Personally - having a job you hate sucks, even if it keeps you materially comfortable and on track with retirement savings. There might be other steps you can take to put you on a new career path before getting a degree.
Have you considered taking classes part time? Why do you think computer science is the way you want to go? Do you have friends, colleagues, acquaintances in CS or other fields you can take to coffee for an informational interview to learn what their jobs are like? Do you hate the job, or doing that job in a H/M/LCOL town? Only you can answer these.
Similarly what are your goals for the next 3, 5 and 10 years? Are you trying to buy a house or something else you need large liquid savings? Are you trying to simply avoid as much debt as possible? Will living with your parents again after being independent for a few years drive you crazy? Again, this is all the personal side of things.
As someone who fantasizes about going back to school and rebooting a different career, I get the temptation. Can you find other places outside of work to bring you happiness? Picking up new hobbies, or friends, or relationships - something that helps define who you are outside of work? Maybe this isn’t about general life satisfaction rather than this specific job? Similarly have you talked with possible mentors/colleagues/supervisors about how to improve? We’re often our harsher critics when thinking about how good or talented we are at our jobs.
Financially - depending on how old you are, getting those years in your twenties and early 30s maxed out is gonna do more for you than maxing them out in your later in life. The market is a bit unsettled and who knows what the next five years look like, but come 2040 and these early years have been compounding for a decade and a half you’ll likely thank yourself for continuing to invest.
30k isn’t a ton of debt to take on, especially when you have non currently. you’ll need to surmise what your additional costs of living are during school - is that just tuition? Fees? Books? Will you need transportation insurance and gas? Can you take 40k in loans to cover any gaps, etc.
You answer to the person in the mirror and you gotta do what you gotta do to make that person happy. Balancing financial goals with broader life satisfaction is probably more important than being miserable with a well funded IRA.
Lastly, Syracuse NY is getting a new Micron megafab with jobs paying 100k+ in a part of NY with low cost of living, good schools, lots of nature, decent mid-size city food/bar scene. If you stick with the semiconductor field, it might be a place worth considering to maximize what you salary:I hate work ratio can get ya.
Anyway, that’s my sermon and those are the questions I’d want to have answers I feel confident about before making a big life decision. Good Luck!
cuse_juice1 t1_jacuwr4 wrote
Reply to Does it make sense to invest in retirement accounts if I anticipate quitting my job and taking on debt to switch careers? by TitansDaughter
Personally - having a job you hate sucks, even if it keeps you materially comfortable and on track with retirement savings. There might be other steps you can take to put you on a new career path before getting a degree.
Have you considered taking classes part time? Why do you think computer science is the way you want to go? Do you have friends, colleagues, acquaintances in CS or other fields you can take to coffee for an informational interview to learn what their jobs are like? Do you hate the job, or doing that job in a H/M/LCOL town? Only you can answer these.
Similarly what are your goals for the next 3, 5 and 10 years? Are you trying to buy a house or something else you need large liquid savings? Are you trying to simply avoid as much debt as possible? Will living with your parents again after being independent for a few years drive you crazy? Again, this is all the personal side of things.
As someone who fantasizes about going back to school and rebooting a different career, I get the temptation. Can you find other places outside of work to bring you happiness? Picking up new hobbies, or friends, or relationships - something that helps define who you are outside of work? Maybe this isn’t about general life satisfaction rather than this specific job? Similarly have you talked with possible mentors/colleagues/supervisors about how to improve? We’re often our harsher critics when thinking about how good or talented we are at our jobs.
Financially - depending on how old you are, getting those years in your twenties and early 30s maxed out is gonna do more for you than maxing them out in your later in life. The market is a bit unsettled and who knows what the next five years look like, but come 2040 and these early years have been compounding for a decade and a half you’ll likely thank yourself for continuing to invest.
30k isn’t a ton of debt to take on, especially when you have non currently. you’ll need to surmise what your additional costs of living are during school - is that just tuition? Fees? Books? Will you need transportation insurance and gas? Can you take 40k in loans to cover any gaps, etc.
You answer to the person in the mirror and you gotta do what you gotta do to make that person happy. Balancing financial goals with broader life satisfaction is probably more important than being miserable with a well funded IRA.
Lastly, Syracuse NY is getting a new Micron megafab with jobs paying 100k+ in a part of NY with low cost of living, good schools, lots of nature, decent mid-size city food/bar scene. If you stick with the semiconductor field, it might be a place worth considering to maximize what you salary:I hate work ratio can get ya.
Anyway, that’s my sermon and those are the questions I’d want to have answers I feel confident about before making a big life decision. Good Luck!