What do you do for a living?

[bonehead123]

If I tellz ya, then I gotsta....well, you know..

but suffice it to say that my current job is so important that only the president & 3 other people in the world are allowed to know about it, although they don't even know my real identity, what I am actually doing, or where I may be working at any given point in time, which means that sometimes I have to go to the far reaches of the galaxy, other times I could be right next door to you....

However, in my OTHER life, I am a database administrator for the energy sector....Yea, sometimes it's a bit boring and doesn't pay that well, but in combination with the OUTRAGEOUS salary from the above position, I get by ok

 

[A&P211]

I'm a degen screw (correctional officer) and have been for the last 1/4 century, I stumbled into the job and got trapped by the golden handcuffs as we call them here. I dabbled in i.t when I was younger (network engineering etc) and I've been programming on and off all my life. I'm 50 this year and I am planning on retiring at 55.

Don't dwell on the past (several times in my life I was unable to capitalise on my abilities - I had a working concept and design for a hard drive based mp3 player 18month before the ipod first released) or you'll eat yourself alive.


I think finding stable employment, with a view to an end goal (be it higher learning and professional goals) or using it to support you while you work on a business/side hustle to generate income is the way to go. Doing something mundane to enable an enjoyable lifestyle is a sacrifice most of us make. But use it to create some passive wealth through investment (houses, shares etc) It also supports you to start a business, run a side hustle or further yourself (education, skilling up._

I currently work 40+ hrs a week, I have shares, healthy superannuation (U.S equivalent is the 401k I think), some crypto and I stream in my spare time and I am looking to secure 1+ investment properties soon.

Whatever it is you do end up doing, make sure it's got some enjoyable elements/pastimes in it, you can't just grind out 60-80 hours a week endlessly with no enjoyment, it will crush you eventually. I do what I do job wise to support my family, but I have my passions and interests for my own enjoyment.

I do 4 12hrs shifts per week, get 3weeks of vacation a year, I take a week off every 4 months. I really want out of my current job but it pays so good and I mostly work in the office doing paperwork, I'm a aircraft mechanic.

 

[Bagerklestyne]

I do 4 12hrs shifts per week, get 3weeks of vacation a year, I take a week off every 4 months. I really want out of my current job but it pays so good and I mostly work in the office doing paperwork, I'm a aircraft mechanic.

I work 3x 12hrs a week (and one more every 6 weeks to balance my hours) but I also get 7 weeks annual/vacation a year.

Use the money to invest so you're less dependant on the income and then you can do something else. Couple or properties or few hundred K in shares will give you the same income if you worked a more enjoyable job.

 

[A&P211]

I work 3x 12hrs a week (and one more every 6 weeks to balance my hours) but I also get 7 weeks annual/vacation a year.

Use the money to invest so you're less dependant on the income and then you can do something else. Couple or properties or few hundred K in shares will give you the same income if you worked a more enjoyable job.

I do enjoy my job but I'm been here for 10+yrs. I've gotten to a point, mostly seniority within my union, to get day shifts and bid for more of a koosher job mostly doing paperwork. I'm still learning about property laws and types of loans I can get for a multi family unit(s). But my area doesn't have a very good positive cash flow on multi-family units. I'm looking at Detroit, MI. Its in the very early stages of a up and coming city.

 

[Space Lynx]

HYSA dont really give you that much, right now, most are around 4-5.1%. You might find a 5.2%, but REIT pays upwards of 8-11%.


There are always bubbles to look forward too. I like AI stocks but they all seem to be in a bubble.

HYSA is steady, it may go down a little in the coming years, but its just steady and stable. I feel like real estate is going to crash hard around 2030-2035 as the baby boomer generation begins to pass away in large numbers (for the record I hope they live longer than expected cause I don't want to say goodbye to my Dad, but no one lives forever). They are the biggest population group alive, and they are all going to be around 80 years old then, so x amount of people y amount of houses - supply and demand, I expect REIT and houses to lose a lot of value in the 2030's, everything is fine now though true.

 

[Bagerklestyne]

I do enjoy my job but I'm been here for 10+yrs. I've gotten to a point, mostly seniority within my union, to get day shifts and bid for more of a koosher job mostly doing paperwork. I'm still learning about property laws and types of loans I can get for a multi family unit(s). But my area doesn't have a very good positive cash flow on multi-family units. I'm looking at Detroit, MI. Its in the very early stages of a up and coming city.

Shares might be a better start initially until you can find a good real estate that can give you scope across the country. In Australia we have a few to pick from that span most of our states so sourcing a suitable property is potentially easier (albeit markedly more expensive than a lot in the u.s - Sans living in NYC/LA or other properly wealthy areas where a million gets you a closet at best)

 

[A&P211]

HYSA is steady, it may go down a little in the coming years, but its just steady and stable. I feel like real estate is going to crash hard around 2030-2035 as the baby boomer generation begins to pass away in large numbers (for the record I hope they live longer than expected cause I don't want to say goodbye to my Dad, but no one lives forever). They are the biggest population group alive, and they are all going to be around 80 years old then, so x amount of people y amount of houses - supply and demand, I expect REIT and houses to lose a lot of value in the 2030's, everything is fine now though true.

HYSA doesnt give you anything, it only gives you the same amount of money that you put in, you have to grow your money thats higher than inflation. I'm looking into MFH, not SFH, (multi, single-family housing) and using leverage to hopefully grow into more units. I'm going to meet up with a partner in Detroit in the spring to go over the city and some of the numbers, so far the cash flow is pretty good. Current studies show that Detroit is still losing population decline but its slowing down from 2020-2030 and the people replacing the ones that are/have left are younger hispter types. Detriot in 2023 had the highest appreciation rates in the country. There are still very good deals to find in Detriot.

Shares might be a better start initially until you can find a good real estate that can give you scope across the country. In Australia we have a few to pick from that span most of our states so sourcing a suitable property is potentially easier (albeit markedly more expensive than a lot in the u.s - Sans living in NYC/LA or other properly wealthy areas where a million gets you a closet at best)

Real estate in those cities dont buy it for the cash flow, they keep it for the appreciation rates for the long term or some keep it to show a lose for the tax benefits. In the US you wanna find deals in the midwest, like Ohio, Tennessee, Kansas, or Oklahoma

 

[ty_ger]

You mean like birds? And bats?

Yes, of course. That makes perfect sense to you, right?

I was training for that but I enjoy work in the office more, I'm a a&p.

Yes, I figured.
I am an A&P too.
I worked as a rotorcraft mechanic for 15 years. I worked West Coast, Alaska, Scandinavia, and in the Middle East.
Then I decided to go into the Avionics side of it because I always enjoyed it as a hobby and as a mechanic I excelled compared to most in the field when it came to those types of problems and repairs. Been doing it exclusively for a few years.
I also have my Class A CDL, Tanker, and Hazmat endorsement for driving fuel truck around. I got to do that quite a bit some fire season summers.

 

[A&P211]

Yes, of course. That makes perfect sense to you, right?


Yes, I figured.
I am an A&P too.
I worked as a rotorcraft mechanic for 15 years. I worked West Coast, Alaska, Scandinavia, and in the Middle East.
Then I decided to go into the Avionics side of it because I always enjoyed it as a hobby and as a mechanic I excelled compared to most in the field when it came to those types of problems and repairs. Been doing it exclusively for a few years.
I also have my Class A CDL, Tanker, and Hazmat endorsement for driving fuel truck around. I got to do that quite a bit some fire season summers.

My airline wanted me to get a CDL so that I can drive the box truck from the main warehouse to the repair facilities. I said "no thanks", it didnt come with extra money, and I'm looking to exist within a few years. American is good, good pay, but I'm tired of working. I busted my ass for almost 10yrs on the over-night shift to finally get a day shift some years ago. Getting that CDL, driving that box truck would have taken me back to nights, no thanks.

 

[1freedude]

@A&P211 when where you active duty? I was airframer AIMD on ship from 99-02, Norfolk/Portsmouth yard most of the time

 

[A&P211]

@A&P211 when where you active duty? I was airframer AIMD on ship from 99-02, Norfolk/Portsmouth yard most of the time

I was in the Navy, stationed at Norfolk, VA from 2000-2004. I was a PN, personal-man, I did enlisted service records. FFG-52 USS Carr.

 

[1freedude]

LHA-2 USS Saipan

 

[A&P211]

LHA-2 USS Saipan

o7 shipmate

Where you good at your job?, I'll admit, I wasnt very good. I messed up so many times, especially when ever I did leave time. I once miscalculated the leave time on a Senior chief. The entire ship found out about it so when ever people requested leave, they would ask for the other PN to do the paperwork.
I miss it but I dont miss it.

 

[1freedude]

Yes, I was. Painting and needle-gunning. I finally understood our role when my workcenter sup 1st class suited up and grabbed a needlegun, and we had at it for a few days. My department was babysitters for the spaces and gear for the Marines. Fuckin sucked ass. I was UA at least 10 times a month, but, I was onboard the ship. And of course, DCPO work, and Repair Locker duties. Even though I was labelled a shitbag, I got high-profile tasks. Prob helped that I was a double C schooler boot. Two NECs before I got to the fleet.

Dont sweat that old shit.....I went from E1 to E4 in under 2 years, and back to E1 in the next year. Got a General out of the deal. Kind of miss it sometimes.

 

[A&P211]

Yes, I was. Painting and needle-gunning. I finally understood our role when my workcenter sup 1st class suited up and grabbed a needlegun, and we had at it for a few days. My department was babysitters for the spaces and gear for the Marines. Fuckin sucked ass. I was UA at least 10 times a month, but, I was onboard the ship. And of course, DCPO work, and Repair Locker duties. Even though I was labelled a shitbag, I got high-profile tasks. Prob helped that I was a double C schooler boot. Two NECs before I got to the fleet.

Dont sweat that old shit.....I went from E1 to E4 in under 2 years, and back to E1 in the next year. Got a General out of the deal. Kind of miss it sometimes.

I started as E3, I was in ROTC in highschool, and got out on E4. I didnt want to rank up anymore. I was happy being a 3rd class, anything higher than a 2nd class, you get the responsible of training the new PN and YNs. More headaches with minimal pay increase, maybe $250 higher a month in 2002. I dont sweat it anymore, the Navy didnt teach me anything besides clean toilets. When ever the ship was deployed or on a training cruise, I was mostly assigned cleaning the head. I dont miss that $hit.

 

[Bagerklestyne]

Real estate in those cities dont buy it for the cash flow, they keep it for the appreciation rates for the long term or some keep it to show a lose for the tax benefits. In the US you wanna find deals in the midwest, like Ohio, Tennessee, Kansas, or Oklahoma

Yeah over here we're more about the wealth accumulation and rental income

 

[AusWolf]

Having retired permanently in my early 50s I highly recommend it. As I opined before in this thread, I worked little in the last 25yrs. Which brings me to a pedantic (it was doubtless implied by you.) point. You don't save, you invest. Money loses its value if not earning more with sweet compounding interest, or gains from stock prices over time, etc.

I don't understand the slippery slope of retirement mentality. I have talked to many that feel that way. So programmed to work that they fear entropy will ensue if they don't have that structure. There are so many things to do that are low cost or free to enjoyably occupy your time. I enjoy the message boards and DIY PC hobby immensely. I do combat sports and martial arts. Surf and skateboard sometimes; both longboards. Read omnivorously, stream content with the Mrs., drink our tea watching the sunset. Cook; I did it professionally once upon a time and still love doing it for my family. Some remodeling work on our home, which seems a never ending task. Have few beers with my adult son and just spend quality time. Lift weights. Go to the gun range. It's bliss.

Almost forgot the best stuff. I don't have to tell anyone what to do anymore. Or worse yet, be told. Though that was the minority of my adult life as homie don't play that.

I can stay up late then get up late, or take a seista, if I want. No rush hour traffic. No work related stress. No corpo bullshit. I don't know what price tag to put on that, but it's extremely high.

Investments are awesome if you have a financial type of brain. Sadly, I don't.

The only investment I have are a few shares in the company I work for, which is under an acquisition process, so I'm gonna see some returns soon. Had I started investing a lot sooner, or a lot more, I would be waving goodbye to my colleagues instead of the pocket money I'm gonna get now. I'm not brave enough for such stuff, I guess.

With that said, I'm not giving up. I'm still planning to save enough for an early retirement by working night shifts and putting all my allowances and premiums aside on a high-yield savings account. It's not gonna be much, but combined with my company pension pot, it'll hopefully be enough to support a modest retired lifestyle somewhere in a much more affordable European country until I reach the eligible age for state pension.

Honestly, the UK is a great place to live while you work full-time, but it's way too expensive to retire here.

 

[Space Lynx]

Investments are awesome if you have a financial type of brain. Sadly, I don't.

The only investment I have are a few shares in the company I work for, which is under an acquisition process, so I'm gonna see some returns soon. Had I started investing a lot sooner, or a lot more, I would be waving goodbye to my colleagues instead of the pocket money I'm gonna get now. I'm not brave enough for such stuff, I guess.

With that said, I'm not giving up. I'm still planning to save enough for an early retirement by working night shifts and putting all my allowances and premiums aside on a high-yield savings account. It's not gonna be much, but combined with my company pension pot, it'll hopefully be enough to support a modest retired lifestyle somewhere in a much more affordable European country until I reach the eligible age for state pension.

Honestly, the UK is a great place to live while you work full-time, but it's way too expensive to retire here.

retirement is only rough if you don't have a house to inherit (I may, I don't know for sure to be honest, if not well it is what it is and I will adapt), my relatives in England inherited their house at a young age, its been in their family line for 500 years I believe. it's not much, but it needs 0 repairs, I guess they just built things better back then, I don't know. the generational wealth they have accumulated from never having rent though is quite astounding.

that being said, being around them has taught me that wealth is not everything, in fact it disconnects you from a greater reality imo. me personally as long as I have enough savings to live content and enjoy a few hobbies I am good with that. Happiness is really all about perspective and how you spend your time, for me I just want enough in savings to know I will have stability long term (rent is a big factor in that, so your concerns are valid 100%). One example of excess wealth though, I got my shorts for like at $15 Costco, they are great and I like them, my relative in England wears $250 shorts... I mean congrats I guess... not throwing shade at it or anything, people are free to do as they choose, but it does imo blind them to a greater reality sometimes.

some wealth is important, but excess is not. once I reach a point of knowing my rent, property taxes, utilities, food, healthcare, and a few hobbies once all of that is taken care of in my current lower middle class lifestyle - I am a happy camper, I don't need a 200k a house, a 130k house is fine, a 75k SUV, no thanks a 20k Kia Forte is fine, and it will last me just as long if I take care of it. so don't mistake me saying wealth is not important for happiness, it is to some degree, but I don't need the riches that many seek. as long as I have my books and games I am good (and I already have most of those on backlog to last me a life time lol)

 

[AusWolf]

retirement is only rough if you don't have a house to inherit (I may, I don't know for sure to be honest, if not well it is what it is and I will adapt), my relatives in England inherited their house at a young age, its been in their family line for 500 years I believe. it's not much, but it needs 0 repairs, I guess they just built things better back then, I don't know. the generational wealth they have accumulated from never having rent though is quite astounding.

that being said, being around them has taught me that wealth is not everything, in fact it disconnects you from a greater reality imo. me personally as long as I have enough savings to live content and enjoy a few hobbies I am good with that. Happiness is really all about perspective and how you spend your time, for me I just want enough in savings to know I will have stability long term (rent is a big factor in that, so your concerns are valid 100%). One example of excess wealth though, I got my shorts for like at $15 Costco, they are great and I like them, my relative in England wears $250 shorts... I mean congrats I guess... not throwing shade at it or anything, people are free to do as they choose, but it does imo blind them to a greater reality sometimes.

some wealth is important, but excess is not. once I reach a point of knowing my rent, property taxes, utilities, food, healthcare, and a few hobbies once all of that is taken care of in my current lower middle class lifestyle - I am a happy camper, I don't need a 200k a house, a 130k house is fine, a 75k SUV, no thanks a 20k Kia Forte is fine, and it will last me just as long if I take care of it. so don't mistake me saying wealth is not important for happiness, it is to some degree, but I don't need the riches that many seek. as long as I have my books and games I am good (and I already have most of those on backlog to last me a life time lol)

I'm exactly the same.

I don't want to accumulate wealth. All I want is an early retirement with a fairly comfortable lifestyle. A couple of trips per year, PC gaming, good food, etc. I've never in my life had any interest in big houses, expensive cars, branded clothes, and the sorts. If a £20k car can get you from A to B reliably and lets you have a bit of fun on the way, then a £100k car is £80k wasted in my eyes. I'm not even envious. Even if I had that money, I'd never buy such a car as it has no appeal to me. Same with houses. I need a bedroom, game room, and a relatively decent kitchen and that's it. Any more than that is wasted space.

My plans for savings are for my retirement way before the state pension age. I don't want to endure all this modern corporate BS any longer than I absolutely have to.

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

So...not sharing job details.

What I can share is that I work in quality, and manufacturing. We're 13 pages in...and this seems to have partially become a discussion about how people accumulate wealth rather than what job they want/need/are motivated to do.


My response to you is that you should not care about your job, as much as you should care about your progression and the people that you work with. I started at a small company...and I was the back-up for everything. Order entry, engineering, shipping, and running a fork lift weren't things that I shied away from. It sucked, the pay was worse, and I had a boss sit me down in the middle of a recall and tell me that I was setting a bad example for others because I was putting in 12+ hours a day 5 days a week. Yes, I was the one setting a bad example during millions of dollars of bad product being rejected by a huge customer. I later looked at all that I did, and had to ask for a raise after 5 years...and was told that maybe I didn't get a raise because I wasn't worth it...and that I was setting another bad example by not working well enough with the new floor manager...

I tell you the above to illustrate the following. I learned to run a grinder, I learned BoM construction, I learned scheduling, I learned material utilization optimization, and I learned a lot about excel. My company gave me the middle finger...so I found a job that offered about 30k more a year. The manager I "didn't work well with" was fired less than 30 days after I left...because it turns out I was doing my job and about 80% of his. When the rubber met the road, I discovered that working with deadbeats sucks...and "loving what you do" isn't nearly as important as working with competent people. You should learn your job, and everything that feeds it, so that when you move on you know what should be. Your skill set matters...and a job that sucks is always out there. Do not believe you'll have a job for life...corporate entities killed that in the early 90's when they started devaluing employees by killing the ladder up with outside hiring of "management specialists."

My response for the listless is:
1) Ask yourself if you want security or progression.
2) Define a livable target wage...making sure that you have a life.
3) Determine if your industry favors age or skill...and aim for that.
4) Don't be afraid to take tertiary options. You'd be surprised how much money having one good trade skill can make you. Consider welding, repair, and other trade jobs...because you'd be surprised how few people have skills.

 

[Ivan Bliminse]

Retired and living with my wonderful wife...

 

[TumbleGeorge]

Heavy metal. Mondey-Fridey. 8 hours per day.

 

[Hugis]

Was a decent mechanic for 8 years after leaving school @ 16 , then after being made redundant twice I went on to study engineering @ HND level ,then worked in PC's building servers and system for RSA and other large companys (also built Jobserve's webserver circa 1999 as it was getting 4.5Million hits a month) was head of RMA's and overclocking.
Then moved to Aus -1 year working holiday visa on KENO and the New South Wales lottery machines( AWA then Jupiters.)
Back to UK worked in filtration @ places like Jonson Matthey/Pilkingtons/etc(Mortelecque)
Moved to Spain opened an internet cafe on dial up! yup 4 machines including a mac on dial up 56k also did some cooking (panninis etc) later that year a chef who had worked @ Le Gavroche took over the building and i moved out, he asked if i could help him in the kitchen.
1 year later he leaves i take on a his restaurant with my wife, we do 6+ years there (rented) and decide to find our own place and start building our own restaurant.
Moving on to now we have had our own custom built restaurant for 10+ years, semi retired as we live in a sleepy seasonal mountain village.

Find whats right for you, do your best, but dont kill yourself doing it!
Love, life and happiness

Hug

 

[DaemonForce]

A mix of general and specialized labor in shipping and transportation. Very light work in anything IT despite knowing my way around a computer better than most Windows Preinstallation Specialists and similar SBs. These days I'm just a rabbit on the Internets.

 

[Vario]

I'm in my late 30s. I went back to school to get a degree in CS/Applied Math. Hopefully be done with it in 2 years. My career got messed up from a rare spinal cord tumor, later fixed, then I had to care for my dying mother through ALS/FTD for a few years.

I'd like to get into software engineering, data sci, ops research, informatics, etc. I was considering a PhD but it takes too long at this point in my life. From life circumstances, I was interested in pharmaceutical development (such as cheminformatics, computational/physical chem, chemical physics) but decided to be a generalist. Some of this was from reading about how many PhD Physics/Chem people just end up doing software engineering (and having a difficult time breaking into that field).