[uncle_scott]

I look to Pelican for all sorts of advice, and I am more of a reader than a poster, but I wanted to get some advice from everyone here who is willing to provide it.

I enjoy my current job as a City Planner. I was offered this job after finishing my master's degree, and I feel like I am progressing through my career development on a decent track. At 30 years old, I consider where I am at to be a good place.

Now for the fun part...I have been offered a job at our Regional Transportation office, and I am having a hard time deciding what to do.

The new job is a slight bump in pay (not significant, but not a loss) but it has the benefit of a 7% 401k match. My current job offered me additional income to stay (the extra income is nearly the amount of the 401k match).

So financially they are nearly identical. My current job has a lot of night meetings with city council and planning commission, but the new job is a longer commute, so the time difference is nearly a wash as well.

I enjoy my job now, and it is probably the clearer path to a City Manager job or something along those lines. The new job would be a bit of a shift into transportation planning, but has some amazing opportunities to do planning for active transportation (bike and pedestrian improvements) that go along with my own way of thinking...I just can't decide if I will regret making a lateral career move in my early 30s.

Should I stay where I am at, and bank the additional money, or should I move on and get the 401k match increase? It is crazy, but this has been one of the hardest decisions I have made. I think that I will be equally happy at either location too.

Any advice?