35k (never more) job you love OR 45k start (but 150k 10-20 years) job u hate?

[Venom]

EDIT:
<> assume you live in CA, NY... Somewhere houses cost 500k to 1.5mm (and the associated cost of living)
<> assume you grew up with well off family, friends, expectations etc
<> this is hypothetical (thus the binary). Although I do currently have job B, and I gave up the job A that I had, Id sort of prefer the thread focuses on the hypothetical rather than be a thread "all about me"... But feel free to write what you please

Title says it all:

If you were 20-25 and had to choose:
A) job you love, but will only ever pay 35k (likely not enough to ever support anyone, have a house, much of a car, or ever take any crazy awesome vacations). Life A) would be joyful, but there would be times you might feel like an outsider to your friends and family. You might have to a bachelor as far as raising family.

Or

B) job you hate, will start at 45k and likely (if you really commit and put in the effort) reach 150k in 10 to 20 years. Assume the job doesn't get much better as far as stress and hours at year 20, but at least you could live a more normal life (have a house, support a family, and take vacations and have toys). B) would be less enjoyable during 7-7 work hours, but at least the rest of your life would be "normal".

So what would you pick and why? I don't think it's as obvious as you'd think.

 

[Orangey]

I would pick option A because I know myself, and I could never handle staying at a job that I hate for the requisite 10 or 20 years in order to receive the benefits. I would have quit out of anger or impulse, or been fired due to excessive absenteeism, and been worse off than if I had just chosen option A in the first place.

I can deal with low pay and sacrificing my chances of family/normalcy/whatever other BS people feel they need, but I cannot deal with daily boredom and monotony. I'd sooner kill myself.

 

[ICUP]

Neither. I would pick another option.

 

[Orangey]

Do you really have to make the OP explain that the question is "if you had to choose between the two, with no alternatives, in this hypothetical scenario...?" It's not meaningful if you don't answer within the parameters of the question.

Fuck's sake, some people are annoying.

 

[ICUP]

Do you really have to make the OP explain that the question is "if you had to choose between the two, with no alternatives, in this hypothetical scenario...?" It's not meaningful if you don't answer within the parameters of the question.

Fuck's sake, some people are annoying.

That's what I would do. If you find that annoying, honestly, that's your problem and not mine.

 

[redhotchips]

Easy decision, Option A.
Life is more than money, and 35-40K already puts you in the upper echelon compared to rest of the world.
Think creatively how to use and portion your resources, eg Move to lower cost of living, etc.
Marry rich?
Plus, the change of living such a happy life will have innumerable side-effects.
And same for choosing the other option, in negative ways.

(BTW, Orangey, could you respond to some of my threads?? Need some ISTP help/insight! Thanks!!!)

 

[Jaguar]

Neither. I would start my own company.

Agreed.

 

[ICUP]

35k is HTG poor as jobe's turkey.
Think of another option that you would enjoy, but would make more money. Think outside the box.

Agreed.

hahaha, very cute. Inventive kitty.

 

[swordpath]

Option A.

 

[crayons]

A without a doubt (it's what I'm currently after actually). When I was growing up my parents barely made $14k and the three of us lived...quite miserably at times but overall it was okay.

 

[Such Irony]

Option A, provided my salary could at least be adjusted for inflation, otherwise by the time I retire, $35,000 would probably be considered poverty. We spend a good deal of our waking hours at work. What kind of a life would it be if we had to endure a job we hated for hours on end. Not to mention that the hatred for our jobs would likely 'spill' into other areas of our lives. And why can't someone who makes $35,000 a year not have kids or a house? I know people who make less than that who have those things. Yes, some are in deep debt but others are just very careful and good at saving money. If you have a spouse who also makes $35,000 K, then you have a total of $70,000 between the two of you and you could probably support a kid on that. You can even take vacations with that kind of money. You might more limited as to where you could travel, though.

 

[xisnotx]

money isn't everything..(it isn't even a thing..it's a concept).

 

[CzeCze]

"In 10-20 years" are you effin crazy? Dood, that's so long!

Technically medical doctors start out like that, making nothing as interns and finally making 'doctor money' at the end of what 7-10 years of education and training?

Honestly, going just on money accepting a nominally better paying job for the hope nothing drastic happens to your health, personal life, the industry, the company, the economy for a span of 10-20 years seems crazy to me. Pick what you love to do. For a single person <25 years old $35k is more than enough to live comfortably except in the poppinest of cities (like SF or NYC) but you will still be able to live a "colorful bohemian lifestyle" on that budget. And as you do what you love you can always spin that to bigger and better jobs.

The only scenario I would say "ah okay, yeah, 10-20 years down the line and you're only doing it for the money you soul-less money monger" would be if you want to be an analyst at one of the public interest embezzlers on Wall Street and work your way up to being an investment banker etc. Don't forget your requisite 2-3 years getting an MBA at one of the top 5 b-schools. And look forward to getting really fat because you don't have a life live a life of stress and all you can spend your money on is food and alcohol and maybe some drugs. And being surrounded by a small legion of other money-hungry sharks competing for the exact same thing as you.

Blegh. Sounds really unappealing to me even with the magic paycheck at the end of the rainbow.

What 45k job were you referring to, exactly?

35k vs 45k meh, I think if you are a healthy able bodied single <25 year old person, the extra 10k may sound appealing but it's not significant enough to make your job decision. And unless you are extremely ambitious, competitive, and committed to staying on your A game, I really wouldn't bet on the "in 10-20 years this 45k job will pay me 10x as much"

Another parallel - people who work on the hill get paid in handshakes when they first start out. Many literally work for free as interns or get paid barely minimum wage after that. I recently saw the salary history of a classmate of mine (because the salaries of hill workers is public knowledge and a mouse click away it was unintentional I promise I'm not much of a stalker ) and after working for the same elected official for 10 years her paycheck did increase about 8 times. But, that's 10 years of working probably 50-60+ hours a week and starting out fetching coffee and picking up laundry. People don't join the hill to become rich, they do it to become powerful. HA. No but really, they are passionate. It's a parallel to wall street. Or Hollywood where people follow similar lowly beginnings for a huge lottery-esque pay out.

Any of those tracks with a low starting point and a very high end point take a lot of gusto to achieve and may people burn out or get chewed out or just decide they don't like it, so don't assume it's a given that you'll definitely make it to the end of the rainbow in 10-20 years.

From experience looking back I would say pick the job you think you would enjoy the most and add to your overall quality of life and also be the most successful at. But enjoy the most is the most important.

:edit: By "enjoy" I mean "personally fulfilled"

 

[CzeCze]

Wait, I read more of your hypothetical situation where the two options are assumed to be true. Meh. When you describe both scenarios both sound heavily colored already by personal perception and preference. Why would you feel like an outsider with a 35k job? You basically already spell out for people in the scenarios how happy they would be for the rest of their lives and what existential issues they will have later in life due to their job.

Oh, and lots of folks make less than $35k or are unemployed right now. And if your spouse is also working your total income could very conceivably be over $100k a year.

I guess I know a lot of people who make about $35k or less a year in their 20-30s, even with kids and marriage/committed cohabiting relationships, and they seem to enjoy life and not struggle terribly (at least no visibly). As long as the $35k job also gives you medical insurance and a 401k and/or pension and other benefits like a college saving program for the kids - that job doesn't sound so terrible to me, especially if you love it and are good at it and it makes you feel successful.

I think the deciding factor in your decision and net sum how happy you will be in either scenario depends on your own values and also your expectations in life. If you are aspirational and an affluent lifestyle is very important to you, then regardless of how 'happy' you will be, you must pick the higher paying job or the job that will eventually pay you enough to have that lifestyle. And some people truly thrive in pressure cooker high-visibility/prestige jobs and it makes them happy. Others it makes them sick.

This reminds me of the Buddhist principle that all suffering is rooted in desire.

Thanks for the fun philosophical question for the day. Yeah for me, as long as I can live comfortably (I know, that terms is loaded) it's all about a job and better a career that makes me feel like I'm actually living. And not just going through the motions for a paycheck.

 

[Xenon]

A. No contest. Finding work I "love" seems like more than I could ever hope for (I certainly don't ever expect it IRL at this point). If I found genuine fulfillment in my work I could live quite happily without a family or expensive trips, etc. (although I don't get why you'd "have to be a bachelor"; I agree with [MENTION=1009]CzeCze[/MENTION] that it can be quite livable, especially if you aren't the sole wage-earner...but I'll play along).

According to happiness studies, wealth does not affect happiness as long as you're talking about people who are living comfortably.

 

[FDG]

35 isn't enough to support a family? Why not? I mean not everyone has to live in NYC...

 

[ICUP]

35 isn't enough to support a family? Why not? I mean not everyone has to live in NYC...

Why would I settle for less than I can have?

 

[FDG]

Why would I settle for less than I can have?

Idk, I was talking about the OP he was describing a binary choice, so I suppose in his "ideal" world you'd have to choose one of the two. Of course IRL i'd probably prefer neither...

 

[Orangey]

Idk, I was talking about the OP he was describing a binary choice, so I suppose in his "ideal" world you'd have to choose one of the two. Of course IRL i'd probably prefer neither...

Unfortunately some people don't know how hypothetical questions function.

 

[ICUP]

Unfortunately some people don't know how hypothetical questions function.

I have trouble being boxed into scenarios. It's a freedom thang.