I’m likely leaving my postdoc this year if there’s not a serious salary increase

This is nothing more than a rant from a very jaded perspective.

I’ve been in my postdoc for 1 year in a HCOL area. It has been financially wrecking me. I’ve made only negative progress in saving money, and have <$1k in my savings account at 30 years old. Not even an emergency fund. I want so bad to own a house and start a family, but it’s literally impossible making $56k in an expensive area.

Honestly, I would work harder if I was paid better. Seriously, the impact that financial insecurity has on motivation and focus is completely understated in academia. It’s true in literally every industry that people aren’t motivated when they feel undervalued.

The discussions around possibly bumping us to $70k give me a shred of hope. Frankly, there are 3 specific scenarios in 2024 that would keep me in my postdoc:

1) NIH salary levels go to 70k (assuming my institution goes along with this, which is a different question).

2) My F32 gets funded, and I can leverage that for an at least $10k raise. My boss traditionally has done 5k, but no way in hell am I giving up my employee benefits and incurring a service obligation to the government for a <10% salary increase.

3) Neither of the 2 above happen, but I’m unable to land any non-academic position this year and am stuck here by default.

Thanks for reading.