Ever take a Lower paying job to be happier?

[OH58D]

I was in the Army 22 years before I retired. During the last half of my service, I was offered several jobs in the private sector which were quite appealing money wise, but I enjoyed the work I was doing for Uncle Sam.

[Moose-Knuckle]

@Frailer

A more disturbing trend to me is that in most families these days both parents are working.

When our first child was on the way (over 30 years ago) my wife and I decided that having one parent at home at home was more important than two incomes. We had some awfully lean years early on, but we made it work, and for us it was the right decision.

For the record, I’m not judging those who do things differently. I just think it’s sad that so many families seem to need two incomes to make ends meet.

And then there is this.

My wife makes more than me and has the potential to make a lot more in the near future. We have discussed it and in the event she makes that kind of money I will be a stay at home father. Probably get something part time in the evenings just cause. My parents did the same thing and though they had many lean years my sibling and I benefited from it greatly. Children should be reared by their mothers at an early age, not strangers at a pre-school/daycare. The cost of child care makes it to where it works out in the long run for one parent to stop working.

[prdubi]

Yes… I teach at a Catholic school. and it is stress free with no behavior issues.

[sapper36]

I did as well. 30 days before I would have been selected to Master Gunns (E-9), I retired. Dragging my family all over the world and having them sit at home while I was out fighting just got to be where the juice wasn’t the squeeze anymore. My wife and I left the D.C. Area, where she made more than I did, and now live on a “hobby farm” in the woods in the middle of nowhere west Michigan. You can’t buy happiness and even though it’s a leap of faith in many ways, a nice life is better than a rich life. Good Luck!