Low-paying dream job vs. high-paying boring job

[Othelos]

I considered (aerospace) engineering, as well, but I don't like math or physics that much, so it kind of went out the window. lol

Programming. The terminal does all the math for you.

not in college

[Courlany]

A recent study I saw, said that "64% of Millennials would rather make $40,000/year at a job they love than $100,000/year at a job they think is boring."

So, would you rather have a low-paying job that you love, or a high-paying job that's boring?

- Let's assume that both jobs would be the same amount of work and difficulty.
- Let's say that the salary of the dream job is $30,000, and the salary of the boring job is $250,000. You only have to support yourself, so ignore everything about supporting a family or extended family.
- Your salary will be set at this for life, but it'll be inflation-adjusted: you'll never move up the payscale, but you'll maintain your purchasing power
- Would you rather have the low-paying dream job, or the high paying dream job? How much would the salary have to be to convince you to take the boring job?
- Is money or enjoyment(a dream job) at your job more important?

This is setup to be unrealistic. $30,000 is the salary of a full-time PhD student with the most grand stipend...sigh...few agree to that life. Let's say dream job is $45,000 and boring job is $115,000, you would still be hard pressed to find someone who would take the dream job. I, too, wouldn't. But, if I had to choose thus.

My dream job would be to teach physics at a well-regarded preparatory school like in the films `Dead Poets Society' or `Emperor's Club'. The boring job would be to intern at Stratton Oakmont (i.e. for 'Wolf of Wall Street') at New York City.

[Koopaville]

In other news, 64% of Millenials are dumb sacks of sh*ts who don't know the first thing about long-term planning. What on earth is wrong with my generation...I'd take the high-paying boring job, that way I can retire earlier and do what I love when I'm still young.

[Arcov]

In other news, 64% of Millenials are dumb sacks of sh*ts who don't know the first thing about long-term planning. What on earth is wrong with my generation...I'd take the high-paying boring job, that way I can retire earlier and do what I love when I'm still young.

Yes, because if your dream job requires being employed under someone, or taking part in something that requires relevant work history will let you do that. You could do a hobby maybe.

And, yes, making fun of the rest of your generation doesn't make you any better.

[Mushet]

In other news, 64% of Millenials are dumb sacks of sh*ts who don't know the first thing about long-term planning. What on earth is wrong with my generation...I'd take the high-paying boring job, that way I can retire earlier and do what I love when I'm still young.

An American tourist was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.

Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The tourist complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, "Only a little while."

The tourist then asked, "Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more fish?"

The Mexican said, "With this I have more than enough to support my family's needs."

The tourist then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life."

The tourist scoffed, " I can help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat: With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor; eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You could leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York where you could run your ever-expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"

The tourist replied, "15 to 20 years."

"But what then?" asked the Mexican.

The tourist laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right you would sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."

"Millions?...Then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

[Greed and Death]

This thread is proof that poor people choose to be poor.

Who knew so many had dream jobs at walmart.

[The Althing Confederacy]

I am a metal worker (certified welder, and uncertified "Tin-Basher"): In the employ of Valentine's Armoury.
Thus while not the highest paid metal worker I have a comfortable living and LOVE my job!

[Soviet Haaregrad]

If my food and shelter needs are covered I'd drive a WRC car for free.
Pro-Drive, just saying you should consider it.

[Mefpan]

I'm not sure which one I'd pick. I'd lean towards the dream job but for the fact that 30000 dollars is only 23190 euros, which would mean circa 1900 e per month before taxes, and that would lead to a life where you'd have to count every penny and probably couldn't even afford to drive a car. It's over a thousand euros below the average monthly salary here.

You know, for the sake of the question I mentally adjusted the awfully American wage values to something that's still reasonable in Europe whilst maintaining the entire point of the damn hypothetical - I mean, unless my calculations are wrong, the wage promised for the dream job hypothetical is far below what the average dream job would net you in Europe.

By which I mean to say that you should go for what you like to do. Unless you're dreaming of a career of clearing out trashcans odds are you are going to be able to pay for most of what you want, even if you do end up having to save up money for the more expensive things. At least that makes you understand the attributed value of printed-on paper.

[Dakini]

I considered (aerospace) engineering, as well, but I don't like math or physics that much, so it kind of went out the window. lol

Programming. The terminal does all the math for you.

You know that in order to program a computer to do maths, you have to understand maths in addition to programming, right? The computer will perform mathematical operations, but you have to tell it which mathematical operations to perform (and you also have to know how to make sure that what you think you told the computer to do is actually what you told the computer to do).

In response to the OP, if these were my only options, I might take the boring job earning $250k for a few years while living like I'm only earning $20k (because that's not actually that hard) and then I'd retire before 40.

[United Kingdom of Poland]

I would say dream job, but then again my dream job isn't exactly low paying.

In other news, 64% of Millenials are dumb sacks of sh*ts who don't know the first thing about long-term planning. What on earth is wrong with my generation...I'd take the high-paying boring job, that way I can retire earlier and do what I love when I'm still young.

Ideally your dream job is something that you love, plus even 100,000 a year for only 20 years probably wouldn't sustain you long enough to enjoy all of your early retirement.

[Dazchan]

I'm a teacher.

I did take the low-paying dream job.

[Soldati Senza Confini]

In other news, 64% of Millenials are dumb sacks of sh*ts who don't know the first thing about long-term planning. What on earth is wrong with my generation...I'd take the high-paying boring job, that way I can retire earlier and do what I love when I'm still young.

Problem is you'll end up stressed much younger plus you'll end up just wasting your life in monetary worries.

The more you have the more you want.

Also, like I said before; this hypothetical is ridiculous because it assumes you will stay at said job forever. Nobody nowadays would actually do that. You pick a field and stick to it and then keep on switching jobs from low-pay to high-pay; or to a job that you feel comfortable with the pay rate.

In other words, if you're hopping fields then you either are not sure what you want to do, have bad luck getting jobs in your field, or you just never learned how the real world really works.

[The Rich Port]

This thread is proof that poor people choose to be poor.

Who knew so many had dream jobs at walmart.

greed and death: hipster-shitting on people who make a conscious choice not to make money but rather to help people with their problems since 2008.

[Great Nepal]

High paying job, duh. You know what I will then do to get rid of boredom? Go on a holiday using the disposable income on Eithad's residence to wherever the hell I want twice a year. Plus I imagine a nice Ferrari to race home to also mitigates any boredom.

[Vladislavija]

On one hand 30K$ for single person is about 2500$/month 0.88 for tax = 2200$/month.

For that money I could - every month:
1) Eat good - 300$
2a) Rent an apartment - 2000$ - (ooops can't do that) (random bay area sample)
2b) Split abovesaid apartment to 2/3 people - 600-1200$
3) Get some clothing 50-100$
4) Eat out / drink on weekends - 200-400$
5) Medical insurance - ???$
6) 401k - 220$
-----------
Sum: 1370-2220$/month

To that should be added:
Computer every other year - approx 500$ / year
Bike (they need parts occasionally) - 100$ / year
Random electronics and tools - x00$ / year

And we easily come to conclusion that 30k$/year for single person who doesn't have his apartment and his company is barely enough. And that is not including wife and kids.

Now if my dream job would have free food and spare stuff which they give me, that would be other story.

And no, this doesn't include competitive mtg decks which are over 200$ and have to be replaced every year, but does include a couple of older games on discounts.

[MERIZoC]

Low-paying job. I'd kill myself before working in a corporate cubicle all day.

[Lalaki]

In other news, 64% of Millenials are dumb sacks of sh*ts who don't know the first thing about long-term planning. What on earth is wrong with my generation...I'd take the high-paying boring job, that way I can retire earlier and do what I love when I'm still young.

An American tourist was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.

Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The tourist complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, "Only a little while."

The tourist then asked, "Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more fish?"

The Mexican said, "With this I have more than enough to support my family's needs."

The tourist then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life."

The tourist scoffed, " I can help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat: With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor; eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You could leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York where you could run your ever-expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"

The tourist replied, "15 to 20 years."

"But what then?" asked the Mexican.

The tourist laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right you would sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."

"Millions?...Then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

[Des-Bal]

Money, used effectively, can buy happiness that is in fact it's entire purpose. The problem is that if you spend the majority of your waking hours doing something that makes you miserable it doesn't really matter how much money you have, you aren't going to be happy. Money is NOT the end game it is a means to an end and if you can get to that end without much money you don't need much money.

[Great Nepal]

In other news, 64% of Millenials are dumb sacks of sh*ts who don't know the first thing about long-term planning. What on earth is wrong with my generation...I'd take the high-paying boring job, that way I can retire earlier and do what I love when I'm still young.

An American tourist was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.

Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The tourist complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, "Only a little while."

The tourist then asked, "Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more fish?"

The Mexican said, "With this I have more than enough to support my family's needs."

The tourist then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life."

The tourist scoffed, " I can help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat: With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor; eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You could leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York where you could run your ever-expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"

The tourist replied, "15 to 20 years."

"But what then?" asked the Mexican.

The tourist laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right you would sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."

"Millions?...Then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

Whats this obsession with retiring; its akin to being unemployed without money worries: ie boring as fuck. Instead of selling the company and retiring, the fisherman could appoint someone as president, COO and be silent CEO, getting healthy pay cheque, traveling the world for going to meetings and signing some papers.

Money, used effectively, can buy happiness that is in fact it's entire purpose. The problem is that if you spend the majority of your waking hours doing something that makes you miserable it doesn't really matter how much money you have, you aren't going to be happy. Money is NOT the end game it is a means to an end and if you can get to that end without much money you don't need much money.

A job, no matter how much you like it will never be as enjoyable as going to Bahamas or Himalayas twice a year in luxury airliner, and have a Ferrari waiting when you land because at end of the day it is still a job with set boundaries and objectives plus in healthy work life balance it is a minor part of your year. If you work standard hours with standard holidays you will work 1784 hours while having 2272 free hours not including the unpaid time off you can take when you have several hundred thousand pounds disposable income.

[Vladislavija]

Low-paying job. I'd kill myself before working in a corporate cubicle all day.

Corporate cubicle is my dream job.

[The Rich Port]

An American tourist was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.

Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The tourist complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, "Only a little while."

The tourist then asked, "Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more fish?"

The Mexican said, "With this I have more than enough to support my family's needs."

The tourist then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life."

The tourist scoffed, " I can help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat: With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor; eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You could leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York where you could run your ever-expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"

The tourist replied, "15 to 20 years."

"But what then?" asked the Mexican.

The tourist laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right you would sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."

"Millions?...Then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

Whats this obsession with retiring; its akin to being unemployed without money worries: ie boring as fuck. Instead of selling the company and retiring, the fisherman could appoint someone as president, COO and be silent CEO, getting healthy pay cheque, traveling the world for going to meetings and signing some papers.

Money, used effectively, can buy happiness that is in fact it's entire purpose. The problem is that if you spend the majority of your waking hours doing something that makes you miserable it doesn't really matter how much money you have, you aren't going to be happy. Money is NOT the end game it is a means to an end and if you can get to that end without much money you don't need much money.

A job, no matter how much you like it will never be as enjoyable as going to Bahamas or Himalayas twice a year in luxury airliner, and have a Ferrari waiting when you land because at end of the day it is still a job with set boundaries and objectives plus in healthy work life balance it is a minor part of your year. If you work standard hours with standard holidays you will work 1784 hours while having 2272 free hours not including the unpaid time off you can take when you have several hundred thousand pounds disposable income.

So, yeah, you missed the point. Congrats.

[Jukraina]

I would take dream job.... what I'm saying of course high pay because MONEY!

[MERIZoC]

Low-paying job. I'd kill myself before working in a corporate cubicle all day.

Corporate cubicle is my dream job.

*shudders*

Well, to each his own, I guess.

[Keyboard Warriors]

Corporate cubicle is my dream job.

*shudders*

Well, to each his own, I guess.

Any job can be fun if you work with good people.