Would you work 75-90 hours a week in exchange for wealth

Southpaw

orange iguanas.
Joined
Jul 31, 2005
Messages
7,788
Likes
1
Points
38
Age
32
Location
Minnesota
#21
No no no. God no.

I hate working. I can't see any reason why I'd need to work that much and make THAT much money. There are plenty of other things I'd rather do with my life that make me happier/more "successful". I just need enough money to be comfortable.
 

joce

Active Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2005
Messages
4,448
Likes
0
Points
36
Age
40
Location
Ohio
#22
I'd do it if I could not live extravagantly and could retire early. But the more you make generally the more you spend and you still work like mad.
 

jess2416

Who woulda thought
Joined
Jan 26, 2006
Messages
22,560
Likes
0
Points
36
Age
45
Location
NC
#23
Absolutely not.

I like financial security as much as the next person, but working so many hours that you have no time to be with family and no time for things you truly enjoy just isn't worth it to me.
this ^^
 

sparks19

I'd rather be at Disney
Joined
Jul 7, 2005
Messages
28,563
Likes
3
Points
38
Age
42
Location
Lancaster, PA
#24
Nope. We value so much more above money. Would it be nice to have that stash for financial security? Perhaps but at what cost? We don't need big money to be happy and if we worked those kinds if hours for the big money we would be missing the things that make us happy. NOT worth it. Not even for a year. You never know when your time on earth will end... Not worth it.
 

Lyzelle

Active Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2012
Messages
2,826
Likes
0
Points
36
Location
Colorado
#26
I'd do it. If I was single. And not forever, maybe just a few years. Save up, get better hours or a moderately good job without worry of money issues.
 

Laurelin

I'm All Ears
Joined
Nov 2, 2006
Messages
30,963
Likes
3
Points
0
Age
37
Location
Oklahoma
#27
I will add this: I work an alternate work schedule so 44 hours one week then 36 hours the next. Those 44 hour weeks KILL me. The extra hour for four days and going 5 days a week those weeks is enough.

I can't even imagine working 70 hours (10+ hour days 7 days a week!? no thanks!) let alone 90 hours a week.

My dad is a drilling engineer. I've seen him in crisis mode where he's had to sleep at a hotel downtown for a week straight when something is going wrong. No way would I want that.

A lot of my family is very wealthy (and the other half is very very not lol) with illustrious careers- CFOs, VPs, Presidents, etc so sometimes I feel like a slacker but an impressive career is just not important to me. I want enough money to have a roof over my head, good food on the table, and some fun money for the dogs/things.
 

teacuptiger

floor dancer
Joined
Jul 10, 2013
Messages
1,447
Likes
0
Points
36
#28
Nope. Money is not as valuable as time to me, and lives are too short to be wasting my time just collecting a ton of money that I could not possibly spend entirely (aside from leaving some for family) in my life.
 

Locke

Active Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2010
Messages
1,919
Likes
0
Points
36
#29
I would be tempted if I were single and dogless, but I think I would burn out quickly. I need down time with my family, and my desire for material goods and extreme wealth will never outweigh that.
 

Michiyo-Fir

Active Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2010
Messages
2,494
Likes
0
Points
36
#30
It's funny, I thought of this topic because I had read an article a few days ago on how Goldman Sachs is being extremely radical and innovative to improve new graduate employee's work hours by limiting them to max 75 hours a week. I really know people working 90-100 hours a week for the first 1-2 years of being a n investment banker, sometimes even an intern to try to get their foot in the front door. In fact 100 hour weeks is pretty normal for the first few years on wall street in these types of positions. Yet often 1000 people will apply to 20 positions. Starting salary is not even that much, base salary of 70k to 90k, possibly up to 140k with the yearly bonus.

For most of these kids, they don't have much commute time, most get apartments a few blocks from where they work. For convenience sake, I personally don't know anybody working for high profile investment firms traveling more than 20 min to work.

It's a hard job but most enjoy it I think. Especially boys, especially younger ones straight out of college without a lot of obligations (family, pets, relationships), many work all day long, party all night and love it. And once you're in, most get blinded by greed and money they'll work to the death for it. Or maybe they really enjoy it, I don't actually know. I have 3 uncles that have been doing it for 20-30 years. 2 cousins that started a few years ago and a few relatives trying to get in. But, I think our family knows what they're getting into. For someone that doesn't know and just wanted to live the glamorous lifestyle, it's probably a tremendous shock...to be thrown into a terrible work environment, with an impossible workload and no appreciation.

However, that being said, I think if I were given the opportunity, I would probably do it. Last year, I was working 35 hours a week, plus 15 hours of school a week, plus 12 hours of commute not even including preparing for classes and doing papers/research/assignments. I was up to about 70 hrs a week away from home and my spare time went into other personal projects, research, etc. Although it was extremely tiring, to me, it was worth it. I like to be productive and I hate to be idle so for my personality, it may not be a terrible thing. But of course, researching for 3 hours after a 15 hour day vs trying to meet deadlines and work deals after a 15 hour day is probably very different. I don't even think I can understand how much the workload really is, even with so many relatives doing it...
 

Laurelin

I'm All Ears
Joined
Nov 2, 2006
Messages
30,963
Likes
3
Points
0
Age
37
Location
Oklahoma
#31
I would say a starting salary of 90k is pretty darn good! LOL I've always heard Petroleum Engineers have the highest starting salaries by major and it's in the 90k range.
 

Paige

Let it be
Joined
Jan 13, 2007
Messages
7,359
Likes
0
Points
0
#32
Nope. Money doesn't mean much to me except that it puts a roof over my family's head and food in our bellies. Obviously it goes a bit further but time is so much more important. After all it is all we really have in this world and I don't want to invest mine in working that much when I would rather put it towards time with my children.
 
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Messages
6,405
Likes
0
Points
36
Location
Minnesota
#33
I would say a starting salary of 90k is pretty darn good! LOL I've always heard Petroleum Engineers have the highest starting salaries by major and it's in the 90k range.
LOL I was just about to say... 70 to 90K is a lot of money, not what I'd call "not that much."
 

Michiyo-Fir

Active Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2010
Messages
2,494
Likes
0
Points
36
#35
I would say a starting salary of 90k is pretty darn good! LOL I've always heard Petroleum Engineers have the highest starting salaries by major and it's in the 90k range.
LOL I was just about to say... 70 to 90K is a lot of money, not what I'd call "not that much."
I'm saying not that much as a relative term compared to a few years ago or a few decades ago. Also 70k a year at 100 hours a week is only 13.46 per hour.

I think most articles discuss it as not that much in relations to the number of work hours. If you compare it this way, it's not the same as making 70k working a normal 35-40 hour week.

Edit: I think also when people think of investment banking, figures in the millions is not uncommon. So in that sense, 70k is also not that much. Especially considering junior bankers are wanting millions and find themselves getting paid 1/10th their expected wage.
 

crazedACD

Active Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2012
Messages
3,048
Likes
0
Points
36
Location
West Missouri
#36
I guess it would depend on the type of work and my lifestyle at the time. With dogs, I cannot be away from my home for 14 hours a day/5 days a week, or 10 hours a day/7 days a week. I could not have dogs unless I lived with a SO, and even then..there wouldn't be enough time to spend with them.

I might be okay doing it if it was something like being paid to travel everywhere. And I didn't have dogs. Like that movie Up in the Air... I wouldn't mind I think. Sitting in a cubicle doing office work 70 hours a week...nah. Doing like public service work (EMT, police, health care) no way.
 

Catsi

New Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2008
Messages
922
Likes
0
Points
0
#37
No I wouldn't, not even temporarily. I'd have to forfeit time spent with friends, family (dogs included) and my relatively frequent camping trips and trips away. I can have a lot of fun on a decent, but modest wage. I wouldn't swap it for fine dining and private jets anyway... even if I didn't have to work stupid hours lol. It's just not what I enjoy or want out of life.

My time is precious and so is my sense of fun and adventure. I'd be a shell if I had to work that many hours I'm afraid.
 

milos_mommy

Active Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2006
Messages
15,349
Likes
0
Points
36
#38
Nope. Like many others said, I value a lot of other things before I value that much money. It wouldn't be worth it if I couldn't come home to have dinner with my family most nights.
 

Shai

& the Muttly Crew
Joined
Dec 14, 2009
Messages
6,215
Likes
0
Points
36
#39
If I could make the amount of money talked about early on (annual bonuses in the $Ms) for a couple years, sure. As Fran said, I could always quit after a few years if hours/conditions didn't improve, having built a nice nest egg.

I wouldn't do it long-term, though. I have worked 90+ hr weeks before and won't do it again lightly. It would have to be a decision my spouse and I made together because a lot would fall on him in the interim.
 
Last edited:

Members online

No members online now.
Top