Should I accept this job offer?

Ask questions and get advice. Disclaimer: Any advice you take here is at your own risk. We are not liable for any consequences you might incur from following advice here. Note: Before posting your question, do a search for it in the Google Search box at the top to see if it's been addressed.
ezinho
Freshman Poster
Posts: 46
Joined: June 3rd, 2014, 7:45 pm

Re: Should I accept this job offer?

Post by ezinho »

Hero wrote:Today I was offered a job that pays $90K per year. The downside is that I only get 2 weeks vacation per year. That means I can forget about taking any trips abroad for a while. But maybe that's not such a bad thing; these week-long vacations that I've taken to the Philippines, the Ukraine, and the Dominican Republic have not been very productive, due to their short duration. Maybe the better plan would be to work at this job for a year or two and save up enough cash to get myself set up permanently in a foreign home. What say you?
I'm pretty much in the same situation as you are. After coming back from South Korea, teaching English there for a little over three years, I got a job (in Real Estate) and I'm on track to make $90k this year as well. Like you, I get almost no time off (12 days, so less than two weeks a year!). So, because of the massive time it takes to fly to Asia, I'm pretty much stuck going to Mexico or Central America for my sacred 12 days off. Or I could stay and vacation in America, but who wants to do that?

Here's the thing, $90K a year isn't even that much. Even if you do max out your 401(k) contributions (which I recommend) you still get screwed on your taxes, just not as much. The tax code really rips off single people in this country. Then you have all kinds of other deductions from your check, medical, dental, vision, SDI, your FSA, etc. It's like your paycheck gets passed around like a drunk sorority girl at a frat party, with everyone getting a piece. By the time everyone gets their hands on your paycheck, there isn't that much left, considering how hard you work.

I guess just take the job and have an exit plan. Try to stick it out for as long as you can, until you can't take it anymore. Personally, I hate my job, but the money is just good enough where I'm going to keep doing it until I can't take it anymore. I imagine one day I'll wake up and I just won't be able to get myself to go to work. I'll just have to e-mail my boss a letter of resignation and get on the next plane to Asia or South America.

That's my plan, at least...
Hero
Experienced Poster
Posts: 1710
Joined: July 3rd, 2008, 1:19 pm

Re: Should I accept this job offer?

Post by Hero »

ezinho wrote:I'm pretty much in the same situation as you are. After coming back from South Korea, teaching English there for a little over three years, I got a job (in Real Estate) and I'm on track to make $90k this year as well. Like you, I get almost no time off (12 days, so less than two weeks a year!). So, because of the massive time it takes to fly to Asia, I'm pretty much stuck going to Mexico or Central America for my sacred 12 days off. Or I could stay and vacation in America, but who wants to do that?

Here's the thing, $90K a year isn't even that much. Even if you do max out your 401(k) contributions (which I recommend) you still get screwed on your taxes, just not as much. The tax code really rips off single people in this country. Then you have all kinds of other deductions from your check, medical, dental, vision, SDI, your FSA, etc. It's like your paycheck gets passed around like a drunk sorority girl at a frat party, with everyone getting a piece. By the time everyone gets their hands on your paycheck, there isn't that much left, considering how hard you work.

I guess just take the job and have an exit plan. Try to stick it out for as long as you can, until you can't take it anymore. Personally, I hate my job, but the money is just good enough where I'm going to keep doing it until I can't take it anymore. I imagine one day I'll wake up and I just won't be able to get myself to go to work. I'll just have to e-mail my boss a letter of resignation and get on the next plane to Asia or South America.

That's my plan, at least...
Excellent plan. Great minds think alike!
You've echoed my thoughts exactly.
Hero
Experienced Poster
Posts: 1710
Joined: July 3rd, 2008, 1:19 pm

Post by Hero »

Another cool thing about this job is that I don't have to relocate. It's just a couple of miles down the road from my current employer :)
onethousandknives
Junior Poster
Posts: 550
Joined: January 25th, 2013, 3:35 pm

Post by onethousandknives »

I think the vacation weeks are the least of your problem. The problem is the job cementing you in the US, as a 90K job is "the American dream." If you work there for a bit, your dreams of going abroad may change. You may decide instead after a few months working there you want a BMW, and if you stay a few years, a nice house in the suburbs. A few years after, you marry a girl at the office or from some bar people at the office wanted you to go to, then you're "settled" and "comfortable" here, and then you're like everyone else.

So the question is more if you have the self control to do what your plans are, of moving abroad, and only working there for one year or so and saving your money for abroad or not, otherwise you'd probably not even be asking on this forum. We all like to think we have great self control and hardened determination to reach our goals or whatever, but most of us just ride waves of circumstances. So it depends if you wish to ride the wave of circumstance you're given now and if you're willing to get off once your aims are met (hint, 50-60K would last you a few years in a lot of countries...) What's your actual aim for abroad? Living there and having a wife and a traditional lifestyle or just taking vacations hoping for sex?
Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “Questions and Advice”