Zach,
I have lost and gained my collection about 5 times in life, mostly because I would leave for long periods of time to beautiful places like Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan. It's not always finances that cause this and a few of those times I just had more important things in life to tend to. The cards that are most important to me are ones my dad bought for me as a child so I tend to keep those. We all should remember, with the exception of those who make a living of it, that this is a hobby and like all hobbies have to take a back seat to life.
My first hand experience is that if you set your mind to selling and know you'll get back to your collection down the road then it's easier to deal with. I'm completing my T206 Cubs subset for the umpteenth time and it's fun each time and I'm wiser now with my purchases then I used to be. Prices fluctuate but they don't seem to go too crazy if you need to take a few years off.
As far as the job. I'm 100% commsion now so I'm in crisis mode every other month
