Comments on: Is Money All There Is? Why Chasing the Big Dollars Isn’t the Answer for Everyone

By: Anni

Anni — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 23:29:55 +0000

I work for a non-profit and struggle daily with the should I stay or should I go question. The rewards are high, the pay is low. Unfortunately, retirement cannot be funded adequately on what I make, so at some point it may be necessary to make a career move.

By: Dan

Dan — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:58:26 +0000

The issue is, how long can one work on dreams and good feeling about what they do alone. I happen to have married a wonderful woman who is a very talented Counselor that worked in social services for 10 years (community mental health- as a crisis counselor no less) and was heads and shoulders better than most of her contemporaries. After 10 years, continuing her education all the way to a Masters Degree, she left.
Not because it wasn’t rewarding, but because the money never was going to get any better and I for one value her more at home than a measly $15 and hour she got working.
Love of you job is one thing, but in the end you have to be able to get paid for your time and sacrifices (not being home to raise you kids, not being able to align schedules for vacations, not being home to make your home the showcase it can be) you make by working.
Not saying you should do what you hate for the $$$, but if you are going to sell your time (which is what everyone does when they work, from prostitute to CEO) you should at least be able to make the sale ‘wash’ in your approximation of what your free time is worth.

By: Ryan McLean

Ryan McLean — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:41:49 +0000

But truthfully your ‘loser’ brother could use his skills to start his our councelling service and earn a lot more money. He could also train people how to deal with certain situations that he is really good at dealing with and even run conferences in order to turn his passion into success. It may look a little different to what he is doing now but it is still his passion.
Passion only equals success when you use smarter tactics. This is what I want to encourage people to do at my entrepreneurial blog http://www.smarterwealth.net
I love your blog btw

By: Ryan S.@uncommon-cents.net

Ryan S.@uncommon-cents.net — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:05:36 +0000

Hey, I’m a social worker with a master’s and clinical license, -and- a personal finance blogger.

Yes, social workers don’t get paid incredibly well, but there’s opportunities in everything and trust me, I am financially way better off than many who make far more than I… not because I make more, but because I waste less.

I also look for ways to increase my income, including a part time job and my blog… I have other projects as well. All I’m saying is that doing something you love that might not be high earning doesn’t mean you’re financially doomed. Find ways to make it work.

By: Andre Kibbe

Andre Kibbe — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:29:05 +0000

Carlos treads heavily, but speaks the truth. It sounds like his brother’s noble intentions have blinded him to other, mutually beneficial options, like getting higher paying social work (as other commenters have noted exists). At 39 and near minimum wage, he’s virtually lost the ability to retire, which would have enabled him to volunteer his counseling experience at his discretion.

By: vivano

vivano — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 06:15:40 +0000

In terms of the previous post on how to find a job I did everything wrong. I felt obliged into my career by my family, I’m good at maths so I do it. But at the end of the day the family I come from means I also get a lot of support and I take an afternoon off a week to play golf … not what most junior staff would get in their jobs. There are parts of it I like the maths, not being cooped up in the office all day – I wouldn’t say I was very passionate about my job but looking at it in terms of the spectrum I don’t feel I’m that badly off either.

By: Lenore

Lenore — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 02:42:54 +0000

If someone with a Master’s degree is making only $8.50 an hour, he’s in the WRONG social work job. With a B.A. in English, I started out at $7.90 an hour at a St. Louis area AIDS agency back in 1992. By the time I left eight years later, I was making over $30,000 a year with decent benefits and living quite comfortably. No way, no how, would I do such emotionally taxing work for under $12.50 an hour/$25,000 a year. Charity begins at home, and if you can’t support yourself or family, it’s time to move on.

On the other hand, I adopted a cat recently from a woman who said she works 60 hours a week as the UNPAID director of an animal shelter. Her wedding ring diamond was the size of a Monopoly house, so I assume she married rich or somehow acquired a nice chunk of change. But more dazzling than the rock was her smile and air of blissful serenity. She was “do what you love” personified and radiated contentment. Of course, it doesn’t matter whether “the money will follow” if you have plenty already. Striking a balance between satisfying work and a survivable salary is paramount.

By: Kim K

Kim K — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 23:32:42 +0000

This was a very good article for me at my point in life. I am the person that was good at math and problem solving, so I became and engineer. I am still an engineer because I like the paycheck, but more and more I do feel the emptiness build. Looking back, I wish that I chose to think more about my passion in life and not just something that I’d be good at. My husband is more of the artistic type and doesn’t know what he wants to be. He recently found a retail job that he absolutely loves. I kept pushing him for the longest time to go to school to make more money and he felt that was his duty too from our parents. We’ve recently discovered and accepted that he has a different path in life that he will pursue than what my path took me. Unfortunately that means that I’ll always be the breadwinner, but we’re ok with that. The next biggest struggle is to get our parents to be ok with that. The times are changing to where it’s not all about the money and the prestigious career. It’s taken us 8 years of our marriage to get here, but the journey has been worth it. This article helped to reinforce the latest turn in our lives. Thanks for the great article, it was exactly what I needed to read.

By: Gigi

Gigi — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 21:22:18 +0000

I’m a single mom with 2 kids to take care of but traded in my “big money” position for one I have “passion” for. I worked in Accounting for many years (and loved it) and when my employer sold the business I was transferred to a Sales position. I made great money (much more than the Accounting position) but really didn’t like my job at all. I quit after a year and a half and went back into Accounting. I LOVE my job, I actually look forward to going to work! It pays much less than the Sales position did, and it’s harder for me financially, but I’m happy doing the work I do. I think it’s true that you need to be happy with your job, even though you’re making less money. It’s worth it when you really like the work you do.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 18:33:46 +0000

So what you’re saying, Trent, is that you’re using the word “passion” in the job interview sense, where everything you like to do is your “passion.” That seems a little weird to me.

By: Tom

Tom — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 16:18:32 +0000

I’ve been thinking about this topic lately. I chose a field that requires an incredible amount of skill, talent, work ethic, etc. to do. Unfortunately, the long hours for an hourly rate that works out to much less than minimum wage don’t correspond with the required skill level. It’s painful to think that I made more money hourly in high school than I do right now.

But I have gotten mad about the money before and tried various other jobs in offices, in establishments where the pay is higher and the quality of product less but I am miserable all day and dread going to work.

I would much rather do work that I enjoy doing for much less money than work I hate doing for a larger paycheck. I have the luxury of being able to do this now, if I had a family or other responsibilities this wouldn’t be possible.

By: Peter

Peter — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 16:13:25 +0000

I tend to agree with Carlos above. Seems to me that there is a difference between following a passion and trashing your future and potentially your family to do it. There is a differnce between calculated risk in following a passion versus not wanting to go beyond your comfort zone and move on in your life. Look at some of the American Idol contestants who think they are the next great singer, but while not “horrible” how much would anyone honestly pay to see them perform (how much have we heard about the losing seventeen or so from each season, very few of them even go on to be able to make a living with their voices). At some point you have to get real about what you are doing and if it can really feed you or a family. To say money makes no impact, or should make no impact on a decision, is sadly the choice of the idiots who use it as an excuse to leech off of others. “I don’t want to work for the man, can you lend be a hundred this month? Can I crash at your house for a while? Can I eat your food, use your utilities, invite my loser friends over? What do you mean I have to get my own money for art supplies, I’m following my passion, you just don’t understand.”

I’m all for the balance, I just think you have to guard against using the pursuit of a passion as an excuse for you other life commitments.

By: jlene18

jlene18 — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 16:02:05 +0000

Perhaps instead of referring to his brother as a “loser”, the above-mentioned could address his concerns in a POLITE way about his brother’s retirement along with the offer of some helpful ideas for it.

HOWEVER (and I stress this strongly!!), just because you have the ability (or intelligence) to do great things doesn’t mean that you WANT to do them – it is NEVER a “waste” of life to contribute, even in small ways. If your passion doesn’t pay millions, but you’re comfortable with that lifestyle, who is to say that you’re wrong? Not everyone wants to live in a McMansion with 2.5 kids, a dog, and 2 humongous SUVs.

I am currently at this situation, in a small way, where next year I will be able to go back to college as a non-trad student, and THIS time, *I* get to pick what I want to do, as my husband isn’t pressuring me to pick a major to “support myself”. You wouldn’t believe what a relief this is, to know that the choice I make doesn’t matter so much as my HAPPINESS with my choice – it’s quite liberating, and I can see now why some would choose to work for their passions instead of for the money.

By: ImJuniperNow

ImJuniperNow — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 15:55:47 +0000

Terrific.

And when you’re old and can’t afford a can of catfood to feed yourself, where has all this passion gotten you?

Get a real job, put your time in and then be able to re-invent yourself later in life when you can make it really count.

By: nuveena

nuveena — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:23:46 +0000

Something else to ask yourself is this: Is it your job that’s making you unhappy or is it the place where you work that’s making you unhappy? Maybe you don’t need a career change so much as a change of employer.

I find myself in the same situation. I love the job that I do now. It’s the place I work at that’s stressing me out and making me unhappy. It’s the knowledge that my experience and skills in a highly technical field are worth as much as someone bagging groceries or delivering pizzas, or at least that’s how my employer values them (and I probably make more than other people in my same job, too). And I mean no disrespect to people who do those others jobs, either. (Been there, worked those jobs myself.) My point is the high degree of technical knowledge and skill required to do my job is worth the same in the eyes of my employer as a type of job where no experience is required. I got the position I am currently in based just on experience and skill. However, in order for me to find the same type of job somewhere else, I lack the right piece of paper to acquire one. This is what started my soul searching on a possible career change and led to my decision to go back to school.

I think it’s also a sad commentary on our society that something like social work or child care pay so little.

By: Greg Duszynski

Greg Duszynski — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:08:41 +0000

About ten years ago when I was at High School I loved riding my bike, when I started my college I got my first job – bike courier – then after few months I just cannot watch at my bike – I quit that job and almost did not ride my bike for a five years.

Also when I was at High School or even earlier I loved classical music (I played piano etc.) – so I made my bachelor in musicology and started to work in mayor opera house. Now after seven years (working there on different posts) I almost cannot listen to classical music, opera especially, and looking for some other job…

I am not criticizing passion element of carieer development – but sometimes we love something just because it is not our whole life, when it start’s to be – we may not enjoy it so much – or maybe it’s different case (mentioned by someone in commnets in yesterday post) – that our life is all the time fluctuating, so should be our carieer approach.

By: Sophia

Sophia — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:00:15 +0000

It’s important to remember that knowing someone’s income does not mean we know anything about their standard of living, savings, or investment. A friend of mine worked at a coffee shop for $8 an hour about 20 hours a week through college. She had a scholarship that covered books and tuition, but she had to pay for everything else (and there was no on campus housing, just apartments owned by an outside group that were built on campus, so you’re looking at rent and all utilities plus food because their was no meal plan since there were no dorms). At the end of 4 years of living in a one bedroom apartment she had 0 debt and thousands of dollars in savings. She did a number of things that many college students (and people in general) would not do. She has never had a car. She walked if it was within 3 miles. She prefers to wear jeans and t-shirts, and has maybe 4 of the former and 10 of the latter. She cuts and dyes her own hair, clips coupons, and cooks at home. She also is health conscious, so she doesn’t waste money on junk food, and she takes advantage of the on campus gym and library for entertainment, as well as the myriad concerts and events they have. Many of you may say “oh, that’s easier, she’s in college”. But the point is many people could forego/cut down cars, they could make it a point not to eat out, they could go to free events, they could use the Y instead of the fancy gym, etc. etc.

I just wish that the automatic reaction to “shockingly” low wages wasn’t “they’re irresponsible and we’ll have to take care of them later”. Not many people say that when someone making $60K a year buys a $500,000 home on a 30 year note, but isn’t it 6 the same as half a dozen?

By: Nick Wright

Nick Wright — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 13:27:00 +0000

This is something that none of my wife and I’s family even remotely grasp.

Everything is about the money.

I recently quit a very well paying job to take spot at the local Walgreen’s so that I can go back to school and further my education.

My family was thrilled that I’m going back to school. A little less about the quitting of the good job.

But the good job was draining me dry. Even though it was something I loved (photography), it was a very stressful work environment. And there were many times that I’d head to work thinking: “I don’t know if I can handle another day of this.”

So now I’m stocking shelves and printing other people’s photos. But all that stress is gone.

There is so much more to life than money.

By: Denis

Denis — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 09:53:40 +0000

Hi,

I am a 23 years old belgian man and I am currently looking for a job. I can tell I am in the trouble of working for the big Euro to get a house and buy a car or doing something I like.
I read the article and found ‘doing something in the middle’ interesting. But I now need to find which of my passion can be turned into a job that would earn correctly. But I took a step forward reading this article.

It is a very good blog. I got a lot of advices here.

Denis

By: Odd Lot

Odd Lot — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 07:40:22 +0000

Great post, Trent, I love your idea of maximizing value in your career, too many people are only focused on one extreme or another.

It seems to me that the most content people in life are those that don’t really think of wealth in terms of acquiring assets. Their ultimate goal is prosperity. Instead of just wealth, they’re striving for an overall state of abundance, security, and happiness. Hopefully that’s true for many people today, there sure is a lot more enjoyment in wealth if your are able to share that abundance with your friends and loved ones.

Great post!
Odd Lot
http://blog.Money-and-investing.com