Personal Finance (Not Investing) • Need help deciding between a job with a pension and one that pays more

I have the opportunity to switch jobs but I'm not sure which one I should take. Currently, I make around 78k, drive about 15 minutes to work, and will be vested in my pension in a few months. The pension pays out 2% for each year of service (while taking 5.625% of each paycheck) times the average of the highest three years salary. Additionally, it does not receive COLA increases at the moment, but that might change. My current job also offers a 20% match on anything I put into my 457, so to get the full benefit I have to max it out each year. There is also a chance that I could get promoted in a few years, which would increase my salary to between 100k and 110k, but that is just a guess.

The new job would pay in the range of 110k, offers a 100% 3% match on the 457, has no pension and would be a drive of about an hour and 15 minutes. This position would also pay 100% of my family's medical insurance costs, where as currently we pay about 350 a month. This postion would be 35 hours a week instead of 40, but it would also be a completely different field with a much smaller number of opportunites for the future (current job is in accounting, new one would be as a town manager).

I'm leaning towards staying with the pension position, as with that I can retire at 55 and either actually retire or simply take the pension and get another job. I wanted to see what everyone else thought though, as there is a decent sized difference in the pay. Thanks!

I'm leaning towards staying with the pension position, as with that I can retire at 55 and either actually retire or simply take the pension

Statistics: Posted by Sandtrap — Mon Aug 26, 2024 7:29 pm — Replies 26 — Views 692