Submariner wrote:
I was just reading the thread about how adults making less than $60K should be embarrassed by their careers. It got me thinking about my own choices.
I'm in college right now, and I'm having a hard time justifying busting my ass for the next 3 to 7 years in order to have a few thousand more dollars per year when I'm middle-aged. Is it that important to have more money? More than having free time to be able to enjoy yourself when you're in your twenties? It would be great if some 40 and 50 somethings could weigh in on this. It's actually been on my mind for some time, but I've never asked anyone.
There's a few things to point out here:
-You don't need to bust your ass for the next 3 to 7 years. There's no magic formula specific to those years that makes the rest of your life better. (aside from getting your degree maybe, but I never got mine and I'm doing pretty well)
-"a few thousand dollars more" - I'm not sure what you're looking at, but getting your sh!t in order will pay a magnitude more than a few thousand dollars in most fields. It's the difference between being a level 2 helpdesk guy (still have friends from way back still doing this...mind boggling) and being a Sr. UNIX admin that specializes and get's paid very well because of it. The pay difference is huge.
-"a few thousand dollars more" part 2 - Once you get a house, family, a car , bills, and find your hobbies in life, you have to pay for them. The biggest thing is to make enough to be comfortable enough so you're not thinking about bills during your long run. Worrying about bills sucks, period, no matter how much you make. Rich people make poor budget decisions also.
-'embarrassed' is ridiculous. Look, some people are in fields that don't make a lot of money and love what they do. If that works, dear god, do it. Always work with what you love and enjoy. Don't sacrifice that for money. You can live on less money and be happy.
Money is great, but you can live on less. Happiness is key and it just matters what makes YOU happy deep down. Now go lace 'em up.