Job/Life Satisfaction

OK so I understand that finance is one of the most profitable professions out there, and a lot of the people working in the industry and studying for the CFA are people that are attracted to big $$$. Now I love money, but I also value life outside work and family. Now what do you guys do and what would you rate your job/life satisfaction.

I consider my weekdays sunk costs. Sometimes I can slip out of the office by 6 or so (in the office around 6:30 am), and then I can get some errands done. But beyon that, it doesn’t matter if I get home at 8 pm or 11 pm, as I am just going to either sleep, or watch a bit of TV before going to sleep. But I very rarely work weekends (or if I do, its like today and I do it from home while watching football). So I try to make the most of my time on the weekends. Overall, I’m happy, but understand that many people wouldn’t be. The job definitely requires sacrifices; lots of work can come up at the last minute and plans you had been looking forward to can get blown off. In that case, you better have a significant other that understands the job. However, I am willing to make that sacrifice in order to do a job I enjoy (its not about the money…if you make those sacrifices for a few extra dollars…well you’re not somebody I would want to have a drink with).

^True. If I could watch TV and movies all day and get the same amount of money and satisfaction that I do, doing what I’m doing, I would. In order to stay ahead of the game and do your job well, sometimes requires that you put in 60-70 hours/week.

Let’s just say this isn’t an industry for good mothers and fathers.

kkent Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Let’s just say this isn’t an industry for good > mothers and fathers. Bull shit. It definitely makes it harder to be a good parent, but harder doesn’t mean impossible. People that work long hours and are bad parents would be bad parents even if they worked 90 minutes a day.

FIA, sorry that offends you so much. But anyone who works 60-100 hours per week obviously has his/her career as the chief priority in his/her life. If/when I have kids, I sure as hell don’t plan on working a 60+ hours per week front office finance job. As I’ve said before, I come from a family with a very successful father–he was a miserable father to my sister (who is about 20 years older than me), primarily because he worked 60-80 hours per week. By the time I was born, he had bucked that philosophy and made his family/children a priority. If they’re not first in your life, then don’t get married or have kids. Nothing inherently wrong with the bachelor’s life.

One’s experience, a rule does not make. But hey, feel free to keep blaming a job for poor parenting skills rather than the person, as long as it makes it easier for you.

FIA, yeah, I’m sure my experience is the exception to the rule. I’m sure there aren’t millions of parents in the Western world who have put their careers ahead of their families. Right. Welcome to LaLa land, FIA. I’m sure those people who work from 8 am to 8 pm Monday through Friday and for 10+ hours on the weekends are your typical role models to the rest of parents. A “job” has nothing to do with poor parenting “skills.” The fact is, parents who work all the time often times aren’t even there to make the mistakes or to even exhibit poor parenting skills. They leave parenting to daycare centers, to public school teachers, to television, to video games, and later to their childrens’ friends, peers, and to the vices of teen years. Again, if you can’t be there for your wife and kids, then don’t get married and have kids. There’s nothing wrong with that. But to get married and to have kids only to devote your life in its near totality to your career is wrong, wrong, a thousand times wrong.

And, you swing and miss yet again.

nm

Because I am feeling generous, I will elaborate a bit: A bad parent will be a bad parent no matter how many hours they work. A good parent will be a good parent no matter how much they work, but like I said in my first post, it does make it more difficult. Plenty of people that work long hours are crappy parents. That is NOT because they work long hours. They would find something else to occupy their time, if not for work, that was not their child. And like you said, the job has nothing to do with parenting skills: A poor father will be a poor father, no matter the job.

Fair enough.

kkent Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Great argument, FIA. I’m surprised you’re not > running for president of Russia. I was president of Russia. But I didn’t know what I was getting into and I couldn’t handle it. So after a few months, I started interviewing for jobs as the president of several smaller nations. However, they had some other political affairs to attend to and had to delay my interview, so I whined about it a bit more.

LOL. Fair enough, my friend. I edited out that post, btw. Wasn’t very nice of me. My apologies.

Being a good parent takes a lot of work, and having a 60-80 hour a week job makes it that much harder. Plenty of people who would be good at a 40 hr job may not be able to do it with 60+. Not that it is impossible, but its more than most people can handle.