Can You Afford To Quit Your High Stress Job?
Perhaps you are one of the many people dissatisfied with a stressful job. But can you afford to quit that high-paying job for less stress? Take these steps to find out.
According to Stress.org, “83% of US workers suffer from work-related stress, with 25% saying their job is the number one stressor in their lives.” 76% say that workplace stress has a negative impact on their personal relationships. Additionally, CNBC reported, “Workers are unhappier now than they were at the height of the pandemic.”
But can you afford to quit your job for a life that brings more joy and less stress but perhaps less income, maybe significantly less income?
Quitting a High-Paying Job for Less Stress
In the 1987 film Baby Boom starring Diane Keaton, a high-powered female executive, because of a series of unexpected circumstances, quits her job, moves to rural Vermont, and starts a home-based business. Okay, that’s fiction.
But what about Tricia Shepherd? She’s a 40-something Indianapolis-based TV news anchor who quit her high-profile job that kept her away from home much of the time to spend more time with her husband and children. She is now running a non-profit organization and working as a freelance writer, which she writes about in her book Know When To Run.
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What Is Your Job-Related Stress Costing You?
Stress is the “secret ingredient” lurking behind many diseases, such as hypertension (high blood pressure), sleep disturbances, and digestive problems, to name just a few. These diseases can shorten your life and interfere with the quality of your life during those shortened years. So, if stress contributes to ill health, and illness is costly, what is the financial cost of your work-related stress?
And then there are the intangibles. Stress can also interfere with your relationships with your spouse, children, friends, workmates, and others. Is it worth being stressed from your job, even a high-paying job?
Will Your Lifestyle and Family Situation Permit You To “Downsize” Your Work Life?
Before you turn in your letter of resignation to Mr. or Ms. Boss, think long and hard about the financial needs of you and your family. The core question is, “How much money does your family need to survive?” Figure in your age and your spouse’s income if you have a spouse in the workforce. Can you afford to stay in your current home if you earn significantly less money?
And what about your children? How many do you have and do they still live at home? Is there a solid plan for financing their college education? How are you saving for your retirement and how many years away from retirement are you and your spouse?
As a frugal family, have you determined your needs versus wants and figured out ways to scale down your monthly/yearly living expenses without sacrificing a reasonable standard of living?
These days, many people stay at stressful jobs to maintain their health insurance. How will you insure yourself and your family without the benefits offered at your workplace?
What Are Some Realistic Alternatives to Your Current Job?
A possibly not-so-obvious solution might be to try to learn some stress management techniques. There are numerous techniques, programs, and perhaps classes in your area related to stress reduction, mindfulness, meditation, yoga, or just more physical exercise in general and other ways to manage your stress better. (See 8 Low-Cost Ways to Reduce Stress.)
Maybe you are just really ready for a change in your current work situation. You’ll need to determine what is really stressing you out. Perhaps you are just working way too many hours and could negotiate with your employer reduced hours or a similar job with your company but with less responsibility. But if your company just seems a bit too fast-paced, perhaps you could do the same kind of work but with an employer where things are a bit more relaxed. Or, if you like the nature of your work, perhaps there is a way that you could either work remotely from home or become self-employed as an independent contractor either for your current employer or another company or for more than one enterprise.
If your children are very young and with a babysitter or daycare, you might want to take a serious look at the cost of child care and see if being a stay-at-home parent might be a financially sound alternative to your high-stress job.
Reviewed January 2024
About the Author
Debra is an occupational therapist, accountant, teacher and freelance writer. Learn more about her at DebraKarplus.blogspot.com.
