| 1) money is not everything.
2) I am not sure you have done a proper cost delta analysis You mention the new job is in the Northern part of England, where are you now? Typically lower salary implies lower taxes. Depending on your life style, and where you live 124 in down town london might actually be equal to 60 in North England. How much does your house / apartment cost each month? Is it more expensive to own a car in one verses another. Add into the equation, and this is the hard one, how much is it worth to you to do more meaningful work? How much is job security worth? I expect with your upcoming changes from leaving the EU, one of your possible jobs might be more at risk. How many hours a week will you work at each? Do you have friends in one location you would miss? Do you fly somewhere for Christmas, which might cost more or less in the other town? Will the lower salary prevent you from retiring early? Myself I love programming so I will do it forever. So a slightly later retirement has no meaning to me. All in all there are a lot of quantifiable numbers you need to consider. There are the intangibles, but you need to list those out. Try and put a value on them, for comparison sake. You will have risks to consider - job security. Opportunity options - vesting in a startup. Although I think, mathematically your odds are 1 out of 10. Good luck, and count your blessing you can make a choice. |
House/Apartment - I currently stay in Yorkshire so housing is cheap. As a contractor my Ltd Co can pay my rent as a valid business expense. Switching to permanent employment would mean that I have to pay this out of my personal income, so in that sense the costs would go up and not insignificantly so.
The job security is a strange one - I contract for a large consultancy with work for a large Government department. The work won't dry up anytime soon and when it does, my specific skill set would allow me to find more work (either abroad or in London). People I work alongside are being offered year long renewals - practically unheard of as far as I am aware.
The "startup" is a Government funded organisation so although a permanent position, there is always the chance the funding will dry up.
The hours should in theory be a similar 37-40 hours per week. Whilst sometimes in my current position I will work a 12 hour day to help with deployments or live issues, it is rare. The client is very flexible with regards to office hours. I imagine the new role would be similar, however there is a risk that it ends up being worse with longer and less flexible hours. The job posting specifically lists working from home as a perk so I suspect it's fairly progressive.
Friends is a big one - Yes I have made friends with people on the current job and I will miss them sorely, however I also have friends in Manchester which is within commuting distance of the next job. I would be looking to cultivate old friendships at the expense of newer ones. The Christmas journey home would be an hour less on the motorway so not a huge factor although would mean frequent visits are easier.
The million pound question is the retirement part. Whilst I don't think I will be ready to completely stop working in ~10 years, having the option to sounds very appealing. I would like to be free to spend time with my (imaginary) family and have the creative energy to work on other projects without worrying about financial viability.
Ultimately the tradeoff probably comes down to on the one hand having a job I can be proud of (I am working on a cure for X) that will also be incredibly stimulating intellectually, versus the surety of the job I have for now, with the contractor income that allows me to become financially independent a lot sooner.