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a job you enjoy vs a job that pays a lot?

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a job you enjoy vs a job that pays a lot?

  • gimme enjoyment!

  • gimme money!

  • im on the fence

Results are only viewable after voting.
I could probably make 10X what I make if I worked in Hollywood. I know because I've turned down offers. Sorry but I'm perfectly happy where I am now. 🙂
 
Modelworks said:
Depends. Often the people that claim they can't change jobs because they have so many things that need paying are just people not willing to make the changes and those needs are actually wants.
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Gotta have the latest iTurd, and McMansion with 4 extra rooms that don't get used....
 
lxskllr said:
Gotta have the latest iTurd, and McMansion with 4 extra rooms that don't get used....
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eh, i dont even really use the money for anything, just save\invest it. still driving a 15 year old car, dont go on vacations, dont really buy much besides food & utilites & internets.
 
Modelworks said:
Depends. Often the people that claim they can't change jobs because they have so many things that need paying are just people not willing to make the changes and those needs are actually wants.
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Fair enough but I'm single. Moving around Oregon or even across the country really isnt a big deal to me. But for the average family man thats pretty serious. You gotta balance family with work, cant just change careers at the drop of a hat.
Thats why I dont want to do all that stuff until I'm good and settled in.
 
spidey07 said:
I've got friends that retired shortly after 40. They're enjoying plenty well. Incredibly awesome really and loving life much fuller than somebody that has to be at work everyday.
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Explain to me living life fully . I need to know this thing . Do I shed worldly pleasure or take on pagan ways and live in material world .
 
Modelworks said:
Went from $200k to under $50k and would do it in a second all over again.
Nothing is worth spending the majority of your day hating what you are doing . Spend all that time hating your day with the hope that sometime in some imaginary future things will be better or you can retire. You work at it for 20 years , then two weeks later die in a car crash, that is a wasted life.

The ONLY reason to spend your day doing something you hate is if you have no other choice. Remember nobody is guaranteed tomorrow.
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More to you than most the shallow folks in world.
 
It really depends. Is the higher paying job something that you could learn to like, or will you hate every second of it?
 
I would say tough it out for money for a few years, build a nice nest egg, then go do the fun thing. I hate my low paying job and am hoarding money right now.
 
I made that choice in 2004 and took a 17% paycut in exchange for a much better lifestyle. No more wasting 3 plus hours of my life daily dealing with obnoxious traffic or public transit and the stress of the whims of the government contracting game.
 
Linflas said:
I made that choice in 2004 and took a 17% paycut in exchange for a much better lifestyle. No more wasting 3 plus hours of my life daily dealing with obnoxious traffic or public transit and the stress of the whims of the government contracting game.
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Here's to abandoning Highway 66!
:thumbsup:
 
Having not made this much yet, I think I can still say with confidence I'd be as happy at $75k as I would be at $150k. The advantage to the $150k is I retire earlier.

But if I'm loving what I do at $75k I don't want to retire, so I might as well go for that and not spend years being miserable.
 
Farang said:
Having not made this much yet, I think I can still say with confidence I'd be as happy at $75k as I would be at $150k. The advantage to the $150k is I retire earlier.

But if I'm loving what I do at $75k I don't want to retire, so I might as well go for that and not spend years being miserable.
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When you see your friends retired at barely over 40, you'll change your tune.

"Nah, sorry guys, I gotta work, have fun on your scuba and fishing trip for 7 days, I can't make it. I gotta work. I know you invite me every month for this fun, but I gotta work"

You'll change your tune.
 
Currently going to grad school to change careers... Make 100k now, will make 45k after the switch. Can't wait.
 
spidey07 said:
When you see your friends retired at barely over 40, you'll change your tune.

"Nah, sorry guys, I gotta work, have fun on your scuba and fishing trip for 7 days, I can't make it. I gotta work. I know you invite me every month for this fun, but I gotta work"

You'll change your tune.
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I turn into a mess without any sort of set routine. My ideal job would allow a lot of flexibility for time off, so I can do crazy adventures every so often, but if I was doing something I loved for work I wouldn't mind work being mixed in either.

I think work/life balance doesn't just mean as much "life" as possible, doing work is healthy and makes me feel better.

So I compare 10 years at $150k doing some miserable grind versus $75k at dream job, and I choose the latter. There is some tipping point in there where the $75k job is enough of a grind, or the $150k job is not so bad, where I would choose to retire early. It is a vague question.
 
My wife is going through this, stick with her current job @ ~400k or take a new one with less hours/less stress for ~300k. Im not sure which one is going to win out.
 
CrazyAznDriver said:
Yeah she is working the money job now. I honestly don't know if we would feel the difference in those salaries. If the stress is reduced by half it may be worth it.
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When youre making that much the government takes it all anyway. Take the easy hours and dont burn yourself out.
 
I would almost always take the job that I enjoyed more.

The exception might be if the other job paid MUCH better to the point where I would be able to finance hobbies I would not otherwise be able to. I would also have to be able to work part time.

40 hours a week of something you hate? No thanks.
 
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