NY times article on balancing pay and happiness

Anything to do with the traditional world of get a degree, get a job as well as its alternatives
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wheatstate
Posts: 98
Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2011 4:51 am

NY times article on balancing pay and happiness

Post by wheatstate »

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/24/upsho ... d=fb-share

Here is a NY times article discussing the balance between finding a higher paying job vs. believing in your employer's mission with a job you love.
The articles summary is choose a job that you love that meets your minimal finacial needs.

It seems that different people are at different places of that spectrum. Should you try to define an amount/timeline to accumulate to get to ERE, or does a job you love become more important?

The ERE people have earned that flexibility.
The people in accumulation sometimes are not at their favorite job.
The young people are trying to decide what path to take.

I believe that ERE allows you to choose doing the "work/activities" you truly believe by being financially independent.

wood
Posts: 355
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2015 5:53 am

Re: NY times article on balancing pay and happiness

Post by wood »

I know people who, regardless of pay, found their "dream job" and hence don't really see the point of ERE.

And just like the luxury is not eating expensive food but being able to enjoy the simplest of foods, they find enjoyment in a lot of different activities and that becomes their leverage to freedom.

Lucky C
Posts: 755
Joined: Sat Apr 16, 2016 6:09 am

Re: NY times article on balancing pay and happiness

Post by Lucky C »

Your love of a job may change dramatically after a few years at that job. If you go for the job that you think will make you happy, for example the lower paying non-profit that really helps the world, you may love it on day one but be bored out of your mind after a year. Then you're further behind both FI-wise and career expertise-wise vs. the demanding for-profit job you could have taken.

If you had gone with that other for-profit job making consumer crap, for example, maybe you would have trouble with it aligning with your values and maybe it would have seemed too stressful at first. However if you just focus on doing the best you can, mitigating stress, and forming good relationships with colleagues, after a year you may be really proud of the challenges you've overcome - and handsomely rewarded for it too.

This is how I am tackling the balance - by opting for the higher paying path and getting in the right work habits and mindset so that it works. I may not be happy to go to work every day, but I am satisfied and certainly not depressed or overly stressed at this point. It is difficult figuring out how to be happy or at least satisfied no matter where you work, but I believe it can be done.

Being a part of a company where you don't agree with the mission or don't see the point of it can be tough, but for me it comes down to being very busy just focusing on my tiny role in the system and not having time to even question the pointlessness of the big picture, or when I do think about the big picture, realizing that my role in it is less than about 20% of my lifetime. Hopefully I will be free to spend the majority of my life doing things that are aligned with my morals and happiness, regardless of how much they pay (or don't pay)!

BRUTE
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Joined: Sat Dec 26, 2015 5:20 pm

Re: NY times article on balancing pay and happiness

Post by BRUTE »

brute sees it close to Lucky C. maybe this is just the preference scale of different individuals.

brute would advise to get the highest-paying job that doesn't completely suck one's soul. and importantly, doesn't suck one's health. because many jobs do that. health is harder to buy back than just mere time.

Did
Posts: 693
Joined: Mon Apr 01, 2013 7:50 am

Re: NY times article on balancing pay and happiness

Post by Did »

Indeed @brute that's exactly right.

Having said that you may trade some soul or health for wealth if it shortens the period of pain.

I don't know how I would have saved for my modest FI outcome if I had a normal paying job. Many who did seemed to have a great run in the markets.

wheatstate
Posts: 98
Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2011 4:51 am

Re: NY times article on balancing pay and happiness

Post by wheatstate »

Excellent thoughts.

Sliding scale of payment and enjoyment.
Happiness level changing after time at the job.
Needing to make progress towards ERE.
Finding the rate at which you are crossing the line.
Getting to great situations either made possible be ERE or so ERE is not 100% needed.

The advice that I like for new college graduates entering the workforce is "What you learn, not what you earn is most important at your first job."

Thanks for sharing.

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