Is this industry too unstable if you have family members who depend on you financially?

I thought for a while before answering this as it’s something i struggle with myself. It’s hard to think about my wife being nervous about me getting fired every day knowing I may go a year without a job and never find something that pays close to Mid-Level HF pay again. But at the end of the day, nobody feels bad for somebody who could make 10-20x+ the Median Income in a single year. I will say gets easier the further you go as your nest egg helps you sleep at night. 
 

Private markets and IB are a much safer path to financial independence. Theres not much else to say except for that. I feel bad for you, because I have the same pressures with parents (and now a family) relying on me to provide. Its a burden im glad to bear, but I try to remind myself that it is my issue alone with the high stakes game of musical chairs I voluntarily chose to play. If you do go down this path, I wouldn’t go into detail about your job security or pay and be purposefully naive that your job security is better than it is and your pay is worse. I didnt share much with my wife until we were married, and she quickly learned that your never as rich as you think you are in good years and never as poor as you feel you are in bad years. I didn’t lie, but she may have been better off if i did.

Im not going to talk you out of the public markets, good LOs and SMs can be lifelong seats and offer amazing upside. Best indicator of happiness = Average tenure of Analyst. 
 

The industry has been beaten down for the last decade+ and PE has gotten drunk off the zero lower bound. Thats what has happened, not what will happen. Its up to you to find where your going to make the most money. Its always a Bull Market somewhere. Where will you be when its time to get paid?