I did mention a few weeks ago that my wife will be receiving her remuneration review outcome for the year 2018. And that I might post something about this when it happens. Which it has and this is why I’m writing about the topic now. It has been a tough year for my wife’s bank with annual profits posting a significant 20% drop compared to the previous year. We always knew this was going to negatively impact her salary increase and performance bonus.
With my wife’s expectations managed downwards, the remuneration review outcome was acceptable but still disappointing. Especially coming off a promotion year in 2017. The base salary is important for this reason. Even with the performance bonus in terms of number of months reduced, the drop in the absolute number isn’t as bad if the base salary is high enough. Which is why going after the promotion helps in expanding your salary band upwards.
In any case, my wife was rewarded for managing her team well and I’m happy for her. Dealing with the additional stress and pressure was tough for her though. Is the additional money worth it? Only if you can manage the higher workload while maintaining your physical and mental well-being. If you burn out from the effort, the additional amount of money is not going to be enough to justify you falling apart. While she managed to stay away from the brink/cliff, there were times when things got so bad it made her wonder whether the promotion was worthwhile.
This entire experience has made us question the viability of a continual chase for promotions. Although more money always comes in handy, the trade-offs get worse with every level we climb. And we don’t even have kids yet. Perhaps it’s time to coast, camp, or whatever the term is for staying put at our current levels with just enough effort without over-exerting. This gives us more time to think about what to do next or at least consider more carefully what the trade-offs are before we push for the next promotion.
Anyway, it’s going to take time for the salary increase to kick in and the performance bonus to be credited. We have already budgeted the spending for our upcoming trip to Sydney and Melbourne (Australia) in mid Nov 2018. Since we have been buying into the equity markets dips recently, we might use this opportunity to build up our cash position again. We are definitely getting more conservative as we plan for a family. Fear of having more to lose perhaps?