Yes.  I left the private sector to work in government making 1/3rd to 1/4 of what I used to make.  Now I have more time with my family,  don't work weekends unless I'm working on a project at home and have fulfillment in what I do knowing I help people, and that my work effects the local community.

If I stay the course, I will likely break 6 figures again in the next 3-5 years and retain all of the current benefits of the new career.  Find something you love to do and the money will come.

Would not turn back.

As a matter of fact, I was recently offered a position doing what I used to do for 3x what I make now and I turned it down because it would keep me from having as much time with my family.

Not in Houston.  40K is $19.23 an hour.  Even new grads that got screwed don't make that little here.

I took the jump from the corporate world (health care admin) to self employment commission only (real estate).  It was a good but risky move.  I am happier than I ever have been, work a bit more some times and less others. I feel like I got part of my life back, more family and friends time, flexability.  Financially to riskier, but we haven't raised our level of living.  Self employment is easier when one person has a good job with health care and retirement.  Good insurance is very expensive and more so with Obamacare.

Make sure you do the research and make the move to freedom!

Hah! I'll see if I can find a copy of the directory that they printed...

I was an automobile mechanic (Oldsmobile) back in the 70s.

Went back to school and became a radio DJ (did well, #1 afternoon for many years).

Went back to school, got a Ph.D. in chemistry and teach college.



So, yeah, I have had a couple of different lives so far.



Do what you love doing, unless you are doing the wrong thing, the money will be enough.

Industrial explosives for 14 years. Made partner and was VP - Operations making $125K plus another $50K in bonuses and perks. High stress, unhealthy lifestyle, though. Traveling constant; not eating or sleeping regularly.
Had a stress induced "cardiac event" at age 38.
Within 2 years, I walked away from all of it. I now work close to home. I get to see my kids everyday. Only making $60k. Financially struggling and everything I worked for (retirement / savings) is gone.
Started over at 40 years old.



Still not sure if I made the right decision or not.

I took a $24K cut to go from management to IT work.  I've increased my pay close to where I was after 6 years, but I'm now topped out where my other career had quite a bit more top.  I'm glad I did it and glad I have a wife who supported it.  She's now the higher earner.

My wife works in hospital administration and nurses in this area don't make shit, LPN - 16hr and RN - 22 hr. in fact they are getting to the point where they won't hire LPN's and want the RN's to be 4 yr with no change in pay. The issue she says is the market is so saturated with nurses that they can get applicants easily without paying a lot. Some of the new nurses are even having issues finding employment due to the market saturation.

Yep.....word o caution though OP.  Your body will wear out if you are going into something physical-sooner rather than later usually.

Question is....would the stress of your current job kill you first.

Went from mechanical work (Planes/Trains/Automobiles) to horses.  Pay sucks......but these guys are way too much fun to be around and I've never been happier or healthier (menatally).

Good Luck.

I have more stress now than ever, and since my kids get to see more of me, they see that too. I'm not proud of that, believe me.

I work in a nice environment, but really miss working with people that are extremely motivated, bright and creative, and always pushing to be the best at what they do. One hundred and ten percenters aren't exactly the norm.

Then there's the money. One guy asked me, "What do you miss most about your former career?"

I told him "The commas." I haven't see a comma in my paycheck for a very long time.

I made a change. Got away from the desk.

Slightly lower pay, but absolutely NO stress now. I'm healthier (off type 2 meds), lost 20 lbs, sleep soundly, and get to spend more time at home.

There's more to life than how much money you make.

After my wife passed away, I left my job as an IT project manager and bought a cattle ranch.  Best decision I ever made.

And the cattle are smarter than most of my former co-workers.  The blue heelers and Aussie shepherds are smarter than my old managers, too.

I'm about to go from .mil to retired working in EMS in a tiny town in Kansas.

I will make shit money, even with my retirement. But I will be happy.

I may not be able to afford new gun toys, which will suck, but I'll still be happier than I would be working in a cubicle making great money.

Went from sitting on my far ass driving a truck for twelve years, making 45k a year to working my ass of for 16+ hours a day outside on a frac crew in the oilfield making over 100k a year.  So yes, drastic career change, but no to the pay cut.

I left the best paying job I will ever have to spend more time with family.  The pay was great.  Housing was provided, along with vehicles and full medical.  In exchange, I was on call 24 / 7 / 365 for 25 years, and an average work week was 100 to 110 hours the last 12 years.

I have to admit, the job was exciting and I enjoyed being the best at what I did.  I miss the excitement and stress sometimes, and of course the pay.  Most of all I miss being known as the guy who made the problems go away.

The downside was I never saw my family, work hours were crazy, sleep was grabbed whenever one could.  I was lucky, and never wrecked, even after driving thousands of miles while being too sleepy to be safely on the road.

The worst part was even after giving 18 months notice that I was leaving, my employer was unable to replace me, and he had to sell the business due to his age and inability to do my job.


Now, I am down to 90 hours with no pay.  I opened my own business

I went from working construction to resort/hotel kitchens for about 15 years. It was fun and money was good but hours sucked.  

I left to work in fabrication and industrial maintenance.I remember welding 10" pipe in a crush and run covered dirt lot in Charleston, SC in July sweating so hard I had 3 pair of gloves one set I was wearing, one set I just took off drying and a dry pair on the hood of the truck. My blue work pants would be white with salt to the knees. I was  thinking to myself there are people sitting in an office typing on a computer making as much or more than what I make now. I need one of them jobs.

I took a pretty good pay cut but I managed to fall into an niche job that pays ok but a strict 40 hour week. Zero over time, no bonuses, marginal benefits.  Now I sit at a PC and type in a building that is climate controlled. I have all the home/family time that one could ever want. However, it is mundane, thank-less, and I am managed long-distance by people who have zero idea of what we do. The hardest thing I have to do is arrive at work.

When I left in cooking '96 I was making what I make now but had zero free time, and holidays were just another work day. I miss restaurant so much and dream of going back, but I would have to take a serious pay cut (albeit temporary) and move to a more suburban locale.

After 17 years as a Blue collar working class dog running large sheetfed printing presses I busted out into sales with a small innovative Ink company out of Ohio. Took a $15K yearly hit with the new base pay but with commissions I doubled my old hourly wages in a year and a half. My small company was bought by the worlds #2 largest ink company after 2 years and because they already had a Rep in my territory I was "Laid off". I went back to running presses for a year until my dream job with the worlds #1 largest ink company came through. Again I doubled then tripled my old pressmen's wages within a few years. Worked my ass off for them and then another London based Ink company for the next 13 years until the crash in '08. Then I said fuk it and retired at 55.

I quit a  +$100k job to be a stay at home dad. Sometimes I have trouble reconciling with myself stepping away from the money but I know it is worth it

Im 3 years into a 10 year plan to quit my mouse operator job and become a full time cow operator. I will still have to put up with bullshit but at least it will be easier to deal with.

For those of you that want cushy desk jobs, they are still hard on your body, you rot away from the inside out and kill you mentally. A good job should include physical activity but not much physical labor.  We have machines for all the hard work.

At this point I feel like I'll be dead by age 45.



My physical fitness has suffered too.  It sounds like there's a consensus on the board that everyone who made the switch for happiness reasons has never looked back.  That's good to hear.



I guess my worry is this:  I'd like to at least match my current income at some point in the future.  Maybe take a year and do the work I want to, then build a business.  This time though it'll be my business I build.

When I've interviewed potential successors, they've all said the same thing - "you're crazy for leaving that position, you've got it made, man.  How can you walk away from that?".  

Maybe I am overestimating my ability to some day get back to that income level?  Maybe I'm taking for granted either the pay, or my ability to generate that pay?  Or maybe I have unrealistic expectations of how much time I want to spend with my kid.  Dunno.  

Less pay will suck - really suck - for a lot of things.  I have some really expensive hobbies (travel, diving, flying).  I'll need to give some of that up.  But the way I'm going, what my kid does see of me isn't what I want to be, you know? (stressed out, tired, crabby)

I went from smelling perfume at a marketing company to renting cars to marketing and ecommerce manager for a tennis shop. :P

I got a divorce, had to move, picked up renting cars for an income for a few months than found this new job I like :)

Looking to move close to my girlfriend so who knows what I will pick up :P

I wish I could figure out what I want to do with my life

I hate the job I have now. No real training, crappy boss, pay cuts, and no health insurance.

You gotta work the job.

Don't let the job work you.

Ha!  Same here

if you work 36 hours a week its $21.36 which is about right for a new grad here.

Building engineers for high rises make good money and are always hungry for guys with electrician's licenses.

OP: accounting is one of the most universal jobs there is, you can find a cushy well paying 9-5 with less of a commute if you look, instead of an %80 cut.

Probably, but I'm over it.  I think I'm done with that career field.

Believe it. I used to work an easy 60 hours per week as a nurse doing home health. About 3 years ago, I started having trouble getting 40 hours. Why would the agency pay me $30 an hour to take a case when they have a dozen other nurses making $18 an hour eager to work that same case? I gave up on nursing and 6 months ago started a career as a pipefitter. I went from making 60k per year in a highly mentally stressful career, to making $10 an hour working with my hands in a career I enjoy. In 4-5 years I'll be a journeyman pipefitter making 75k+ per year with excellent medical and pension benefits. So far I feel I made the right choice.

GS Civilian in San Antonio.

ETA:

There is a moderate demand for nurses here due to it being a large military retiree location and a huge medical center. I haven't worked PRN since I returned from Afghanistan in 2010 mainly due to laziness. There are shifts available to work if you are in the right staffing company. I still get emails asking to fill shifts on short notice but I still do not feel like working anymore than the 40hrs that I put in at my current job.

I have a good handle on my finances and the wife is making great money with her business and trust fund, plus I get a decent VA Disability payment now. I am at a point in my life, that I value my time with family rather than the extra $$$. I turned down a promotion to E-8 (Master Sergeant) in the Army Reserves in order to retire last month (October 2014) rather than keep going.

My wife and I did the math, and if Obama-Care haden't fucked everything up I could have retired and paid for our health insurance, but the coverage we currently have would cost us $3,500 monthly! So, now I am working mainly for the healthcare insurance.

This interests me...  I am making $122k but thinking in two years once I am 100% totally debt free I may start looking into this.  Would be a huge lifestyle adjustment for the family though especially the wife who has been able to work at whatever for whatever as long as we have been together.  I would be fine.

My brother fly's out of Singapore as a contract pilot and does very well, have you considered contracting overseas?

This.



Happiness means a lot and I'm sure you can find something else that makes you happy but do you HAVE to take a 80% cut?



 

My drastic career changes weren't really made by me, but by circumstances out of my control...

Most positive change I made was returning to college and finishing my degree.
(BS Physics, BA Mathematics).
I went from what was a 34K per year job as a Restaurant Manager --> being a broke student --> being a Software QA Engineer (had NOTHING
to do with my education though) and ended up making the equivalent of 135K in today's dollars --> to getting laid off and unable to find work making next to nothing
working odd crap jobs and being a substitute teacher...then I made a effort to get a teaching credential and when I was almost finished with my
earning my credential the Navy hired me on as an Engineer now I make 92K. (all dollar figures in today's money)

Far less than what I earned as a SW QA Engineer, but as a Civil Servant I get a degree of Job Stability that I never had in private industry
and if I stick it out, when I do a normal retirement I take my health care with me and still pay the same amount.
Under the closest equivalent Obama Care Plan...I would have to shell out roughly 300K over the rest of my life compared to 50K

As for making a conscious change in your career...my best advice is to go to school (if you haven't) and earn a degree
which is highly marketable and you will get a good Return on your Investment (tuition).

It also depends what life stage you are in, and what your financial goals are...but normally you won't go wrong
with investing in an education and getting a good degree from an acredited public university in a hard subject like
science or engineering.

Another way...is just to study for a Realtors license and sell houses for a living (but this is only good when the housing
market is hot and you live and work in the right geographic area). Being a Real Estate Broker is even better.

In terms of stability but lower pay...a job in Civil Service. Nice thing about this...is job stability and you won't face age
discrimination which happens to most out of work middle aged engineers.

My sister has a BS in Nursing and is an RN in Northern California...she earns about what I did when I was in Software QA.
Nurses get paid more in Northern California than Southern California of course cost of housing is more expensive too.

Eh, I'm still fairly young, but I was in medical school for 2 years, hated it, I mean just could not stand the environment.  I really questioned my ability to pay off my loans and the future of private medicine with the politicization of medicine.  I withdrew and am now pursuing a master's in petroleum geology.  I have a large amount of student loan debt from medicine, but it'd be at least twice as much if I had stuck with it.  The starting salaries as a petroleum geologist are very healthy, but likely not what a beginning doc would make, though the more experienced, 15-20+ years of experience, geologists are clearing salaries comparable to a doc with a lot less stress and now overhead...  I'm not sure if it's a pay cut or not, but I love graduate school and geology about 87,000,000x more than medicine.

Exactly. And I re-invent myself each time as a matter of necessity.

OP, if I could come back to Colorado I'd be happy working for the Forest Service as a fire lookout. Just put me in a tree stand out in the national forest and I'll call in when I see smoke.

I did that for a while. It's a slog. You can either look for new work or do the work you just booked, but not both at the same time.

left my past career of ten years the first of the year with no real plan at the time.  Started working in march for half of my past salary  and have loved every moment of it. i get to spend more time with my wife and kid, but the low stress environment has really made a change for the better in me.