Hi, many thanks for the opportunity to contribute.
I am very much in the earn to give camp.
My approach has been to get myself and my family financially sound before I start to give. This means I will give more in the long run as I am not paying interest on any debt.
I will be giving to the highest impact charity [whatever EA suggests at the time], this helps me free my mind to concentrate on earning as I don’t have to spend time on the decision.
I am fortunate in finally being financially sound as we purchase our first family home and pay off debt other than the mortgage, and our youngest child will be out of nursery soon.
My quandary is whether to ask my current employer about taking a sabbatical year out and complete a MBA. The two main financial benefits will be that I will have a larger career safety net (I have 10+ years of experience as a senior manager) and I am more likely, statistically, to have greater earnings over my career by having the MBA, so I could give more. It also fits with my current responsibilities and will contribute well to my role.
My question is are there any other negatives I am not considering in taking a sabbatical and completing the MBA?
PS, I have considered a EMBA where I would work and study, but at the moment we have a young family and I want to spend as much time with them as possible.
A few things I’d think about re: MBAs from my own observations (friends who’ve done them etc):
How high are your earnings currently relative to market / what MBAs are getting? You’re more experienced than I’d say most of the people I know who got MBAs are—will you be able to find a job that increases your earnings a lot (eg. if you are already in strategy consulting this seems unlikely)
What personal sacrifices will you make in a new higher earning job (ie if you switch to IB or consulting will you be okay with the hours / be able to earn the higher salary for long enough to justify your investment)?
My take on this is an MBA is a ~200k direct investment. Plus you are potentially missing out on opportunities in your current job to progress (ie will you miss out on a promotion opportunity?). I’d say you’d probably want to expect ~350k extra earnings out of the MBA to justify opportunity cost + time cost of money. From your post it sounds like this MBA will help you in role though—so that might be an overestimate.
Additionally if you haven’t read about Financial Independance (FIRE) that might be a good thing for you to look into as it would: 1) help you meet your goal of providing financially for your family sooner 2) potentially increase your ability to give for a fixed amount of income.
Hi, many thanks for the opportunity to contribute.
I am very much in the earn to give camp.
My approach has been to get myself and my family financially sound before I start to give. This means I will give more in the long run as I am not paying interest on any debt.
I will be giving to the highest impact charity [whatever EA suggests at the time], this helps me free my mind to concentrate on earning as I don’t have to spend time on the decision.
I am fortunate in finally being financially sound as we purchase our first family home and pay off debt other than the mortgage, and our youngest child will be out of nursery soon.
My quandary is whether to ask my current employer about taking a sabbatical year out and complete a MBA. The two main financial benefits will be that I will have a larger career safety net (I have 10+ years of experience as a senior manager) and I am more likely, statistically, to have greater earnings over my career by having the MBA, so I could give more. It also fits with my current responsibilities and will contribute well to my role.
My question is are there any other negatives I am not considering in taking a sabbatical and completing the MBA?
PS, I have considered a EMBA where I would work and study, but at the moment we have a young family and I want to spend as much time with them as possible.
Thanks in advance.
Neill.
A few things I’d think about re: MBAs from my own observations (friends who’ve done them etc):
How high are your earnings currently relative to market / what MBAs are getting? You’re more experienced than I’d say most of the people I know who got MBAs are—will you be able to find a job that increases your earnings a lot (eg. if you are already in strategy consulting this seems unlikely)
What personal sacrifices will you make in a new higher earning job (ie if you switch to IB or consulting will you be okay with the hours / be able to earn the higher salary for long enough to justify your investment)?
My take on this is an MBA is a ~200k direct investment. Plus you are potentially missing out on opportunities in your current job to progress (ie will you miss out on a promotion opportunity?). I’d say you’d probably want to expect ~350k extra earnings out of the MBA to justify opportunity cost + time cost of money. From your post it sounds like this MBA will help you in role though—so that might be an overestimate.
Additionally if you haven’t read about Financial Independance (FIRE) that might be a good thing for you to look into as it would: 1) help you meet your goal of providing financially for your family sooner 2) potentially increase your ability to give for a fixed amount of income.