Your expectations Vs Realty with their chosen profession.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Extremely disappointed my daughter wants to be a psychologist. She is very bright and hardworking — could’ve gone into tech or medicine if she wanted

Take heart, PP--remember the world is not black and white. The behavioral health private practice I work for these days is owned by a married couple with an LCSW (him) and an MBA (her). They own just under a dozen offices in a major metropollitan area staffed by 70+ clincians. I won't disclose financial details here, but their HHI is significantly more than two salaried psychiatrists. I hope this eases your anxiety.

Since your daughter is bright and hard working, I imagine she has the capability to create something similarly lucrative, if that is/becomes important to her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Expectation: some deep thinker or public intellectual, going for PhD in economics and eventually getting tenure.

Reality: a finance bro. I hope it’s a phase.

PS: I would never say it out loud, only on an anonymous forum.

Why would you hope it’s a phase? Finance professionals can certainly better support their families than, say, academics or “public intellectuals”

PP. I work in a, say, Wall Street adjacent area, and I see up close that there is a cost to that life. It’s totally OK to try it out in your 20s, but to make it your life, you have to have a very clear understanding of certain things. For example, some of those jobs don’t age well, meaning that there are people being chewed by the system.

I do as well as a finance professional, and I was raised by a PhD psychologist. I am utterly unconvinced the finance bro model is the way to go, particularly if you are not a "bro." Chewed up and spit out is all too common and there is no underlying core value to keep you grounded. I actually think you are depraved in values if you can't see how being in a "helping" profession might be a positive life decision, even if they "only" make 250k.

I disagree here. Yes, Wall Street requires long hours but there are tons of exit options where you can leave Wall Street and get a normal job that won't chew you up AND still pays more than a normal job. Such as finance person at a large nonprofit.

Lots of finance jobs provide value to the real world. A CFO of a portfolio company for a private equity firm needs to work with a CEO about how to chart a course for the company to be sustainably profitable, which allows the company to produce goods and services that people want and provides employment. Not everyone with a finance background is just trying to front run ETFs or something.

You should be proud of your DS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did your DC exceeded your expectations or not, specially knowing their potential.

They do. One doesn't, even though she is a high earner at a big company.

[Anonymous]

I will be happy if they are not working in a sandwich shop at age 30. That is about my expectation.

Yep! Neither one of my kids was interested in a career that was going to end up lucrative nor were they interested in studying something they don't like. One is hoping to end up a fed like both parents (a GS 13 and 14 - the horror!) and the other hopes to be a working musician and has a decent plan. I feel like they will end up happy and fulfilled but there may be bumps along the way and it might take a little while. At least they don't have student loans.

[Anonymous]

Happy with both kid outcomes. Both are doing well in their careers - one is a lawyer one is a consultant. Both make good money and can support themselves plus their hobbies and travels. They seem to enjoy what they do and the friends they have made in their careers. I think they are especially proud of as their self sufficiency as many of their friends rely on parental support to live NYC, LA etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Extremely disappointed my daughter wants to be a psychologist. She is very bright and hardworking — could’ve gone into tech or medicine if she wanted

Speechless at your post. You should be proud of her.

Why are you “speechless?” Money is important to us — we are not a rich family and want DD to be upwardly mobile

You should educate yourself before you judge. Our kids’ psychologists make $240-$270 an hour. No insurance accepted and they have long waitlists. She will do well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I will be happy if they are not working in a sandwich shop at age 30. That is about my expectation.

Yep! Neither one of my kids was interested in a career that was going to end up lucrative nor were they interested in studying something they don't like. One is hoping to end up a fed like both parents (a GS 13 and 14 - the horror!) and the other hopes to be a working musician and has a decent plan. I feel like they will end up happy and fulfilled but there may be bumps along the way and it might take a little while. At least they don't have student loans.

This! I have a college senior and sophomore. Neither care about being rich and don’t want high pressure careers. I just want them to be happy with what they choose. I’m glad they won’t start their careers with student loans because they were practical and chose UMD. I tell them all the time they don’t need our approval. I’m sure there will be some bumps but they will find a way to support themselves. They already have demonstrated a great work ethic throughout school and their internships.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I will be happy if they are not working in a sandwich shop at age 30. That is about my expectation.

Yep! Neither one of my kids was interested in a career that was going to end up lucrative nor were they interested in studying something they don't like. One is hoping to end up a fed like both parents (a GS 13 and 14 - the horror!) and the other hopes to be a working musician and has a decent plan. I feel like they will end up happy and fulfilled but there may be bumps along the way and it might take a little while. At least they don't have student loans.

This! I have a college senior and sophomore. Neither care about being rich and don’t want high pressure careers. I just want them to be happy with what they choose. I’m glad they won’t start their careers with student loans because they were practical and chose UMD. I tell them all the time they don’t need our approval. I’m sure there will be some bumps but they will find a way to support themselves. They already have demonstrated a great work ethic throughout school and their internships.

I bet they have trust funds. Everyone else needs to worry about housing, childcare, and retirement — which are all very expensive in this day and age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Happy with both kid outcomes. Both are doing well in their careers - one is a lawyer one is a consultant. Both make good money and can support themselves plus their hobbies and travels. They seem to enjoy what they do and the friends they have made in their careers. I think they are especially proud of as their self sufficiency as many of their friends rely on parental support to live NYC, LA etc.

Yes, it is important for kids to go into high-paying careers if they don’t have wealthy parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Extremely disappointed my daughter wants to be a psychologist. She is very bright and hardworking — could’ve gone into tech or medicine if she wanted

Speechless at your post. You should be proud of her.

Why are you “speechless?” Money is important to us — we are not a rich family and want DD to be upwardly mobile

You should educate yourself before you judge. Our kids’ psychologists make $240-$270 an hour. No insurance accepted and they have long waitlists. She will do well.

$250/hr seems pretty paltry. The breakdown is pretty sad:

Most clinical psychologists see around ~two dozen clients a week.

250 times 22 times 50 times 0.7 (most psychologists spend 30% on business expenditures)

=

$192k/year

That’s terrible for someone with a PhD and presumably a decent amount of student debt.

[Anonymous]

I’m disappointed at how many hours they work in return for a middle class income. They are only entry level accountants but still can be working over 50hrs in a week for a salary instead of hourly wage with overtime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Extremely disappointed my daughter wants to be a psychologist. She is very bright and hardworking — could’ve gone into tech or medicine if she wanted

The point is that she is probably well aware of those possibilities and does not want to do those things. Hopefully you are keeping your opinions to yourself and letting her live her own life helping others.

I suggested she be a psychiatrist — pay is much better than psychologist and she will be doing something similar. But she won’t listen!

Are you paying for the med school or just putting the pressure on her to figure it out? It makes a big difference - med school is expensive. No one wants to enter adulthood with $500k in debt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Extremely disappointed my daughter wants to be a psychologist. She is very bright and hardworking — could’ve gone into tech or medicine if she wanted

Is this perhaps why she went into Psychology?

Go on…

[Anonymous]

So proud of my oldest. Brilliant and a hard worker. Doing great in a profession they love. Youngest is still in college and has a very different skill set but the future looks bright for them. In any event I love them both no matter what.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Extremely disappointed my daughter wants to be a psychologist. She is very bright and hardworking — could’ve gone into tech or medicine if she wanted

Speechless at your post. You should be proud of her.

Why are you “speechless?” Money is important to us — we are not a rich family and want DD to be upwardly mobile

You should educate yourself before you judge. Our kids’ psychologists make $240-$270 an hour. No insurance accepted and they have long waitlists. She will do well.

What’s wrong with your kids? You have more than one kid seeing psychologists? Somethings not right there bro.