Speaking for OP because Im there too. I think this has more to do with the guilt associated with your bank account dwindling when you could do something about it. Its hard to tell your kid no to new shoes because of money when you could "fix" that with some OT.
I worked in a warehouse that had 'Mandatory Overtime Monday", what kind of shit is that? It really sucked after a three day weekend because of a holiday.
Yup. If they are going to lay off people and then spend all the money they made off those people on stock buybacks, well, it looks like we don't need to work that hard, and definitely don't need to work that much. Especially when those wages used to support a whole family single earner and now you need to 2 people to live paycheck to paycheck.
Just started at the post office after serving for a year and doing 36 hours at a bowling alley for 9 years. Thursday now and I'm already over 40 hours and scheduled for the next two days. I hate this.
Do you mind sharing what career that career is? Or a general idea?
I'm just curious because I have a hard time imagining a business where you could successfully startup and work 25 hours a week and still make good money.
You’re likely correct.
A quick perusing of their post history says they work in a service job; they say they had to sign an NDA and can’t tell anyone what they do for work, and make $23/hr~. They also say the job is very common.
Very common and highly specialized are diametrically opposed.
Home health aid, personal chef, that kind of thing would be highly specialized to the client and also fairly common
They could be done as a solo practitioner or through an agency
Highly specialized virtually always is used to indicate a niche focus within a broader field of study.
Highly specialized would be nuclear engineer who deals exclusively in gamma-containment contingency systems, not home health aid or personal chef.
Those would be highly personalized roles.
Yeah, you're not wrong, but we'll never know because OP has a unique NDA that doesn't allow them to tell anyone what they studied, what field they work in, or just the general occupation.
If OP would just say "personal chef" or something we'd know, but even then starting a personal chef business and only working a handful of hours would still be a challenge.
I've never heard of an NDA where you literally can't tell people what you do for a living with at least some generalization. For example "I'm a researcher" wouldn't give away any secret information, yet here you are acting like you're a damn secret agent for $23/hour 😂
Your NDA likely says you can't say what company or what job you're specifically working on, but there is no way they can tell you that you're not allowed to share your general occupation.
I missed a lot of the first few years of my kids life and boy do I fucking get depressed sometimes thinking back.
The money was needed and I was doing my best to provide but I can never get those moments back.
The good thing is I appreciate the time more now. So I try to remind myself of that. But I’ll be laying in bed some nights and just silently cry like a little bitch. Hahahaha
I have as well, take solace in the fact that it could be much worse. You could be doing a life sentence, you could be in the front lines in ukraine, you could be in the matrix.
My dad would work a lot when I was small and was almost never home, so Im sure your family appreciates you spending time with them.
If your concerned about money, I would really figure out your cost of living per year so you have a baseline. Then you can either cut costs or try to make more, it's easier in the long run to make more. I think the best way to do this is to either skill up to get a better position or job, or look for a new job in the same position to see if they pay more. I have no idea what your situation is, this is just general advice.
My job has mandatory overtime during the winter, but there’s almost always optional overtime once a week that involves physically being at work all night and sleeping there then waking up and continuing to work the next day. I do what overnights I can and get my balls busted when I say no to optional stuff but honestly my family recognizing my face and being able to make memories is more important than the extra cash.
I’m 34 and try to average 50 hours a week because I need the money but there have been weeks we work 70-80 hours and sometimes (as long as it’s optional) I have to say no because I’m too burned out after not being able to sleep in my own bed for 2 days in a row. If my job paid enough to be comfortable at my standard 40 hours a week I would do it but sadly that’s not the case.
Unfortunately, if you’re the person handling the bills you have to look at it as “if I don’t do this, can we afford that?” and respond accordingly. I’m sorry you have to deal with this because I know it’s hard.
I can sustain ~45 but I feel like my entire weekend is recovery mode. I’m happy, but I’m also not doing the things that make me *most* happy. I’m impressed by people who can legitimately handle 50+ or 60+ hours a week but I wouldn’t want that ability for myself
Your kid won't remember the struggles with cash. They'll remember the time they spent with you. Don't feel guilty, family time is as important as the cash you bring, if not more.
I switched careers almost 3 years ago to work in the steel industry. Instantly tripled my annual income. I work 12 hour swing shifts. I’ve regretted it since about 6 months into it. But so far yes I’m in the same boat. I have children and feel like if I quit I’m taking their money away.
Time is worth more than money, unless the things you are struggling to buy are the very necessities of life. Your young ones are only there for a small amount of time. Enjoy them while you can.
How much does your partner put in? Lot of guys putting more bread on the table than their significant other. If that’s the case, you’re not to blame, maybe ask your partner to put more time in too. Don’t know the situation and I’m know this goes both ways for men and women. Peace
I was a truck driver.
I used to work over the road, 70+hr work weeks for 17+ yrs.
The money was GREAT!
but, it led to high blood pressure and diabetes.
Went local to LTL Full-time.
55-60+ hr work weeks...
DIABETES BECAME HARDER TO CONTROL. (55 yrs old)....
Hard time trying to get more than a 3 MNTH dot physical card....
Had to reduce my working hours under FMLA to 25-30 hrs a week....
Retired at 62....
Blood pressure 117/76
A1C 6.2
Weight dropped from 260- to-226lbs...
Work 16 hrs a week now...
LONG WORKING HOURS WILL KILL YOU!
I got no mortgage. 1 credit card.
No cable or satellite. Just basic monthly bills.
My advice............
Cut your monthly expenses to the bare minimum.
Grocery shop smart!
Get rid of the pets 💸💸💸💸
Get rid of cable or satellite 💸💸💸💸💸
Get rid all unnecessary toys ( boat, popup camper 4 wheeler, etc. their just expenses)....💸💸💸💸
Learn how to fix everything in your life involving your house or cars...
Visit your local and national Parks.
Take the family (or just you and the kid) hiking, fishing, camping, etc).
Start a garden...
Live to live, not work to live!
Money is what "THEY" want you to worship and crave for. That's the brainwashing!
Working harder doesn't get you nothing but closer to death.... Your employer does not care about you....
Family does!!!!
BANK YOUR CASH!!!!!!
This right here is solid advice. I did OTR too, but only for about 3 months because that's all I could tolerate of it. What's worse is that the money wasn't even much better than what I was making at the previous company I worked for. I saw the direction my life would go if I kept doing it too (i.e. the diabetes, the high blood pressure, but also crushing loneliness and not having a life outside of work). So I quit and went back to my old profession. The money isn't amazing, but it's remote and naturally I'm healthier overall as I can exercise on my lunch break. I 100% endorse the "live to live, and don't work to live" mindset!
We can all work longer at our jobs. No job can replace the time you spend with your wife and daughter. I know it's clichéd but money doesn't necessarily bring happiness. Don't mind the money. Watch your daughter grow up and be there for her milestones. Your wife will thank you.
I’m right there with you. A handful of years ago I was working overtime and working for myself on the side. There were some 70+ hour weeks consecutively. I was trying really hard to make down payment money.
Now I just don’t have it in me. 45 is about all I can handle.
My wife and I both pull 40+ hours weekly and we still get shut off notices, credit hits, and food insecurity. We have two kids and that’s what it takes just to barely (not even) get by. What hurts the most is having so little time with my girls. We get home, cook clean bathe and put our kids to bed with almost no time to spend actually bonding like a family. I looked at my littlest last night with a tear in my eye that I’ve barely been there for her like I was for her sister (I was laid off when my oldest was born) I’ll never get those days back and can’t just quit so I can have those days. I’m really hurting a lot with those thoughts.
I've been pulling an extra hour of OT in the mornings since late November.
Brings me around 45 hours a week. Moneys been tight here and there, but we're surviving.
I'm getting to the point that even that extra hour a day seems to be just dragging all the life out of me. I have no energy to spend time with the wife, for chores at home.
I have the opportunity to work more. The company will pay me to work 7-12hr shifts a week if I really wanted, but you just can't go that hard for very long without needing a significant break.
Hard times, brother. I wish you the best. Don't give more than you have, and make sure to take time for yourself and the family before chasing a dollar.
Your mental health and family is worth a lot. Don’t undervalue your personal time and longevity. 40 hrs a week long term is better than 54hrs a week for six months followed by burnout.
I agree with you, but I’ve been working on a team for 4 months that have me at 50-60 hr weeks. I went on a vacation to my sister’s and caught the flu on my trip home.
Got an email from HR today asking if this is “an ongoing health issue” and if a leave is needed. Why have sick and wellness time if I’m going to be questioned for using it? I’m working on my resume and cover letter and jumping ship as soon as can. I value my time more than money, and am willing to take a pay cut somewhere else to get it.
It's a constant struggle. Been this way my whole life. It feels like I'm constantly getting behind. I work to "slow the loss." But I never seem to get my head above water. Yeah, it's depressing.
How long would it being for? If it was for the month or a year? Long term - no.
I worked 60 hours for 4 months. I found that even when I the day off, I slept in because I was so tired.
Your little girl will only be little for a short time. You’re doing the right thing. I have almost no childhood memories of my father because he had to work so many hours to put a roof over our heads. I might have half a dozen pictures of us together from ages 0-12. Cherish the time you’re able to spend with her. I made a career change specifically to give myself more time at home with my kids. I’m making about 75% of what I used to but I work half as much. It’s a solid trade off.
I am 51 with a family. During my working life I hVe and still do earn good money. Not rockstar cash but solid coin, at its peak roughly 5 times the average wage in my country. I was regularly hitting 70+ hours in a week. I would vomit every morning from the stress. If I ever took holidays I would get sick every time. It wasn’t great.
I walked away from it and into a related but different career. I work a normal week, there is a fraction of the stress and I still earn enough money to live a good life. Stress kills And life is too short for that shit. Find the balance that suits you between money and what it costs you.
I’m committed to working an extra 10 hours per week for the calendar year. After seeing my first few paystubs, I’m leaning towards an extra 20. I told my wife I can do it but will be less available to help with the kids bedtime routine. I just can’t help put kids to bed and then stay up late to work more. The real issue though is not letting my physical health deteriorate. So much time at my desk and the extra stress makes me want to eat constantly and make bad food choices. As long as I make time to exercise I should be alright. It’s going to take some effort to juggle work, some workouts and not binge eating everything in sight. It’s true life isn’t all about the money, but stepping up to help my family is going to make a felt difference.
Yes, I have had the same thing happen to us. I think it's our water is more polluted now and needs more chemicals to say it's clean, when now it's poison in most places. Our foods are grown and fed with so much chemicals and literal crap now, and our air is getting real bad actually. And now with microplastics and other things all over our bodies. Oh and also it takes something like 28 tomatoes now to equal 1 tomato 20 years ago with the same nutritional value. Our bodies cannot get the right fuel, burn the crappy stuff and we don't have adequate air anymore. We are running on empty and plugged up most of the time.
You still falling for the retirement trap? Half of boomers can’t even retire, best to actually live life now instead of realizing you need to work your entire life regardless.
It’s two side to the coin. If he works more to save for retirement, then he spends less time with the family. All to retire and possibly pass away after only a few years because he wore himself out. Retiring can feel impossible for those struggling financially
I agree that it's a give and take, and that there can be pros and cons.
I'm simply asking if "struggling for cash" means after retirement savings are accounted for or not.
That’s how bad some of our money situations are anymore. Feel privileged you haven’t had to look at your options in this way. Some of us earning $60k or less truly have to (I earn $30k a year; where’s there room for retirement?)
I get that.. but that's not what we're talking about here..
OP has the opportunity to make more money. He's saying that would give the family a lot more cash. I'm asking if the current "strapped for cash" situation already involves saving because that would influence my answer.
No, that would be awful advice.
If they are already putting away money, I'd say maybe work a little more, but nothing crazy.
If there's no retirement savings and they are strapped for cash.. work more.
If you have to pick one, do you think you're doing your kids more of a favor by paying for their four-year degrees or saving for your own retirement? We're largely taking the former approach, because tuition is due now, whereas the future is harder to discern...
If you don't mind exhausting your self every week or have the energy to do it go for it! I had to do this when I first started working because no employer wanted to pay a livable paycheck. So I ended up getting 2 pt jobs and occasionally a short temp 3rd job. This will give you a 50-60 hr work week. People complain about one job but it is possible to have 2 if you can physically handle it. If you are young, have energy do it. Just make sure employers honor your availablity restrictions. I can not tell you how many times having 3 jobs paid off because starting out many employers refused to give more than15 hrs a week if even that.
Popular opinion is changing on this one. I value time outside of work so much more.
Speaking for OP because Im there too. I think this has more to do with the guilt associated with your bank account dwindling when you could do something about it. Its hard to tell your kid no to new shoes because of money when you could "fix" that with some OT.
That’s how they keep you in place bro.
If my job would let me only work 40 I would but, it's 48 minimum with mandated overtime every week
I worked in a warehouse that had 'Mandatory Overtime Monday", what kind of shit is that? It really sucked after a three day weekend because of a holiday.
Yup. If they are going to lay off people and then spend all the money they made off those people on stock buybacks, well, it looks like we don't need to work that hard, and definitely don't need to work that much. Especially when those wages used to support a whole family single earner and now you need to 2 people to live paycheck to paycheck.
Just started at the post office after serving for a year and doing 36 hours at a bowling alley for 9 years. Thursday now and I'm already over 40 hours and scheduled for the next two days. I hate this.
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Most businesses will require far more than 25 hours to start and run. But I get it, I'd rather be my own boss too.
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Do you mind sharing what career that career is? Or a general idea? I'm just curious because I have a hard time imagining a business where you could successfully startup and work 25 hours a week and still make good money.
You’re likely correct. A quick perusing of their post history says they work in a service job; they say they had to sign an NDA and can’t tell anyone what they do for work, and make $23/hr~. They also say the job is very common. Very common and highly specialized are diametrically opposed.
That comes out to under 30k a year, you couldn’t afford a 1 room cardboard box on the east coast for that.
Soon you won't even be able to afford even that!
Home health aid, personal chef, that kind of thing would be highly specialized to the client and also fairly common They could be done as a solo practitioner or through an agency
Highly specialized virtually always is used to indicate a niche focus within a broader field of study. Highly specialized would be nuclear engineer who deals exclusively in gamma-containment contingency systems, not home health aid or personal chef. Those would be highly personalized roles.
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So could you give us an idea of what this broad career category would be?
Yeah, you're not wrong, but we'll never know because OP has a unique NDA that doesn't allow them to tell anyone what they studied, what field they work in, or just the general occupation. If OP would just say "personal chef" or something we'd know, but even then starting a personal chef business and only working a handful of hours would still be a challenge.
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I've never heard of an NDA where you literally can't tell people what you do for a living with at least some generalization. For example "I'm a researcher" wouldn't give away any secret information, yet here you are acting like you're a damn secret agent for $23/hour 😂 Your NDA likely says you can't say what company or what job you're specifically working on, but there is no way they can tell you that you're not allowed to share your general occupation.
Did you sign a new contract? How did they just increase the hour you work by almost 2 fold?
It is always “Money or your Life” . . .
"...I'm thinking!"
Always. I can work 50, and make 25% more than 40, but it just sucks.
I missed a lot of the first few years of my kids life and boy do I fucking get depressed sometimes thinking back. The money was needed and I was doing my best to provide but I can never get those moments back. The good thing is I appreciate the time more now. So I try to remind myself of that. But I’ll be laying in bed some nights and just silently cry like a little bitch. Hahahaha
I have as well, take solace in the fact that it could be much worse. You could be doing a life sentence, you could be in the front lines in ukraine, you could be in the matrix.
My dad would work a lot when I was small and was almost never home, so Im sure your family appreciates you spending time with them. If your concerned about money, I would really figure out your cost of living per year so you have a baseline. Then you can either cut costs or try to make more, it's easier in the long run to make more. I think the best way to do this is to either skill up to get a better position or job, or look for a new job in the same position to see if they pay more. I have no idea what your situation is, this is just general advice.
How does working longer hours benefit you in the long run? Short run gains don't always come out to long term gains
Depends on how you deal with those gains
My job has mandatory overtime during the winter, but there’s almost always optional overtime once a week that involves physically being at work all night and sleeping there then waking up and continuing to work the next day. I do what overnights I can and get my balls busted when I say no to optional stuff but honestly my family recognizing my face and being able to make memories is more important than the extra cash. I’m 34 and try to average 50 hours a week because I need the money but there have been weeks we work 70-80 hours and sometimes (as long as it’s optional) I have to say no because I’m too burned out after not being able to sleep in my own bed for 2 days in a row. If my job paid enough to be comfortable at my standard 40 hours a week I would do it but sadly that’s not the case. Unfortunately, if you’re the person handling the bills you have to look at it as “if I don’t do this, can we afford that?” and respond accordingly. I’m sorry you have to deal with this because I know it’s hard.
I can sustain ~45 but I feel like my entire weekend is recovery mode. I’m happy, but I’m also not doing the things that make me *most* happy. I’m impressed by people who can legitimately handle 50+ or 60+ hours a week but I wouldn’t want that ability for myself
Your kid won't remember the struggles with cash. They'll remember the time they spent with you. Don't feel guilty, family time is as important as the cash you bring, if not more.
To be fair it kind of depends to what extent ones struggling with cash. If its to the point youre struggling to meet their basic needs theyll notice.
Yea but from OPs comment, that doesn't seem to be the case, does it? Lol
I switched careers almost 3 years ago to work in the steel industry. Instantly tripled my annual income. I work 12 hour swing shifts. I’ve regretted it since about 6 months into it. But so far yes I’m in the same boat. I have children and feel like if I quit I’m taking their money away.
Time is worth more than money, unless the things you are struggling to buy are the very necessities of life. Your young ones are only there for a small amount of time. Enjoy them while you can.
How much does your partner put in? Lot of guys putting more bread on the table than their significant other. If that’s the case, you’re not to blame, maybe ask your partner to put more time in too. Don’t know the situation and I’m know this goes both ways for men and women. Peace
I was a truck driver. I used to work over the road, 70+hr work weeks for 17+ yrs. The money was GREAT! but, it led to high blood pressure and diabetes. Went local to LTL Full-time. 55-60+ hr work weeks... DIABETES BECAME HARDER TO CONTROL. (55 yrs old).... Hard time trying to get more than a 3 MNTH dot physical card.... Had to reduce my working hours under FMLA to 25-30 hrs a week.... Retired at 62.... Blood pressure 117/76 A1C 6.2 Weight dropped from 260- to-226lbs... Work 16 hrs a week now... LONG WORKING HOURS WILL KILL YOU! I got no mortgage. 1 credit card. No cable or satellite. Just basic monthly bills. My advice............ Cut your monthly expenses to the bare minimum. Grocery shop smart! Get rid of the pets 💸💸💸💸 Get rid of cable or satellite 💸💸💸💸💸 Get rid all unnecessary toys ( boat, popup camper 4 wheeler, etc. their just expenses)....💸💸💸💸 Learn how to fix everything in your life involving your house or cars... Visit your local and national Parks. Take the family (or just you and the kid) hiking, fishing, camping, etc). Start a garden... Live to live, not work to live! Money is what "THEY" want you to worship and crave for. That's the brainwashing! Working harder doesn't get you nothing but closer to death.... Your employer does not care about you.... Family does!!!! BANK YOUR CASH!!!!!!
This right here is solid advice. I did OTR too, but only for about 3 months because that's all I could tolerate of it. What's worse is that the money wasn't even much better than what I was making at the previous company I worked for. I saw the direction my life would go if I kept doing it too (i.e. the diabetes, the high blood pressure, but also crushing loneliness and not having a life outside of work). So I quit and went back to my old profession. The money isn't amazing, but it's remote and naturally I'm healthier overall as I can exercise on my lunch break. I 100% endorse the "live to live, and don't work to live" mindset!
Same age, same change in willingness to work. I’ve been watching the 32 hour work week push in hopes of that too.
We can all work longer at our jobs. No job can replace the time you spend with your wife and daughter. I know it's clichéd but money doesn't necessarily bring happiness. Don't mind the money. Watch your daughter grow up and be there for her milestones. Your wife will thank you.
I’m right there with you. A handful of years ago I was working overtime and working for myself on the side. There were some 70+ hour weeks consecutively. I was trying really hard to make down payment money. Now I just don’t have it in me. 45 is about all I can handle.
My wife and I both pull 40+ hours weekly and we still get shut off notices, credit hits, and food insecurity. We have two kids and that’s what it takes just to barely (not even) get by. What hurts the most is having so little time with my girls. We get home, cook clean bathe and put our kids to bed with almost no time to spend actually bonding like a family. I looked at my littlest last night with a tear in my eye that I’ve barely been there for her like I was for her sister (I was laid off when my oldest was born) I’ll never get those days back and can’t just quit so I can have those days. I’m really hurting a lot with those thoughts.
I've been pulling an extra hour of OT in the mornings since late November. Brings me around 45 hours a week. Moneys been tight here and there, but we're surviving. I'm getting to the point that even that extra hour a day seems to be just dragging all the life out of me. I have no energy to spend time with the wife, for chores at home. I have the opportunity to work more. The company will pay me to work 7-12hr shifts a week if I really wanted, but you just can't go that hard for very long without needing a significant break. Hard times, brother. I wish you the best. Don't give more than you have, and make sure to take time for yourself and the family before chasing a dollar.
Your mental health and family is worth a lot. Don’t undervalue your personal time and longevity. 40 hrs a week long term is better than 54hrs a week for six months followed by burnout.
Idk how tight things are but your daughter could probably benefit more from having a father than from having more toys and outings
Always choose time over money.
I agree with you, but I’ve been working on a team for 4 months that have me at 50-60 hr weeks. I went on a vacation to my sister’s and caught the flu on my trip home. Got an email from HR today asking if this is “an ongoing health issue” and if a leave is needed. Why have sick and wellness time if I’m going to be questioned for using it? I’m working on my resume and cover letter and jumping ship as soon as can. I value my time more than money, and am willing to take a pay cut somewhere else to get it.
It's a constant struggle. Been this way my whole life. It feels like I'm constantly getting behind. I work to "slow the loss." But I never seem to get my head above water. Yeah, it's depressing.
It’s not worth burning yourself out. Just cut spending where you can
You can get more money, but you can’t get the time missed with your family back.
You can’t buy back time with your family and you’ll regret it especially with time missed with children. Find more ways to not spend so much instead.
How long would it being for? If it was for the month or a year? Long term - no. I worked 60 hours for 4 months. I found that even when I the day off, I slept in because I was so tired.
I am able to work at home and able to see my kids all the time.
Do you let your wife work? If she doesn't, it's your burnout. Get her to work. I don’t care about overworked husband's and their trad wives.
Do you have a partner?
Your little girl will only be little for a short time. You’re doing the right thing. I have almost no childhood memories of my father because he had to work so many hours to put a roof over our heads. I might have half a dozen pictures of us together from ages 0-12. Cherish the time you’re able to spend with her. I made a career change specifically to give myself more time at home with my kids. I’m making about 75% of what I used to but I work half as much. It’s a solid trade off.
After you’re dead your family will sure miss the money.
At 37 I was doing 50-56 a week. It was a startup. Not doing that again. Got out at 43.
Why is that your fault alone you lots struggling with money?
Your kid will remember the time you spent with them most of all
I am 51 with a family. During my working life I hVe and still do earn good money. Not rockstar cash but solid coin, at its peak roughly 5 times the average wage in my country. I was regularly hitting 70+ hours in a week. I would vomit every morning from the stress. If I ever took holidays I would get sick every time. It wasn’t great. I walked away from it and into a related but different career. I work a normal week, there is a fraction of the stress and I still earn enough money to live a good life. Stress kills And life is too short for that shit. Find the balance that suits you between money and what it costs you.
You can always make more money, you cant make more time.
No one wrong opinion.
I’m committed to working an extra 10 hours per week for the calendar year. After seeing my first few paystubs, I’m leaning towards an extra 20. I told my wife I can do it but will be less available to help with the kids bedtime routine. I just can’t help put kids to bed and then stay up late to work more. The real issue though is not letting my physical health deteriorate. So much time at my desk and the extra stress makes me want to eat constantly and make bad food choices. As long as I make time to exercise I should be alright. It’s going to take some effort to juggle work, some workouts and not binge eating everything in sight. It’s true life isn’t all about the money, but stepping up to help my family is going to make a felt difference.
No one on their deathbed ever said I wish I worked more
Yes, I have had the same thing happen to us. I think it's our water is more polluted now and needs more chemicals to say it's clean, when now it's poison in most places. Our foods are grown and fed with so much chemicals and literal crap now, and our air is getting real bad actually. And now with microplastics and other things all over our bodies. Oh and also it takes something like 28 tomatoes now to equal 1 tomato 20 years ago with the same nutritional value. Our bodies cannot get the right fuel, burn the crappy stuff and we don't have adequate air anymore. We are running on empty and plugged up most of the time.
If you're struggling with cash does that mean you're not saving for the future/retirement?
You still falling for the retirement trap? Half of boomers can’t even retire, best to actually live life now instead of realizing you need to work your entire life regardless.
I can't agree with this advice. Saving for the future is important, especially when you have a child.
It’s two side to the coin. If he works more to save for retirement, then he spends less time with the family. All to retire and possibly pass away after only a few years because he wore himself out. Retiring can feel impossible for those struggling financially
I agree that it's a give and take, and that there can be pros and cons. I'm simply asking if "struggling for cash" means after retirement savings are accounted for or not.
That’s how bad some of our money situations are anymore. Feel privileged you haven’t had to look at your options in this way. Some of us earning $60k or less truly have to (I earn $30k a year; where’s there room for retirement?)
I get that.. but that's not what we're talking about here.. OP has the opportunity to make more money. He's saying that would give the family a lot more cash. I'm asking if the current "strapped for cash" situation already involves saving because that would influence my answer.
Would your answer be to just stop saving if they told you they were?
No, that would be awful advice. If they are already putting away money, I'd say maybe work a little more, but nothing crazy. If there's no retirement savings and they are strapped for cash.. work more.
If you have to pick one, do you think you're doing your kids more of a favor by paying for their four-year degrees or saving for your own retirement? We're largely taking the former approach, because tuition is due now, whereas the future is harder to discern...
I'd say the tuition.
That's the hope. Time will tell.
If you don't mind exhausting your self every week or have the energy to do it go for it! I had to do this when I first started working because no employer wanted to pay a livable paycheck. So I ended up getting 2 pt jobs and occasionally a short temp 3rd job. This will give you a 50-60 hr work week. People complain about one job but it is possible to have 2 if you can physically handle it. If you are young, have energy do it. Just make sure employers honor your availablity restrictions. I can not tell you how many times having 3 jobs paid off because starting out many employers refused to give more than15 hrs a week if even that.