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What is the dollar value for which you are willing to sell the prime of your life? If someone offered you $500,000 over the course of three years to give up you

What is the dollar value for which you are willing to sell the prime of your life? If someone offered you $500,000 over the course of three years to give up your mid- or late-twenties, would you take it?

toomuchtodo 9y ago
Mid 30s here, and I left tech to go into financial services because the total comp is so much higher as the parent comment alludes to after spending several years doing what I thought was fulfilling work (but it was not). If I can make X in tech, or 2X-3X in financial services dealing with more day to day pain, I’m taking more money every day of the week. I don’t care about the team, the mission, the working environment, just the total dollars.
- ska 9y ago
  It's worth noting though, that this is how industries (e.g. finance) that look at it this way are filled with people (e.g. you) who look at it this way. That doesn't mean they've achieved some sort of global optimum. Confirmation bias is a significant effect here, and it works the same way for people who are doing what they consider to be "socially meaningful" work, or whatever, as for people who are "maximizing paychecks".
  - toomuchtodo 9y ago
    Entirely possible. Luckily there are enough jobs to go around for both the “F you pay me” and the “Cash is not king” tech workers. There are waaaaaay more startups claiming to help the social good or that they’re changing the world versus the number that are just money-driven enterprises. My problem is the disingenuity and virtue signaling being used to underpay workers.
Simon_says 9y ago
That's not far off from what I did. I got total after tax compensation of around $4MM for 4 years of intense work. I consistently worked around 100 hours per week. So basically no life at all besides eat/sleep/shower/gym/work. No social life. No hobbies. No family time. No down time - for 4 years. It took a toll, but it was worth it in my opinion, as I'm financially independent now and I retired early, and I will never work another job that I'm not absolutely in love with. I would repeat the same thing again if given a choice, and a lot of poor bastards work more for less compensation, so I count myself fortunate to have had the opportunity. However, I think $500,000k for 3 years is probably not a great deal, and I probably wouldn't have accepted that bargain.
megaman22 9y ago
Hell yes. Most people give up the primes of their lives slaving for far less lucre.
- passiveincomelg 9y ago
  Been there, done that (to myself). Didn't even get a t-shirt.
cableshaft 9y ago
Considering I gave up three years of my mid twenties for about $150k (total) for two different startups, yeah probably. ...yeah, I'm still a bit bitter about the compensation. Not necessarily the experience, though.

toomuchtodo 9y ago

Mid 30s here, and I left tech to go into financial services because the total comp is so much higher as the parent comment alludes to after spending several years doing what I thought was fulfilling work (but it was not). If I can make X in tech, or 2X-3X in financial services dealing with more day to day pain, I’m taking more money every day of the week. I don’t care about the team, the mission, the working environment, just the total dollars.

ska 9y ago
It's worth noting though, that this is how industries (e.g. finance) that look at it this way are filled with people (e.g. you) who look at it this way. That doesn't mean they've achieved some sort of global optimum. Confirmation bias is a significant effect here, and it works the same way for people who are doing what they consider to be "socially meaningful" work, or whatever, as for people who are "maximizing paychecks".
- toomuchtodo 9y ago
  Entirely possible. Luckily there are enough jobs to go around for both the “F you pay me” and the “Cash is not king” tech workers. There are waaaaaay more startups claiming to help the social good or that they’re changing the world versus the number that are just money-driven enterprises. My problem is the disingenuity and virtue signaling being used to underpay workers.

Simon_says 9y ago

That's not far off from what I did. I got total after tax compensation of around $4MM for 4 years of intense work. I consistently worked around 100 hours per week. So basically no life at all besides eat/sleep/shower/gym/work. No social life. No hobbies. No family time. No down time - for 4 years. It took a toll, but it was worth it in my opinion, as I'm financially independent now and I retired early, and I will never work another job that I'm not absolutely in love with. I would repeat the same thing again if given a choice, and a lot of poor bastards work more for less compensation, so I count myself fortunate to have had the opportunity. However, I think $500,000k for 3 years is probably not a great deal, and I probably wouldn't have accepted that bargain.

megaman22 9y ago

Hell yes. Most people give up the primes of their lives slaving for far less lucre.

passiveincomelg 9y ago
Been there, done that (to myself). Didn't even get a t-shirt.

cableshaft 9y ago

Considering I gave up three years of my mid twenties for about $150k (total) for two different startups, yeah probably. ...yeah, I'm still a bit bitter about the compensation. Not necessarily the experience, though.