Should I take a buyout offer after 20 years?
Walking away from a long-term job while dealing with burnout and anger is terrifying when you have known nothing else for decades. The core difficulty is balancing the deep dread of staying against the fear of stepping into the unknown.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- People have been saying this in most months since August 2026.
- This comes up 13.3× more often in r/Accounting than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1taking the buyout and coasting for a few monthsDid this help you?
- 2starting a consulting gigDid this help you?
- 3taking a part-time jobDid this help you?
- 4negotiating for more money or extended healthcare coverageDid this help you?
- 5Staying in the current fully remote roleDid this help you?
- 6Waiting for another job offer with better flexibilityDid this help you?
- 7Weighing the financial raise and in-person learning environment against commute and flexibility drawbacksDid this help you?
- 8Asking for time to think about counteroffersDid this help you?
- 9Weighing the pros and cons of staying versus leavingDid this help you?
- 10Evaluating alternative career opportunities presented outside the firmDid this help you?
- 11Selling the entire business outright instead of a partial buy-inDid this help you?
- 12Hiring an employee to help with the day-to-day operations and growthDid this help you?
- 13Negotiating a full sale with a short-term employment contractDid this help you?
- 14Looking for perspective from others who have gone through similar buyoutsDid this help you?
- 15Evaluating current compensation against potential retention offersDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Am I crazy to walk away from this job? I dread coming to work each day and I feel so much anger sometimes. A big part of me is terrified of stepping away, I've known nothing else for over 20 years.”source ↗
“The thing is that I have zero frame of reference as to what the expectation should be here.”source ↗
“I'm a high performing manager, and I have reason to believe the partners will sell to PE in the next few months. I don't expect to lose my job, however, I fear my workload will dramatically increase, and I'll have less staffing. I would imagine PTO gets reduced, insurance costs to employees goes up, and compensation freezes.”source ↗
“Other career opportunities have presented themselves recently, and I have a choice to make. Looking for insight from anyone that stuck through the PE transition and experience with incentives.”source ↗
“I am currently an Associate 1 at a regional public accounting firm working on audit and technical accounting. I am 100% remote.”source ↗
“I got an offer at a Top 20 firm to work in their private accounting solutions working on full-accounting cycles for UHNW individuals/families. This role is 3 days in-person and will get me a ~$18,000 raise.”source ↗
“I do like the raise, but not the hybrid schedule and the exit opportunities for this position.”source ↗
“Most of my worry/issue with taking the offer is the “limited” (?) exit opportunities this job will give me.”source ↗
“Things are going to be terrible for 2 years and make you want to quit every day.”source ↗
“We are exhausted. customer expectations are increasing and talent seems to be decreasing. We see so many routes for growth but can’t get out of the day to day. The every day stress of the business is wearing on our marriage, and we have small kids that we both want to spend more time with.”source ↗
“A PE backed company is looking to buy majority of the company (call it 51%), but maintain name, brand, and us overseeing operations. They want to invest and grow in a way that we can’t seem to manage on our own (or at least any time soon).”source ↗
“Are we stupid for considering this? We’d get a nice check, pay off our house, invest, and then maintain salaries and still take 49% of profit? We’re not even 40, and it’s not a retirement check.”source ↗
“Is this silly to give up control? Is this not enough money to take us out of the drivers seat on something we’ve built for the last decade?”source ↗
“I already accepted, but the counteroffer has me second-guessing.”source ↗