Debating a career change….

koldfront kraig wrote:

If I had to do it over again I would get into CNC machining.

Someone who can program and set up these machines can make a nice living.Its amazing what these machines can do.

Most shops are air conditioned and its not physically demanding work.

Years ago I had a couple old timers working for me. Both mid sixties. One was a machinist and the other a sheet metal fabricator. Both highly skilled and experienced. The sheet metal fabricator had 2 back surgeries and both knees replaced. No work related surgeries or injuries for the machinist.

This is a good point to consider. I have a lot of relatives who did hard labor jobs all their life and some of them are in a daily pain by 55 years old.

Also time off isn’t something to scoff at. Money is great and all but time is the one thing we can’t buy.

I personally like using my body and doing labor but my back is a POS and can’t handle it. I work in IT and make a good living with a high ceiling for growth

crappie55369 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>koldfront kraig wrote:</div>
If I had to do it over again I would get into CNC machining.

Someone who can program and set up these machines can make a nice living.Its amazing what these machines can do.

Most shops are air conditioned and its not physically demanding work.

Years ago I had a couple old timers working for me. Both mid sixties. One was a machinist and the other a sheet metal fabricator. Both highly skilled and experienced. The sheet metal fabricator had 2 back surgeries and both knees replaced. No work related surgeries or injuries for the machinist.

This is a good point to consider. I have a lot of relatives who did hard labor jobs all their life and some of them are in a daily pain by 55 years old.

Also time off isn’t something to scoff at. Money is great and all but time is the one thing we can’t buy.

I personally like using my body and doing labor but my back is a POS and can’t handle it. I work in IT and make a good living with a high ceiling for growth

I think alot of you guys picture being a laborer as some nasty hard body breaking job.
This isn’t 1950 any more. Between the new high-tech tools we have and safety rules, especially if you get on with a big company, my kid could do most the jobs. Hell Mortensen makes carrying a 8ft ladder a 2 man Job. I’ve been watching a bolander guy spray a water hose all day on the processor of the back hoe, killing dust at Abbott hospital while we wreck the parking ramp

bzzsaw wrote:

I’ve done pretty well in IT since graduating with a Computer Science degree 37 years ago. If I did it over again, I would have chosen HVAC tech. My cabin buddy just sold his HVAC company over a year ago. He built one of the biggest HVAC companies in the Twin Cities. He had over 500 employees when he sold. He is a year younger than me (58). To say he hit it out of the park is an understatement. All the HVAC guys I know make very good money working their day jobs. They can take as many side jobs as they want. They can make bank on the side jobs (not uncommon to make a couple grand on a weekend). I worked masonry growing up and HVAC work is a cake walk compared to masonry.

Wondering if we know the same guy! I don’t know him well, but does his name start with a K and does he have a cabin up on LOTW? If so, he’s great!

gimruis wrote:

Being single and making that should put you in a decent house, depending on where you live. I bought my first house for about $200k when I was single making less than that about 10 years ago.

It’s amazing what 10 years will do. Median sale price in the twin cities was like $240k back in 2013, I think that’s up to like $340k in 2023. Wages have not kept up with that increase in most fields, unless you’re in like cyber security or data science or something.

Not to mention mortgage interest rates are around 8% now, double what they were 10 years ago.

$200k house in 2012 would have had a ~$950 / month mortgage.
$200k house in 2012 would be ~$1,500 / month mortgage.

And that’s before PMI or anything else(which you’d probably have as a first time borrower making $60k).

That’s if you can even find a house for $200k around here. That mortgage discrepancy jumps to $1,000 different per month on a $340k house.

I feel for you Bluegill. My wife and I were ‘able’ to buy a house about 9 years ago, but it’d be a lot harder now. We got a house for ~$280k with <4% interest, and could probably sell our house for $430k today, it’s silly, doesn’t seem like it should be worth that much if you ask me.

It’s not because we worked harder or were smarter or anything, we just had two incomes and were fortunate to have enough money saved up now vs. then.

Agreed with the time off comment above.

Don’t underestimate having time off, especially as you get older. I wouldn’t give up my 6 weeks of PTO for anything.

I take a week off July 4th and at the end of the year. Have pretty much every Friday off during the summer. Take other random days off as needed during the year.

I know guys that get only 2-3 weeks of vaca per year. I couldn’t imagine…

stout93 wrote:

I know guys that get only 2-3 weeks of vaca per year. I couldn’t imagine…

Can imagine, I’m living it now. This is certainly something to factor in, and will matter at some point in your life.

Justin Donson wrote:

It’s amazing what 10 years will do. Median sale price in the twin cities was like $240k back in 2013, I think that’s up to like $340k in 2023. Wages have not kept up with that increase in most fields, unless you’re in like cyber security or data science or something.

Not to mention mortgage interest rates are around 8% now, double what they were 10 years ago.

$200k house in 2012 would have had a ~$950 / month mortgage.
$200k house in 2012 would be ~$1,500 / month mortgage.

And that’s before PMI or anything else(which you’d probably have as a first time borrower making $60k).

That’s if you can even find a house for $200k around here. That mortgage discrepancy jumps to $1,000 different per month on a $340k house.

Totally. I was just thinking about that after I posted. Higher interest rate, less inventory, etc. not the same real estate market anymore.

Any of the union trades can provide a solid career with a good retirement. But, some are much better than others. Do your homework. Not just on take home pay, but the fringe benefits. I don’t know much about other trades, but the carpenter’s pension has suffered a lot over the last dozen years. Not in what is put into it, but what is paid out at retirement age. Health insurance is also taking a bigger piece of the pie every year it seems. Very good insurance though.
I will echo the paid vacation comments above. Don’t underestimate the value of PTO.

Someone mentioned the physical demands of a construction career and its toll on a body. You are not wrong about this. Last time I was in the plumbers union they where dropping their retirement age I’m guessing for this reason. Believe it was 58 at that time.

My FIL was a Union Carpenter his whole life. Made good money while working and then buying and flipping mainly duplexes etc and did well financially. A friend is a mechanic and does well with side jobs.

Both ended up with shoulder and knee issues, they like all other trades people they earned every dollar they made, it is and can be a good living but it has a price physically from what I can see.

Trades got my full respect,

If it’s numbers you’re chasing than find the real numbers by speaking directly with companies and see exactly what you’ll be getting.

Love the trades, been in it my whole life, love folks are getting back into it but there’s a reality to it much like everything else out there. Everyone talks big #s online, find out for yourself and you’ll see where to go

Deuces wrote:

If it’s numbers you’re chasing than find the real numbers by speaking directly with companies and see exactly what you’ll be getting.

Love the trades, been in it my whole life, love folks are getting back into it but there’s a reality to it much like everything else out there. Everyone talks big #s online, find out for yourself and you’ll see where to go

Just takes a quick call to the union hall to get the numbers.

My advice to anyone that actually hates their job is to do something else. Even if you have to take a pay cut to start. I was in inside sales at a construction oriented electrical distributor in Chicago back in 2002. I hated most of the family that owned the company I worked for and couldn’t take living there any more. Moved up to rural WI with my girlfriend and our savings and started all over. After seven months and a couple crummy jobs, I landed back in inside sales at an OEM and industrial automation focused electrical distributor. Been doing that ever since. It’s a good company to work for and the customer base is much nicer to deal with. Best decision we ever made.

Thanks for all the opinions and suggestions I appreciate it!

If I could do it again I’d go to school for IT , software or programming. Literally almost every company I looked at recently is hiring for those roles with blank salary’s .

I’ll echo the PTO comment though . Why work your life away and stash money if you only have 10-15 days to use it . What’s the point ?

Come join the Laborer’s Union in either Highway Heavy or Building and Trades. If you would like to run equipment look into the 49ers Union.

A lot of companies will hire new guys and pay journeyman scale even if you’re an apprentice.

You could walk into a job paying close to $40/hr with a benefits/pension package on top of that. It’s equivalent to making $62/hr at a non-union job.

If you need a job I’m hiring right now, hit me up

isu22andy wrote:

If I could do it again I’d go to school for IT , software or programming. Literally almost every company I looked at recently is hiring for those roles with blank salarys

A blank salary doesn’t mean what you think it does. It usually means that the company is trying to find the cheapest, minimally qualified person to fill the role.

After 30 years in the industry, I found my niche and am nicely compensated.

However, it has not been easy to get to where I am. Long, stressful hours to meet arbitrary deadlines. Conflicting priorities that keep you from getting things done. And it is a rare day when I get a sense of satisfaction for a job well done.

I am grateful for never having been unemployed during that time but just pointing out that the grass is always greener.