Need more $$$, thinking about changing careers or doing side work. 11

[nuuvox000]

I know the title sounds a little silly but that's what it comes down to at the present moment.

I think I might need to make more money, considering a career change. HVAC engineer (PE) currently; looking for advice and experiences.

Hello, my wife and I just went through our finances in detail and things aren't looking great; with the student loan repayments starting up again, we discovered that we have a net negative income every month. We have started to cut what we can but it's still pretty dire right now. My end of year bonus is generally pretty large so we should be able to coast on that for a while. But it's got me thinking about possibly going back to school, my wife possibly going back to school, etc.

We've got 3 young kids so we're trying to avoid my wife working full time if possible; she currently works very part time. We have a modest mortgage that's on the lower end for our state (house barely fits us), 10 year old cars, don't live extravagantly at all. Just a little wild how much things cost.

I currently make $100k with 7 years experience and a pretty good bonus. Seems to be about in line with what I see as I look around for job postings for HVAC and plumbing engineers with my experience in my geographic location. So it doesn't seem like hopping to another company will do a whole lot. My wife currently only makes $10k per year but we'd both like her to be home with the kids as much as possible, for now at least. Wife is starting to pick up more hours at night so I won't see her much right now but it is what it is for now.

I guess I'm hoping some people reading this have hopped careers after investing significant time already and I'd love to know how that went for you and what you learned. Did you get more schooling?

My grades in college weren't stellar but not horrible either. Wondering about going the route of patent attorney but not sure if I'll enjoy it. Even thinking about doing something in the medical field; opthalmologist, psychiatrist, etc. but I'm just brainstorming at this phase. Some of what I've written is probably very naive but we literally started thinking about this just yesterday afternoon. Also curious about what side work I could possibly do that would make more than uber/door dash.

Tldr; jumping careers after 7 years to something different possible? What was your experience or advice? Thanks for reading.

Also adding, I know student loan deferment or decreasing payment amount is possible, and we may have to do that, but right now we would pay them off in 10 years with our current payments. Going longer than that would obviously suck because of all the added interest. Thanks in advance to anyone who responds.

Edit: probably helps to add that I'm 35 years old.

 

[DrZoidberWoop]

Unless your geographic area has obscene childcare rates (Boston, NYC, etc.), then it looks like it's time for your wife to go back to work. I am in a similar situation, but live in a very low cost of living state. Student loans are poison and should be killed ASAP.

 

[Jboggs]

"Student loans are poison and should be killed ASAP."
This may be off topic, but do you have a suggestion that does not include someone else paying off your loan for you?

 

[phamENG]

Anything is possible. I guess a big question is: what do you want to do? Do you enjoy your work now? If money is tight and you have a young family, going to law school or med school may not be a fantastic option. There's one law school in my area that does a 'law for professionals' sort of program where you get your JD while you work...but I think it takes 6 years on average. Traditional programs are 3 years and you're generally barred (ha!..sorry) from working while you're in the program unless it's an internship clerking for a judge. Med schools often have similar rules since the coursework is so intense. By accepting you they are also staking their reputation on your success, so they want to make sure you're focused on doing well.

Is there room for growth in your company? What about other companies in town? One of the best ways to move up is to jump between companies. You don't want to do it too often, but every 5 years or so is often cited as 'normal.' My career stages have been 6 years, 4 years, 5 years, 1 year, and then I hung my own shingle and I've been at it for 3 years. They weren't all as a structural engineer. I did O&M engineering in the military, worked my way through school at an engineering firm, and then specialized in structures.

Your wife being able to be home with the kids is great. But that may be a sacrifice your family needs to make. I'd rather have the kids in a good day care while my wife and I work and we can enjoy nice evenings and weekends together than for a cloud of fear of running out of money to be constantly hanging over every thing we do.

 

[nuuvox000]

Thanks phamENG for your thoughts. I really enjoy the work I do now, but I can also see myself enjoying something else as well. But I know it's rare to have a good paying job that you enjoy so I'm wary to leave it. That's a very cool program that I didn't know existed.

There is not much room for growth at my company; I am the head engineer with two newer engineers and a couple of drafters under me (small company). I do have a little hesitation in "moving up" in another company because I think that means that I may have to manage more and calculate less but I'm not sure. As you can see, I have a lot of opposing thoughts going through my head right now.

Putting the kids in daycare may be a decision we have to make, you make some good points there. Thanks!

 

[AZPete]

Some questions. How much is the shortfall? Are you happy in your work?

 

[nuuvox000]

We've done only our basic accounting and it looks like right now we're about $125 short per month, NOT including food, clothes, miscellaneous, fun. We need to go into some more detail but I'm estimating about $1000 per month more would get us everything except for retirement savings and vacations. Obviously, retirement savings and vacations are a big deal and I wouldn't want to go without those indefinitely.

I'm very happy in my work, although feeling a little bit like a big fish in a small pond for the last six months or so. Thinking about possibly moving companies to get more growth but undecided as of yet.

 

[phamENG]

I'd start putting discreet feelers out. See what else is available and how much of a pay increase you can leverage. Or, you could talk to your boss. When was the last time you got a raise? The big fish in a small pond feeling won't go away. You need a bigger pond if you're going to grow.

 

[RVAmeche]

Have you tried talking to your boss for a raise? I know my company used covid as an excuse to axe raises even though financially they were very good years since we didn't run out of work. I'd consider sitting down and saying hey I need to be here or I may not be able to stay.

 

[nuuvox000]

They've been giving me an annual $5k raise for a few years now. I haven't asked, they just do it every year and I've been happy with it and think it's fair. I guess I don't want to ask for something ludicrous that they can't provide and then they are nervous, wondering when I'm going to leave, and maybe start looking to replace me.

My bosses are the owners of the company, and although I don't believe in corporate loyalty, they're good guys who have made every accommodation I have asked for over the years. Maybe putting out feelers really would be a good course of action for now; couldn't hurt. Then I can at least know for sure what other companies are offering in my area.

I did see advice given once that even if you're happy where you are, you should interview every now and then with other companies and name a price that you're actually serious about and would make you move. If it's very high, you either get offered the job at that price or they turn you down and there are no hurt feelings. I haven't put that into practice yet though.

As far as big fish/small pond, I have wondered if we start getting larger and better projects if that feeling might go away; I know we've been pushing for them but they're hard to land as a design/build firm. I could even seek out specific trainings for certain systems/equipment I haven't had the chance to design yet. I'm just starting to think about these things so I'm not sure yet.

 

[PEDARRIN2]

100K for only 7 years experience in HVAC, even with a PE - you must be in a fairly high cost of living area. That being said, you are not likely to get much more blood out of that turnip except for annual raises which can change based on economy. Also, I would not depend on bonuses for anything other than as an extra. Bad to budget based on expected extra revenue.

If you are only about $125 short per month, that could be easily made up by wife taking extra hours.

Maybe cut down on vacation (go cheaper) and put that money toward student loans.

 

[AZPete]

If you're short $1000/mo, then that is presumably net--meaning you need 1000+tax gross per mo--such that you need a 20% raise to make it all work.

You're contemplating day care for your kids. Your wife would need to earn that net of taxes to break even, and then you haven't yet moved any closer to your necessary make-up. That means she may have to work long hours, in which case you miss out on the kids and her, and the kids miss out on her, and it all spirals into the modern joyless experience of farming out the raising of the next generation.

Talk to your management and be open and frank. Express your gratitude for unsolicited annual raises but let them know you have a quality of life family decision to make as well as a career growth path to map out. Maybe they have plans that they can pull out of the drawer and allow you to implement in return for a possible company growth spurt. Who knows? But communication is key. If communication nets a bad experience, be thankful you make that discovery early and not later. Guessing you have a good company situation and that discussion would be helpful all around.

 

[nuuvox000]

No, cost of living is not crazy high in my state, though it currently feels like it; looks like it's pretty much in the middle when taken with all the states in the USA. That's why I'm thinking I may not be able to get much more cold hard cash out of my current career.

Yeah, not thrilled about my wife working when I'm with the kids and me working when she's with the kids, but we'll have to start making decisions soon and that could be one option.

Thanks all for the comments so far, it's giving me good stuff to think about.

 

[SWComposites]

how old are the company owners? any chance they would want to take on another partner, and thus you could get a portion of the profits?

 

[SWComposites]

and how old are your kids? could they go to part time preschool (or are they in school) and your wife could work part time?

 

[nuuvox000]

They're both about 50 years old and don't seem to be slowing down anytime soon ha ha. I've never thought about that and I have no idea how any of that works, but it doesn't seem likely at this point.

Kids are 5 (full day kindergarten), 3 (3 hr pre-school), and 1 (lounging around at home). Wife does work when they're at school but it can be difficult when pre-school is only 3 hours. Will be easier once they're all in full day school but that's a few years away.

 

[271828]

We've got 3 young kids

In that case, the last thing I would consider is going back to school for anything. Your income would plummet for several years, health insurance would suck, you'd run up more student loans and other debt. Even if you get a much higher paying position after that, it might take 10 years to dig out of that mess.

This one is pretty obvious IMO. You either pick up consulting work or your wife works more hours. A lot of people do stuff like that. When our oldest was little, my wife worked almost every weekend as a nurse for several years. We had no vacations and basically no fun. It sucked, but that's how it had to go because we decided to start having children before we were set up very well.

 

[nuuvox000]

Yeah, I figured if I went to school again, it would just be more debt but I was thinking that the much higher salary would pay it off quicker. I haven't looked into this at all yet though so I could be very wrong. I will say, the best health insurance I've had was when I was a student; thanks to the insurance marketplace and a small income, it was $10/month with zero deductible, pretty amazing. Thank you for your thoughts.

 

[271828]

Unless I missed it, you didn't say what your wife does for a living. If she's making a low hourly rate (you're not), then an inexpensive degree for her might be a good move. I mentioned that my wife is a nurse. That, and many other medical careers can be launched with an inexpensive and pretty fast associate's degree, allow weekend or evening hours, and pay high hourly rates. With those three little kids in the house, that'll be pretty tough on her and your energy level, though.

I went back to school in my 30s after we had kids. My health insurance experience was not so good. It would've been cheap for me, but it was expensive to add family and it didn't cover very much.

Good luck dude! A lot of us have been in situations like you've described. They're certainly no fun.

 

[nuuvox000]

I didn't mention it, it's work from home and very flexible (airline reservations). She has a journalism degree and was a writer for years but left last year to be home with the kids more. Journalism doesn't pay well for most, just the top performers who make it their lifestyle. It's very bad for work/life balance too.

That's a great point about inexpensive and quick degrees though; something I hadn't thought about. I know community colleges around us are pretty darn cheap. No matter what we do, we'll have to grit our teeth and get it done. Thanks!