Five Times You Shouldn’t Take that Higher Paying Job

Perhaps you love your current job; perhaps you’d rather poke your eyes out with a dull knife than go into the office every morning. People love their jobs, they hate their jobs and they’re completely ambivalent to their jobs; but everyone wants a higher paying job. Even the happiest people on earth want a job that pays more money; it’s just human nature. We can have more stuff, more comfort, less stress. It’s all about the Benjamins. Money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy a lot of other really awesome material items. Money talks. At the end of the day, money is power.

Money, money, money.

We love it, but it consumes us. It might sound shallow and insincere coming from someone who loves money and all that it affords me, but money is not the end all and be all of the world. Trust me when I say that some of the unhappiest people I know are also some of the wealthiest. You cannot buy happiness; just temporary pleasures. Those are nice, but if you are already unhappy with your life, more money is not going to make you happier unless the only thing you have to be unhappy about is your lack of money. If you are happier everywhere else in life, more money will be nice. However, more money is not a good reason to take on a new job.

Money is nice. It makes you feel comfortable. It gives you less to worry about. It pays for nicer things for your family, such as the new house you need to fit your newly large family after you welcome surprise twins. It can give you so much and provide you with so much, but it’s not always the only factor to consider when a new job is offered to you. Sometimes more money means less of something else, and that’s not always a compromise you should offer.

You’ve been offered a new job; the pay raise is significant. It’s a no-brainer, right? Take the job! It’s more money! If you’re jobless and/or struggling to make ends meet, then yes; the job is worth it since you have nothing else at the moment. However, if you already have a job, you’re financially comfortable and ale to make ends meet, that higher paying job might not be worth it.

It might sound ridiculous, but more money is not always worth it. Here are five times when taking the higher paying job is not worth it in any manner.

You’ll be Spending Less Time with Family

All right, we believe in family around here. Family always comes first, as they should. However, we also understand that some jobs require a little bit of time away from the house, a little additional time in the office and even some travel; and that’s all right. Sometimes it’s fun to get out of the house and away to learn more about the business, to meet new people, to network and to enhance your career. However, no amount of money is worth it if you are away from your family 50 weeks of the year for the rest of your life.

If you’re a single man or woman, go for it. However, if you have kids, it’s not a good idea. It’s not good for your marriage or your kids. Just think of all the missed holidays, birthdays, games, practices, recitals and important events. Is another $20,000 per year worth only seeing your kids once a week for the rest of their lives? No, it is not.

The Job is not a Stable One

Commitment is a wonderful thing when you’re able to make it, but can your new company make it to you? Perhaps the position is one that is temporary. Would an additional $50,000 this year be worth not having a job at the beginning of the year at all? Can you live knowing that your job is not one with any stability, that you can be replaced or fired or demoted at any time? Are you able to commit to something like that just for more money right now, or would it make more sense to make less money but make it for a very long time with a guarantee?

The Commute is Insane

I work from home, so the commute is all of 40 feet to my home office from my master bedroom. I don’t hate my commute; I love it. My husband, on the other hand, drives 45 minutes one way to work and another 45 minutes home. He hates it; and it always takes him longer with traffic. Sadly, he’s been with his company for 15 years and currently cannot find anything that offers him more stability, money or a better commute anywhere near us. He’d have more options and make a lot more money if he went even further away from home to search companies, but we don’t want to move. We don’t want to leave our family – we have four kids. We also don’t want him driving 3 hours roundtrip. He’s already gone in the morning before our kids wake up and he gets home an hour before the twins go to bed. He sees them for five hours during the work week, and he hates it. He hates it to an extent I cannot even describe to you.

If you have to commute something fierce for a new job simply because it offers more money, ask yourself if the time spent in the car is worth it for your stress level, the stress level of your spouse and your family life. Chances are good that it is not.

Your Values and Ethics do not Meet in the Middle

If there is one thing that no one should ever do, it’s compromise their values or their ethical nature for a job. I’ll use myself as an example. My paternal grandfather was a lifelong smoker who died of lung cancer almost 30 years ago when he was in his 70s. My grandmother was in her 70s, too, and she has been all alone ever since – living out his dream without him. I hate smoking; hate, hate, hate smoking. It took my grandfather from me, all because he chose to do something that he knew would kill him. I hate smoking – and I think that the people who smoke are idiots (and I will not apologize for that – you’re killing yourself and harming your kids, and that makes you an idiot). I don’t care if the president of the biggest cigarette company in the world offered me $3 million per year to write for them, telling the world that smoking is awesome and branding their social media pages on their behalf; I wouldn’t do it.

My morals, my integrity and my values would not allow me to accept money for something that promotes something I so passionately hate. Just like I wouldn’t have worked for Ashley Madison, a strip club or a drug dealer, I’m not working for someone who wants me to compromise my integrity for them; more money isn’t worth it to hate what I do and myself for doing it.

The Job is not Right for You

Not all jobs are right for all people. Let’s say that you are very happy with your job and you are doing well. You want to make more money because it would mean amazing things for your family, but you are happy where you are. You are happy because you have time with your family, you have plenty of vacation days, flexibility, you love what you do and you love the people you work for and with. Now you’re offered a job somewhere else that pays twice as much, but offers no flexibility, a quarter of the vacation time, and coworkers you don’t care much for. Is it worth it? Probably not; giving up happiness and your sense of enjoyment in work is never worth it for more money. Why give up happiness for more money?

Sometimes a new job is just not right for you, even when the company is offering you more money. Do you really want to give up the things that work so well for you now, your values and your integrity for a new job? We certainly are not saying you should not take the new job into consideration, but we are telling you that it’s all right to say no thank you to more money in favor of something that’s far better than money; peace of mind, happiness and enjoyment.

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