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Money · Career change cost
Career Change True Cost
What does switching careers cost over three years? Retraining, income gap, lost pension, and seniority reset — named clearly so the number is survivable.
Instant result
Plain-English why
Copyable takeaway
What this means
No waffle. Just the number and how it was worked out.
Formula used
3-year cost = retraining + (current salary × income gap years × gap fraction) + pension contribution loss - new salary premium × remaining years
Worked example
Someone earning £45,000 who retrains for £8,000 over 18 months at 60% income, then enters a new field at £38,000, faces roughly £35,000 in transition costs before the new path pays off.
Common questions
What costs does this include?
Retraining fees, the income gap during transition, lost employer pension contributions, and the seniority reset when entering a new field at a lower level.
What does staying cost?
The tool balances the transition cost against the cost of staying — typically the salary differential over three years if your current trajectory is flat.
Plain-English summary
The result summary for this calculator will live here.
This section translates the result into a short, direct takeaway rather than leaving the page at a bare number.
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