<prompt> Human: Throwaway because.Im 35 year old IT professional at a fortune 5 company. I have been here for 7 years and make 100K per year. I have 10K in investments in my 401K, no house payments own it outright, 3 kids and no real expenses other than utilities internet, gas, etc. I have a fully vested pension with my current company that will, when it matures, net me 9K per month. I plan on upping my 401K contribution to the company match limit 8 50 match. I plan to ride this out and retire comfortably when i hit 60.I just got a very handsome job offer from a publicly traded startup promising 125K in base salary plus 10 guaranteed yearly bonus and 100K in Restricted stock that vests over 4 years. This company has no pension but does match 100 of 401k contributions, and offers a more competitive benefits package than my current employer which would net me more pay after insurance etc. If i do the math right, assuming the stock stays somewhat stable, and take the bonus and 25 pay increase into account. I will be looking at 168K per year for 4 years not counting performance increases and secondary RSU issuancesLeaving my current role would be difficult for me as i am loyal to the group that i am with and, while i know things wouldnt grind to a halt with me gone, there would be some difficulties replacing me. Aside from the personal reasons that i am struggling with, i just cannot make the math work. My goal is to retire as early in life as possible and i know that if i stay with my current company i can retire easily and comfortably at 60-65 but if i risk it and jump to this start up the reward may be greater but... I realize that nobody here is a fortune teller and Ive left a couple details out that make any kind of analysis difficult but Im looking for guidance. What would you do?tl;dr I make a good living at a Fortune 5, is it worth the risk to join a start up?  <response>: I would like to point out that guaranteed pensions are not guaranteed. We had guaranteed pensions in the Netherlands, but now the benefits have been roughly halved. So perhaps you should also assume that this pension plan of yours is nice, but not guaranteed. And what happens if you die? Is there a pension for the widow, or do all payments stop? Money in a 401k is yours. The big risk there is that you invest in stocks bonds funds, and that you are dependent on how the stock market will do. So no guarantees there, either. But you will have more influence. And if you die, your heirs will get the money. 