Low earning professionals, do you regret your career?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I do.

What's done is done, now that I'm mid 50s and I can't change course. What I CAN do is offer explicit, no-holds-barred information to my kid who is heading off to college next year.

I thought when I chose a low paying major @19 that money didn't matter so much as long as I was passionate about whatever it was at the moment. Turns out, money did matter. My kid is starting to say the same kinds of things at the same age -- they're "passionate" about "history." I point out in a way that I wish my parents had that "history" doesn't pay the mortgage and they'll need to monetize that "passion" for "history" very soon.

there have been other threads about this, but middle class (real middle class, not $300k yr dcum 'middle class') Gen X in particular was sold a bridge about do-good passion careers.

[Anonymous]

No, but spouse picked a high paying field. I’m glad we didn’t both decide to be teachers!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Psychologist

Yes, I regret it.

Semi-regrets.... I am a psych and make $138,000...how much do you make?

[Anonymous]

No. I’m a public health practitioner married to a journalist. So low paid for highly educated people with desk jobs, but paid way, way more than service workers, or even the average American income.

Every time I think about doing something that pays more I just can’t see caring enough about it to make it through the daily grind. I’ve got to find meaning in the work itself. So because of the way I’m wired I know I wouldn’t do well in many other fields.

Do I wish I had oodles of money? Sure! But I don’t want that enough to want a different career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did as an architect. I left for an adjacent higher paying field. Glad I got out in my thirties.

Which field did you leave for?

I ask because I have a child who is considering architecture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I like the freedom of no pressure and eating dinner with my family. I make enough and don’t desire any more.

so interesting that you associate low paying careers with no pressure and plenty of family time.

i spent 20 years as a news reporter. low pay, high stress, low family time. left for high paying corporate job a decade ago and only wish i'd done it sooner.

i should note as well that i am not from family money and didn't marry money. just in case this turns into another thread about the npr reporters with trust funds and married to law partners. it's not the same.

I'm married to a journalist and the intense days, long hours and low pay are a tough combo. I sometimes feel like I'm married to someone who is a permanent medical resident. My spouse has to work a lot of holidays too, which is also painful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, but spouse picked a high paying field. I’m glad we didn’t both decide to be teachers!

Well yeah. Few people regret marrying rich.

[Anonymous]

Yes and no. I work for an environmental nonprofit and make less than what kids out of college make in many industries. But, I sleep well at night.

I know tons of people who work in finance and are very comfortable to very wealthy and I sometimes think I should have gone that way, most of them don’t seem terribly smart after all. But, in the past couple of years, as we approach middle age, I have had many of those finance friends say they wish they were doing something to make the world a better place. So, the grass is always greener.

[Anonymous]

Mostly I wish I had not pursued a field that required so much education with such a low cap on earnings (library science). The money is not good enough to justify graduate school loans. I like my job and feel like it is important and worthwhile (and I"m great at it). But you shouldn't need a 3 year masters degree to do it, or if you do, you should make more money. Especially in DC where these jobs are competitive. I work with a decent number of people who have joint JD/MLS degrees and they still aren't making much more than I do. It's dumb.

We either need to be more willing to train people on the job or make graduate school for fields like this less expensive. The current situation makes no sense at all.

[Anonymous]

No. I’m a public health practitioner married to a journalist. So low paid for highly educated people with desk jobs, but paid way, way more than service workers, or even the average American income.

Every time I think about doing something that pays more I just can’t see caring enough about it to make it through the daily grind. I’ve got to find meaning in the work itself. So because of the way I’m wired I know I wouldn’t do well in many other fields.

Do I wish I had oodles of money? Sure! But I don’t want that enough to want a different career.
[Report Post]

I could have written this. I started in a career where I would have made more money and after five years I switched to teaching. I was born to be a teacher, loved it, and was recognized as an excellent teacher. I think you have to know who you are and what makes you happy. Money is nice, but I have had so many great experiences with people in my life and I feel like I did something important with my life.

[Anonymous]

Work for the feds. Never expected wealth, but I did expect my wages to keep up with inflation. They haven't since 2010.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes and no. I work for an environmental nonprofit and make less than what kids out of college make in many industries. But, I sleep well at night.

I know tons of people who work in finance and are very comfortable to very wealthy and I sometimes think I should have gone that way, most of them don’t seem terribly smart after all. But, in the past couple of years, as we approach middle age, I have had many of those finance friends say they wish they were doing something to make the world a better place. So, the grass is always greener.

Eh - I mean you can tell yourself that, but the truth is the finance friends could use their careers - or their money - to make the world “a better place” if they really wanted to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I like the freedom of no pressure and eating dinner with my family. I make enough and don’t desire any more.

so interesting that you associate low paying careers with no pressure and plenty of family time.

i spent 20 years as a news reporter. low pay, high stress, low family time. left for high paying corporate job a decade ago and only wish i'd done it sooner.

i should note as well that i am not from family money and didn't marry money. just in case this turns into another thread about the npr reporters with trust funds and married to law partners. it's not the same.

I'm married to a journalist and the intense days, long hours and low pay are a tough combo. I sometimes feel like I'm married to someone who is a permanent medical resident. My spouse has to work a lot of holidays too, which is also painful.

Permanent medical resident is such a great way to describe working in journalism, especially as a not-rich (money from family or spouse) person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Work for the feds. Never expected wealth, but I did expect my wages to keep up with inflation. They haven't since 2010.

If you’re in a field that pays well in the private sector, you should do that. But federal absolutely pays more for some fields where the private sector market doesn’t exist in the same way (e.g., education, art, research scientist etc). I feel lucky to be making good money as a fed, not rich, but 80-100k more than I would make outside government.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Yes and no. I work for an environmental nonprofit and make less than what kids out of college make in many industries. But, I sleep well at night.

I know tons of people who work in finance and are very comfortable to very wealthy and I sometimes think I should have gone that way, most of them don’t seem terribly smart after all. But, in the past couple of years, as we approach middle age, I have had many of those finance friends say they wish they were doing something to make the world a better place. So, the grass is always greener.


Eh - I mean you can tell yourself that, but the truth is the finance friends could use their careers - or their money - to make the world “a better place” if they really wanted to.

Yes, but there's a big difference between donating money and being the person who has "boots on the ground". If you like the "thrill" of it all, you will be the "boots on the ground", "frontline" person. Some people need to "feel" what they are doing in the moment. They like to problem solve on an individual level. It has a reward that money doesn't have.