I would love some advice/perspective.
I have been working in hospitality for the past 16 years at a place that has been bought out about 6 times. It is very stressful but I am making good money and have socked away a lot in savings and 401K. The new owners really don't like me and I don't like them but I am still here after 3 years of their ownership so I don't think I am going anywhere based on their say so and we don't interact often.
Just to have a safety net, I completed a pharmacy tech course and will be certified in a few weeks. With that I can work anywhere in the US in a retail drug store. It's a low paying job so it trades good money for rock solid job security anywhere I want to be. I really enjoyed the 6 week externship and it's a welcome change from what I currently do.
Problem here is that cost of living doesn't match the entry level pay of the pharmacy tech job like I thought it would. I think I could make it work by living off my savings for a bit until I either can get into a hospital which is better money or possibly until they award me a higher pay rate in retail but it would still not be anywhere near the financial level I currently enjoy. So my current savings would be my savings pretty much for another 12 years when the 401K becomes available without penalty.
Final caveat, if I go for the pharmacy career and like where I end up, I definitely have the means to put down an extremely healthy down payment on my first home which would bring my living expenses way down to a place I'd probably be more comfortable with but that assumes a lot and a smaller house with some sacrifices.
So would you stick it out at the current job and keep saving putting the pharmacy on hold for a later date or would you take the leap now and go start over in a place you'd really like to be and hope it works out financially?
It's just me which is why I am rethinking leaving the good salary I'll never see again in my life. No financial partner help here or family to take care of me at any stage of life. But I would love to start over, all over, in a new place with a new life. My spirit is kind of begging to see what I can do.
So, what would you do?
I have been working in hospitality for the past 16 years at a place that has been bought out about 6 times. It is very stressful but I am making good money and have socked away a lot in savings and 401K. The new owners really don't like me and I don't like them but I am still here after 3 years of their ownership so I don't think I am going anywhere based on their say so and we don't interact often.
Just to have a safety net, I completed a pharmacy tech course and will be certified in a few weeks. With that I can work anywhere in the US in a retail drug store. It's a low paying job so it trades good money for rock solid job security anywhere I want to be. I really enjoyed the 6 week externship and it's a welcome change from what I currently do.
Problem here is that cost of living doesn't match the entry level pay of the pharmacy tech job like I thought it would. I think I could make it work by living off my savings for a bit until I either can get into a hospital which is better money or possibly until they award me a higher pay rate in retail but it would still not be anywhere near the financial level I currently enjoy. So my current savings would be my savings pretty much for another 12 years when the 401K becomes available without penalty.
Final caveat, if I go for the pharmacy career and like where I end up, I definitely have the means to put down an extremely healthy down payment on my first home which would bring my living expenses way down to a place I'd probably be more comfortable with but that assumes a lot and a smaller house with some sacrifices.
So would you stick it out at the current job and keep saving putting the pharmacy on hold for a later date or would you take the leap now and go start over in a place you'd really like to be and hope it works out financially?
It's just me which is why I am rethinking leaving the good salary I'll never see again in my life. No financial partner help here or family to take care of me at any stage of life. But I would love to start over, all over, in a new place with a new life. My spirit is kind of begging to see what I can do.
So, what would you do?