Hi all you fellow WCI members. Hoping to get your thoughts and opinions and maybe an idea of what you would do in my situation.
I'm at a crossroads early on in my career in family medicine. 3 years out of residency with my first contract ending soon.
Living in a small town, I'm considering two options:
1) Remain here and take a rural job with a 35 minute commute each direction, for a 2 year guarantee salary of $247,000 and probable signing bonus of $75,000-$100,000. Will likely require me to work at this location for 4-5 years minimum.
2) Move to a metropolitan city: 2 year guarantee of $230,000 but sign on bonus likely only $15,000 or so.
My wife and I are strongly considering Option #2 because of how unhappy we are living in a small town. We're urban city folk at our core. We're bored, have few friends in the area, and don't fit in culturally or socially in this town. I've seen a bit too much racism and intolerance here, being a visible minority.
However the financial incentives of going rural are huge:
- We've paid off about $150k in student loans over the past 3 years and have about $100k remaining. Taking the rural job would basically eliminate our remaining student loan debt immediately and really fast track us towards a pathway of FI/RE.
What's your price on happiness? Would you suck it up for another few years to eliminate a large portion of your debt almost immediately?
I'm at a crossroads early on in my career in family medicine. 3 years out of residency with my first contract ending soon.
Living in a small town, I'm considering two options:
1) Remain here and take a rural job with a 35 minute commute each direction, for a 2 year guarantee salary of $247,000 and probable signing bonus of $75,000-$100,000. Will likely require me to work at this location for 4-5 years minimum.
2) Move to a metropolitan city: 2 year guarantee of $230,000 but sign on bonus likely only $15,000 or so.
My wife and I are strongly considering Option #2 because of how unhappy we are living in a small town. We're urban city folk at our core. We're bored, have few friends in the area, and don't fit in culturally or socially in this town. I've seen a bit too much racism and intolerance here, being a visible minority.
However the financial incentives of going rural are huge:
- We've paid off about $150k in student loans over the past 3 years and have about $100k remaining. Taking the rural job would basically eliminate our remaining student loan debt immediately and really fast track us towards a pathway of FI/RE.
What's your price on happiness? Would you suck it up for another few years to eliminate a large portion of your debt almost immediately?
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