If you left the journalism biz today ....

i'm thinking admin. as well, but they do pay some serious coin in the ultra large cities ... in the shitty parts of town.

 

Let me add a twist to this question:

If you had $100,000 in the bank -- no more, no less -- would it affect whether you'd leave journalism, and if so, how would it affect your next move?

I have a friend who is contemplating this very question. She's been in the biz about 15 years and has done all the right things with her money, namely saved it. But she's burnt out and discouraged by the same things everyone else is, and is looking for a way out that does not entail living off what she's worked hard to build up.

I realize few are in this boat, but it is a real-life situation. I'm curious as to how you would (honestly) move forward and how you'd put that cash cushion to work. She has no intention of living off it.

Thanks.

 

Is the $100K already earning interest?

 

Yes, at 5.3 percent, I believe.

 

Are you tapping our phones? Mrs. Editude is facing similar decisions with a small(er) windfall as a backup. Not sure what's next.

 

I'm in that boat (well ... not with $100K sitting in a rainy-day fund).

I had considered going to get a degree in music education - my new locale does have a good music school - but I was an awful student and what's the first thing school systems are going after? The fine arts.

Being an SID intrigues me, but the desire would be strong to make sure I got paid better than the Division II SIDs I knew that made just about everyone on this board wealthy by comparison. (No blue font, either ... )

I dunno if I could do PR worth spit ... flies in the face of my M.O. to spin bullsh_t for an a_shole, no matter the salary. I know that's a blanket statement to make about PR, but to me the great majority of those type of jobs appear to have so much crap loaded in them. Maybe appearances are deceiving.

One of my parents is trying to twist my arm to consider law school. Still laughing at that one ...

But seriously, I'm on the outside looking in. Serious suggestions are welcome. (Drinking heavily is not one of them).

 

I'm in a similar situation, although my cushion is slightly lower than the $100,000 mark. I was seriously considering how far I could stretch my "rainy-day" fund after the doom-and-gloom meeting about the state of the industry we had at our shop last week.
I love what I do, but I also know we're all in for some drastic changes over the next several years. Determined not to be blindsided by job cuts, or a major change in my job description (what do they call it, reorganization?), I spent the better part of the past three years working toward my master's degree. Now I'm qualified to teach at the college level, which is a pretty sweet gig if you can get it full-time. My heart is still in sports journalism, but it's always good to have a backup plan ... and a nice cushion to fall back on (thank you housing boom)!