High-earning careers for risk averse people?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AI can do comparison exponentially better than humans.

Yeah, Ai writes beautiful legal briefs. Poorly written with made up citations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t realize accounting is a high earning job. Are there just certain positions and/or companies that pay much more than others? How much do these accountants make?

Senior accountant can make 100k with a large organization, up to 250k in finance / big tech. It’s not always called accounting, for example, in high finance we call them controllers or assistant controllers, in tech sometimes as finance managers.

Experienced accountants (10+ years) in accounting firms make $200 plus bonus. Partners go into 7 digits

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Accounting

This. I didn’t go into it in college because it seemed like a grind but all of my college classmates who did have been fully employed throughout their careers, sometimes with competing offers lined up. The few who have made partner in big firms are near or over a million a year in salary. Excellent career for the risk averse, but smart and hard working student.

I love DCUM. The mythical land where 40 year old CPAS make 7 figures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Accounting

This. I didn’t go into it in college because it seemed like a grind but all of my college classmates who did have been fully employed throughout their careers, sometimes with competing offers lined up. The few who have made partner in big firms are near or over a million a year in salary. Excellent career for the risk averse, but smart and hard working student.

I love DCUM. The mythical land where 40 year old CPAS make 7 figures.

You don’t know what you are talking about. In a top market it’s pretty easy to clear $1M at a big accounting firm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Greta question, OP.

Gosh why are people so dumb, that almost no one takes these "safe" vareer paths to the 'upper middle class"?

Why is everyone throwing their lives away on silly gambles?

Are you really that clueless?

I'm not sure what you're trying to say. But one of the curiosities of life is how two equally intelligent and capable people can end up in very different financial places simply by picking different career tracks.

I do think there is an element of "oh, insurance/accounting, it's so BORING" sentiment when you're 21 and trying to figure out what to do with your life and the concept of the 45hr corporate workweek and being shackled to the desk is oppressive when you're footloose and fancy-free in college. So you decide on a creative/interesting/cool master's track (with debt) to end up an urban planner or social worker. Because working in cities is cool. Helping people is cool.

Then one day you wake up and realize the the dull and risk averse kids are taking home comfortable six figure incomes and buying comfortable houses in good school districts, all without too much stress while you languish at 75k in a job that is actually more demanding and delivers less rewards and still can't afford the city you live in.

People are fascinating.

Yes, non-profits don’t pay well. “Boring” jobs like insurance pay better, but they are not “high earning.”

Jobs that pay very well and don’t involve risk require are highly competitive. As someone said, an MIT or Princeton physics grad with a decent GPA can get a quant hedge fund analyst job straight out of school. Your average science major at a state school will get thrown into the huge pile of resumes such positions attract.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Accounting

This. I didn’t go into it in college because it seemed like a grind but all of my college classmates who did have been fully employed throughout their careers, sometimes with competing offers lined up. The few who have made partner in big firms are near or over a million a year in salary. Excellent career for the risk averse, but smart and hard working student.

I love DCUM. The mythical land where 40 year old CPAS make 7 figures.

You don’t know what you are talking about. In a top market it’s pretty easy to clear $1M at a big accounting firm.

White male alert.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why won’t accountants be automated out? Literally one of the easiest jobs ever to automate out with AI….probably even with software that isn’t even AI.

Because real accountants have to make difficult judgment calls about which guidance applies to certain situations. There are certainly aspects of accountancy that are similar to legal practice. Accounting isn't just bookkeeping and filing 1040s.

Yeah but that can be automated. The law can be digitally stored and AI can be used to meet compliance. Tons of law jobs will be lost to AI. Accounting will be the same.

Legal and accounting practice isn't the same as compliance. It's not about memorizing rules. It's about analysis and making close calls.

Which AI can do better with big data and unemotional decision making. You're going to sit there and argue a human will be better at analysis than a computer that can store and analyze terabytes of information in mere minutes?

Accounting will be totally automated out. White collar professionals always have tons of hubris and never think they can be automated about.

Accounting and law isn't a big data analysis. At the end of the day, it's comparison and persuasion. How about you stay in your lane?

It will be a very long time before folks don’t want an accountant to check out everything AI does at the end. Risk-wise companies would be pilloried for screwing up their books/taxes/etc and saying they trusted a computer with no oversight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If he’s genuinely interested in medicine join he military and have them pay for med school. “Retire” after 20 years with a pension and go into private practice.

This is actually a good idea, if he's flexible and open to military life.

Medicine is pretty solid. You can work for someone else or, for the more entrepreneurial, start a practice (and bill insurance or Medicaid to actually get paid). The downside is the debt to get there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Greta question, OP.

Gosh why are people so dumb, that almost no one takes these "safe" vareer paths to the 'upper middle class"?

Why is everyone throwing their lives away on silly gambles?

Are you really that clueless?

I'm not sure what you're trying to say. But one of the curiosities of life is how two equally intelligent and capable people can end up in very different financial places simply by picking different career tracks.

I do think there is an element of "oh, insurance/accounting, it's so BORING" sentiment when you're 21 and trying to figure out what to do with your life and the concept of the 45hr corporate workweek and being shackled to the desk is oppressive when you're footloose and fancy-free in college. So you decide on a creative/interesting/cool master's track (with debt) to end up an urban planner or social worker. Because working in cities is cool. Helping people is cool.

Then one day you wake up and realize the the dull and risk averse kids are taking home comfortable six figure incomes and buying comfortable houses in good school districts, all without too much stress while you languish at 75k in a job that is actually more demanding and delivers less rewards and still can't afford the city you live in.

People are fascinating.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Greta question, OP.

Gosh why are people so dumb, that almost no one takes these "safe" vareer paths to the 'upper middle class"?

Why is everyone throwing their lives away on silly gambles?

Are you really that clueless?

I'm not sure what you're trying to say. But one of the curiosities of life is how two equally intelligent and capable people can end up in very different financial places simply by picking different career tracks.

I do think there is an element of "oh, insurance/accounting, it's so BORING" sentiment when you're 21 and trying to figure out what to do with your life and the concept of the 45hr corporate workweek and being shackled to the desk is oppressive when you're footloose and fancy-free in college. So you decide on a creative/interesting/cool master's track (with debt) to end up an urban planner or social worker. Because working in cities is cool. Helping people is cool.

Then one day you wake up and realize the the dull and risk averse kids are taking home comfortable six figure incomes and buying comfortable houses in good school districts, all without too much stress while you languish at 75k in a job that is actually more demanding and delivers less rewards and still can't afford the city you live in.

People are fascinating.

This is so true! I can personally relate. I was the kid who never would have considered something like accounting in college but as a middle aged adult wish I would have had the foresight to make different career decisions. But then again my work has always been interesting so who knows.

I can relate to both posts above. I’m in my 40s, on second career of helping people and making 80,000. No complaints but now at my age I really wish I had gone into accounting. Back when I was 22, I was going to travel the country, the world, and save people! I think at my stage in life now, I’d like accounting. My college friend had a job at a Big 4 before graduating and is still with them and has done very well. My son is a first year college student, undecided but leaning towards BBA/finance and so many people, myself included although I can’t say much, are encouraging him to go the accounting route. But then they throw in the “boring” term which a 18 yo doesn’t want to hear. He’s similar to OP’s son and I don’t really see him as a finance fast smooth talker. Hoping he chooses the accounting path.

[Anonymous]

Risk assessment for oil and gas, so petroleum engineering

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Greta question, OP.

Gosh why are people so dumb, that almost no one takes these "safe" vareer paths to the 'upper middle class"?

Why is everyone throwing their lives away on silly gambles?

Are you really that clueless?

I'm not sure what you're trying to say. But one of the curiosities of life is how two equally intelligent and capable people can end up in very different financial places simply by picking different career tracks.

I do think there is an element of "oh, insurance/accounting, it's so BORING" sentiment when you're 21 and trying to figure out what to do with your life and the concept of the 45hr corporate workweek and being shackled to the desk is oppressive when you're footloose and fancy-free in college. So you decide on a creative/interesting/cool master's track (with debt) to end up an urban planner or social worker. Because working in cities is cool. Helping people is cool.

Then one day you wake up and realize the the dull and risk averse kids are taking home comfortable six figure incomes and buying comfortable houses in good school districts, all without too much stress while you languish at 75k in a job that is actually more demanding and delivers less rewards and still can't afford the city you live in.

People are fascinating.

This is so true! I can personally relate. I was the kid who never would have considered something like accounting in college but as a middle aged adult wish I would have had the foresight to make different career decisions. But then again my work has always been interesting so who knows.

I can relate to both posts above. I’m in my 40s, on second career of helping people and making 80,000. No complaints but now at my age I really wish I had gone into accounting. Back when I was 22, I was going to travel the country, the world, and save people! I think at my stage in life now, I’d like accounting. My college friend had a job at a Big 4 before graduating and is still with them and has done very well. My son is a first year college student, undecided but leaning towards BBA/finance and so many people, myself included although I can’t say much, are encouraging him to go the accounting route. But then they throw in the “boring” term which a 18 yo doesn’t want to hear. He’s similar to OP’s son and I don’t really see him as a finance fast smooth talker. Hoping he chooses the accounting path.

My accounting professor invited actual accounting professionals to have career talk during undergrad. The first one was a senior accountant with P&G making 90k (this was solid in 2005).
A second accountant worked for the state government. If she worked 45 hour during one week, she got to work 35 hour the subsequent week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Greta question, OP.

Gosh why are people so dumb, that almost no one takes these "safe" vareer paths to the 'upper middle class"?

Why is everyone throwing their lives away on silly gambles?

Are you really that clueless?

I'm not sure what you're trying to say. But one of the curiosities of life is how two equally intelligent and capable people can end up in very different financial places simply by picking different career tracks.

I do think there is an element of "oh, insurance/accounting, it's so BORING" sentiment when you're 21 and trying to figure out what to do with your life and the concept of the 45hr corporate workweek and being shackled to the desk is oppressive when you're footloose and fancy-free in college. So you decide on a creative/interesting/cool master's track (with debt) to end up an urban planner or social worker. Because working in cities is cool. Helping people is cool.

Then one day you wake up and realize the the dull and risk averse kids are taking home comfortable six figure incomes and buying comfortable houses in good school districts, all without too much stress while you languish at 75k in a job that is actually more demanding and delivers less rewards and still can't afford the city you live in.

People are fascinating.

This is so true! I can personally relate. I was the kid who never would have considered something like accounting in college but as a middle aged adult wish I would have had the foresight to make different career decisions. But then again my work has always been interesting so who knows.

I can relate to both posts above. I’m in my 40s, on second career of helping people and making 80,000. No complaints but now at my age I really wish I had gone into accounting. Back when I was 22, I was going to travel the country, the world, and save people! I think at my stage in life now, I’d like accounting. My college friend had a job at a Big 4 before graduating and is still with them and has done very well. My son is a first year college student, undecided but leaning towards BBA/finance and so many people, myself included although I can’t say much, are encouraging him to go the accounting route. But then they throw in the “boring” term which a 18 yo doesn’t want to hear. He’s similar to OP’s son and I don’t really see him as a finance fast smooth talker. Hoping he chooses the accounting path.

My accounting professor invited actual accounting professionals to have career talk during undergrad. The first one was a senior accountant with P&G making 90k (this was solid in 2005).
A second accountant worked for the state government. If she worked 45 hour during one week, she got to work 35 hour the subsequent week.

You had a good accounting professor!

[Anonymous]

Didn't read the whole chain but actuary