Job Insights: How important is salary/money in your life?

“It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven't lost the things that money can't buy.” George Horace Lorimer

This quote struck me pretty hard, it's definitely something I continuously pursue in my life. First I'm going to tell you about my journey with money/salary and then we'll get into some research and stats.

I believe I have a pretty unique perspective since my first job out of university I was in completely different financial brackets year after year.

Year One

Since I was a Recruiter at an agency I started off at the bottom of the rung and didn't make too much my first year, roughly $35,000. This is an average of what people make right after University, so I was living in a small dorm in Toronto sharing it with a couple paying cheap rent. I lived pretty frugally and raided the snack cupboards at work as much as I could! Didn't go out much to social events or restaurants and secluded to things I can barely afford.

Year Two

My 2nd year as a Recruiter I nearly doubled my salary because I was partially commission based and began getting a lot of people jobs! At this point I stepped up into my own 1 bedroom apartment and was starting to go out more and enjoy some luxuries in life. At this point I wasn't too worried about money because I knew I had enough to cover the essentials (rent, expenses, etc). I even got my own Netflix subscription! But not sure if that was the best choice for my productivity. I was satisfied with the amount I had and what it gave me in life.

Year Three

My 3rd year working I have gone to the top and made over 6 figures, at this point I was 24 years old making a lot of money. You can probably imagine the amount of night outs, shopping and things I never imagined doing before. For one I went on a trip to Laos, where my parents are from, for an entire month and got addicted to something more desirable than money - experiences.

The Present

And this may come to a shock to a lot of people but instead of continuing at my job that guaranteed me a substantial income, I QUIT. Maybe i'm reckless, stupid, naive or a bunch of other things people have said to me directly/indirectly. But I decided to build my own Recruitment firm and partner up with a company that can help me grow. From my experience going from zero to 6 figures in a short time I learned one thing, money alone won't make you happy. If you need to work 10-12 hours a day and sometimes on the weekend to get the money you want you will be money rich but time poor.

Now let's look into the research...

If you won $10 million dollars in the lottery would you quit your job? Apparently 63% of engaged employees wouldn't do it. People who love what they do and are passionate will continue to do so in spite of financial restrictions or liberties.

Angus Deaton, winner of a Nobel Prize in Economics was the one who conducted the study which showed that people's day-to-day happiness topped up at around $75,000. This shouldn't be confused with life satisfaction - which is very subjective. But with regards to having enough money for necessities and not worrying about problems involving money they usually go away at that amount, which I would definitely agree with.

Glassdoor did a large study with regards to job satisfaction and money ranked 5th on the list. Top 4 in order being Culture & Values, Career Opportunities, Senior Leadership, and Work-Life Balance. It seems that although people talk about money being super important for jobs there are other factors involved.

Harvard Business Review looked at different correlations between money and whether it motivates you or not. Although it does depend on your set of values and what you place more importance on (intrinsic vs extrinsic rewards) they found that people who are intrinsically motivated are better at their jobs. Their research also suggest that if given the opportunity to CHOOSE how much they earn, they probably wouldn't enjoy their job more.

What it all means

From personal experience I don't feel money is that important above making $70,000, only so much that it allows you to buy experiences/travel. But the more money you make the harder it is to make time to enjoy it. I'm enjoying being my own boss, setting my own schedule and traveling as much as possible - this makes me happy.

From the research it seems to support similar revelations, from the Nobel Prize winner, Harvard Business and Glassdoor they all conclude that for jobs and life the salary isn't the most important. Rather the engagement, company values/culture, work-life balance, etc hold a bigger stake in people's lives.

So I'm curious, how important is salary/money to your life?

 For more career insights, check out www.joblessjames.com

Sources:

https://www.peoplepulse.com/how-important-is-salary-to-job-satisfaction/

https://time.com/money/4070041/angus-deaton-nobel-winner-money-happiness/

https://lifehacker.com/the-perfect-salary-for-happiness-by-state-1605278164

https://www.businessinsider.com/nobel-prize-winners-figured-out-the-perfect-salary-for-happiness-2015-10

https://www.glassdoor.com/research/does-money-buy-happiness-the-link-between-salary-and-employee-satisfaction/

https://hbr.org/2013/04/does-money-really-affect-motiv