoiding talking about meaning. What is your purpose in life? Because if this job facilitates that purpose, then by all means, keep it. But if it undermines it, then you should ditch it.
Like, imagine you are on your deathbed, and a young highschool boy comes to interview you about your life for a school project. He asks - what did you accomplish? What are you most proud of? What did you learn? What is a story you'd like to tell my class? What are your regrets? If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?
What do you want your answers to be?
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Only thing that matters
How has nobody suggested the obvious yet? Keep your current job while you interview, test the waters and see what's out there. You might find something you enjoy more with a big enough raise to cover the college credits. You don't have to quit to start looking elsewhere. I know you're talking about career, not just job, but I'd argue the same still applies.
Thanks for this. Justifies some of what I've recently been doing. I've been at this job for almost 20 years. I've been awarded the top employee honor at work, essentially the "outstanding achievement" award for employees. Not sure why. This was just a few years ago, when I essentially quietly quit.
Recently received notification I had been moved to the final search committee for a major leadership role at a neighboring college. Regardless of the outcome, this was primarily an attempt to see what interest there still is out there. This would be a CIO role, one I'm more than capable of running with considering the size and scope of the school. I just don't know if that is even how I want to end my working life.
Nobody prepared me for any of this. I guess none of are technically.
The location matters. $65K in Arkansas is not the same as $65K in California.
West Virginia-Lite. About 2 hours outside of DC. Homes around here range from dilapidated trailers to McMansions. A cornucopia of ugh.
Sounds exactly like where I grew up. I got out of there the first chance I could. Would you consider moving to another state or city? Also, are you in any danger?
Personally, I've hit the point where I no longer want to contribute to some random employer and would rather do something myself. That's another possible direction
Also income matters less in counties with better social support nets and health systems
Yeah, this is impossible to answer until we know the cost of living in OP’s area. In my area, $65k would be decent for one person, (slightly above the average for a single individual, but only about half of the average household income) but would basically be hand-to-mouth regarding income and expenses. You wouldn’t be able to save anything with $65k, which means you’d have zero wiggle room for future planning or surprise expenses.
If I was able and willing to move to the middle of bumfuck nowhere, I could be really damned comfortable for $65k. But that would be entirely dependent on my job (ability to WFH, and thus able to pack up and move), availability of things like groceries/hospital/etc., and also my willingness to suddenly have an hour drive before I’m in town. If you hate rural living and are tied down by an in-person job, the “move where it’s cheap” idea doesn’t really have a lot of options.
Holy shit I would realize I no longer have any real problems in life and figure out what makes me happy with all of that free time
As somebody who is quickly coming up on 2 years of unemployment, my recommendation is not to fuck with the job market right now even with a year’s expenses covered.
Almost 20 years at my current employer. Stepping away without something else already lined-up sounds like career suicide. Yet another reason I'm hesitant to shake things up.
Ride it out. No question. You have unlimited opportunities to grow outside the job.
No employer is going to hire a 47 year old. Too old to train and not enough experience in the field to be a good manager.
If you aren't getting enough excitement from the job, go out and start dating or find a hobby.
Heck, the the year's salary you have saved there are dozens of businesses you could start.
This is more of where I'm leaning, but then I think I'm wasting my potential, without having any idea where to even exhibit potential.
I'm referred to as a "generalist" at work. I'm told that's a good thing.
Your potential doesn't need to be limited to work. You can exhibit that in a multitude of ways with no connection to a job.
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The fuck? I got my job around that age. And we hired our temp who is at least 65. And a treasury manager over 60 too.
It's harder, I'm sure. But 47 is absolutely NOT too old to change careers, that's nonsense.
Thanks for this! 47 has me feeling like I have one foot in the grave. I think that's one of the reasons I'm pursuing this PhD. I mean, it's free, I have oodles of on-the-clock time to do the work (7 hours a day), and it puts me back in school, which I seem to equate to youth. I'm not the oldest in the program either, which makes me feel a bit lighter in the casket.
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If you are already doing a PhD you are probably lucky to have a job that pays reasonably without requiring much. But even if you decide to change jobs, don't leave till you are guaranteed another job.
virtually unlimited sick days as long as you don’t call out too often (>3x month)
"virtually unlimited" = 36 days a year
I get 2 per year so 36 would feel like unlimited.
yeah sorry I keep forgetting not everyone lives in Europe
Yeah, I'm cringing a bit at my "virtually unlimited" comment. For this situation, I'm currently sitting on roughly 500 hours of PTO medical leave.
Finish the PhD, then get a new job.
$65k will be worth half of what it is or less in 10 years. You will, at best, get a raise of about 5% per year. You will see a 20% - 30% raise if you jump ship with the PhD provided you go for corporate positions (you'll barely be treading water if you decide to teach).
The stability of the current job is an illusion - they will let you go the moment it becomes profitable for them to do so. The only person who can ensure you stability is you, and the only way you can do that is by maximizing your earning potential so you have enough wealth to survive a jobless period. Do not rely on unemployment benefits - they're a joke and often arrive as much as a year late.
Source: I took the stable route at that same salary number. Was laid off after 10 years during COVID, while I was sick. My next position I jumped from 65k to 90k, and with the next to 110k within three years. It took over 18 months for me to receive my unemployment benefits.
Companies have no loyalty to you. You are a resource to be exploited. Treat them the same way, and you'll be much wealthier and likely happier for it.
Seems like you already made your decision.
Lets say you change careers and want to come back to your current career at this or another company. Would that be feasible. If yes, you literally have nothing to lose.
If not, you have to be a bit more careful picking your new path but also little to lose
So, what am "I" hoping for, I guess? More money, more possibility for advancement? What other jobs could I get?
Not to be a dick, but the median personal income for a full-time employee in the US is ~$55,000, and half are definitionally below that. If you live in San Fransisco and are working towards your PhD in data science, I guess sure, vomiting face, but that detail wasn't in there.
Yep, sorry about that. I was trying to make this sound as unrelated to my actual situation as possible when I originally posted. Gave up the ghost on that almost immediately. WV eastern panhandle is where I'm located. Work in VA. On the edge of what they call the DMV (Delaware, Maryland, VA). Yes, they omit the omnipresent WV lurking just alongside big money northern VA in the colloquialism. Our area has just as many people commuting to DC for six figures, as we have folks living in squalor. It's definitely WV up in here, but maybe a little shinier.
You’re focusing too much on what you are supposed to do and too little on what you could be doing.
I would grab this with both hands. Max out the education, and work on side projects that don’t impact the day job. I mean, that is what the “show up sometimes” means, right? Ya gotta warm the seat but you don’t have much to do? So fill that time with things that improve your skills!
You’re focusing too much on what you are supposed to do and too little on what you could be doing.
Absolutely, but man is it a hard habit to break. Obviously one I'm struggling to break myself. I literally have a text note stating "Do what you want and do it for fun" on my phone's lock screen and home screen. I'm trying my best to change my way of thinking about all of this, and rather lean into a "fuck it, it's a paycheck, (most) everyone needs one, use all the money for fun and live deliciously because at least in my inevitable end, it will all just go to some charity.
Just submitted a resume yesterday. Almost exact situation I'm in.
Career change. Better to try improve than to do the same thing over and over. Not even about the pay just the change.
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I would spend all the time I can contributing to open source projects.
Are you looking for advice? Cause that's how it sounds lol. The answer and reasons are different for everyone.
Ultimately the question is, how does the job make you feel? If I hate getting up everyday to go to work, I'm probably going to at least look at my options if not straight run out of there crying.
If it's ok but nothing too exciting. I don't dread it but, I also don't look forward to it, I might stay. But only if I can find a way to spice it up a bit. Maybe that's a new podcast to listen to while working. Maybe it's finding something to do in my down time, maybe it's researching a new hobby or something.
If I like the job but I'm not going anywhere but I'm that close to retirement, I'm going to probably stay. Until they give me a reason to hate it. Then, I'm out.
I am looking for advice, and yes, this is totally my current situation.
Then I think it boils down to, are you happy? And if not, is it fixable while being there? And if not, leaving might be the best option.
If they allow remote work, I'll take it since I'm about to lose my job and, with the shitty USD <-> JPY rate, I only made slightly under that last year.
Were I you, though, I'd be looking.
Should have added the remote schedule. Two days in office, three remote. No device monitoring. Round trip commute 70 minutes.
Disclaimer: No idea what amout of wealth that translates to in your specific location.
I think the work itself really does matter, what use is wealth if the job is destroying your mental or physical health? What you'll do with that depends on what other (theoretcially) marketable skills you have, how the actual market for those skills is right now, and how long it would take to take any relevant training (that's on your own time, not while you're already employed). Do you have any idea what you'd do instead of your job?
Also, how certain are you that you actually get to retire at 62? 15 years is a long time for some asshole politician to decide that whatever retirement plan you may have isn't worth the paper it's printed on ...
52,832 more dollars a year than I survive on. Unless you think your job will evaporate soon you have a pretty good thing. Get your PhD. Keep your job as long as you can. Jumping at somthing new has a very good chance of blowing up in your face in this market. Caveat, I don't work so what do I know? But if you aren't severely depressed about it I'd stay
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