The Curse Of Making Too Much Money And Not Pursuing Your Dreams
The luckiest people on earth are perhaps those who don’t make a lot of money. They’ve got very little downside and can really pursue their childhood dreams. Imagine if from the moment you graduated college, you landed a plum corporate job that paid just enough to keep you motivated, but not enough to enjoy your freedom. The longer you work the more you realize there’s really no escape, because there’s simply too much at stake. This is the problem that plagues my friend, Lyndon.
THE STRATEGY CONSULTANT WHO MAKES BANK
Lyndon just turned 30 and is having a mid-life crisis. He’s worked for 8 consecutive years at McKinsey & Co, one of the prominent management consulting firms in the world, and makes roughly $300,000 as an “Engagement Manager”. Obama says he’s rich, but Lyndon isn’t buying it when his 1,200 square foot, two-bedroom apartment in New York City costs $5,000/month. If he wanted to buy the condo, he’d have to shell out over $1,200,000, even in today’s market. To add further injury, $300,000 is really only $180,000 or so after federal (33%), state (7%), and city (4%) taxes!
All Lyndon ever thinks about is being a National Geographic nature photographer. Every single vacation is planned around some remote destination that takes two days to reach, and therefore another two days to return. Yet as a consultant, Lyndon is at the mercy of his clients. Instead of traveling to Mt. Kilamanjaro, he’s on a plane to Minneapolis in the middle of winter.
In 5 years, Lyndon knows he’ll probably continue to make more money and perhaps make millions as a partner in his 40′s. But what’s the point if he’s not completely happy? The 65 hour work weeks and minutiae are wearing his soul thin. He wants out. Yet, how does a 30 year old, who’s on a straight path to multiple-six figures rationally decide to quit his job and try and make it as a nature photographer?
NO SYMPATHY
An ant is playing the world’s smallest violin somewhere underground. While millions are unemployed, Lyndon is on a path to financial freedom, with one of the most prestigious companies in the world, yet he’s unhappy. He doesn’t feel the plight of the less fortunate, who in his eyes are just in temporary dislocation. Everything to Lyndon is logical. When markets crumble, people get dislocated, but eventually get relocated when the markets rebound. Oh, how Lyndon too, wishes he was dislocated.
Unfortunately, nobody will give Lyndon much sympathy, except for his fellow well-to-do friends. Ironically, it is the sympathy that Lyndon seeks, which makes him only hang out with people of his same socio-economic class. He understands that most of America won’t understand him so he shuns most people.
ONE TEMPORARY SOLUTION
In two years, Lyndon will have served 10 years at McKinsey, a long enough period of time for him to not feel guilty about taking a sabbatical. He’s never taken a 2 week vacation at once, and he’s never taken more than 4 weeks off for the entire year. How could he, since the firm is paying him so much? It wouldn’t be fair to his clients he justifies to himself.
The problem with taking a sabbatical in two years is that he still has to work for another two years! He wants to see the world now. He’s restless, with unwavering confidence that he can always come back to the industry of advice and fortune. If he can’t and ends up spending most of his money, he can always get a temporary loan or work part-time to extend his dreams.
WALKING AWAY
Lyndon decides that one of his New Year’s resolution is to reboot. After his bonus hits his bank account, he wants out, but is afraid to pursue his dreams. He’ll have $250,000 in savings with no debt to his name if he quits. Remember though, that if he works another year, he’ll save another $80,000, and then another $80,000+ every year forever. The key issue is the word “forever.”
* UPDATE: To see Lyndon’s response, please read “Wealth Is An Illusion Of Happiness”
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Regards,
Sam @ Financial Samurai – “Slicing Through Money’s Mysteries”
Making a lot of money or having excellent employer benefits can certainly be golden handcuffs. But life goes on, and unless you’re OK deadening your soul, it’s wise to work your dreams into your lifestyle.
The lifestyle business trend is all about developing a way to earn a living while pursuing your dreams. By creating work that pays the bills AND gives you the freedom to pursue your dreams, you have the best of both worlds. Typically, most people who pursue a lifestyle business have work that allows them to work when and where they choose–even from a cafe in Morocco–without having to put in crazy hours.
One of the easier–and more profitable–ways to build a lifestyle business is by consulting, since a consulting business has:
–>low start-up costs,
–>flexible hours,
–>high hourly pay rate, and
–>you likely already have the expertise to get started.
I’ve found that fear often stops aspiring consultants from starting a consulting business, and on my blog (http://www.StartMyConsultingBusiness.com), I talk about how to overcome those fears. I also talk about practical, concrete things you can do to start and run a successful consulting business, along with tools, tips, tricks, and techniques for automating your business and keeping costs to a minimum.
One of the neat things about becoming a consultant is that you DON’T need a pile of cash to start a consulting business. For example, you can create a professional website for under $100–typically in an evening (I have a free ebook that shows you exactly how to do this, even if you’re not a techie).
I started my consulting business over 4 years ago as a part-time way to make extra cash, and it’s grown into my full-time endeavor, where it’s the sole income for my family of 4 for over 2.5 years. I make several times what I used to make at my day job, and have much more flexibility.
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I started working for a Big 6 firm out of college and it ultimately led to a job in their overseas office. I made partner in 10 years and made a lot of money. I did not hate my job but certainly never loved it, seems as if I hardly liked it much of the time.
I saved a huge chunk of what I made and retired at 40 and love it.
I do not feel sorry at all for Lyndon. If he can resist the temptation to increase his lifestyle in sync with each raise/bonus, he can set his goals and get out while young.
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Financial Samurai Reply:
April 16th, 2012 at 4:18 am
Thanks for the feedback. Can you share what a “huge chunk” is and whether you have a spouse to retire and spend time with? thx
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I never did the calculations to figure out what exact % I saved, I would guess 60-75%. I have always been frugal so I just kept it up and did not buy extravagant things. I travelled often with work and would try to add a day or two to these trips. I have been fortunate to see 30+ countries, most of these tied to work.
It helps that my wife is more frugal than I plus that we spent most of the time living in poor countries. We have a child that occupies lots of our time so boredom has not been an issue. Also, I have easily dropped the extra pounds and am very active these days. Several health related issues seem to have disappeared…
I was very fortunate and was paid well but I know many in the same boat that still slave away as they did not save…
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FS you mentioned “I’m definitely curious, as $1.6 mil can provide $54,000/yr in risk free interest income at 4% now. ”
Where can you get risk free 4% nowdays? I really need to figure out how much I can save and just live of interest. If I can live of ~50K/year how much do I need in savings. 5mil?
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Financial Samurai Reply:
August 6th, 2012 at 9:32 am
The fact of the matter is, you can’t without risk. I have 7 year CDs at 4% and 4.1% that have 3-4 years left on them. I will cross that bridge when they expire. The environment can be much different then.
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Not sure i get Lyndon. If he is so confident he can return to work and make the same or more $$ after a two year sabbatical, what’s his problem…or is it that he is afraid he WON’T be able to resume his prior earnings path?
I am 53, have saved a chunk that is well in excess of anything in any of your savings charts on this site but still have a problem walking away. I recently made a deal with my company to take a 30% pay cut in return for less responsibility and more personal time but still have this craving to completely walk away. I think one reason for the inability to do so is simply the fear of what can go wrong after you give up a regular check (i wouldnt get it back at this point). I’m also a NYC resident so even though I’ve saved a lot, I would still need a pretty high yield to live more than a frugal existence (without taking on significant risk). $80k wouldn’t cut it without a significant lifestyle downgrade. Yeah, ok i’ll move to a big college town that has the best of culture and lower cost of living. I’ve read the MSN and Money slide show articles of best towns to retire……I don’t live in Magazine world… we dont all want to move to Austin TX or Madison, WI….
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I am somewhat in Lyndon’s shoes, but at the age of 48. I have finally reached a senior level position in a major corporation. My base is about $300,000, my annual bonus adds another $100,000, my LTI adds another $200,000 a year, a cash balance pension plan in which the company puts in 15% of my base, and a host of other nice perks. I have no debt, a paid off home worth $700,000, and over $2 million in savings. The problem is that I hate my job (due to a number of changes I will not go in to). I would love to let severed as the severance package is great, but that is not going to happen at my level and my position is critical to the business.
My dream is to start my own company and it would be no problem to get the financial backing. However, several items hold me back. I was diagnosed with a melanoma 2 years ago. Getting insurance would be difficult. With a fear of a reoccurrence, it is great to have my current executive life insurance benefit that supplements my own term policies. Also, I have 4 kids to put through college (1 in already) and I also provide some support to aging parents.
For now, I will put off the dream for another 5 years and then reassess.
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Financial Samurai Reply:
September 9th, 2012 at 2:46 pm
Jim,
Thanks or sharing. That is a great story, and hard to leave. I found a surprisingly no change in lifestyle after losing my income.
You can absolutely engineer your layoff. See the book on the above right. You have more power than you think!
Goodluck!
Sam
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Sympathy? No.
Lyndon has two things that a lot of people do not have:
1. choice – the option of staying in his high paying job or taking a break without breaking the bank
2. opportunity – the opportunity to either stay in a high paying job and become financially independent at a young age or to pursue his dreams for a while (but not for that long – his savings aren’t high enough).
As a lawyer I havr been where Lyndon is. I opted to keep working until I had enough to retire forever. Having a wife and two young children and chosing to live in a very expensive city (Hong Kong) has meant that I will not be retireing until next year when I am 47 – not exactly young but young enough to pursue my dreams. Sure, it would have been nice to go (much) sooner, but if I had I would have been forced to look for work eventually with no certainty that I would find another high paying job. Like Lyndon and many others – I had choices. That’s not something to complain about.
As the saying goes – you can have anything you want, you just can’t have everything you want.
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To borrow a turn of phrase from Mr. Money Moustache: “Call in the waaaaah-mbulance….”
Sorry, but I don’t have a lot of sympathy for Lyndon. He needs to decide what his real goal is, and then make a plan (financial as well as otherwise) for reaching that goal. Some questions to ponder:
1) Overall, his savings rate is ridiculously low given his income. Doesn’t say if he has a spouse or kids, but if he’s got $180k post tax for just himself he could easily save half of that or more. He just isn’t trying very hard.
2) Example of #1: Why spend $5000/month on an apartment in Manhattan if you are travelling most of the time anyway? Rent a studio in Queens, dude, and learn to take the subway. Or splurge on car service — you’ll still save more in rent. Better yet, use some of that cash nest egg to buy a place in Long Island City, Astoria, Jackson Heights or another relatively close in gentrifying neighborhood. You’ll reduce your out of pocket costs and those neighborhoods will continue to appreciate. You will make money if you buy a good piece of property in an up and coming neighborhood, and Queens is the next Brooklyn.
3) Another example of #1: If his goal is to be a nature photographer, why does that necessitate making trips to remote and exotic places? He could perfect his nature photography by taking a trip on the subway to Central Park, Fort Tryon park, or the Bronx Zoo. Nature is everywhere. He needs to develop his technique first anyway, and that can be done just as easily in his backyard as halfway around the world.
4) Given the amount of travelling he likely does for McKinsey, if he does still want to make a trip or two a year to a more exotic place he could totally be doing in on earned miles. He needs to run, not walk, to the Art of Nonconformity blog and get a primer on how to max frequent flyer opportunities.
5) He needs to find different friends. Hang out with/learn from people who have similar interests and manage to have fun and rich lives without spending lots of money. He should look for hiking clubs, etc. where the focus is on nature (something he loves) but not necessarily with a lot of gadgetry (photography clubs are dangerous that way). Then again, if he starts hanging out with a bunch of rich photography buffs and control his impulses to be an early adopter, he could score a lot of lightly used, high end equipment as they trade up to the latest model and he picks up their second-hand stuff.
6) He should start now practicing not just how to ply his craft, but how to teach it. That will be a second income stream he can rely on in addition to selling his photos. And he can explore other things around the margins — printmaking, graphic design, writing stories to go with his photos.
7) Start developing networks that will help him in his new career. Get to know food/travel writers who work in the exotic places he wants to go — they could be possible collaborators on future stories. Get to know some travel outfits that plan tours to those same places who might be interested in offering a photography-focused tour (see, here’s a place where those teaching skills come in handy).
Heck, I don’t make $300k a year and now I’m thinking I could have a nice second career at this! he can totally do this, but he needs to be realistic, cut way back on his spending, and have more of a nest egg before he tries it. Not that hard on his income, assuming he’s single. If he isn’t it is a whole different ball game — hard to have stable relationships/family situation if half the couple is gallavanting all over the world all the time. There are other ways to work it, though, like setting up a base overseas in an area he wants to work and branching out from there. Anything can work if you plan it right. But he should do a much better job of exploiting his current gig and saving all he can. That two year timeframe might not be a bad short-term goal. If he’s focused and makes a point of cutting his expenses to the bare bones he should be able to grow his current nest egg to at least $500k through savings and investment. That isn’t enough to be FI, but it is a good safety net while he explores the new career option. But he shouldn’t be starting from dream vapor there, either.
Lots of work to do in two years, but better to take positive steps than to continue to ride on the “whaaaa”-mbulance, no?
2)
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Wow. Some of the stories here are really moving especially the one by Tim, I do find it heart-wretching and respect that you bear so many responsibilities and sacrifice your choice for them.
I am turning 29 in a few days and just got a job paying a six figure base salary. I am an Asian immigrant in Australia and doubled my income since landed on a sales job 2 years ago, and my plan is to double my income again in another 2 years by entering this tier 1 mining consulting firm on a business development role. Haven’t thought too much about my savings plan but I do realise my spending has increased as my income grows. Looking at stories here is great as it reminds me to remain humbled and plan for the long term. It also reminds me that there are so many things in life that are way more important than the earning-spending consumerism circle which will end up in vain.
I used to save rigorously and largely compromised my lifestyle and social life. As income grew I found myself letting it go for a few reasons: 1, to compensate what I haven’t been able to do. I like being generous with people and not having to worry about money at all. 2, optimism that future income will grow further. 3, bad investment environment (high property price, slumping commodity prices, unstable stock market, doomed world economy) makes saving a bit aimless, and inflation will make my previous savings effort look like a joke. 4, hidden hope that finding a husband will reduce or remove the need for me to save. Shame on me I know, but which girl doesn’t?
I realised when reading above posts though, that an overly extravegant lifestyle, unlike how we were made to believe by movies and ordinary people around us, is nothing to be proud of. It is short-sighted, unthoughtful, and sometimes desperate. It marks either an inherited or suspicious source of income (neither to be proud of, again), or a lack of ‘future intelligence’ which if hasn’t then will result in failure.
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@Jim
Sorry I meant Jim in my last post..
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No, I don’t have sympathy for Lyndon. I’m sorry. There are millions of people working jobs that are not their passion. People don’t grow up wanting to work at McDonald’s. People don’t want to be janitors, garbage men, maids, etc… And they don’t make $300,000 a year, but they do what they have to do. This guy pays $5,000 a month for rent. Most Americans don’t make $5,000 a month. It sucks that he isn’t working his dream job, but he’s not broke, homeless, in debt, or starving. So I think that he’s truly blessed to have all the things that he has.
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Funny, it is almost as if you wrote that article about me. I work in a job I hate and have saved pretty much exactly the mentioned amount, 250.000 (CHF). The only serious goal I have is getting out! I have already taken a sabbatical (8-9 months) to recharge. Amazing how guilty I felt the first 2 months or so for not being productive. Productive in a sense that I have spent enough time in an office to bill it to an employer. Not productive like producing something of value, because my IT jobs seem to consist of 80-90% sitting and waiting and maybe 10% producing. I have great sympathy for Lyndon, I hope for him he can make the transition to a meaningful life soon.
Btw, how much savings is enough to live off passive income? By my calculation 250.000 will not be sufficient.
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Some of the posters here are fools. There is no way Lydon would fit in with McK&Co culture by “renting a studio in Queens’, and many have obviously never had high pressure jobs. I get why a guy in his shoes would be digging a change. Retire forever at 40 or lose your 30s? Hmm, I guess it depends. I’d like to cross-reference the posts that recommend he gut it out and stay miserable against poster age and true net worth. I bet there are many here who aren’t as far along as they’d like to be and feel that “retirement at 40″ and “making a lot of money when you are young” are indeed the most important things in life. I personally make a buck and a half running a software application, work 40-50 hours per week and don’t feel the need to strive to make $200-$250K like my MBA classmate, who is now burned out after 2 years at EY and trying, but so far failing, to conceive a child (due largely to stress). I’ll bet most of those who “have no sympathy” have never earned CLOSE to what Lydon makes nor had that opportunity. With that kind of income comes a stress and need to kiss so much ass that not many can take. I for one understand Lydon, and while I wish I wish that I wanted that kind of job, I would rather work/save and enjoy my life. You know, a little thing called BALANCE. Sounds like Lydon’s out of balance and needs to find his center. Good luck to him. And to the rest of the jackrabbits who “hate”, worry about yourself first, not some hypothetical strawman that FS set up for you to tear down, knowing in advance what your responses were likely to be so as to validate this blog.
/Out.
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I worked as VP of marketing at a financial institution in Silicon Valley. Had great salary and benefits and stayed there for 3.5 years (10 years in banking). In fact, my relationship was great with the CEO and the Board but I realized it was time for me to pursue another chapter in my life. I finally took the leap and left. It took me 7 months to actually leave after my resignation. I gave my noticed and my last day kept getting extended. They were doing anything they can to keep me. Anyhow, I left and backpacked the world in 2012. Saw 20 countries in 12 months in 2012. Yes, not many people have the luxury to even think of making six-figure salary let alone debate leaving it for something else. But, you do get to a point where you ask yourself how much money is your time worth.
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