Ever since I began telling people that I’m leaving my career to become a flight attendant, people have been asking me, “Do flight attendants get paid well?”
The answer?
Nope…though it gets better.
The aviation world is incredibly seniority-based. If you put in a time with a company, the benefits and pay get better, but starting out, it’s a pretty terrible deal.
For me, it will be a $100,000 pay cut.
Telling people that freaks them out! (And as someone who is deeply passionate about finances, I actually understand why they get worried for me when I tell them about my career change. I get freaked out whenever anyone talks about car payments!)
At some point, I’ll write about why I think the pay cut will be worth it, but today I’ll write about how it is financially viable for me to take such a dramatic pay cut.
Financial Independence. In 2014 I discovered something called “financial independence.” Essentially financial independence is when someone’s investments and savings are high enough that they no longer have to work because they make enough money passively that work is no longer a necessity. On that fateful day back in 2014, I discovered this article by Mr Money Mustache that explained truly how simple the math is behind financial independence. I couldn’t believe it. It sounded so easy. I also couldn’t believe that anyone would hate their job so much that they’d want to live a life of deprivation to get out of their job. (Oh how the times have changed…) But reading this article got me intrigued. I decided that Saign and I could casually work towards financial independence. We wouldn’t sacrifice greatly; We’d just save as much as we could and try not to waste money.
And…so we did. Now, 8 years later, since we took the casual approach, we are NOT financially independent. But we ARE what is sometimes called “Coast FI” (e.g. “Coast financial independence”). This means that we have saved enough in our retirement accounts that we don’t really need to put anymore money into retirement savings if we want to retire at a traditional retirement age. The money we’ve already saved is invested so it will sit in our 401ks, IRAs, and HSAs and grow until we’re ready to use it. In other words: Because of the saving we’ve already done, we just have to worry about our here-and-now expenses; we don’t have to worry about saving for the future.
Financial Independence is the main reason that I am able to take a $100,000 pay cut. But there are a few other factors to consider:
Marriage. Saign makes enough money to cover our most of our expenses, so I really don’t have to make all that much money. Airlines tend to hire one of two types of people: Young people who can live with their parents and old people who have a spouse to support them. Yep, that’s how bad the pay is! But, I’m lucky to have the opportunity to allow my husband to become the primary bread-winner.
Minimal Debt. At some point, I’ll write my student loan story here; it certainly is a story worth telling! But for now, I’ll focus on the here-and-now: Right now, our only debt is our mortgage. (Remember how I told you that car payments give me anxiety? I wasn’t lying.) Being free of debt gives us the freedom to take a chance on a lower paying job.
Flexibility. I can take this financial risk because I can always change jobs if I need to. I can still go back to my old career if I want to in the future. If we figure out that being a flight attendant is not working out for our family, I still have the training and education needed to go right back to a 6 figure job if I ever desire to in the future.
So you see, THIS is why I’m a total personal finance nerd. Being thoughtful about finances can bring freedom! I’m so grateful for the freedom I have right now!
Adventure Fam 