Majors/careers for a kid who wants money and work/life balance

[Anonymous]

Op you might want to consider asking the question over in the jobs/careers forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here,

He knows he needs to put in dues. He can work hard. He doesn't want a life that is all work, and he wants to eventually (not immediately at 22) be able to enjoy more expensive hobbies.

At this point, he says he's not interested in marriage or kids. Of course, he's 15 so that could change. For that matter, he could go to college and find something that fascinates him.

I think he'd be a good accountant, if it meant a few months of working around the clock, and then 9 months where he'd have weekends free, and could afford a nice vacation and some expensive equipment for his hobby.

My advice is to live somewhere affordable. We moved from DC to a more.affordable city years ago. Money goes much further, life balance is much better.

This^^^.

Have lived in 3 major metro areas and 2 small-midsized cities. The difference in expectations (in the same profession) is astonishing.

Small-mid = almost everyone assumes and prioritizes work-life balance. And lower COL compensates for lower salaries.

Major metro = much more emphasis on work, work-life balance not prioritized. And higher COL eats up much of the financial advantage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every inexplicably wealthy person I know who doesn’t seem to work much is in commercial real estate or real estate development.

This is a good one.

I’ve also found that people who work in sales (corporate sales, not hawking some cheap little product) tend to work very little for their pay.

I had a 200K-500K sales roll and it was a grind

My 120K roles were less of a grind

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a sophomore who would like to have a comfortable lifestyle. He’s a smart kid, who does well in school, who likes a comfortable lifestyle. He thinks he would be happier with a job he “didn’t hate” that gave him $ to do what he likes on the weekends, than a job he loves with uncertain income, or one with long hours.

He does well in school, math comes easily to him. He’s wondered about careers in data, finance, etc . . . Someone told him patent attorney is a good choice if you want interesting work and a good life style.

Any suggestions for majors and careers that might be a fit?

Im looking for the same!
-50 yo

Yeah, same here.

- much older than 50

Ditto, currently a corporate lawyer. I was told you get paid for the inconvenience!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My spouse has this in biotech but put in a solid decade after undergrads to get the degrees/skills for it. Still, it’s worth it if you can hang for first that ten years.

I think OP’s child is missing the time perspective. A lot of us that are advanced in our career and have a comfortable life worked long hours in our 20s and 30s to get here.

There’s no magic profession that starts you in six figures with 40 hours and significant flexibility. You’ve got to earn it.

agree. surgeon mom who now works 30-40 hour weeks, controllable schedule, ~400k. but it took 8 years of 100+ hour weeks during residency (salary<100k) and another 10 years of 50-60 hour weeks with salary slowly increasing from 250k base. it's a lot of work but i love my patients, colleagues, and teaching.

Love this post!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there's also a concept of putting your dues in. I'm a lawyer and I have good work/life balance now, but my first couple years out of law school were a slog. Same with my spouse, who's an engineer. He has work/life balance now but his first few years he had to do a lot of travel and long hours, especially when he was also finishing his secondary degree. Now this time lined up for us, so it didn't impact our relationship (we got married out of college).

There's an aspect of learning your field so you get more efficient later ad well.

But that's something to consider that your mid to late 20s can be slog time while you build skills and prove yourself.

+1. I slogged for 5 yrs and then coasted for the next 35. It was worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a sophomore who would like to have a comfortable lifestyle. He’s a smart kid, who does well in school, who likes a comfortable lifestyle. He thinks he would be happier with a job he “didn’t hate” that gave him $ to do what he likes on the weekends, than a job he loves with uncertain income, or one with long hours.

He does well in school, math comes easily to him. He’s wondered about careers in data, finance, etc . . . Someone told him patent attorney is a good choice if you want interesting work and a good life style.

Any suggestions for majors and careers that might be a fit?

If you want to be a patent attorney, you probably want an engineering degree.

The best paid patent attorneys are probably litigators.

The venn diagram of engineers that would also make good litigators is pretty small. You are a rare talent and you will be paid like you are a rare talent if you pursue patent law.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a sophomore who would like to have a comfortable lifestyle. He’s a smart kid, who does well in school, who likes a comfortable lifestyle. He thinks he would be happier with a job he “didn’t hate” that gave him $ to do what he likes on the weekends, than a job he loves with uncertain income, or one with long hours.

He does well in school, math comes easily to him. He’s wondered about careers in data, finance, etc . . . Someone told him patent attorney is a good choice if you want interesting work and a good life style.



Any suggestions for majors and careers that might be a fit?

Real estate investing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there's also a concept of putting your dues in. I'm a lawyer and I have good work/life balance now, but my first couple years out of law school were a slog. Same with my spouse, who's an engineer. He has work/life balance now but his first few years he had to do a lot of travel and long hours, especially when he was also finishing his secondary degree. Now this time lined up for us, so it didn't impact our relationship (we got married out of college).

There's an aspect of learning your field so you get more efficient later ad well.

But that's something to consider that your mid to late 20s can be slog time while you build skills and prove yourself.

+1. I slogged for 5 yrs and then coasted for the next 35. It was worth it.

What field?

[Anonymous]

Pharmacist.

[Anonymous]

Influencer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nurse anesthetist

This but douchiest guy I know...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t do medicine. Won’t make it through if you don’t love it and love taking care of all kinds of people.

Burnout is from so many factors.
I’m not burned out because I’ve decreased hours.

Worked full day yesterday as fast as I could with literally no breaks. Snuck in a bite here and there. Was exhausted by the end of the work day. But absolutely loved the day because the work still fascinates me and I truly enjoy connecting with patients, helping patients and learning from them. Don’t at all mind that on call over the holidays.

Love hearing about someone who actually still enjoys working with patients. Please tell us your specialty!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two posters mentioned accounting. Wouldn’t long hours be required Jan-apr in the public accounting fields?

Do corporate accounting. DH did the Big 4/6/8 (or whatever number they’ve merged/split into) and indeed did mega hours in those months. Only managers and partners made The Money. Been on the corporate side now for decades and likes it and its work/life balance much better. Still tedious work at times, and you’re often the bearer of bad (financial) news but it’s steady, respectable work where Al is just another tool in toolbox - not much different than EBS/software replacing columned ledger paper. 🤪

People still need to get paid and someone’s gotta count the last penny (even though they don’t make ‘em anymore). A good accountant is often the last one let go in a buyout or even brought over in a merger. Ask me how we know…..

Neither DC has any interest in accounting but oldest is pursuing the BSN/RN/CRNA route mentioned upthread with the plan of maximum flexibility and commensurate pay given the time/effort for the credentials.

Thank you for the information. My son is an accounting major. I wish I had gone that route.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:General dentist who has their own practice

Having your own practice is a lot of work and typically not for someone who just wants to phone it in. Running the business is a whole separate thing from working on teeth.