<prompt> Human: Hey everyone. Throw away account. I am a third year law student in the southern Midwest and will be graduating in May 2017. Whichever firm I decide to work at will be where I am in September 2017 as long as I pass the bar. Here are the two offers I have been given. 1 Firm that I have been working for since June 2016 and will be at until May 2017 unless I choose to stay on. - 80k per year at Insurance Defense firm. - From talking with several new associates, looks like work week is between 50 and 60 hours per week. - I have been at the firm and love the people that work there, good folks and not overbearing or anything. - Wife already has a job in the area as a teacher making 35k and is OKAY with staying for a while 5-6 years but would probably be fine with staying anyway as long as she gets to be a SAHM eventually. -1.5 hours away from my wife and Is hometown where all of our family is. 110 miles each way, to far to commute.2 Offer at a 2 person firm 3 counting me in my wife and Is hometown 8.5k population that practices a variety of law criminal defense, family, estate planning, and the like. - 36k a year guaranteed starting out but no overhead and for every dollar that I bring in over 36k a year I get 75 and the firms partners get 25. This continues for 3 years and then I am a full partner in kind of an office share agreement. I bring home what I bring home and just split overhead. My feeling is that both of these guys probably net 100-150k per year and have been at it for 10-15 years. They work significantly less hours than the 80k a year job. They also both expressed to me that I should be at 6 figures in 3-4 years. -Wife for sure wants to live here and is very close with family. -Could easily get a teaching job in the area. 3-4 schools she is licensed to teach at and has connections with admin at all of them. Basically, the question is if it is worth it to take the 80k a year job for 4-5 years We are 25 years old and then move to my hometown or just go back immediately. I could probably save significantly for those 5 years but would be fine if I took the 36k job. I am afraid if I take the 80k and then move to my hometown in 4-5 years I am going to be making crap at that point anyway. So make a lot now with the chance of having to startover then or dive in to the 36k a year job and start building my practice?? -If we take the 80k a year law job with her teaching job we are looking at putting away around 40-50k a year for 4-5 years assuming kids dont happen. -If we take the 36k a year job and she gets a teaching job we are looking at putting away 10-15k a year for 4-5 years assuming I only make 36k a year with no bonus and kids dont happen. I appreciate any opinions.  <response>: Hi, I am also a practising lawyer in Canada. I would suggest staying at the larger firm and making money and connections is most important in your first few years as a lawyer. While getting 75 of any of your clients bills is enticing, you will find it is surprisingly difficult to get clients in your first few years, and your client book of business snowballs in later years. It sounds like taking the job at your existing firm would give you a better opportunity to connect with clients which will help you exponentially in your later years. To be honest, I cant believe you would consider taking a job that offers less than 50 of your other offer. I dont know what your debt situation is, but that is a substantial amount of money, and you wont be locked in for longer than one year periods, presumably. My two cents. 