[idoby]

Higher paying jobs don't pay higher for no reason. One of those reasons could be that you have unique skills worth paying for. Another reason is as compensation for squeezing every last hour of work out of you. Not saying you can't get a higher paying job and be happy with your work-life balance, but buyer beware when it comes to this. You might actually be in a good place in this regard.

If you start a business, you might get the opportunity to learn a bunch of things you never would have in a corporate environment, and if the business succeeds, you might have the time and money to do the other things on your list. If it doesn't succeed, you'll certainly have the time when you decide to shut it down.

Another option is to start a side business while working for your current employer, if your contract and legal environment will allow it.

Your mid-twenties are a great time to figure out what you want to be by the end of your thirties.

[tw600040]

//Higher paying jobs don't pay higher for no reason

Completely disagree. there are software developers working so much and making peanuts and there are developers that know how to BS and work may be 1/5th and make thrice or 4 times the pay.

Completely disagree that higher paying jobs demand more.

[julianeon]

True, but for every 10 jobs paying 80k, in probably 8 of them you can keep it to 40 hours strictly, whereas for every 10 jobs paying 150k, it's the reverse: in 9 of them, you have to work more than 40 hours a week. (Maybe the 1 other guy has a Harvard CS degree and can immediately pull up his LinkedIn inbox if his manager implies a threat).

There may be extenuating circumstances if, say, you work remotely from Nowhere, Alaska, so they can pay you less, or you work in a college lab where programmers-in-training are plentiful. But generally, those forces are pushing to equalize, across programming positions all across the country.

I worked a lower paying job at one point, and the truth is, at lower salaries, "well this is what you're paying me for" was kind of implied. Or maybe it's more accurate to put it in reverse: if your employer jacks up the workload, then employees will think, why don't I just get a 120k job, since it'll be the same amount of work, now? So employers at lower salaries have a strong incentive to be chill, just as employees at that level can have a chill lifestyle, as that's something employers are happy to make happen for lower costs.

[idoby]

I've worked $150k/year jobs, the expectations of work pace/output are implied, but completely there.

They'll pay lip service to mental health and work-life balance, but you'll see the real incentives in who gets bonuses/promotions and who gets "managed out".

Try to have a minor mental health episode in a tech company. Just try. Then tell me how long the line is at the unemployment office.

[idoby]

True, but being able to BS is a great reason why people would pay you more.

[badpun]

> Higher paying jobs don't pay higher for no reason. One of those reasons could be that you have unique skills worth paying for.

In tech, often the high pay comes from knowing the latest hottest tech. My devops friend is making 2x the usual devops pay only because he's competent around a combination of latest cloud and big data technologies.