With my current job, I have no medical benefits. We have state-paid benefits that cover our whole family because our children are under 18. I could not afford the benefits my company offers for sale even if I needed them. The rates are astronomical.

There is no pension since I work as a contractor. I am only 39 years old and there is no vestment or tenure in my field.

The ONE positive in this job is that I get paid VERY well for a job that usually pays far less than half my wage for an average-aged person with a couple of years' experience and usually up to about 50-60% for a person with more years of experience who may be considered a low-grade 'supervisor' of some type. I make what some account-management employees make. Yes, the money is super.

The job is crap. My authority is routinely undermined, I do superfluous tasks because there are other people who have more clearances than I do who also do what I do, at the same time on the same days. I was originally hired to do what they did not have the manpower to do on their own. That is no longer an issue.

Anyway, I say all that to say I'm not moving from this job until I have hard offers from the others, and there will have to be definite contracts involved. I am, however, going to live out these passions of mine and make a living for my family at them. Not IF, just WHEN. :-)