Weighing job offers

[QRS]

I need financial advice on a decision I must soon make (I am 32 years old, married with a young child, no debt, minimal retirement savings (10K), renter in a HCOL area, own 2 reliable cars, saved 80K over the last 4 years (currently in short term treasury bonds) towards a downpayment).

All other things being equal I would appreciate your comments about the financial considerations and retirement consequences of accepting a job offer with a direct benefit plus a 401K (e.g. income of 180K increasing to around 300K, after 20 years, with a pension of around 100-120K after 30 years, plus whatever I have in the 401K) versus more income and only a 401K (e.g. income of 300-350K for most of the career). The latter job offer is in a location with about 1/2 to 2/3 the cost of living of the former.

[Scanner]

Wow. . .at those incomes you are definitely in the top 1% of the population. Congrats.

My pat answer is to just advise you to take the second job, the one with more income.

There are many ways to shelter your money and if you want to earmark a large amount for retirement, you could use other accounts such as a Roth IRA, Traditional or new shelters out on the market (individual 401ks, I think). Worse comes to worse, you can always buy muni bonds for shelter - they grow tax-free but you can't deduct it from your top line. If you are self-employed, you even have more options such as a SEP-IRA or Keough.

This is of course just considering only the financial factors, not the "intangibles" such as you liking the area and aspects of each job.

[m3racer]

Take option 2. It sounds like you're comparing a government job vs a private job. If this is the case than take the private one. This is a no brainer!! I guarantee you'll change your name from QRS to asystole if you take the government position.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

take the cheaper cost of living. you'll come out ahead.