Thanks. I don’t think I can really answer this question because I’m not sure I would go back into the industry at all today. It’s a lot less appealing than it was in, say, 2005 or even 2010. But I still think investment banking for a few years is still the best option for maximizing your exit opportunities and learning a lot in a short period. The long-term outlook is worse, though, so I don’t think I would stay there very long.

Just curious, taking into account your in-depth examination of career paths within financials services over the years… if you had to go back and take a job in finance, at any level, what area (or areas) would interest you? (with regards to some degree or balance for you of the following: meaning, fulfilment, intellectually engaging work, work-life balance, good pay)

Thanks, glad to hear it. I am still running this site.

I left my job on Wall Street and went head first into music, ultimately selling digital products and courses to help music producers. This story is awesome man and I wish you the best. Your guides and programs helped me land internships on WS and ultimately FT offer (which I did for 2 years in IBD).

It took about a year, but my business is finally moving… it doesn’t happen overnight. Would love to hear what you are working on now my man.

Best regards,

NK

It’s just not of interest at this stage. I am “semi-retired” and mostly managing my own investments. Not even sure why I’m still running this site, actually, since I now make more money from my portfolio than I do from product sales here.

Also, the “look at my cool lifestyle!” space is incredibly crowded and also meaningless/boring for anyone past the age of 25 or so. And with Covid, I doubt that travel will return to normal anytime within the next decade.

I have no interest in doing anything else career/coaching-related. Once you reach a certain financial stage, “work” just becomes less interesting in general, and you start to think about how you want to spend your limited time.

I have been a long-time reader of your blog and I have to say that your 5 part series is the article that I have enjoyed the most. You are very talented with enormous self-discipline. I cannot imagine how I can keep up with the schedule that you set for yourself over the years, working more than 100 hours per week on this website. How about this business idea: becoming a YouTube vlogger / YouTuber? (I don’t know the term for it). You are adventurous and have a lot of interesting experiences that most people would like to hear about. You probably have lived a life that many others would dream of and would not have the courage to do so. They will definitely love to hear about your experiences. The thing about article is that it takes very long to read through. You are probably a reader since you like to read about GoT, but most people prefer watching to reading. It would not be very difficult for you to do so, since you are good with content creation. Maybe you can pivot into a career coach?

Also, I realized that the isolation that comes from starting up an online business is that you do not have a business partner for now. It will become “us” against “the world” rather than “me/I” against “the world”.

This is a lot of unsolicited comments/ opinions/ remarks.

Whatever you choose to do, I wish the best for you. May 2021 be the best year of your life and Merry Christmas!

1) Because it’s not that easy. Things need to be updated and maintained. You can’t just create a product once and expect it to sell, unchanged, for 50-100 years. Some books do that (e.g., Think and Grow Rich), but not ones on technical topics. I have scaled back my hours and treat this more like a day job, though.

2) Yes, those are examples. Engineers, accountants, some sales roles, corporate finance, etc. Yes, people from lower-tier schools get some of these roles.

3) The premise of your question is flawed because what you want and need will change over time. No, right now, you may not care about anything like that, but that will change as you get older. In general, I think most of these “retire early” people are in for a shock when economic/market conditions abruptly change.

4) If you’re risk averse but want to earn high compensation, your choices are pretty much tech or finance. Nothing is perfect, so decide which of the negative points you can live with.

Although I don’t go to Stanford, I just finished my freshman year at USC and your initial lack of focus resonates with me a lot. You said you were vaguely looking for success, whether in “engineering, consulting, project management, and yes, ultimately finance.” I came in as an engineering major, switched to comp sci and business, then switched to Industrial and Systems engineering with intention of doing consulting, then added a finance minor when I decided to try for IB.

I also think the 4-hour workweek being your motivation is perfect, given that I feel like I’m always just trying to create a situation where I can have that but instead I’ll probably just end up working harder now for some future payoff through IB>PE>MBA>??? Your “No, you can’t have it all” about how most goals are really just versions of “Become a deca-millionaire without doing much work and also getting my own private beach in Thailand while having the best life ever,” which never actually happens.

That article also talks about how going into finance just for experience is generally a bad idea, since it really doesn’t carry over and the hours don’t ever get that great. Somehow, though, I’m still trying to go into IB, I guess because I have no idea what I really would enjoy doing and so the options become: 1) Take a chance at a lower paying job and if you don’t like it then your job sucks and your pay sucks or 2) Go into IB and if you don’t like it at least the pay is good. The only clear better industry looks like tech, but being a software engineer takes more actual skill than finance, and the amount of code I’d have to learn and side projects I’d have to complete just to get a job coding all day don’t seem worth it. In other words, it seems much easier to “fake” interest in finance enough to do well, but if you don’t like coding you can’t really pass as a software engineer. Also, I tend to socially prefer finance people but maybe I’ve just met all the nerdiest comp sci majors.

From what you’ve written and my general knowledge, it seems that banking is better than consulting almost universally, “traditional” engineering is a trade-off with lower pay but better hours, software engineering is good, and entrepreneurship is risky, especially given that an online business like yours requires insane amounts of commitment in early years and often even longer and it can be extremely socially isolating.

This comment ended up being more like an essay, and if you do read it, it’s probably going to be at 3AM after you spent 14 hours updating the BIWS courses and writing articles, so thanks for the time you spend on the site.

A couple questions:
1) If, as you say in a reply above, the site is a fairly stable operation now, do you still spend so much time? If you do, why? Do you ever plan to dial it back or start a family? Or to get closer to the 4-hour workweek, even if it’s more like 20-40 hours? You also said above “I have money, but little else.” So why keep working on the site instead of going after “else”?
2) When you say, “bankers and PE people never get the hours that normal jobs get,” what are normal jobs? Like engineers? Corporate roles? Who’s filling all the F500 roles anyway? Just all the BBA grads from Penn State and similar?
3) If I don’t plan to have kids or purchase an expensive house, car, watches, etc, would it be possible to actually do the retire at 40 thing and live on the beach (Not really just do nothing, that’d be boring in about 20 seconds, but just do passion stuff like a podcast of a miniseries like Cost of Capital or whatever I feel like with no pressure)? Or does working in IB mean I’ll spend my money to go out with coworkers and friends to maintain social ties and not feel like a lonely cheapskate, ultimately not saving enough to retire until much later than pure salary would suggest?
4) I know it depends on the person, but in terms of overall trends, do you have any input on what industries are still the “best” if I don’t really know what I want to do? Even typing that I know it’s a cliche young kid question, but I don’t mean prestige, I just mean I don’t want to enter the newspaper industry in 2004 or go into law, which like you said in the first part of this series, is pretty clearly worse overall than other options. For added info, I am generally risk averse, and wouldn’t want to risk burning through years at a startup that goes nowhere. Seems like tech or banking, but I’m always ready to hear about the magic bullet industry I’m overlooking where everything’s perfect.

Thanks. I’m not a great person to ask for advice on meeting people in different places because I haven’t done a good job of it myself. The best advice I can give is to focus on activities you’re interested in, like sports or music (at least when the world returns to normal), instead of focusing too much on co-workers or other work friends, who tend to be more “transactional.” Of course, this means you must also have enough free time to pursue a hobby each week. My mistake was focusing so much on work that I didn’t develop other interests. And most of these efforts were for nothing – yes, I have money, but little else.

I’ve read your entire life story series from cover to cover a few times over the last 3 years and every single time I was able to learn something new from it. Truly an amazing and inspirational story! I discovered your site back in 2016 when I was trying to break into IB in college and managed to land an internship at a BB in HK. But after the internship I figured that the industry was not for me and decided to switch career altogether. Now I’ve been working at a tech firm in NYC for a year and am happy with it. In spite of that, I still follow your work on this site. Great work!

Also, would it be possible for you to share some advices/tips on how to meet new people and mingle with different groups in NYC? I still find expanding my social circle quite challenging after a year. Thanks!