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[quote=Anonymous]Hi OP - A few years ago, I considered a drastic career change which would have led to a large drop in income. One thing that helped me was to pretend to live off the lower salary for a year or two. That thought exercise helped in two ways - first, we bumped up our savings significantly and had a larger buffer for whenever I just couldn't take the miserable job any longer; second, I proved to myself that my family could make it on the lower salary w/o eating into savings.

Since your husband is okay with staying in Big Law for another year or so, you could adjust your budget to live off the new salary and see how it goes for you. Other than the mortgage and kid activities, your expenses don't sound too crazy high. And it's not like Fed lawyer salaries are that low in the grand scheme of things. If you track your expenses and set a budget, I bet you could make it further than you think. And at the very least, you'll have an answer about how much you'd need to eat into your savings.

I might also gently push back on the idea that he is staying in Big Law for your family...financial security is great! But honestly, you already kinda have that, w/ lots of money in brokerage + 529s, etc. If he's miserable in his job, that affects your family too. Stress like that can really affect your physical and mental health. It's great that you're at home w/ the kids. But I bet the kids would also like to see more of their father, unstressed out. And wouldn't you like to have a spouse who isn't miserable? There is a middle ground.[/quote]

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