If you could start all over....

JHL88

JHL88

New member
Would you rather have a career that you absolutely love & is fulfilling making low-medium wage lets say 25k-35k/year or have a job making $120k+ but do not like what you are doing. Maybe even hate. OR not as fulfilling and feels like you are not contributing to anything?

Discuss
 
Based on the amount of time spent at work, I would be hard pressed to stay somewhere that I was not happy doing what I do. Granted, you start paying me 500k a year and I might have a different story, but for now, I enjoy what I do and I make enough to support my family.
 
If the job is 40 hrs a week or so, I personally will take the money. I like independence and it takes money to have that.
 
I'm in the solid 6 figures doing what I do, and fortunately I love it. Even if I didn't though? I'd probably stay with it until retirement because it enables me to do the things I want because financially it isn't a struggle. I took enough of a complaint from the wife when I left my last employer and took a $10k cut when I was there so much I frequently slept in my office. Your $25k target barely pays my youngest's college tuition if you want perspective. .
 
I do take the money, I don't hate my job but I really really dislike managing people. I prefer to do rather than be the one managing the doers.
 
I'd take the money even if I hated the job. Rather ensure my family is fed than to care about my own fufillment.
 
Tough call, $25k ($12/hr assuming a 40 hour week) is very meager even for a single person. $35k is doable for a single person but far from living large. It also matters where you are as money goes much farther in many rural areas than it does in NYC, Boston, SF, DC, etc. If you strongly dislike what you're doing there is almost no amount of money that is is enough IMO.
 
mobenzowner said:
If the job is 40 hrs a week or so, I personally will take the money. I like independence and it takes money to have that.
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I think at the end of the day many would make the same call as posed here. If the money is right, you can make yourself gut out even if you don't enjoy the work, 40 hours. If you're a salaried employee or on continual call the dynamics change dramatically.

In an ideal world, people work to live (hopefully with some quality in the living) as opposed living to work. The second option can and often does result in damage to relationships with spouses, familes and even one's own well being.

I've worked in a variety of capacities when it comes to bringing home a paycheck, hourly, commision, salaried and combinations of the fore mentioned. Fortunately I've been able to find an element or level of satisfaction in each of these types of pay structures.

I think it's nice to be in a position where you're decisions help to determine the course/success of a good team or company. That said, shouldering the weight of the entire company is difficult. I've worked as a bagger in a grocery store, a tire stocker and line mechanic. I've also worked at an executive level, from small to mid-size to large companies. It was more fun being an executive at a small company than one in the cog of the corporate machine.

I've spent a lot of time with start-up companies helping them acquire funding, staffing, determining product lines, marketing, trade shows, budgets and literally whether or not the paychecks were there on Friday. I did not enjoy that kind of pressure but can honestly say we never missed payroll. I'm proud of that fact.

At the end of the day there are really only two things a company is obligated to provide for its employees, a paycheck (including agreed upon terms of compensation) and a safe (both physically and emotionally) place to work. I like having my hands on what I'm doing whether it's rebuilding a carburetor or planning a product launch. I very much enjoyed turning wrenches. At the end of the day I could always look back and see a measure of success and say I fixed that today. I'd typicaly go home after 40 hours/week perhaps with a few hours of overtime. I got a lot more time on the golf course than with the jobs that payed me several times as much. The independence that was mentioned can be either financial or simply the time to do what you want. My experience was there was a bit of either "one or the other" but for the most part not both. Never quite climbed to that level. ;)
 
Around here the average income is 35k. So doing what you love and making 5 times that provides you with any type of life you want. Move 30 miles from here and suddenly you're right back at average again. Now retirement, well there is no such thing when you're self employed, so you have to plan ahead for that.
 
I had a job making good money, but I hated it. Now I make almost half but have a better schedule and less stress, so for me I'd rather have the job I like over money.
 
Having a company contributing 50% share into your 401k retirement account and maxing my own contribution each year is something that allowed me to retire in my 50s. That money really mounts up and its a before tax contribution. Yes, self employment is rewarding but at the end of your working peak and you're entering the golden years...there is nothing like knowing you're all set to do whatever and enjoy whatever you desire within reason.
 
A lower income salary means not very much saved when you start receiving social security.
 
It's just tough to compare now days to decades past. My parents walked in a GM factory straight out of high school and instantly got a job paying more than any place in town. Best benefits you can imagine, awesome insurance, tons of paid time off, lots of stuff. They make great retirement checks each month. Combined with Social Security, they live very well for doing nothing. Problem is: lots and lots of people lost it all a few years back and GM was damn close to joining them and the government clearly wants to lose the SS system and change Healthcare as much as possible. All those factories in town closed 10 years ago and are in Mexico now. The days of being able to rely on those things are close to gone. I can't imagine having to HOPE I continue to receive benefits from the government or large corporations. Make it to the top while you can. don't plan on sitting on cruise control late in life. It's likely to leave you like the millions of others.
 
My job is quite stressful - but I don't hate it. I'm in the higher bracket of the OPs example.

I learned a long time ago - not having "enough" money is more stressful than not being crazy about your job. I figured this out a long time ago sitting in an apartment where they cut off the electricity because I didn't pay it. Nothing makes you feel like a bigger loser.

I think people may need to remember, it's a job - they're not paying you to be there because it's fun or for your own self fulfillment.
 
silverfox said:
Having a company contributing 50% share into your 401k retirement account and maxing my own contribution each year is something that allowed me to retire in my 50s. That money really mounts up and its a before tax contribution. Yes, self employment is rewarding but at the end of your working peak and you're entering the golden years...there is nothing like knowing you're all set to do whatever and enjoy whatever you desire within reason.
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Take me through a typical day of yours now that you've retired
You are in a very fortunate position
 
silverfox said:
Having a company contributing 50% share into your 401k retirement account and maxing my own contribution each year is something that allowed me to retire in my 50s. That money really mounts up and its a before tax contribution. Yes, self employment is rewarding but at the end of your working peak and you're entering the golden years...there is nothing like knowing you're all set to do whatever and enjoy whatever you desire within reason.
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This is what i'm debating at this point in my life (I'm 28yo), stay with a Job that contributes to 401k(that may not be guaranteed due to ups and downs) and be pretty unhappy every day i'm at work which is 9 out of 15hrs of active time (based on 9 hrs of sleep) or give self employment(doing full time detail work) a shot and do what makes me happy and fulfilled every day rather than just having a Job working for someone else that may just let me go at any point all because the company's numbers are affecting the Share Holders' Bonuses and ridiculous Salaries.

Decisions decisions, i'm seeing people at my Job that have sacrificed 30+ years of their lives being let go just like that and makes me wonder if the same will happen to me once i hit that age/stage with the Company.
 
The days of working 20-30 years for one company are gone. You'll swap jobs several times in a lifetime at this point, but that doesn't mean the 401k contributions stop...they just get continued by the next employer. I changed jobs several times. My take is this...if you're not contributing to a retirement account...whether its self employment or working for a company...you need to be doing something else that allows for you to do so. You'd be surprised how much money retirement costs.
 
JHL88 said:
Would you rather have a career that you absolutely love & is fulfilling making low-medium wage lets say 25k-35k/year or have a job making $120k+ but do not like what you are doing. Maybe even hate. OR not as fulfilling and feels like you are not contributing to anything?

Discuss
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I actually do a combination of the both, but it leaves me totally burned out and with little personal/family time. In the end you'll get addicted to the money (IMHO) and will always end up desiring or regretting not taking the higher paying job unless the low-medium job is as fulfilling as you say and you can put aside the consumer culture we live in.

I've been thinking about giving up my IT Company and day Job to just focusing on detailing full time and sustain my income with investments on the side. That would free up a lot of time for me to spend with family and take some Vacations (took my first one in over 4 years last year, just because I couldn't find the time).
 
It would all depend on the difference in the pay. In the scenario in the o.p. I would take the money. I look at my job as nothing more than a method to earn enough money to do things I enjoy when I'm not at work. At the low end of the o.p.'s scenario there wouldn't be enough leftover to do much of anything.
 
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