Steering child to a high-paying career?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s no one approach to career advice but this is what we do in our family:

We share insight with DC about how much their current “lifestyle” costs, and what sort of salary they’ll need to maintain it. Not IB/Big law type jobs/careers, but normal corporate jobs paying up to $300-$500k (later in career).

We also talk about moving up corporate ladder quickly while young and energetic, switching jobs every few years to maximize earning potential, and planning financially for layoff in 50s (we have at least 5 friends who haven’t been able to fine FT work since layoff in early 50s) and/or if one spouse wants to stay home.

We also talk about having 2 careers - the first one more corporate/professional per the info above, and the second after 50 where they can pursue another passion - teaching, art, music, podcasting, etc.

We also say, it’s easier to off-ramp a big career than on-ramp. Pursue a big job, if you hate it, you can quit or transition to IC or consulting, something lower pressure, especially if your resume has some solid work experience with well know companies and you’ve built a professional network. But it’s harder to shift from low pay/pressure job to big career if you decide you want /need more.

Great advice. I am in the process of off-ramping a normalish "big" career (base $500k/bonus $350k) to a more passion project/lifestyle career 2.0 at age 50. Had I not put in the professional time early (for 25 years), it would be extremely hard to do this now. My base will likely go down to what my bonus was, with a smaller annual bonus but many more perks/benefits and a much lower stress/time commitment career.

What kind of passion project will you be doing? Your post is confusing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have talked about it but it's difficult because neither are drawn toward money-making careers. They also see how some of these careers are incredibly stressful and can have poor quality of life.

This!

Being poor and underpaid is also incredibly stressful and definitely results in poor quality of life.

There is a middle ground.

I have seen a lot during my career. Some died of heart attack in a client meeting. Other overdosed while divorced.

You’ve seen multiple people die of a heart attack in meetings??

[Anonymous]

I am “pushing” (kids are 7-13) my kids to high paying careers.
What I’m saying now at this young age—“Think about these jobs, and don’t rule it out. You all have a lot of privilege. You have a better childhood than me, and I had better than my parents. My grandparents—one was an orphan who had money, but it was taken from him.

“You have a lot of opportunities, and you don’t need to love those college majors or jobs. That won’t make me happy, but don’t turn it down. Not yet. Think about the good things you can do with those jobs.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, why not? Many people who are paid low wages work just as hard, if not harder, than those making much more. Sorry, money is important, and I'm not going to tell them it's not.

You forgot middle wages, most people make wages somewhere in the middle. If people are honest about their kids abilities we aren’t talking about the 1% salaries for most of them. Neither are we talking about low wages.

Maybe they can punch above their weight by majoring in something that may pay off, despite their "abilities."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing wrong with talking about what type of lifestyle he wants to live and how he support that. Ideally, he will find a career he loves that allows him to live comfortably and happily. That’s hard to find though. He may have to compromise and explore careers that may not provide everything he wants but pay well.

Careers that pay well include Medicines, Investment Banking/Hedge Funds/Private Equity, Consulting, Law, and Tech. However, for most of these, you have to be in the top quartile of the firms, and inside the firms, you have to be in top quartile of employees. For example in Consulting or Law, you have to be a Partner at a top firm to make $2M-$4M+ a year.

I don’t know why people talk about lawyers making 2-4 million. That’s less than 1% of lawyers. It makes more sense to discuss the 99% who don’t make 7 figures. I wouldn’t persuade my child to into a boring field of law because it’s a high salary. A state prosecutor or public defense attorney both start with low salaries but if that’s what your child is interested in that’s what they should do. I know plenty of attorneys on the low end of salaries and they have houses! Even summer cottages!

Tech is something your kid already knows if it might be something he’s interested in or definitely not.

This is why a backup to differentiate yourself and potentially fall back on isn't a bad idea in law.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my opinion, if he is smart enough to go to a T10 college, then he is smart enough to figure this out on his own. I would back off and let him.

The above is terrible advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, why not? Many people who are paid low wages work just as hard, if not harder, than those making much more. Sorry, money is important, and I'm not going to tell them it's not.

You forgot middle wages, most people make wages somewhere in the middle. If people are honest about their kids abilities we aren’t talking about the 1% salaries for most of them. Neither are we talking about low wages.

Maybe they can punch above their weight by majoring in something that may pay off, despite their "abilities."

Or simply realizing that they like both X, Y and Z as possible majors, but if Y opens more doors, and has pathways to more higher paying jobs, then the kid might seriously consider majoring in Y.
Or at least know, if you major in X, it will be more work to advance and your upper income is more severely limited (I mean how many social workers do you know making $150K+)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing wrong with talking about what type of lifestyle he wants to live and how he support that. Ideally, he will find a career he loves that allows him to live comfortably and happily. That’s hard to find though. He may have to compromise and explore careers that may not provide everything he wants but pay well.

Careers that pay well include Medicines, Investment Banking/Hedge Funds/Private Equity, Consulting, Law, and Tech. However, for most of these, you have to be in the top quartile of the firms, and inside the firms, you have to be in top quartile of employees. For example in Consulting or Law, you have to be a Partner at a top firm to make $2M-$4M+ a year.

I don’t know why people talk about lawyers making 2-4 million. That’s less than 1% of lawyers. It makes more sense to discuss the 99% who don’t make 7 figures. I wouldn’t persuade my child to into a boring field of law because it’s a high salary. A state prosecutor or public defense attorney both start with low salaries but if that’s what your child is interested in that’s what they should do. I know plenty of attorneys on the low end of salaries and they have houses! Even summer cottages!

Tech is something your kid already knows if it might be something he’s interested in or definitely not.

My brother in law came out of law school with 175,000 in debt and is now getting divorced and lost his home. Depending on what kind of law you go into, the stress isn't worth the unbalanced lifestyle for some types.