What Would You Do with This Job Choice -- Take the Money or Be Fulfilled?

Here's a comment left on my post titled It's Worth a $10k Pay Cut for a Job You Love that poses an interesting dilemma:

My roommate works for the same company here in DC. He is moving back to MI in 2 weeks. All of our friends and family are there. He interviewed and got a job offer from a company in MI working on some pretty interesting things. Taking a job there definitely means taking a huge pay cut.

Here's the twist:

When he approached his manager to give her his 2 week notice, she said to him, "That's cute. What about we do this instead. You move to MI and be with your friends and family AND you get to work from home 100% of the time. Big city salary. Little city costs. We think you're a fine worker and we'd like to keep you."

The commenter tells what happened and why (you can click the link above and scroll down if you want to see), but before you do, I have a question for you: what would you do?

I know there's a lot of information missing here, but let me fill in a few blanks with some assumptions (as well as the info that does exist):

• The current job is in a big city (which means expensive living costs).
• The current job has a nice, big salary that goes along with the expensive city.
• The current job is "ok", but pretty demanding and not that fun/challenging.
• The new job is in a much lower cost-of-living city.
• The new job pays much less.
• The new job offers some new, unique and fun challenges that will make it a much more fulfilling venture.

From an economic standpoint, keeping the current job (high pay) and moving to MI (lower living costs) is the way to go. But the job itself isn't the greatest.

From a "fulfillment" standpoint, taking the new job is the way to go. Sure, it pays less, but the cost-of-living is less as well, so the person's lifestyle will probably remain about the same.

So, what would you do?

Maybe it depends on the spread, huh?

You wouldn't keep the old job if the pay/cost ratio was the same as the new one, but let's say it's 10% better (the net impact is a 10% improvement in your discretionary income) than the new option. What would you do?  If that doesn't move you, how about a 20% increase? 30%? 50%? 100%?

At some point, the money gets so ridiculous that almost anyone would keep the old job -- but what is that point for you?

Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Comments

[Binary Dollar]

I would shovel elephant poo all year for an extra $10k.

Just kidding.

I would definitely need to hate my job passionately for me to take a pay cut. The new job would have to be pretty spanktacular. If I can tolerate the job, I don't think I could quit it for less money elsewhere.

My roommate is a stronger person than I....

[Duane Gran]

In my observation most people's job complaints are about personnel interactions. The person may want to give it a try and see if remote working creates a sufficient buffer to find enjoyment in the work itself.

[Kurt]

Be careful: grass often looks greener on the other side.

[Brendan]

You might also consider the relative cost of living. If your pay cut is 10% but it costs you 20% less (a definite possibility if leaving DC!) then you are relatively making more money and it makes economic sense to do that.

I also live in DC, and personally living in a big city is worth the extra cost to living many other places.

http://www.catchagideon.com

[Anonymous]

I'm in this exact same position myself, trying to decide whether to

1) quit my job, go 100% freelance, which would allow me to move to Denver from Chicago to be closer to family and afford a less stressed lifestyle or

2) at the request of my manager, keep my day job, work remote, and continue side freelance. Freelance at first would require hit on income, but has the potential to pay off big time in the long run -- and it's where my passion is.

No matter what, I'll be moving -- it's just a matter of what to do when I get there.

[Lazy Man and Money]

I would move and keep the current job if it truly has that big city salary. Depending on the numbers, it may be possible to use that salary to free up time from other things (hiring landscaping for instance) and allow you to do more of the things that you find interesting whether they are for pay or not.

[Wanda]

Keep the old job. With higher salary, lower cost of living, and the benefit of working from home, it sounds like a winner.

[Ervin]

Keep the current job (but only if pays at least 20% more per hour of work), move to MI and keep an eye on the local jobs.

Why the latter? Because I bet the big city company will fire him as soon as they have somebody who can take over his job.