Anonymous
Post 11/25/2019 23:44     Subject: Now that you have kids, would you have picked a different career
I spent 13 years in biglaw and saved most of my pay then took a 2 year sabbatical before having kids. Found a firm that would let me work a 30% to 50% schedule and still bring home six figures.
Anonymous
Post 11/25/2019 11:49     Subject: Now that you have kids, would you have picked a different career
I am in a demanding job in banking Which is not supportive to parenting, especially as a single mom(which I am). It was extremely difficult for the first 2 years, now that my son is 4 I am happy to be able to provide a good, comfortable life for us.

So perhaps the answer is that different types of careers are ideal for different stages of your children’s lives.
Anonymous
Post 11/24/2019 08:26     Subject: Re:Now that you have kids, would you have picked a different career
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I would've chosen a much higher paying one!


-a teacher


I have a lot of respect for teachers but you had to know it didnt pay well when you studied to do it, right?


DP here, I'm not a teacher but I can say that at 18 years old I was pretty ignorant of how expensive life is and what I would need to get by. I didn't have any idea how much money my dad made to support our lifestyle, and what different lifestyles would be offered by different jobs. I mean, I kind of knew intellectually that teachers are paid less than bankers but honestly it didn't feel like the differences were that big. I was also an idealist who thought that being motivated by passion and helping people was more important than salary. I was raised in a total bubble suburb though and was kind of sheltered/dumb.

This was true for me as well. I grew up LMC with parents who didn't make much money. $42,000 seemed like a huge amount to me at the time


Also no financial education here. My undergraduate degree was in languages because to my parents any college degree was going to get me a job--they had only been to high school. They had no idea how to advise me about majors and my dad was under the old government pension system so he had no idea about self-funded retirement either. I also grew up under that "motivated by passion" umbrella since I knew my parents hated their jobs and I didn't want to be like them. Now I know though that any job that is motivated by passion also means they get to pay you less.


Additional evidence that the teaching industry attracts idiots. Seriously?! You couldn’t even do the basic math that showed 2 + teacher = middle class?! Didn’t you notice that all the teachers in your high school were either married well or driving Mazdas? IT is and always has been COMMON KNOWLEDGE that teachers struggle financially, it’s in every movie, book, and tv show. To ignore this is willful ignorance.


Teachers can make decent money depending on the region. Veteran teachers in Montgomery County make low six figures and can start working on their early 20s. They can have the county subsidize their master's degree while still working. I'm married to another educator and we make $225,000. We will have 2 pensions at 55 and pull in around $160,000 in pensions. We both had full scholarships to school so no student debt. We started investing our money as soon as we began working and had over 1 million in assets before we turned 40. It's not crazy dcum money but it is a very comfortable living.
Anonymous
Post 11/24/2019 01:07     Subject: Now that you have kids, would you have picked a different career
Anonymous wrote:I have great flexibility and love my work but only get 60k. Good thing DH earns more. My DD is choosing not to pursue an MD for work life balance concerns, as well as the cost and length of med school.


Medical field will become more flexible in future as telemedicine grows and impact of technology means doctors dont always need to be in the same location as a patient.
Anonymous
Post 11/22/2019 19:09     Subject: Now that you have kids, would you have picked a different career
I did switch careers after kids.

I miss the old one, but I just couldn't keep up with the hours and travel. Now I teach, which is kid friendly, I enjoy it, but am sometimes bored (not bored as in not enough to do, just monotonous sometimes). I also started with a beginner teachers salary while my teacher friends my age are making close to 100.