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Ask HN: How important is money to you?
I feel I just woke up from a nightmare. In the dream, there are people around me who told me that I should have done a different major which would lead me to a more lucrative career. These people told me that I should not go to graduate school because it is hard to find a job in academia and being a professor won't make too much money. I start to become worried and have doubt about what I want.. Now I woke up and felt how I could let these people affect my passion and my belief...
- kowdermeister 14y agoDon't take dreams so seriously. Think of them as a reality check. You just asked yourself that "do I really want this?" and if the answer is yes, then don't worry. If you do worry about money, stop :) Follow what you are passionate about and the rest will come.
- smartial_arts 14y agoI can't say they are not important to me, but I can definitely see that importance, or rather pleasure from earning more than certain amount flattens out for me rather quickly. Very much like in this paper [1]. A bit of a personal story. When I just moved to Australia from Russia, there was a sudden and pleasant change in both levels of income and quality of life. I started with mere $50k salary (2006) that I managed to double ($115k) in a couple of years (2008). This second change probably didn't feel as great as the first one, although it registered as kind of being nice. Fast forward to 2012 and $140k of income - I honestly couldn't care less. Although it wasn't linear increase in after-tax money, yet still it was rather significant. Did it feel good? Barely. I have a blog post [2] that somewhat touches on that. What's more important for me now? Being owner of my time and how I spend it. Money? Important, but only up to certain limit. Hope it answers your question. Thanks! [1] http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/if-money-doesnt-make-you-happy-consider-time http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/if-money-doesnt-make-you-happy-c... [2] http://blog.nimblegecko.com/why-i-quit-my-job/ http://blog.nimblegecko.com/why-i-quit-my-job/