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Bartender, Recruiter, HR, Sales, Insurance

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Very good question, I have friends who are mid tier engineers at mid tier companies, another guy at a LS startup who thinks he's going to hit big (he's not), another guy who's going to a 3rd tier law school, another who's working a remote job in Tampa doing client facing stuff, etc 

No one completely fell through the cracks, in 5yrs I think most of these guys will be making somewhere from $100-250k in a non-NYC/SF/LA city. Probably mostly will be married by then too and just have a solid upper middle class life assuming a dual income HH. Not too many people out there that after 5yrs of real world exposure have a truly burning passion to throw themselves into intense work 

 

250k at 27 puts you in the top 1% of income at that age per dqydj. I strongly suspect that most people making that are going to be employed in financial services, professional services or tech and disproportionately be located in VHCOL areas. Those that do and don’t make it also have increasing dispersion over time. It takes years generally to grow a successful unsexy business if you’re doing entrepreneurship or to get to the level where as a commercial banker or financial advisor you’ve got enough of a client roster to crack those numbers, of course the lower end is far more obtainable.

 
Funniest

Excellent question, I went to school with a man we shall name Bob. Armed with dreams of making it rain money and swimming in pools of gold coins, Bob embarked on his journey in the world of finance. However, his dreams quickly turned into nightmares as he realized he couldn't tell a stock from a bond if his life depended on it. His investment strategies were about as effective as using a spaghetti noodle to build a skyscraper. After one too many disastrous trades left him bankrupt and living off expired ramen noodles, Bob decided it was time for a change. With his tail between his legs and his calculator in hand, he begrudgingly trudged over to the land of accounting. And thus, Bob, the failed finance guru turned number-crunching extraordinaire, found his new calling amidst spreadsheets and tax forms. Though he may not have made it rain on Wall Street, he sure knew how to balance the books.

Bob killed himself just last year.

 

A few people I know went FDD or Management consulting 

The important thing is never to let oneself be guided by the opinion of one's contemporaries; to continue steadfastly on one's way without letting oneself be either defeated by failure or diverted by applause.
 

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