It’s no different than sports or any number of careers. Most people being smart prepare for when they no longer want or are able to do it. They may go to school or foster other skills while working. If they become famous enough they’ll do guest appearances, signings, and endorsements. Many will start their own brands, or stay in the industry as owners, producers, agents, or other positions. Engineer, stripper, or landscaper- where a career takes you is up to you and luck. But as an engineer you’re unlikely to ever have a strange client at work try and put a finger in you or slip you a roofie, so it’s not all just “east money.” So just remind yourself of that and you’ll be fine.
Nah. A decent stripper can make over $2k in a weekend. There are “routes” you can run too- hitting the big cities on the right days and ending the weekend in Vegas. The degree opens doors, but he doesn’t specify the three most important things in engineering: what kind of engineer, where, and most of all how much experience. A noob mechanical, even with a masters will be lucky to make what a used ca salesman makes.
At my company, in the Midwest and with a fairly low cost of living, we start BSME and BSEE grads at over $60k. Some get as much as 67 if they did summer internships or co-op assignments in engineering. Plus, they get health insurance (we pay ~4K of the $17k that it costs the company [that's for a family, btw]) and we get up to 7.5% matching in our 401k.
The direction for the pay over the next 35 years is upwards for these young people. For a stripper, maybe the pay will go up for a couple years, then drop off, then asymptotically converge to zero. Some salesmen can make more than an engineer, but not every year, and they have to hustle to do it so the TYPICAL salesman won't. Most stock traders also won't do better than that, but a few will. The stock traders who comsistently earn the big bucks are garnering fees for managing money, not out-earning the stock indexes they want to compare themselves to. When a fund underperformed its index long enough, the fund closes.
I’m not advocating stripping more or less than any other career, but the proposition was one stripper making more money in a weekend than an engineer had made in a month- and wether or not that represented a stripper and engineer at the opposite ends of the pay scale for their profession. You’ll find some strippers reliably make 6 figure salaries working 4 nights and a weekend. Due to reporting structure of wages it’s hard to reliably gauge an average salary for strippers, but chopping off the highest and lowest figures I’ve come across, $75-125k seems about “average.” Now, strippers tend to make more on weekends, in fact a single weekend can be more income than they see for the rest of the entire week. There is no 401k usually or benefits. It is also harder to get certain kinds of loans as much income is irregular and often under reported which screws their income ratio on paper.
It’s not the most stable of jobs and you can’t neccesarily rely on a given amount per night versus a salary job. In that way very similar to sales positions that are based on mostly commission. Another similarity that the two have over a salaried engineer is that pay for a given period is based on a combination of skill and effort. You can theoretically make as much or as little as you like, versus a salaried engineer who will make the same figure regardless of how little skill or effort is put in to a pay period, but also usually cannot make more on an as desired basis by performing better through their regular job. An engineers salary is based on a number of things from credentials and experience, to the field they are an engineer in, to other factors. A dancer is pretty much only limited by venue and ability.
As for sales people, salaries are all over the place. I doubt the guy at the mall selling electronic flipping dogs makes $60k+ off that job. But someone selling real estate, industrial machinery or IT, cars, etc. can easily match or top an engineers salary. Then factor in that a person completing high school at 18, college in 4 years, with no financial aid or support, at 22 years old will be making less, made less total, and have loans that the same person going in to sales or stripping at 18 will have on average. For most people, especially as a long term career, it is a safer bet they will have stable, sustainable wealth through an educated technical field. For some people, and certain situations or limited times, stripping can be a viable option. Due to the hours and fact most money is made on weekends, one can also have another career and strip “on the side” as well, and will likely make more than someone who is only an engineer on weekends.
Not her..
The direction for the pay over the next 35 years is upwards for these young people. For a stripper, maybe the pay will go up for a couple years, then drop off, then asymptotically converge to zero. Some salesmen can make more than an engineer, but not every year, and they have to hustle to do it so the TYPICAL salesman won't. Most stock traders also won't do better than that, but a few will. The stock traders who comsistently earn the big bucks are garnering fees for managing money, not out-earning the stock indexes they want to compare themselves to. When a fund underperformed its index long enough, the fund closes.