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Not OP, but I worked in finance as an trader for more than half a decade. I make more per hour once I switched to software development in NYC. I think people have a strange view of finance. Most people aren't paid obscene amounts of money in finance, just like most software developers don't make the salary of a senior developer at Big Tech. They also work an obscene amount of hours. During earnings season, I would be at my desk by 5am and work 80+ hours per week. Nowadays, It's a rarity to go more than 50. My brother currently works at Big Bank, and makes more than I do on an absolute basis, but I definitely make more than he does hourly. I get to work at 9:30-10, he gets to work at 7:30-8. I get home at 6:30-7:00, he gets home 8:30-9. He works at least a half day every Sunday, I enjoy my hobbies. I'm also commenting on HN at 11:00... Most of my college friends still work in finance. I make more money than a few of them based on overly honest drunken conversations, and we're all more than 10 years into our careers. There is a glass ceiling in tech that is a lot more all-encompassing, but it's not like it doesn't exist in other industries. There are only so many higher-up positions, and most people burn out (or aren't capable of competing) before they even get in position for that promotion. The running joke when someone was getting poor performance reviews was "That's it, I'm moving to Vermont to open an antique store". For some more comparison, I grew up in a 1%er town in the suburbs of NY. The average lawyer family lived in nicer houses than the average finance family, who in turn lived in nicer houses than the average medicine family. However, the most expensive house was owned by the CFO of Big Bank. Income is very right-skewed in finance. |