If I won the lottery then yes I would choose to do the PhD, so I guess that in part answer the money side of the question. However, after I finished my batchelors deg and now again after a masters I always end up in this dilema of what to do next, and I hate it. Doing a PhD would again be putting off this problem again. And, if I remained in academia, would become a 3yr cycle of job insecurity not knowing where to go or what to do next. Whilst those earning "big" money (or at least more than most in academia) may not always want to get out of bed in the morning, they do at least have job security or a range of jobs available to them as not so much of a niche market/industry. I can't expect my family to upsticks and move around the country/world every 3 yrs or so in pursuit of my next job. even without others involved, I wouldn't fancy this.

o.stoll - whilst I agree with your comments on the immense achievement passing a PhD is, this alone will not secure you a job. I'm also concerned that having toiled away for 3+yrs, graduate employers may see you as over qualified with a PhD, and they may prefer young graduates. However, in addition to this is the fact that I'm female- if I chose to do a PhD I would be 28+ and I'm sure a family will soon become a major consideration. I personally feel that I would want to be secure in a career path before embarking into motherhood. Has anybody else considered this aspect of age and PhDs? Plus, if I'm thinking like this unfortunately I think potential employers in 3yrs time with a female at 28 are also going to consider this a "risk" as well, even if they would not admit it.
Wouldn;t it be great if money wasn't an issue and we could truly do as we wish- I would love the challenge of a PhD.

I won't claim to know much about it, but the impression I get is that unless you are set on a research career in academia then a PhD is not an advantage, and won't make up for the 3 yrs work experience you could alternatively be doing. Pessimistic maybe. But I have also been told that within a research institute you can;t progress above research assistant posts without a PhD.

I also would feel incredibly guilty if I didn't take up this opportunity- both in time, help and advice people have given me and also denying the department a research project. My supervisor (same for my MSc- PhD would be an extension of MSc project) has been superb and we get on well.
What do I do?

My main concerns are that I'm currently 25, and finishing a PhD at 28/29 with still no career path- I feel puts me back in the same position as I'm in now (confused & job hunting!). I don't think I'm interested in lecturing, and my subject area is quite a limited niche area. Whilst PhD funding should be sufficient to live on, I would like to think that if I was able to get a job in a large company with graduate training/development I would be on better salary in 3/4 years time. I guess you will all ask what I want to do in the end, and in all honesty I'm not sure. A secure job with development in a challenging career would great, but niggling at the back of mind is the thought of being able to make an impact in my subject area- although getting a post doc in the same area is tough, if not a miracle.

Can any of you offer advise on my situation?
I have recently completed a MSc,towards the end of which I was asked if I was interested in PhD, to which I replied yes. From then things have snowballed- applications for funding have flown out the department involving a lot of work from a lot of people. I found out this week that I have been successful in getting funding, but the funding is for me, not for the project. In other words, if I don;t do the PhD the department don;t get the money. However, I'm not sure if this is really what I want to do.