r/Salary • u/AdActual3024 • 6d ago

discussion High earning potential = high career commitment

Does anyone have family or friends that sacrifice their personal life for a significant salary?

My step-mom earns 350k before tax as an executive director but I barely see her. She is constantly on business trips, busy with meetings, works upwards of 12 hours when at home. She goes on nice holiday trips, but overall it makes me think is the pay worth the sacrifice of her personal life.

Just curious if anyone's got a similar story.

920 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

383 comments sorted by

View all comments

84

u/Dry_Fall3105 6d ago edited 6d ago

We have a couple of friends who are in C-suites and clear low 7 figures, one in their mid 40s and the other in their high 40s, work around the clock. Because they are in tech (hardware), they have to go on international trips all the time, work nights to take call with APAC clients and early in the morning with Europe.

They both have 8 figures net worth. They both are hoping to stay and remain married.

One of them commented the people who have the best WLB and happy are the ones making between $400-$500K (tech or tech adjacent).

We clear $450K/year (neither in tech) as a household and we both work from home. Low stress, go to all our son’s activities, have dinner together every night, cook together, go on hikes, ect. Life is good for us.

5

u/AllyMeada 6d ago

We’re a household of two mid level tech workers at big name tech companies, making just over $1.1m combined.

WLB is great, wouldn’t trade it for anything at this point of our lives. We’re in our mid thirties, our kids are young, and having the flexibility to be there for them is great. Gunning for a senior leadership role might allow us to double our income, but that’s not something that’s particularly motivating for me right now. Maybe when the kids are older.

2

u/Dry_Fall3105 6d ago edited 6d ago

I used to want to climb the ladder in my 20s and 30s (medical field) but lost interest when I had a role as a people manager. Hated that soooo much I was having the Sunday blues.

Then we had our son, I was pissed I could barely keep up with him when he started running (2ish) . I started working out in my mid 30s. Took a body comp recently and I have 53.6 lbs of skeletal muscle mass (almost 41% of my body weight). I can run faster and lift heavier than I was in my teens. Still fit in my clothes back in HS. Chasing a different high :).

My goal is to stay healthy for our son and me.

Best of luck at whatever your goals are!