If you’re in the middle of your career, have moved up many rungs on the so-called corporate ladder, and are just starting to feel the effect of the heavier workload and added stress, you may be thinking about bringing things down a notch. Indeed, signs of burnout may begin to arise after one has pushed themselves to the limit for a rather extended period of time.

Though overexertion may be fine in short bursts (think 60-80 hour weeks during a “crunch time” at your work whereby deadlines must be met), logging in far more than 40 hours a week consistently may just be too much, regardless of the financial rewards to be had.

Sure, extra money, being next in line for a promotion, and stock options are all fantastic things, but if you’re feeling any subtle signs of burnout, perhaps the overwork and workaholism attitude may not be worth it in the grander scheme of things, given it may not be sustainable for lengthy periods.

In this piece, we’ll have a look at a physician on the r/chubbyFire subreddit who faces a pretty common dilemma.

On the one hand, they want to make progress on their retirement goals. But on the other hand, the doctor seems a tad burnt out (being a doctor entails some very long hours) and appears more than open to “scaling back” at the cost of a smaller retirement nest egg so that they can spend more time with their young child who’s just one-year-old.

Key Points About This Article

• A busy physician took to Reddit in search of advice as to whether he should step back to spend more time with family.
• If one’s feeling burnt out, stepping back is a great idea, provided one fully understands and accepts the financial consequences.

Time with family or money? The age-old dilemma many professionals face in their careers.

Indeed, whenever there’s a baby (or toddler) involved, forgoing some cash to spend more quality time can be a fantastic trade-off. That is, assuming that the person won’t experience difficulties re-entering the workforce when it’s time to go back. In any case, your mileage may vary, and money may be more important than time spent with one’s children in their early years.

As they say, children are only young once. And they grow up pretty quickly! As such, I think the doctor is right to think about stepping back, at least for a while, even if it means missing out on a few “prime earnings” years. Of course, there are serious financial risks as a professional in taking such a step back to spend more time with family.

Most notably, the lost income would cause retirement goals to be pushed out further. Further, one may struggle to make the jump back into the workforce at a wage that’s acceptable for them. The doctor did mention that a top worry is their future income “is not guaranteed.”

The bottom line

In short, there are financial risks of stepping back from one’s career too soon. At the same time, however, there are also less quantifiable risks of not doing so. Most notably, missing out on experiences with family and young children is something that one can never get back, no matter how much cash they have. Of course, the trade-off (money for time) will be worthwhile for some but not for others.

That’s why I’d suggest the physician discuss the matter with the rest of the family so that they can discover what they value more. After thinking things through, I’d then book a chat with a wealth planner to gain greater clarity on the full extent of the financial impact of stepping back.

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