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Mid life crisis

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Anyone gone from a well paid job to a lesser paid job as part of a mid life crisis in a bid to regain some sanity and work life balance? 

How'd that work out for you in the long run? 
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Comments

  • GrunfeldGrunfeld Frets: 4027
    Wasn't as part of a mid-life crisis but I did the downsizing thing and haven't regretted it.  I really needed a change.
    It's been about five or six years now.  I work about 2.5 days a week, very different type of work, and enjoy my work much more.

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  • VeganicVeganic Frets: 673
    I just stayed in the better paying job and stopped giving a shit.

    I don't think there is a correlation between pay and stress.  Low paid jobs can be just as stressful.  And the more likely you are to be treated like shit. Unless maybe if you are doing something vocational or are really self employed.
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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    For work I think you need to find somewhere that you enjoy being, it takes up so much time, you can't waste your life away
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  • jonnyburgojonnyburgo Frets: 12258
    axisus said:
    For work I think you need to find somewhere that you enjoy being, it takes up so much time, you can't waste your life away
    True, if you don’t like it leave, do a job that means something to you, better for your mental elf.
    "OUR TOSSPOT"
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  • p90foolp90fool Frets: 31368
    edited January 2019
    It was nothing to do with any kind of crisis as it happened by accident, but yes, and I've never been happier. I currently work 15 hours a week in a job which is very sociable.

    From previous well paid jobs I have a few old motorcycles and plenty of spares, the band pays for any music gear I want and I only have ten years left on the mortgage.

    We don't really have any savings, but twenty year old cars are pretty reliable these days and only 300 quid to buy another if you get a problem.

    Combine that with living in a beautiful rural area and you start to wonder what you actually need many tens of thousands of pounds for. 

    Kids and grandkids are a financial drain and not necessarily an unwelcome one, but when it dawns on your offspring that they earn much more than you do they somehow seem to find a way to cope better financially. 

    I earn about a third of what I was earning in 1990, and when I think back to how I was just looking for ways to waste it (three Harleys, four Alfa Romeos plus so much more I can't even remember) it makes me shudder. 

    I've always travelled a fair bit and now we only go abroad every two years, but some of our most memorable holidays have been recent cheap ones, like biking around the mountains of Crete for a week, or staying with friends in India.

    If you have strong family ties to an expensive area and young kids who need a decent school I can fully understand the rat race mentality just to keep your head above water, but if not, why on earth does anyone bother?
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    Yes I did this.
    I was working in IT in the 90's and early 00's.

    Fast forward 15 years I'm much happier than I would have been and I don't believe I'm any worse of financially, although once you close a door like that you tend to lose any ability to assess what would have happened.
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  • TeyeplayerTeyeplayer Frets: 3132
    Not as part of a mid-life crisis (officially still a year or two to go) but certainly the wife and I regularly and seriously discuss the long-term goal of both working part-time (ideally 3 days a week) to ensure a better work-life balance. We foresee this being within the next five years and are both quite comfortable with having less disposable income but more time as a family.

    I wouldn’t call that a crisis you see, I’d consider that a rational choice to change your lifestyle (in the same way we exercise, alter diet, etc). 

    Good luck, whatever choice you eventually make.
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  • 57Deluxe57Deluxe Frets: 7329
    edited January 2019
    I skipped the middle man and went from UK PR Manager for part of IBM to retirement at 42! Now everyday is potential Guitar Day or walk in the woods day...
    <Vintage BOSS Upgrades>
    __________________________________
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  • rsvmarkrsvmark Frets: 1374
    Not me but Mrs RSV has. She is a GP and was working 13 hours each day, putting up with physical and verbal abuse, and was shat on by the establishment when she whistle blew. reaching a point where a meld down was imminent, we made a decision and she moved on. Now she does pt salaried work and appraisals. She earns half of what she used to but she is so much happier in herself.
    An official Foo liked guitarist since 2024
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  • VibetronicVibetronic Frets: 1036
    I did it a little over 2 years ago - left a well(ish) paid job I'd been in for 15 years but was sick of, and started teaching guitar for a living instead. It's something I'd done on & off for 20 years anyway, and I had an opportunity to make it happen, so I did. One of the best things I've ever done. I do not miss a single thing about the old job, and would never ever go back. I'm on a lot less money now but I could not give a shit about that - doing the thing I love for a living is so much more rewarding, and it's opened lots of other doors to stuff I'd never have gone near before (or had the time to). More time and the opportunity to actually enjoy life are much more important!
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  • nothing to add to this thread apart from my name. sorry :)
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  • JalapenoJalapeno Frets: 6378
    I took a pay cut and dropped to 4 days a week.  6 months on and I don't regret it.
    Imagine something sharp and witty here ......

    Feedback
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  • I'd love to do a 4-day week. 
    Question is, how comfortable (financially) do you have to be before you can downsize.. 
    But then you do only get one life. 

    Outside of work, what do you REALLY want out of your one life?
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  • mrkbmrkb Frets: 6637
    I'd love to do a 4-day week. 
    Question is, how comfortable (financially) do you have to be before you can downsize.. 
    But then you do only get one life. 

    Outside of work, what do you REALLY want out of your one life?
    Tricky one to answer that! The financial question can probably only be answered in hindsight, but I’m interested in others experiences!
    Karma......
    Ebay mark7777_1
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  • JalapenoJalapeno Frets: 6378
    I'd love to do a 4-day week. 
    Question is, how comfortable (financially) do you have to be before you can downsize.. 

    Only dropped 5hrs /week - I now do 4x8hrs - impact wasn't too painful at all.
    Imagine something sharp and witty here ......

    Feedback
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  • Not so mush a mid-life crisis, I’m still hoping for one of those thought, but more after some self-reflection I decided where I was in my career was not for me.

    I work in the software industry - it's generally great fun – but I decided to move from management back to on tools - best decision I ever made. Like @Jalapeno I plan to try and move to part time in a few years, fingers crossed!

    It definitely helped my sanity level as I no longer have to interact with as many psychotic / idiotic managers and I can now just concentrate on what I have to deliver, rather than on what everyone else has to deliver.

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  • OssyrocksOssyrocks Frets: 1673
    Yep, almost three years ago. Left my job at Manchester University which paid £50k a year. Sold the big house, bought a smaller one, ditched the mortgage altogether. We founded a charity and I now work three days a week as the Director. It doesn’t pay much, but I don’t need much. Work is now a 30 minute walk away instead of a one and a half hour commute. 

    It’s the best decision I ever made regarding work.

    Rob
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  • KebabkidKebabkid Frets: 3301
    edited January 2019
    I know a lot of people who've done this and don't regret it and it didn't always involve downsizing, but being mortgage-free has got to be a great thing.

    What price can you put on your health and quality of life? As long as you've got enough to eat, pay the bills and put a roof over your head, and there's time for yourself/yourselves, there are many of life's pleasures out there that cost nowt.

    Whilst my own job is currently 'at risk', so interesting times, the biggest change I made a few years ago was working from home 4 days a week and one day in the office. Less stress, saved on daily outgoings, such as travel & food, more productive and it gave me a better home/work balance.

    Another possible option, does your employer offer sabbaticals? Most aren't paid but if you plan for these things or are financially secure, it might give you the breather you need to take time out for yourself or look for something else or even study whilst knowing you do have a job to return to.

    All the best in whatever you decide
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  • Danny1969Danny1969 Frets: 10357
    edited January 2019

    It's all about quality of life and living. I like a high standard and having to be somewhere at 9 in the morning and having to stay there till 5 every day is not a high standard of living. Plus most places of work frown upon things like cracking a beer open mid day or taking a nap .... I like the freedom to do that Time is precious and the last thing anyone should do is think they should run themselves ragged so they can enjoy a high standard of living when they are old ...... some people won't even get old, those who do will in the end spend their days dribbling in a chair with only their thoughts for amusement .... they don't regret a lot of things they did but they do regret the things they never did .... all work and no play makes Jack a boring memory!

    I actually earn about 1\2 of what I used to when I was heavily involved in I.T but the funny thing is when you stop and think about it around a quarter of peoples wages is generally spent on their job ..... cars or rail, phones, clothes and all kinds of treats to make a shit life more tolerable.  But I get up when I want (cept on Wednesdays when I get rudely waken by the dustman) do as much or as little as I want, spend time preparing decent healthy food, cycle around to stay fit. Enjoy swimming in the sea and sunbathing at Southsea in the summer, walking through the woods across Butser hill with the dog, drinking in local pubs at £2.45 a pint till 6pm. 

    I have friends with brand new beemers earning 6 figure salaries but I wouldn't swap my job for there's ... there's more to life than money  
    www.2020studios.co.uk 
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  • p90foolp90fool Frets: 31368
    Well said @Danny1969 it's more about time than money. 

    We've had an odd year or so which has highlighted it - my ex and my wife's ex were both very keen on planning for retirement compared to us, we're both pretty casual about it. 

    My ex died last year in her early 60s, and my wife's ex (a super fit racing cyclist) has just been diagnosed with inoperable cancer and given about 18 months to live. 

    Whatever you enjoy doing, do it now - don't sit in an office until 8pm every evening thinking you'll reap the rewards "one day". 
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