Hi Lion, THIS is exactly the kind of Lion question that can make professionals stop scrolling.
Because 40% sounds like mathematics until you put it beside things that don’t appear on a payslip: A good boss, autonomy, peace, colleagues, flexibility, learning, dignity, family time, and the feeling that you actually like the person you have become at work.
The real Lion angle isn’t “money versus happiness.” It is: At what point does a salary increase become large enough to compensate for what you are leaving behind?
Let’s build it.
Think about this: You have a job you genuinely like.
You like your boss.
You know what is expected of you.
Your colleagues are good people.
You have enough autonomy to do your work properly.
You are learning.
You can take a day off without feeling as if you have committed a crime.
You know how the organisation works.
Your salary is not perfect, but your life is manageable.
Then another company calls.
The salary is 40% higher.
Not 5%.
Not 10%.
Not the kind of increase you can politely decline because you were never really tempted.
Forty per cent!
Suddenly, the job you love has a price attached to it.
Would you leave?
FORTY PER CENT IS NOT A SMALL NUMBER
A 40% increase can change a person’s financial life.
If you earn ₦500,000 a month, 40% takes you to ₦700,000.
At ₦1 million, it becomes ₦1.4 million.
At ₦2 million, it becomes ₦2.8 million.
That extra money could mean:
less debt.
more savings.
better housing.
school fees.
family support.
investments.
insurance.
a business on the side.
a better emergency fund.
Or simply the ability to breathe a little more easily at the end of the month.
So it would be simplistic to say:
“Money isn’t everything.”
Of course it isn’t.
But money is not nothing either.
A significant salary increase can buy things that matter.
The interesting question is whether it can buy the things you are about to lose.
WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU LEAVING?
This is where career decisions become more complicated than salary comparisons.
You are not really choosing between:
₦1 million and ₦1.4 million.
You may be choosing between:
₦1 million + peace + flexibility + a good manager + familiar culture
and
₦1.4 million + uncertainty + longer hours + a difficult boss + a longer commute.
The second salary is higher.
The second job may not be.
That distinction is easy to miss because salary is measurable.
Peace isn’t.
SOME OF THE BEST THINGS ABOUT A JOB DON’T APPEAR ON YOUR PAYSLIP
Consider autonomy.
A manager who trusts you can be worth a lot.
So can a company that allows you to leave work on time.
So can remote or hybrid flexibility.
So can a short commute.
So can colleagues who have become part of your support system.
So can a workplace where you can disagree without being punished for having an opinion.
So can the knowledge that your boss will defend you when something goes wrong.
So can the opportunity to learn.
So can the credibility of working on projects that make you better at what you do.
None of these necessarily appears as a line on your employment letter.
But they have economic value.
A long commute costs time.
A toxic manager costs emotional energy.
Poor management can slow your career.
A chaotic organisation can damage your reputation.
An inflexible workplace can affect childcare, family life and health.
A job that pays more but consumes everything around the salary may not actually be giving you a 40% improvement in life.
THE NEW JOB IS ALSO AN UNKNOWN
There is another problem with the 40%.
You know the job you have.
You don’t know the job you are being promised.
The interview may have been excellent.
The recruiter may have been charming.
The job description may have sounded exciting.
The future boss may have told you:
“We have a fantastic culture.”
But you haven’t lived it yet.
You don’t know what happens when deadlines are missed.
You don’t know how the boss behaves under pressure.
You don’t know whether the team collaborates or competes.
You don’t know how often people work late.
You don’t know whether that “flexible” arrangement is actually flexible.
You don’t know what happened to the person who held the role before you.
You don’t know whether the organisation is growing or quietly struggling.
And you don’t know whether the 40% increase will still feel attractive six months after you start.
THE JOB YOU LOVE HAS A VALUE TOO
This is something professionals sometimes calculate badly.
When considering a new offer, people often calculate:
New salary – current salary = gain.
A better calculation is:
Total value of current job – total value of new job = actual difference.
That means asking questions beyond salary.
What is the commute?
How many hours will you actually work?
How flexible is the organisation?
What is the leave policy?
What is the health insurance?
Is there a pension contribution?
What bonuses are realistic rather than merely promised?
What will your responsibilities be?
Who will you report to?
What is the promotion structure?
What will you learn?
What reputation will the company give you?
What happens if you need flexibility?
What does turnover look like?
The salary is one component.
It isn’t the entire compensation package.
BUT DON’T ROMANTICISE A JOB YOU LOVE
There is an equally important warning.
Sometimes professionals say:
“I love my job.”
when what they actually mean is:
“I’m comfortable here.”
Those aren’t necessarily the same thing.
A job can feel safe because you know everyone.
You understand the systems.
You know what your boss likes.
You have built relationships.
You know how to get things done.
Leaving that environment is uncomfortable.
But discomfort is not always a reason to stay.
Sometimes the job you love is also the job that has stopped stretching you.
Sometimes your colleagues are wonderful but your salary has fallen far behind the market.
Sometimes you have been loyal to a company that hasn’t been equally intentional about your growth.
Sometimes “I love this place” has quietly become:
“I am afraid of starting again.”
Those are very different statements.
WHAT IF THE 40% IS ACTUALLY BUYING YOUR FUTURE?
This is where the decision becomes particularly difficult.
Suppose the new job pays 40% more and gives you:
• stronger skills;
• larger responsibilities;
• better professional exposure;
• access to a bigger network;
• international experience;
• a stronger brand on your CV;
• greater leadership opportunities.
Now the decision isn’t simply:
money versus happiness.
It may be:
comfort today versus opportunity tomorrow.
That doesn’t automatically mean you should leave.
It means the new opportunity deserves to be evaluated as a career move, not merely a salary increase.
AND WHAT IF YOU ARE FINANCIALLY STRUGGLING?
This is where advice like “Never leave a job you love for money” becomes almost insulting.
Money matters differently at different stages of life.
A professional drowning in debt may experience an additional 40% very differently from someone whose basic financial needs are already comfortably covered.
If the increase allows you to:
• clear expensive debt;
• build an emergency fund;
• support dependants;
• pay essential bills;
• save for a home;
• invest;
• insure your income;
• create financial independence;
then the decision deserves serious consideration.
Financial security can create choices.
And sometimes the job you love is easier to love when you are not financially trapped by it.
THE QUESTION IS NOT “HOW MUCH MORE?”
It is:
“WHAT AM I BEING ASKED TO GIVE UP FOR THE 40%?”
Imagine the new company says:
40% more money.
Then you discover:
Two extra hours commuting every day.
Three additional hours of work every weeknight.
No flexibility.
A boss who expects weekend availability.
Less autonomy.
More office politics.
Fewer holidays.
No meaningful learning.
Suddenly, you are not being offered 40% more.
You are being offered 40% more money in exchange for more of your life.
That may still be worth it.
But now you are at least negotiating with the real numbers.
NOW THE ANSWER IS TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE JOB YOU LOVE
This is the option people forget.
You receive the 40% offer.
You don’t immediately resign.
You ask yourself:
What would make me stay?
Maybe it is not the full 40%.
Maybe it is:
• a salary review;
• a promotion;
• additional responsibility;
• hybrid flexibility;
• a clearer career path;
• professional development;
• a revised role;
• a retention bonus.
And then you have a conversation with your employer.
Not:
“Give me more money or I am leaving.”
But:
“I have received an offer that materially changes my compensation. I value working here, so before making a decision, I would like to discuss whether there is room to review my role and package.”
The response itself can tell you something.
BE CAREFUL WITH COUNTEROFFERS
A counteroffer can be useful.
It can also simply postpone the original problem.
If your reason for considering the new job is:
“I am badly underpaid,”
a raise may solve it.
If the reason is:
“I have stopped learning,”
more money may not solve it.
If the reason is:
“My manager is unbearable,”
a salary adjustment may not solve it.
If the reason is:
“I don’t see a future here,”
an extra ₦200,000 may only make the present more expensive to leave.
The reason you wanted to leave matters as much as the amount being offered.
THERE IS ALSO A QUESTION OF WHO YOU WANT TO BECOME
Careers are not only about what we earn.
They are also about what we become capable of doing.
Ask yourself:
Which job makes me more valuable five years from now?
Which one gives you better judgement?
Better skills?
Better networks?
Better leadership experience?
Better exposure?
Better evidence of what you can do?
Better access to opportunities?
Sometimes the higher-paying job is also the stronger career move.
Sometimes the lower-paying job is.
Sometimes neither is obvious.
That’s why salary alone is a poor career strategy.
WHAT WOULD MAKE 40% WORTH IT?
There is no universal number.
But a professional could think about the offer through five questions:
- MONEY
Will the additional income materially improve my financial position? - WORK
Will I enjoy the actual work? - PEOPLE
Who will I work with and report to? - LIFE
What will this job do to my time, family and personal life? - FUTURE
Will this move make me more valuable or more trapped?
The interesting part is that the answers can point in different directions.
That is why this decision is difficult.
AND THEN THERE IS THE THING PEOPLE DON’T TALK ABOUT
What happens if you leave the job you love…
and discover that the new job is terrible?
You cannot necessarily reverse the decision.
Your old employer may have filled your position.
Your old team may have moved on.
The culture you loved may no longer exist.
And you may spend months thinking:
“I left a good thing for money.”
But the opposite can also happen.
You stay because you love the job.
Two years later, you realise the company gave you loyalty but not growth.
Your salary remained stagnant.
The person you reported to left.
The skills you developed became less relevant.
And you wonder:
“Why did I stay so long?”
There is no risk-free choice.
There is only a choice made with better or worse information.
THE PROFESSIONAL LIFE PARADOX
Perhaps the uncomfortable truth is that we sometimes want our careers to give us everything simultaneously.
High salary.
Great boss.
Interesting work.
Flexible hours.
Prestigious employer.
Fast promotion.
Wonderful colleagues.
Low stress.
Short commute.
Excellent benefits.
Meaningful work.
Job security.
Work-life balance.
It happens.
But not always.
Careers involve trade-offs.
The mature professional is not necessarily the person who finds a job with no disadvantages.
It may be the person who knows:
Which disadvantages am I willing to live with for the advantages I value most?
SO, WOULD YOU TAKE THE 40%?
Before answering, don’t look at the number again.
Look at the entire offer.
Then ask:
What am I leaving?
What am I gaining?
What problem does the new salary solve?
What new problems might it create?
Would I still want the job if the salary were only 15% higher?
That last question can be revealing.
If the answer is no, perhaps the money is doing most of the persuading.
If the answer is yes, the opportunity itself may be the bigger story.
And there is another question worth asking:
If my current employer offered me 40% more today, would I still want to leave?
If the answer is yes, your decision was probably never only about money.
THE LION TAKE
A 40% salary increase is not a small thing.
Neither is a job you love.
The mistake is pretending one can be measured entirely in naira.
A salary pays for your labour.
A good workplace can also give you time, trust, learning, relationships, flexibility, confidence and room to become better.
But those benefits should not become an excuse for professionals to remain permanently underpaid, underdeveloped or afraid to move.
Your job should pay you.
Your career should grow you.
And, ideally, the two should not be fighting each other.
So perhaps the real question isn’t:
“Would you take 40% more money?”
It is:
“How much would you need to be paid to willingly give up something you genuinely value?”
Because once you know what your current job is actually worth to you, you can finally have an honest conversation about what the next one should be worth.
