Stacey L

Hello, I'm 30 years old and have been working in human services for the past 9 years; 3 in in-home care, 6 in mental health/suicide prevention. I have reached a point where I need to either get an advanced degree or change fields. I'm very passionate about empowering others and am intrigued by the opportunities that an advanced degree would offer. I was thinking of getting an MSW with the intent to eventually become a LCSW. That said, I've heard every extreme from, "you will never earn anything, get any recognition, and be completely burnt out" to "an LCSW is a great opportunity and the median salary is $65,000; naysayers are thinking of a BSW." Could anyone help me to parce out these variances in opinions? I'm aware of the good, bad, and the ugly of social work in general but not in terms of an advanced degree. I have a heart for both macro and micro social work and am not in it for the money, but I would like to have the ability to one day own a small home, pay basic expenses without sleepless nights, be able to occasionally go out with friends or take a modest vacation, and have an emergency savings. All things that are difficult for me right now. Essentially; to live a very modest middle-class lifestyle. Is this possible? Would I be better to change fields? Is there another degree that would be similar but more suitable for this? (Since I've been working privately for the past 3 years and just moved to a more metropolitan area I feel a bit out of touch in terms of who to ask of my contacts.)