In early 2020, I was working in a cushy and complacent job in the
geospatial industry in Southern California when my parents offered me
the opportunity to take over the family tax and accounting business in
Florida. My response? Light a cigar, brew some coffee – and start
doodling.
My scribbles were more akin to a finger painting than the crisp charts
on text page 11.1 illustrating the stilted five-step, decision making
process. Instead of five boxes, I listed the pros and cons of staying at a
multi-billion corporation, studying accounting in my late 50s, creating
family separation issues and working for parents all in addition to
buying a second house in Central Florida.
The doodle pad was helpful because, like most males, I’m visually
oriented. Thinking aloud just doesn’t work for me. I needed something I
could see versus something I couldn’t touch. Just scribbling thoughts
helped me think through an agonizing decision.
There are several definitions for opportunity cost. I like the one from
the Edspira video accounting series which defines it as “the benefit
forgone when you choose something else (Opportunity Cost, 2014.)”
The opportunity cost of my stay-or-go decision was significant
whether I stayed in California or moved to Florida.
As I doodled, the qualitative reasons began to outweigh the
quantitative ones.
Leaving California meant frequent cross-country flights and forgoing
friends and church. (My son is entering the University of California
Riverside, so he’s out of the house although I would fly back for long
stays; my wife still has seven years left at the job she loves.) But leaving
also meant owning a business, buying a second house, and becoming
the boss. In other words, I had the opportunity to be the man instead of
working for the man.
Staying in the Golden State meant a lifetime wondering whether I had
the guts to take the shot of a lifetime. (And it’s no secret the quality of
life in Southern California is sinking fast, so staying put meant not
developing an escape hatch for the family when this state finally hits
bottom.)
Quantitative reasons favoring Florida were a no-brainer: By taking the
helm of the family business, as well as learning how to sell annuities and
managing 700 clients, I would eventually earn big wads of dough. My
worker bee geospatial job in Southern California compensated me well,
but I would never break into six-digit salaries if I had stayed.
In the end, the Florida decision was easy because I had the support of
my family. Had my son still been in diapers, I would have stayed.
i i References
Opportunity Cost. (2014). Www.youtube.com. Retrieved June 7, 2022,
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgYXsmAkY3c
