What do you do when you are locked in the "golden" handcuffs i.e. high paying job

[bjcheung77]

That's why I suggested looking at cost of living relative to new salary. Going from a higher cost of living to a lower one might partially offset the $20K decrease in salary, but going from a lower to higher one while losing $20K/ year could be unmanageable.

However, if health insurance plan cost much less and/or provide better benefits than the current job, that would be a mitigating factor. But if the benefits are worse, or they were paid for by the first job but not by the second, that might be untenable. Same goes for retirement benefits.

Also, have you looked at the housing market at both the old and new jobs? Is it likely you would be able to sell your old home? Can you buy or rent at an affordable price in the new area?

:iagree: +1, There are so many factors as well, but for someone who telecommutes for work like myself, I don't think there would be much difference but the job requirements and less pay/more stress.