Ask Lemmy

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

Unless your salary is inflation adjusted over those 15 years, you are going to end up in a bad place if you ride it out. I personally couldn't make it on $65k and would be looking to either supplement my income or find a higher paying job ASAP. If it was a reasonable income for where I live and covered my bills, and resulted in me being able to still afford retiring at 62, I might stick with it if it wasn't driving me totally crazy with boredom.

65k without even Inflation adjustment could be rough...

But this is at 47, much depends on what happened up to this point. For example if you had a very strong run and had 2 mil on a 401k already.. I might be tempted to ride it out. I actually kind of like the idea of taking classes that I just feel like taking. Also depends on the family situation.

I've actually been imagining this sort of scenario for finishing out my career. I keep imagining my luck running out and needing to find something, anything to bridge me to retirement. Ideally with less office politics. Working at a university for access to classes has been on the list of fallback careers, under the hope that my 401k can largely take care of itself now.

Thing is for me personally I have a dependent and im in the red if I make somewhere under 90k unless they pay all medical expenses. It would not work for me it would be a slow death.

No dependents? Big.

Do you have shelter and food accounted for in a reliable way? That’s really what matters.

retirement in 15 years at age 62

Zero dependents.

or do you seek a career change before it's too late.

Whatever is driving this feeling... lean into it bro.

My 2 cents, these jobs don't last forever. The type of companies with unlimited PTO or sick plans usually will lay off people in this position eventually, or get acquired, shutter offerings etc. Best to improve yourself while you have the time. Prep for a career change, get an MBA or another cert. Check out WGU and see if you can commit the time. Ride it out sure but once it dries up you're kind of assed out man. Much harder to find a job in your 50s even in mamagement

What does showing up entail here? How many hours a week? Use the time to slowly build towards another career, something that uses both so you don't start at square one maybe.

Strictly me with my life experience, at 20 I would try and find something else more exciting and fulfilling, today in my mind theories I would stay especially with my phd in progress it would give me time to do it properly, and give me enough money to at least stay alive, and not be pressured into any bullshit stressful situation at work which has been my experience with jobs so far.

I would ride it out assuming inflation and rising cost of living didn't exist. Well, those things do exist. The question you need to ask yourself is if you would be unhappy living with the spending power of ~60% of what your spending power is now. If the answer is anything other than a solid yes then you should be looking.

Finish up any schooling and get a new job lined up before you leave your current job. The current job market is incredibly toxic and near impossible to navigate. People are posting vague job descriptions they have no intentions of hiring for to make it look like they are growing when they are really stagnating. AI is being used to push highly skilled workers back into the market.

Depends, of course. I'm not personally wildly ambitious about work so that would be fine with me. If no raise though, that money will not be enough in 15 years. So it would need to come with raises to meet inflation at least.

Retirement at 62 would be a big upgrade from what I expect to be able to do, but I did raise a lot of kids.

Is it work from home? Might be able to swing a second job during the do nothing 8-5 to bump up the numbers if you’re able.

Sounds a hell of a lot better than the dead end job I just left. Are they hiring?

Do you absolutely LOATHE your life right now the way it is? Do you regret EVERY choice you ever made in your life that steered you to where you are now? If yes, then you are probably part of the majority of Americans your age. Go ahead and look for change, because no matter what happens, you won’t miss where you are now.
BUT if you answered no, then congratulations, you are happier than most people your age, and keep looking for other ways to find joy because more than likely you’ll end up in a worse spot for you and regret ever shaking things up.

I’d shoot my shot. If I’m working towards a PhD I am too smart to waste my life working a boring job for a comfortable but not great salary.

Despite having your needs satisfied, you sound unfulfilled. More money won't necessarily change that.

People say, "Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life," but the truth is the opposite. When you do something every day, you become good at it. That skill, that proficiency fosters enjoyment and leads to us loving what we do. I'm not in my career field because I love it, I love what i do because I'm very good at it and mastery is its own reward.

Are you certain there's no way to monetize your PhD? Surely you could teach with those credentials?

This pretty much was my job up until recently, though we get better leave than that in Australia.

I don't think I'd bother working on a PhD 15 years from retirement

Another word for scholarship is leisure.

Enjoy it while it lasts.

You are working on a PhD, depends on the subject and your effort, you likely will have a better job in no time, right :)