My little girl is all grown up and I am a proud papa…

[Tim]

tech in many places is like what finance in new york city has been for decades; less formal training to get paid more than many professionals, and bidding up the local cost of living in the process.

https://www.naceweb.org/job-market/compensation/
Compensation within an industry sector varies.
Compensation based on degree often prepares one for an entry level position.
Just as speciality tends to put physicians in a compensation band, they really depend on what opportunities one seeks out over a career.
With larger comp, the differences are more magnified.
STEM is just harder.
Physicians, engineers, law, hard science, finance, accounting and marketing seem to have always had a payoff .
The entry level historical data is available. For awhile, petroleum engineers were a premium.
Tech is not simply “coding”. Bring some skills to the table and network your way to run a business.
Easier in medicine, if you want to rely on your own skills more than development of new skills and finding opportunities.
There are a ton of attorneys making very little money.
Zuckerberg studied psychology and computer science and dropped out. He hired “coders”.
Gates famously dropped out. Again, he wasn’t the “coder”.

I have no clue other than having a child choose something intellectually challenging, bring skills to the table and seek opportunities.
The days of a broad liberal arts education no longer open doors. Can’t get in the entry level.

[wideopenspaces]

My husband is a software engineer with a masters degree ( paid for by his employer) and his income trajectory has been crazy. He makes more than I ever will and that definitely wasn't what we expected when I entered medical school. His company just did a decent bump for everyone and he was showing me the targets for his team. He's got several young women only 2-3 years out of college ( attending inexpensive state school) making close to 300k. With amazing benefits like unlimited time off, good work life balance, wfh, random cool gifts sent out throughout the year . . . They're all just killing it. I hate computers and technology but it's pretty easy to see who made the better life choices 😆

WBD, tell your daughter congratulations! It's not easy to be a woman in tech in a lot of ways but they're needed for sure and I'm glad she's thriving there!

[Turf Doc]

My husband is a software engineer with a masters degree ( paid for by his employer) and his income trajectory has been crazy. He makes more than I ever will and that definitely wasn't what we expected when I entered medical school. His company just did a decent bump for everyone and he was showing me the targets for his team. He's got several young women only 2-3 years out of college ( attending inexpensive state school) making close to 300k. With amazing benefits like unlimited time off, good work life balance, wfh, random cool gifts sent out throughout the year . . . They're all just killing it. I hate computers and technology but it's pretty easy to see who made the better life choices 😆

WBD, tell your daughter congratulations! It's not easy to be a woman in tech in a lot of ways but they're needed for sure and I'm glad she's thriving there!

I think that people used to compare medicine to law or finance when they were frustrated with their career choice, but now I feel like online you always hear it compared to tech. On the one hand there are surely a large number of people (like yourself for ex.) who either don't have the interest or aptitude to succeed in tech, but when I hear people say that those high salaries are the top of the top and unlikely, I think to myself how literally all of my friends from high school who work in tech went FAANG like straight out of college.

Obviously for the last decade or so it's been one of the best times to be in tech ever... itll be interesting to see if/when it crashes. Unfortunately that'll take everyones retirement with it!

[Auric goldfinger]

Tech in the SF area is nuts. My oldest (29)was a director level in product development at VISA prior to being recruited for FACEBOOK last month. His VP at VISA tried to get him back, but admitted he’s making more than he is as a VP at VISA. The dark side seems to have unlimited funds for poaching

[Anne]

WBD, I’m going to ask a nosy question, feel free to ignore. You’ve shared previously about the importance your own father placed on work/income generation and how that has affected your own psyche. How would you feel if your daughter called you up and said she decided to quit working/go pursue something completely non-lucrative/had achieved enough $ and was going to live the FI life. Would you feel less proud?

[AR]

WBD, I’m going to ask a nosy question, feel free to ignore. You’ve shared previously about the importance your own father placed on work/income generation and how that has affected your own psyche. How would you feel if your daughter called you up and said she decided to quit working/go pursue something completely non-lucrative/had achieved enough $ and was going to live the FI life. Would you feel less proud?

I'd be interested in the answer, but I doubt the pride goes away when you know what she has already accomplished.

I'd just view it as possibly a suboptimal life choice (that depends on a lot of things). I wouldn't be that worried as she presumably has the skillset to go back to making money should the need arise.

[White.Beard.Doc]

WBD, I’m going to ask a nosy question, feel free to ignore. You’ve shared previously about the importance your own father placed on work/income generation and how that has affected your own psyche. How would you feel if your daughter called you up and said she decided to quit working/go pursue something completely non-lucrative/had achieved enough $ and was going to live the FI life. Would you feel less proud?

As I mentioned above, one of the options on my daughter's list of choices is quitting her job and doing a startup on her own. "Bootstrapping" in her words. To be honest, although that is a cool option for someone else's daughter, I feel content that she is well employed and making a good income. I feel good that she is independent, self supporting, and making great contributions. If she were to quit her job and live off her savings, I would worry somewhat about her future security. At the same time, her longstanding boyfriend/partner is well employed, and they have plenty of savings, and we could help support them if needed, but to be honest, I like that she is quite successful with her work.

I don't know, maybe this is a thing in our family. I worked too hard because that was the expectation of my dad. My kids work hard too. Maybe the work/life balance is off. It is worth thinking about. The reality with my daughter is she is very opinionated and independent. She fought back hard against the parental advice to work hard in school and to work hard in general. But then she ended up working hard and doing well. As a teen, she was a ball of fire who pushed hard to do her own thing. These days she will again, at times, ask for my advice, but I feel she will do what she wants in the end. When she asked if she should make the leap faith to immerse herself in her startup idea, I told her I thought that would be a good option, but likely better in a year or two once she has more connections and a more extensive network with colleagues at the MIT Media Lab.

For me, having a good job and a good income means security. We live well below our means, but I continue to like working and earning because first, it means security, and second, it means we can enjoy the international trips that we like without a second thought. Mathematically, we could still do everything we like without me continuing to work, but I don't think I would feel very secure. And I would likely also feel bored.

[Hatton]

As I mentioned above, one of the options on my daughter's list of choices is quitting her job and doing a startup on her own. "Bootstrapping" in her words. To be honest, although that is a cool option for someone else's daughter, I feel content that she is well employed and making a good income. I feel good that she is independent, self supporting, and making great contributions. If she were to quit her job and live off her savings, I would worry somewhat about her future security. At the same time, her longstanding boyfriend/partner is well employed, and they have plenty of savings, and we could help support them if needed, but to be honest, I like that she is quite successful with her work.

I don't know, maybe this is a thing in our family. I worked too hard because that was the expectation of my dad. My kids work hard too. Maybe the work/life balance is off. It is worth thinking about. The reality with my daughter is she is very opinionated and independent. She fought back hard against the parental advice to work hard in school and to work hard in general. But then she ended up working hard and doing well. As a teen, she was a ball of fire who pushed hard to do her own thing. These days she will again, at times, ask for my advice, but I feel she will do what she wants in the end. When she asked if she should make the leap faith to immerse herself in her startup idea, I told her I thought that would be a good option, but likely better in a year or two once she has more connections and a more extensive network with colleagues at the MIT Media Lab.

For me, having a good job and a good income means security. We live well below our means, but I continue to like working and earning because first, it means security, and second, it means we can enjoy the international trips that we like without a second thought. Mathematically, we could still do everything we like without me continuing to work, but I don't think I would feel very secure. And I would likely also feel bored.

It sounds like she will be fine whatever she decides to do.

[StarTrekDoc]

My sister's family did same thing: one stable business tech/consulting job for income+benefits while the other did VC -- a lot of couples in the Bay Area do this. Take that 'stable' FB/GOOG job while the other bootstraps/incubator/startup/wildcat/VC

My niece is making six figures doing Youtube while she fleshes out her music/media industry contact career.
Family friend of long time aerospace engineer goes to FB to work on satellite coms lots of opportunities.

@WBD - congrats. sounds like she has options and doing well. As Hatton said, many roads to success. Baseline is instilling gumption to the next gen and proud you should be!

[MPMD]

that's awesome

one thing my SIL and i like to say is the following: the ability to show up on time and do your job well without causing problems is a superpower.

i suspect your daughter has it.

[burritos]

Good job!

[Tim]

that's awesome

one thing my SIL and i like to say is the following: the ability to show up on time and do your job well without causing problems is a superpower.

i suspect your daughter has it.

Superstar is additionally doing all the things your boss dislikes in addition to being a superpower. Your boss values you taking the crap away with a smile.

[Hank]

There’s some gender discrimination and lots of age discrimination in tech. Recommend getting to financial independence by 40 or 45 at the latest, even if they love what they’re doing.

[pit.alumni]

My son is mid 30s and has a masters in engineering. He started a company and it has grown to about 15 employees. He still drives the used car I bought him in grad school, it must be 15 years old. He is married and lives in an old and modest home. He also has a few rentals. The business has been a struggle with a lot of ups and downs in the beginning. He told me last year he made about the same as a successful surgical specialist. I told him he was the millionaire next door, but I'm not sure he understood that.

[Tim]

My son is mid 30s and has a masters in engineering. He started a company and it has grown to about 15 employees. He still drives the used car I bought him in grad school, it must be 15 years old. He is married and lives in an old and modest home. He also has a few rentals. The business has been a struggle with a lot of ups and downs in the beginning. He told me last year he made about the same as a successful surgical specialist. I told him he was the millionaire next door, but I'm not sure he understood that.

Sorry, the pandemic really changed things for many small businesses. Projects and clients put projects on hold and well I am sure he will be fine. Congrats.