How much money do you need to save to quit your job?
That question was posed to me recently and I explained that there are multiple answers to this question.
The most important answer is: do you have another job lined up when you walk out the door?
If not, then the first thing you have to do is get a true picture of what your monthly expenses are. That means you need a budget.
I recommend six months of living expense money in the bank to minimize the stress of not having a regular paycheck and give you the time it may take to find a new job.
Before you make the jump to another job I suggest that you take a real hard look at where you are today and make sure this makes sense.
The truth is that moving from one job to another may not be all it is cracked up to be. In other words, the grass may look greener elsewhere but it could be a false impression.
One of my friends changed employers so he could earn more money but was very unhappy with the culture of his new employer. It was every man/woman for him/her self and that was the opposite philosophy of the company he had left.
Being miserable at work quickly showed up in his home life and the extra money turned out to be not as important as he had thought. After a short time at the new company, he approached the president of his former company and was fortunate to be able to return to his old job and even got a small raise.
The fact is that that many people do not like what they are doing and want to change jobs.
I am all for that, but please do it in a stress-free way. Do your homework on what you want to do and where you would like to work. If possible find someone that works for the company that you are thinking about moving to and try to determine if you would fit in and be happy.
With all that being said, my answer stands as before. If you do not have a new job lined up, create a budget that you can live with and then start saving until you have accumulated at least six months of cash reserves before you make a job move.
Read more posts by Gary Sirak here. Gary is a contributing blogger for JenningsWire.
