(throwaway account) I have been working for 10 years as a software developer and manager of software development teams for a large investment bank. When I got started, and for the first 5 years or so, I thought that I could earn enough to save up and "solve the 'earning money' problem" doing this. Now, I don't think that's possible on this track.
I thought I'd get there in the beginning because I was doing very well at the job and getting more and more recognition and responsibility. Large bonuses were being given out to developers, and firms competed hard to get good ones. But then came the 2007-2008 financial crisis, and everything changed. The pay was reduced a lot--I have never made as much money as I did in 2006, despite having gotten a title promotion, and a larger role with much more responsibility, since then. New regulations have created a much more bureaucratic, administration-obsessed environment than I was accustomed to, making it much less pleasant for anyone interested in building and hacking.
So now I'm stuck at a local maximum--I feel like there could be a much better situation out there for me, but no direct step I could take to put myself in it. I still make enough that it would be tough to match my current salary outside of wall street, but the work environment has degenerated so much that I hate going to work, despite this taking most of my waking time and energy. So I have to make a choice: I can stay at a my current job, with its comfortable-but-not-stellar income and its ever-more-unpleasant work environment, or I could jump to another position (be it a new job or attempting to strike out on my own and develop a business and/or consulting) that could be more fulfilling, but much lower-paid, at least initially.
To those who would advise me to strike out on my own with a startup or consulting: my situation is complicated by my need to support my wife, who has a condition that would make it prohibitively expensive to get her the medical care she needs without employer-provided health insurance. (Nobody would insure us on the individual market--not at a price I could pay if I were just starting out on a business or consulting venture and attempting to live off my savings until it got off the ground, at least.)
I know this is not the worst problem in the world to have. A huge number of people would love to be in my shoes, and I can look at it from a larger perspective and see that I'm still damn lucky to be where I am and have what I have. But I'm not anywhere near able to "solve the 'earning money' problem" and I don't think I will be anytime soon. So I still find myself wishing I'd taken a leap earlier.
Of course, if I were a trader or had some other position in the actual business to make the REAL money, then it might have been a different story.
I thought I'd get there in the beginning because I was doing very well at the job and getting more and more recognition and responsibility. Large bonuses were being given out to developers, and firms competed hard to get good ones. But then came the 2007-2008 financial crisis, and everything changed. The pay was reduced a lot--I have never made as much money as I did in 2006, despite having gotten a title promotion, and a larger role with much more responsibility, since then. New regulations have created a much more bureaucratic, administration-obsessed environment than I was accustomed to, making it much less pleasant for anyone interested in building and hacking.
So now I'm stuck at a local maximum--I feel like there could be a much better situation out there for me, but no direct step I could take to put myself in it. I still make enough that it would be tough to match my current salary outside of wall street, but the work environment has degenerated so much that I hate going to work, despite this taking most of my waking time and energy. So I have to make a choice: I can stay at a my current job, with its comfortable-but-not-stellar income and its ever-more-unpleasant work environment, or I could jump to another position (be it a new job or attempting to strike out on my own and develop a business and/or consulting) that could be more fulfilling, but much lower-paid, at least initially.
To those who would advise me to strike out on my own with a startup or consulting: my situation is complicated by my need to support my wife, who has a condition that would make it prohibitively expensive to get her the medical care she needs without employer-provided health insurance. (Nobody would insure us on the individual market--not at a price I could pay if I were just starting out on a business or consulting venture and attempting to live off my savings until it got off the ground, at least.)
I know this is not the worst problem in the world to have. A huge number of people would love to be in my shoes, and I can look at it from a larger perspective and see that I'm still damn lucky to be where I am and have what I have. But I'm not anywhere near able to "solve the 'earning money' problem" and I don't think I will be anytime soon. So I still find myself wishing I'd taken a leap earlier.
Of course, if I were a trader or had some other position in the actual business to make the REAL money, then it might have been a different story.