Some great food for thought, and I'd love to know your thoughts! I came across a post on instagram the other day from @everydayreading (who used to run a personal finance page) and she titled it "Unpopular Career Advice We're Giving Our Four Girls". Here's the advice: They are encouraging their kids to go after the highest paying jobs they can! And why is this advice considered unpopular? Because society somehow frowns on making decisions based on money (does it just make you seem shallow?), despite the fact that we all make decisions based on money every single day - what we eat, what kind of home we live in, where we live, where we vacation, how many kids we have... She said she's heard from SO many people who say they wished someone had told them how hard it would be to support their family on a tiny salary and that most teens and young adults have no clue how much money will actually matter. The comments on her post are divided, as you'd expect - some of the disagreements say passion is more important than income, not everyone can afford a good education, or that better advice would just be to not take student loans and invest slowly but steadily. Personally, growing up, I was never told to find a job that would pay well. It didn't even occur to me to look into what careers would pay well, which might sound crazy, but it's true. I chose a career based on what I thought I would enjoy (which I don't think is necessarily wrong) and I ended up going to university to become a teacher, which I loved! Now as a mom of two young kids, I'm really thankful for my education degree because it has given me the flexibility to substitute teach, be home with my boys the majority of the time, and avoid putting my kids in daycare. However, I know that working casually wouldn't be possible if my husband didn't have a good paying job and if we lived in a place with a high cost of living. As a young adult, I was absolutely clueless when it came to handling my finances and definitely made poor decisions with money in my early 20s. My parents were always careful with money and lived on a budget, but that skill wasn't talked about or taught. I always say how thankful I am to have married someone who cares so much about finances because I would be a hot mess without @williamwang23. I've learned a lot from him (and others) in our 12 years together and looking back am shocked at how little I knew about managing my money...our boys are still young but I know their financial story will be much different than mine, and the biggest difference will be that we money is a very open topic of conversation in our home. We want them to be set up for success! So I'm curious - what are people's thoughts on this? Should we encourage our kids to make the most money possible? If our kids choose a "passion" job rather than a high salary job, can they still make a comfortable life for themselves if they are financially smart and start investing early? If you have older kids, I'd love to know what this conversation looks like with them!
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DM @dmomo · 2hEdited
My advice to young people (my kids included) is to first figure out what you're good at (not necessarily what you love) and then (with those skills in mind) explore high paying jobs in good demand. Choose a few options (as success in application is not guaranteed) and then work from there.
Will W@williamwang23 · 52m
Great post, thankful for you as well, you handle the household stuff well, while I handle the finances :)
Crazy Canuck Investor @crazycanuckinvestor · 1h
Oh wow this is a great question I was not that great in school. So academically driven work or high salary jobs were not going to fall in my lap. I also had no idea what I wanted to do until I went for a ride along with my neighbour who was a paramedic. From that day I had a drive to become a paramedic. Nothing about that career was driven by the money. Like you I was not good with money I suspect that if @williamwang23 wrote down all his ideas I would get an F in all categories. Then I changed careers. The reason, I wanted more action. Again salary had nothing to do with it. In fact if we look back a great deal If this career was earning a very average salary. Overtime was really the only way to make ends meet. Worst off I put in 1000 of hours of VOT. That’s not a joke. But as I earned more, got married and finally was thrust into our finances I got a real dose of reality. All these years I ignored the most basic financial ideas and it cost me dearly. But rather than tell my kids to get a high paying job I use my new literacy to teach them the skills to deal with their finances the way that I should have. This way they can make better decisions about a career not solely based on the salary. Of course salary is importantly. But like I have been saying recently you also have to enjoy things now. That means don’t take a job just for the salary if you hate the work. Find a balance 🙌
Clantosa @clantosa · 1hEdited
You're going to have to spend 40+ hours at work every week. This is pretty much a non negotiable so if this is the case you mind as well spend it making as much money as possible I agree with the unpopular opinion. It may suck to do a job you hate but it'll suck more to struggle financially. If you're pinching pennies wondering if it's payday yet counting to see if you can afford to go out this week and contemplating whether or not you can have child then you're making far too little money. Even if you love your job these socioeconomic issues far outweigh it I had a university professor who said she loves archeology but the field pays next to nothing. Although this is her dream she could not possibly live on that wage so she opted out to be an archeology professor instead I hate my job but I sure do get paid quite a bit. I can take a full parental leave without looking at the bank account I can go to the store and buy whatever brands I want I can afford vacation I can afford buying the children a bouncy castle for the basement and far too many toys I just bought myself a home gym I can afford to buy a new car if needed and a house and live a pretty good life without stressing about money. The job sucks but I do it so I don't have to struggle elsewhere
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