Rogue Keeper on 4/10/2007 at 09:37

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HAHAHA hilarous. Excellent reply. :joke:

Also it speaks highly about what impenetrable microcosm of shallow pseudovalues some "extraordinary beautiful" people live in. :erg:

Chimpy Chompy on 4/10/2007 at 12:30

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Just out of interest, when you're earning that kind of sum, do you feel driven to push for even greater amounts? Or does a voice start to say "wait a sec I'm already wealthy enough, this will do"?

I mean, I'm not saying you *should* feel that way, and of course there's the question what is "enough" and who defines it. This isn't about slating the rich cos, well, the more fantastic the income the more tax you pay. I'm just interested in the mindset of the highly-paid really - if you're already on megabucks, do you still feel the need for 2x megabucks?

[edit]I guess there is just a small touch of chagrin cos I'm in a highly-educated "professional" field myself and no-one here earns $200k apart from big company directors or something, but of course that was my own choice in life.

Briareos H on 4/10/2007 at 12:42

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but being a .ua/.ru girl automatically makes you nothing but a monster woman hungry for money and fame, so this rules out that and all
it's in your genes. IN YOUR GENES I SAY >:]

aguywhoplaysthief on 4/10/2007 at 16:34

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Actually, not everyone is hungry for fame, and I know there are some who aren't hungry for money, although there are far fewer of them.

Rug Burn Junky on 4/10/2007 at 17:29

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There's a big difference between income and wealth. I have a fairly high income, but because of circumstances, it doesn't feel like a lot of money. Part of that is just surroundings. When everyone you hang out with makes $200k+, all of your clients are 27 year old kids making $300k, and all of the partners you work for and interact with on a daily basis bring home $1.5 to 3 million, it seems absolutely normal. It really skews your perceptions. But there's a lot more to it than that.

For one thing, I leveraged myself quite a bit to get through law school, and still have a healthy amount of debt to pay off. For another, NYC is extraordinarily expensive, so we get paid a premium simply because you need a lot of money to maintain a decent standard of living. And for a third, I'm a tremendous spendthrift, so I have modicum of savings, but don't deprive myself in order to do so.

Until my law school debt is paid off, I'm in a position where I can't afford to give up my current career track. I've spent a lot of time recently thinking about whether it's worth it to continue after that. It may surprise you, but money honestly isn't that important to me, which may be why I'm such a spendthrift. I enjoy the money I have, but I spend it willingly because I know I don't need it to be me.

When I was in college, amongst my friends, I was the one who was constantly broke, because I didn't bother to work during the school year, and didn't have a healthy allowance from parents who were spoiling me. One of the best compliments I've ever gotten was from my friend Ox, who said "You somehow manage to have more fun with less money than anyone I know," and I've tried to live up to that ever since. I could easily go back to a fairly austere lifestyle, and still be happy.

On the other hand, there's a sense that I have a tremendous opportunity, and it would be senseless to squander it. There are career paths available to me that would enable me to earn multiples of what I do now. I actually took a $50k pay cut last year in order to position myself for these paths down the road. It's hard to leave money on the table that you know you can earn just by your own willingness, but there are subtle trade-offs to your lifestyle that can't be measured by monetary value.

I certainly have the talent and ability, but have to decide if I'm willing to expend substantially more work and dedication than I currently give. I went through this path just to prove to myself I could do it. I'm already near the top of my industry. I may not be an all star myself, but at the very least, I'm a role player at an elite firm. I don't feel as though I have much more to prove, and it's hard to maintain the drive when that happens.

I'm keeping the options open though, because until I decide to hop off the track entirely, you can't rule out anything. Right now though, I absolutely don't have *enough* money, because if I left this track, I'd have little to show for it, other than 6 years of a high flying lifestyle, and high 5 figure debt.

In a couple of years, when the debt's lower, the savings are higher, and my willingness to work 67 hours over a 78 hour stretch (at the end of June I pulled back to back nights on 3 hours sleep, and finished with a 30 hour straight marathon to close a deal) has faded, I personally think it's an easy choice to make to ratchet it back and make enough to be "comfortable" instead of "rich." I know plenty of other people who don't, but I don't envy them. At that point, I don't know what my answer will be.

It's sort of rambling, but does it come close to answering your question?