Big Decisions
Moving for a job: the costs that are not in the offer
A relocation is priced in salary and paid for in transaction costs, lost network and a partner's career.
Big Decisions
Moving, a career change, a career break — priced properly before committing.
21 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 1 of 2
Big Decisions
Costing a career break before you take one
The lost salary is the obvious number. The pension gap and the re-entry discount are the ones that surprise people.
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Big Decisions
Overpaying a mortgage against investing the same money
The comparison looks like a rate calculation and is mostly a risk and certainty decision.
Big Decisions
What to do with a windfall before you decide anything
An inheritance or a bonus arrives with pressure attached. The first correct action is usually to do nothing.
Big Decisions
Redundancy: the decisions that follow the payment
A lump sum arrives at the same moment as a loss of income, which is exactly the combination that produces bad decisions.
Big Decisions
Taking a job you want more for money you want less
A voluntary pay cut is a legitimate decision. It becomes a bad one when the size and duration of the gap were never calculated.
Big Decisions
Starting a business when other people depend on your income
The question is not whether the idea is good. It is how many months the household can run without your salary and what happens at…
Big Decisions
Emigrating, and the money decisions that outlast the move
Moving country resets your pension record, your entitlements and often your professional credentials. Most of it is invisible on…
Big Decisions
Sabbatical or resignation, and what continuity is worth
Both produce time away from work. Only one of them keeps the job, the contributions and the way you are seen on your return.
Big Decisions
The arrangement you made five years ago and never revisited
Household decisions get made under one set of conditions and then run on autopilot long after the conditions have changed.
Big Decisions
Moving closer to ageing parents
It is a caring decision with a financial structure, and the households that do it well have priced the whole thing rather than the…
Big Decisions
When to stop researching and make the decision
Beyond a certain point, more analysis stops improving the choice and starts functioning as a way of avoiding it.