If you had to do it all over again, would you choose the same subject?
I am asking these questions for very good reasons.So these last few months i dipped my toes into the hobbying pool. Its something i plan on continuing to do. Ive read a lot on the boards and kind of got a picture that some of the hobbyists here are living a good life. They seem to be able to afford any quality and quantity of providers that they wish. So me being on the younger side and still have not had my permanent career established, have to wonder, what do they do? Currently my plan is to finish my computer science degree, that field is stable and provides at least a decent living. But no one aims for decent.
I dont except people to tell me what jobs they have on here, but id like suggestions. Hobbying requires time and money, something only good careers can afford. Im not going to straight up change my major because of what i read a TER board. But i am very open to suggestions and tips from the veterans since i am young and can afford to make changes.
So what are some ideal careers for the hobbyists where he can afford the time and money to his content? 
That same sage advise was extended to me early in life and has served me well. If you aspire to be the best at what you do, you may not reach that pinnacle but you'll be very good at it and the rewards will be plentiful. If you do an adequate job, you'll achieve adequate results.
Another awesome piece of advice that I took to heart, "everyone you meet in life knows something that you don't, learn from them". I have mentored quite a few people in my career, and I was recently asked "what is something that you are very proud of in your career"? My response was that I've learned from people I have taught, this tells me that I've done a darn good job of teaching them.
Not sure if you've ever seen the Play Annie, but as Daddy Warbucks said in that play (and I'm paraphrasing) "you don't have to worry about who's fingers you step on, on the way up, if you don't plan on coming back down". I suspect you're smart enough to glean the message to be learned from that.
And finally, be yourself, no matter what happens, no one can take that away from you.
Happy hobbying, it is in my opinion, the greatest of hobby's.
-- Modified on 9/12/2014 11:37:14 AM
But that's me.
FWIW, currently there's a glut of rodeo clowns, and the evangelical arena ain't what it used to be. Lots of wars these days. Also, have you considered bail bondsman?
Here's what to do, in order of importance: (It sounds easy, but it ain't)
1. Figure out what you most love to do in life
2. Figure out a way to make a decent living out of it.
If you can do that, the rest follows, including having enough scratch for your hobby interests.
What i love? I guess i love to cook, thats one of my great passions. I use to love to draw and paint when i was younger, those amoung other things. But id never want to be a chef or artist as my profession. It may sound shallow but for my profession i want something that requires the least amount of work with the highest pay.
1. Figure out what you most love to do in life
2. Figure out a way to make a decent living out of it.
If you can do that, the rest follows, including having enough scratch for your hobby interests.
Have you thought about writing cookbooks or selling recipes online?
I'm a piano player in a bordello. The chef just quit so you can apply for that job and you can also paint portraits of the ladies to hang above the fireplace, in the foyer and along the staircase. You do NOT want to be the mop-up guy.
1. Figure out what you most love to do in life
2. Figure out a way to make a decent living out of it.
If you can do that, the rest follows, including having enough scratch for your hobby interests.
Programming is pretty good work for making a good income if you are inclined to enjoy it. They way to make more money in computer work is to become a deep expert in something and consult for a living, ideally not for an agency. Start consulting early if you can though working for companies can help build a base of experience, but also leads you into complacency from which it is hard to escape
I would think being a successful chef is a lot of work. Perhaps if someone has a passion for food, and the desire to cook they might enjoy it. I've considered the profession myself, although I don't want to pay tuition for culinary college as I don't want to accumulate any additional debt.
I think the ideal profession would be where a person gets paid to travel and run their mouth.
Be a hooker. Duh.
1. Figure out what you most love to do in life
2. Figure out a way to make a decent living out of it.
If you can do that, the rest follows, including having enough scratch for your hobby interests.
My advice is to do what you love. Or at least something that is interesting, challenging, and rewarding. Life is too short to have a job that you aren't really into - even if it pays well. With increased income often comes greater stress, sacrifice and responsibility. Walking that line between being financially secure and having some free time (and good health) to enjoy it is a challenge.
I found out early on that I have an ability to solve difficult problems and really enjoy doing so. My life has basically been the pursuit of that goal. When I strayed from that goal I became miserable pretty quickly (even though some of those ventures were very lucrative).
So find out who you are - what you like to do and what you are good at. And then stay true to who you really are. Success and happiness will follow - great financial security isn't necessarily guaranteed but you will sleep soundly at night. I wish you the best of luck.
-- Modified on 9/12/2014 7:59:52 PM
...there's good money there. At your salary point, you should be able to squirrel away half your pay (it may take some willpower and creative thinking). Then decide: how early do I want to retire vs how much pussy do I want along the way
You can never earn a fortune with your own hands. Instead you need to find a position where you obtain a very competent staff. Once you do, just delegate the hell out of them.
It will leave you with lots of time and money for more important things. (wink, wink)
And yes, this is much easier said than done, but what did you expect?
Many of the nice folks I know that have accomplished financial success have done so by themselves. One of the fastest ways to financial ruin is to allow others to be in a position to fuck up "your" business. That includes partners and investors.
I agree that some have the need to create some "empire" and they use the number of employees as the barometer...but quite often the EBITDA is better served when one has total control over the numbers.
I've known many a self-employed who has sold a number of businesses over the years...and they seem to have lots of time and far too much money to piss away on various toys. My favorite types of clients BTW.
It will leave you with lots of time and money for more important things. (wink, wink)
And yes, this is much easier said than done, but what did you expect?
You and fish have learned different things and taken different paths. Each worked for you. Neither is right or wrong for anyone else.
Here's what I know:
1) figure out what you love to do and do it.
2) get to the point where you can trust your gut and know the right path in any situation. Then follow it.
I got pretty high up but never wanted to run the whole show. I just trusted my gut, figured out what I was good at and worked hard. Had a great ride.
Find something that you can't wait to be at....just get so excited to get up and get there.
Rarely have I not seen that those who have the most fun doing whatever it is, they tend to have the financial rewards as well.
When it's not a job...then you will accomplished your goal(s).
And whatever you get involved with...max out those retirement deposits. You'll thank me in 25 years...and so will the gals that you are overpaying for fun LOL
I dont except people to tell me what jobs they have on here, but id like suggestions. Hobbying requires time and money, something only good careers can afford. Im not going to straight up change my major because of what i read a TER board. But i am very open to suggestions and tips from the veterans since i am young and can afford to make changes.
So what are some ideal careers for the hobbyists where he can afford the time and money to his content?
I'd add-- try not to make mistakes.
I'm a oddball anyways, I work a day job repairing commercial kitchen equipment and refrigeration. Day job pays decent nothing to brag about (high 40's) but it's stable with killer bennies, but I run a side buisness as a licensed HVAC contractor so my hours can bounce with no rhyme or reason even if I just drop out for a couple hours during the evening for a "sales" call. Being a one man show and seeing the project through start to finish allows me to do a better job than a lot of the big companies around here, so I get a lot of referral buisness. If the day job didn't have such good benefits and retirement I'd just do my buisness full time. And a lot of folks will pay cash if you give them a deal, so that 250.00 cash service ticket is 125.00 when Miss Case asks for some grocery money. Works for me seems to be a shortage of qualified HVAC and refrigeraton folks these days no one wants to turn the wrenches anymore.
Ebay sales for me.Have done pretty well in the last year close to 60k.
Find a job you like where.you can climb the corporate ladder and still enjoy the responsibilities that come with it. I work in a hospital lab and enjoy it. The work was challenging and rewarding. However, the only way up is to move into management and I can't be on the "bench" anymore once I'm in management. The bench is where things happen. They also don't pay managers much, so I'm staying where I am. Been trying to find another career to freelance on the side.
My work pays well. It's the taxes that's screwing me. My freaking tax every month equals to someone else's salary. Perhaps, the better question is what would be the ideal tax evasion for hobbying.
First there was the PC boom, then the Internet boom then the dot.com boom... each of those boom created many filthy rich dudes, some deservedly so thanks to their talents but most simply due to their luck being in the right place at the right time, i.e. imagine you're #10 Apple employee even though you were just a janitor. All that stock options made you multi-millionaire when they went public.
Sadly for you and your generation that kind of opportunity is not going to happen again. Nothing of the kind of magnitude of the PC boom, Internet boom or dot.com boom is going to repeat anytime soon...
As a retired vet of the electronic industry I can tell you that you've got it right on when you said that your computer science career aspiration is going to give you a decent and stable living but it's not going to make you rich. That time has PASSED! Nowaday you will have to compete against "cheap labor" programmers in Asia and elsewhere. Outsourcing has killed my profession and it is going to be hurting you and other american workers.
I'm fairly sure that many of these rich cats here are products of those boom time. Most are now in either early retirement or mid-retirement so they can afford to splurge on the pussies. However it's only a matter of time before their number starts to dwindle.
The only sure-fire way to get rich enough to splurge on the hobby now is to pursue the traditional career path such as doctors, lawyers, senior managements etc..
Generally men who hobby at a certain level are doing pretty well for themselves. Theyre also usually in the 50-60 age range, so it makes sense that they'd be at the peak of their careers, unlike a younger guy who is still trying to make his way.
Guys do all kinds of things for a living, but what I tend to notice is no matter what they do, successful men tend to be much smarter than average. And have a very strong work ethic. Not letters after their name smart, but they just have something really connecting upstairs.
So, I don't know if smarts and work ethic are something you're born with or you develop over time, but if you have those qualities you should do well.
-- Modified on 9/12/2014 9:41:14 PM
Theres good money in mercenary work. You get to travel to foreign countries meet exotic people and kill them
Caterer/Private Chef and loving life! Traded my white collar for chef whites and have never looked back. A lot of chicks dig a man who is a beast in the kitchen, but I make sure not to mix business with pleasure. It's been tempting, but I prefer NSA while I'm still a fairly young dude.
("Is there nothing they don't know?", quoth Homer Simpson.)
It's a dream for most of us.
Try a lottery ticket? I don't know to tell you.
Hard work mixed with shrewd decisions and intelligence is what makes people successful. That and lots of luck. As a guy who started out as a computer guy who has since moved on to a completely different field realize this: tech changes, but as we age, people tend to begin to resist change. What I learned 20-30 years ago in HS and a college BA wouldn't get me an entry level Comp Sci job today. Computer Science requires that you continually keep up with advances and new tech and software which IMHO is not easy, especially with a wife and kids taking time from being a geek.
If I had to do it all,over again I would have taken a few more biz courses in college, worked hard to get up a stake and then open some sort of retail store for something that people always want/need and sat back to let the money roll in. Not glamorous, nor exciting, but lucrative and except for keeping an eye on employees and customers to spot theft there's not much to do but keep supplies up to date, advertise and count the money. Boring, but not more so than my current job where I work for somebody else drawing a salary that doesn't go up half as much as the work that is heaped on me year after year for a dubious pension at the end of it all. At this stage in life, I'm shot, but perhaps you still have time to make something of yourself. The one lesson I've learned to date:
Pay yourself first.
Not money for hobby, or bills, or entertainment, or food. Just for your bank account. Make sure you plan for old age when you can't or won't want to work anymore. Plan to have enough to last you 35-40 years. Plan as if you'll live to 100. Whatever is left will go to your heirs but at least you'll always be comfortable, never eat dog food or lack necessities. Do that and the rest is what you work with for life. Live for today, but plan for tomorrow. Hobby along the way.
In opening a store, you'll find yourself working around the clock. Payroll is often your biggest expense, so until you're making real profits, then you (the boss/owner) are working all the hours - you are tied to the shop! Then, when you can afford employees, you have to double check everything to make sure there are no slip ups and you're not getting ripped off.
Yeah, but beats blue collar work where there is danger involved like my current gig plus working 16 -24 hrs OT a week for somebody else. At least it would be for ME.
You're welcome. Yeah computer and technology was my passion too and I made a good living and accumulated decent saving as well. Unfortunately I was not one of the lucky ones who made it big through stock options. The few small private companies I worked for went bust. The reality is that for every Apple, Google, Facebook etc... success stories there are ten, hundred of failed ventures where the employees' stock options went up in smoke.
The cold hard truth is that as a Tech worker you're always going to be a disposable commodity. When they desperately need you and your skill they will throw you a good juicy offer with excellent benefits. Unfortunately that never lasts. When the lifecycle of your project/product ends or when the company has financial problem you'll be the first to be shown the door. That is unless you somehow are able to game the office politics to get on into the good old-boy network and be "protected".
I was in your shoes once. And that explained why I started out on the streets. When I was young all I could afford was the streetgirls!
They are two different things. Always live on a budget so you are saving every month. When you savings gets to a certain level you can invest in various investment vehicles. Some guys have been good stock traders and that is how they fund the hobby.
...to get a good job, saved my money and invested it wisely (no stocks). I retired at 38 and today my investments make me more money every year than the year before.
Don't waste your money on stupid shit and squirrel away every spare dime in a broad stock market index fund (no individual stocks). Figure out a comfortable yearly budget (include play money along with living expenses). When you have 25x that yearly budget in your investment account, you're retired! Yes, it's boring, but it's the least aggravating path to the chill life. Ladies, this advice applies to you too. You're welcome!
What kind of lifestyle does one live while earning and investing?
With out turning this into a political debate. You must admit unless a person is earning a large salary, and or supplementing their income through various means. That person probably is not living the most lavish or modestly entertaining of lifestyles during this period.
Obviously, this needs to be tailored to each person's particular situation, but there's a million lifestyle blogs out there with advice on how to cut your expenses. Check 'em out and put all of the advice to work.The other key action that a lot of people don't take advantage of is proper investing (and not touching that money for 10-30 years). It's hard to get on the savings boat when you're young, but realize that the older you get, the less you want to work.
The items at the market are pricey... and every woman I ever met wants to dine at nice places.
... as far as investments go, I need to see numbers before parting with my money. Regardless of how hard I worked for it
If you had to do it all over again, would you choose the same subject?
I am asking these questions for very good reasons.
I chose CS because i have gotten the do what you love speech a lot. And to be honest theres nothing i have a passion for in life that i would like to make a career so therefore i wanted something stable and guaranteed for at least a decent living.
Engineering field makes the most out of college but plateaus with too much work, but still very valuable as you can move onto other fields with this skill set.
If were talking about making it big? You've gotta risk it all and hope luck lands you there. Remember every dollar you take is someone else's dollar; not every will be to attain complete financial independence.
Fucking baffled how a simple camera like the GoPro is raking in a shit ton of money.
I dont except people to tell me what jobs they have on here, but id like suggestions. Hobbying requires time and money, something only good careers can afford. Im not going to straight up change my major because of what i read a TER board. But i am very open to suggestions and tips from the veterans since i am young and can afford to make changes.
So what are some ideal careers for the hobbyists where he can afford the time and money to his content?