I became a quant finance guy on Wall St. I was a developer and eventually software engineer / architect for 6 years. It was nice, but did not pay enough to su

I became a quant finance guy on Wall St. I was a developer and eventually software engineer / architect for 6 years. It was nice, but did not pay enough to support a family with kids + home. Sure, I could buy a home in TX or FL or somewhere inexpensive, but then there were not as many software engineering / architect roles. This was all well in my early 20s but did not cut it when I got married, had kids, etc. Wall Street paid commensurate wages for living in job-rich areas. Unfortunately there have been a flood (literally, tens of thousands) of PhDs, mostly from China, who flooded the field and drove wages down. Average wages are now about half of what they were 8 years ago, though you will always hear of outliers. So I switched, AGAIN after being a quant for 7 years. I'm back to being a software-engineer outside Wall St, except as an owner. So I call the shots now, but i'm also exposed to the whims of sales, revenues, profits, and potential bankruptcy.