Worth it to work at big companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple?

[MakeMoreMoves]

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/02/how-much-interns-will-make-at-major-companies-in-2017.html?__source=yahoo|finance|headline|headline|story&par=yahoo&doc=104143556&yptr=yahoo

So I am reading this article, don't know if it is true or not. But these intern salaries are higher than what I make at my 4 year degree job. Much higher. Feels bad man. Anyways. Since the Fastlane takes a tremendous amount of work for around 5 years and you become a millionaire, but no gurantees. The higher end of slowlane jobs and just save for 5 years and you would be near close a million as well, but this path has more or a gurantee. Working at a job, yes lack of freedom. Working on my business now, lack of freedom as well.

Both difficult, but it seems slowlane has a gurantee.

So isn't it more logical to sacrifice 5 years on the more guranteed path? Then just bail out once you hit a million. Pour into money systems like MJ said and be free entirely?

The moderate lane? haha. Take the benefits of fast and slow lanes.

 

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[TKDTyler]

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/02/how-much-interns-will-make-at-major-companies-in-2017.html?__source=yahoo|finance|headline|headline|story&par=yahoo&doc=104143556&yptr=yahoo

So I am reading this article, don't know if it is true or not. But these intern salaries are higher than what I make at my 4 year degree job. Much higher. Feels bad man. Anyways. Since the Fastlane takes a tremendous amount of work for around 5 years and you become a millionaire, but no gurantees. The higher end of slowlane jobs and just save for 5 years and you would be near close a million as well, but this path has more or a gurantee. Working at a job, yes lack of freedom. Working on my business now, lack of freedom as well.

Both difficult, but it seems slowlane has a gurantee.

So isn't it more logical to sacrifice 5 years on the more guranteed path? Then just bail out once you hit a million. Pour into money systems like MJ said and be free entirely?

The moderate lane? haha. Take the benefits of fast and slow lanes.

I work in the tech industry out here and it's not what people outside think. Engineers at these companies work 10+ hours a day on average, have to be on call 8-10pm at night for their manufacturers, expected to work weekends when necessary with no additional pay or recognition (salary perks), high stress deadlines, along with dealing with corporate politics for advancement. On top of that, cost of living in the Silicon Valley is one of the highest in the world.

Yes it pays well, but between $1500+ for rent and student loans, it eats up a lot of your income. On top of that, you'll be taxed at 36-40%. It's not as lucrative as you'd believe it to be.

Good for capital, terrible for time and mental health. That's why Apple has such high turnover rates and hires straight out of college. Sweat shops exit in many different forms

 

[Andy Black]

OP. Some of us are less concerned about the destination and more about how we get there.

Please check these two threads out:

1. www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/amusing-pm-with-a-freelancer.70382
2. www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/audio-freedom-motivation-grow-what-you-know.70094

 

[ZF Lee]

Some of the biggest tech millionaires used to work for Google or other giants. They chalked up some experience, went out and started their thing. The stress and costs aside as @TKDTyler mentioned, it could be a good opportunity to find needs to be solved and to solve them. The Slowlane may be a prison of mediocrity, but as long as we keep moving towards Fastlane success, we shouldn't be caught up.

 

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[lowtek]

It's one of those things that sound great on paper, but the reality is quite different.

I'll reflect on my own experiences.

I worked at Intel as a process engineer in Albuquerque NM. Not as sexy as working for Google or Facebook in the Valley, but I was getting around 110 a year in a city with a cost of living maybe half of the Bay area. Pretty good money.

What do I think of working at one of these places for several years, then planting a money tree? I think you have better chances of winning the lottery.

You'll end up infected with slow lane mindset (average of 5 peers and all that), buying a car you don't need (see my post in the "what car do you drive" thread) and a house twice as big as you need. Then you work round the clock to keep what little of your paycheck is left over.

Even if you don't do that, the comfort is still a trap. Don't get me wrong, answering phone calls at 2 am to deal with some bullshit problem isn't easy. But you get used to it, and it becomes what you know.

Starting a business is the unknown, and it's scary if you've never done it. Compared to the phone calls, it's will seem too daunting.

With each passing day, the chances of you jumping ship and pursuing your dreams diminish.

Tick tock. Life is wasting away. Is that a grey hair?

What's a man to do? Guess I'll just put up with the on call and start a business next year.

Yeah, next year will be better. I'll have more in the bank and I'll be another year wiser.

Let's start next year.

Next year will come... and it will go. You? You'll just be older, but no wiser. You haven't grown as a man in years. Why would you expect more wisdom?

Sure the bank account will be fatter, but the bank of dreams will be empty. And so will your heart.

The beast will have you, and there will be no escape.

You'll end up just another Joe Blow, who once had a dream of starting a business. What a great idea you had. You could've been rich.

Except you didn't even start.

I know this for absolute certainty, because I saw so many of my peers fall into it.

Yet, I'm here. What gives? How did I get out?

I'd love to say it was courage. I've always wanted to be a hero.

I can't, though. That would be a lie.

Truth be told, I got laid off. They made the choice for me.

They told me I was a repeat poor performer and that they had made the difficult decision to let me go. Six months of pay for my trouble. Career placement services if I wanted it. I heard their job placement services were 90% effective.

No thanks. I saw the beast and there is nothing more terrifying than a life unfulfilled.

In hindsight, it was the greatest day of my life. I was given a gift more valuable than all the gold on earth. I was given the freedom to become the man I've always wanted.

My advice to you? Don't tangle with the beast. Don't risk years of your life for a paycheck and a pipe dream of investing in a money tree.

Inertia is real, and it is every bit a property of human action as it is bodies moving through space.

If you want to be an entrepreneur, just do it. If you have to take a job to pay the bills, then that's OK - but don't identify as an employee of XX company.

 

[biophase]

The higher end of slowlane jobs and just save for 5 years and you would be near close a million as well, but this path has more or a gurantee.

I think you need to learn some math. How do you get close to 1 million after saving for five years at a $125,000 salary?

 

[Fox]

I used to make over $200,000 Canadian a year working as an oil engineer. I wold rather make $10,000 working for myself then go back.

To wake up tomorrow and know that I can do whatever I want and choose to go to work for myself is worth more then any paycheck.

 

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[jpanarra]

OP. Some of us are less concerned about the destination and more about how we get there.

For sure, I just started my journey. I might have started it for the destination, but now I'm realizing that the journey I'm on right now is fun as hell. Meeting new people, learning new things, and building confidence in myself that I can take care of things on my own.

 

[ravenspear]

This thread really speaks to me as it is pretty much the exact situation I find myself in right now. I currently work for a Fortune 100 as a software developer. I will clear about 175k gross in 2017. According to this site, for a 33 year old that puts me in the top 2% of incomes in the country for my age group. Not a bad place to be. And I've decided to stick with it for now and pursue this "moderate lane" strategy as the OP termed it.

There are a few reasons for this. For one, I'm not required to work more than 40 hours per week (some weeks I will only work like 35). My job is only Mon-Fri regular hours with very little work on nights or weekends. The scheduling is also very flexible in that I can come in before or later than the typical 9-5 if I want to, as long as I put in the time and get my work done. I feel that this is important for working on fastlane initiatives since sometimes things cannot be reliably scheduled in the early stages of business development. My job is also not really stressful at all and I actually enjoy what I do very much. I feel as well that it has given me an exposure to a lot of useful tools and skills that I can use in the future working for myself

The other thing is that I know at my income level I would be much further along if I had not only recently graduated to the slowlane. I was a sidewalker for most of the last 8+ years of my working career and lived above my means on debt, etc. But that has all changed now and I'm doing the right things financially and I'm committed to pursuing the fastlane path over the long term. I do not contribute to the 401k any longer. I do not contribute to the ESPP. I live way below my means and I've currently set up my budget such that I can bank at least 5k per month after taxes into a savings account which will be solely used for business investments and to fund fastlane initiatives. Running the numbers on this out 3 years, the unlevered return with zero investment with these funds will increase my net worth by over 10x in the next 3 years simply by sticking with this pattern of savings. Once I actually get some businesses going and put that capital to work, I know the sky is the limit.

All that said things are still sometimes a challenge.

You'll end up infected with slow lane mindset

This absolutely does happen if you are not careful and I have to continually remind myself how significantly I differ with most of my slowlane counterparts. I don't frequently associate with them outside of work. And I frequently have to make up excuses for why I haven't watched the latest TV show or why I don't have much to contribute to whatever the topic of idle conversation they are interested in is.

In the end though I think it is worth it to stay the course for now, at least while I don't have an obvious fastlane venture that can replace anywhere near a significant portion of my income. My goal is to purchase a few existing businesses first with my savings so that I start to build some additional income streams, then once I have enough replacement income to quit my job after a few years, I can then work full time on whatever new ventures I want to pursue.

 

[458]

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/02/how-much-interns-will-make-at-major-companies-in-2017.html?__source=yahoo|finance|headline|headline|story&par=yahoo&doc=104143556&yptr=yahoo

So I am reading this article, don't know if it is true or not. But these intern salaries are higher than what I make at my 4 year degree job. Much higher. Feels bad man. Anyways. Since the Fastlane takes a tremendous amount of work for around 5 years and you become a millionaire, but no gurantees. The higher end of slowlane jobs and just save for 5 years and you would be near close a million as well, but this path has more or a gurantee. Working at a job, yes lack of freedom. Working on my business now, lack of freedom as well.

Both difficult, but it seems slowlane has a gurantee.

So isn't it more logical to sacrifice 5 years on the more guranteed path? Then just bail out once you hit a million. Pour into money systems like MJ said and be free entirely?

The moderate lane? haha. Take the benefits of fast and slow lanes.

You can't sell your job.

 

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[Nily]

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/02/how-much-interns-will-make-at-major-companies-in-2017.html?__source=yahoo|finance|headline|headline|story&par=yahoo&doc=104143556&yptr=yahoo

So I am reading this article, don't know if it is true or not. But these intern salaries are higher than what I make at my 4 year degree job. Much higher. Feels bad man. Anyways. Since the Fastlane takes a tremendous amount of work for around 5 years and you become a millionaire, but no gurantees. The higher end of slowlane jobs and just save for 5 years and you would be near close a million as well, but this path has more or a gurantee. Working at a job, yes lack of freedom. Working on my business now, lack of freedom as well.

Both difficult, but it seems slowlane has a gurantee.

So isn't it more logical to sacrifice 5 years on the more guranteed path? Then just bail out once you hit a million. Pour into money systems like MJ said and be free entirely?

The moderate lane? haha. Take the benefits of fast and slow lanes.

Your concept of 'moderate lane' reminds me of the time MJ took a crack at Chris Reining.

There's no such thing as a moderate lane.

Either your paycheck is dictated by one person or by 10,000 customers.

None of my little ventures worked out so far. But I'm still a university student so it's fine.

I comfort myself by looking at salary guide for graduates and what I can earn in the next 10 years.

HOPING that I will move up the ladder incrementally and HOPING that the economy doesn't crash.

In the back of my mind, I know the Slowlane path failed my entire family.

Both my siblings are struggling to buy a house their early 30s. At 60, my parents still can't afford to buy that BMW X5.

But the Slowlane is so familiar. Almost like a childhood friend. It offers security and predictability.

Maybe we should ditch the Fastlane altogether.

Because who would waste 5 years to be free from a lifetime of servitude.

Not those 5 precious years.

 

[MattR82]

It's one of those things that sound great on paper, but the reality is quite different.

I'll reflect on my own experiences.

I worked at Intel as a process engineer in Albuquerque NM. Not as sexy as working for Google or Facebook in the Valley, but I was getting around 110 a year in a city with a cost of living maybe half of the Bay area. Pretty good money.

What do I think of working at one of these places for several years, then planting a money tree? I think you have better chances of winning the lottery.

You'll end up infected with slow lane mindset (average of 5 peers and all that), buying a car you don't need (see my post in the "what car do you drive" thread) and a house twice as big as you need. Then you work round the clock to keep what little of your paycheck is left over.

Even if you don't do that, the comfort is still a trap. Don't get me wrong, answering phone calls at 2 am to deal with some bullshit problem isn't easy. But you get used to it, and it becomes what you know.

Starting a business is the unknown, and it's scary if you've never done it. Compared to the phone calls, it's will seem too daunting.

With each passing day, the chances of you jumping ship and pursuing your dreams diminish.

Tick tock. Life is wasting away. Is that a grey hair?

What's a man to do? Guess I'll just put up with the on call and start a business next year.

Yeah, next year will be better. I'll have more in the bank and I'll be another year wiser.

Let's start next year.

Next year will come... and it will go. You? You'll just be older, but no wiser. You haven't grown as a man in years. Why would you expect more wisdom?

Sure the bank account will be fatter, but the bank of dreams will be empty. And so will your heart.

The beast will have you, and there will be no escape.

You'll end up just another Joe Blow, who once had a dream of starting a business. What a great idea you had. You could've been rich.

Except you didn't even start.

I know this for absolute certainty, because I saw so many of my peers fall into it.

Yet, I'm here. What gives? How did I get out?

I'd love to say it was courage. I've always wanted to be a hero.

I can't, though. That would be a lie.

Truth be told, I got laid off. They made the choice for me.

They told me I was a repeat poor performer and that they had made the difficult decision to let me go. Six months of pay for my trouble. Career placement services if I wanted it. I heard their job placement services were 90% effective.

No thanks. I saw the beast and there is nothing more terrifying than a life unfulfilled.

In hindsight, it was the greatest day of my life. I was given a gift more valuable than all the gold on earth. I was given the freedom to become the man I've always wanted.

My advice to you? Don't tangle with the beast. Don't risk years of your life for a paycheck and a pipe dream of investing in a money tree.

Inertia is real, and it is every bit a property of human action as it is bodies moving through space.

If you want to be an entrepreneur, just do it. If you have to take a job to pay the bills, then that's OK - but don't identify as an employee of XX company.

Rep transferred...

 

[MattR82]

I used to make over $200,000 Canadian a year working as an oil engineer. I wold rather make $10,000 working for myself then go back.

To wake up tomorrow and know that I can do whatever I want and choice to go to work for myself is worth more then any paycheck.

Yep, me too, oil & gas, 200k AUD a year. 26 days on, 9 days off. Wouldn't go back for double the money. Taking off the golden handcuffs was the best thing I ever did. Now focus 100% of my time on fastlane. Only making 1k a month, 2 months in lol but set myself up in sth east asia so that breaks me even. Wake up with a smile on my face errrrryday

 

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[TKDTyler]

Yep, me too, oil & gas, 200k AUD a year. 26 days on, 9 days off. Wouldn't go back for double the money. Taking off the golden handcuffs was the best thing I ever did. Now focus 100% of my time on fastlane. Only making 1k a month, 2 months in lol but set myself up in sth east asia so that breaks me even. Wake up with a smile on my face errrrryday

Did your 26/9 put you in the position to pursue your fastlane business?

 

[MattR82]

Did your 26/9 put you in the position to pursue your fastlane business?

You know what, that's a good question, and the answer is actually no at the end of the day. Almost everything I had saved from the 3.5 years on that job (that I didn't spend on travel) went into an investment property. It's slightly cash positive and on an offest so it's on set and forget for the time being, but doesn't put money in my pocket but nor does it cost me anything. What I gained from it though, was that over time I got rid of everything so I could travel during my time off. No car, no fuel, no furniture, no rent etc. I could put everything I own into a suitcase. I quit not long after buying the house, and had maybe 25k USD cash. Of which hardly any of that I had to spend on my fastlane venture. I spent a lot on muay thai training in Thailand though, jesus haha.

Get rid of all the unnecessary shit, live within your means but balanced with an abundance mindset. I haven't made it yet so don't take my word for it, but it's working better for me than getting burnt to a crisp on a hellhole desert island paying me a lot of money to hate my life.

I am lucky in that I had no children or a serious relationship to worry about though.

Sometimes it takes making a lot of money to realise how little it means! Or... more accurately.. realise how much more important it is in regards to HOW you make your money. That was the case for me anyway. I still want that type of money of course. Just not the retarded lifestyle that went with the Oil and Gas/mining industry. It's not worth it.

 

[MattR82]

That was a long winded answer, sorry.

Answer is no. In fact some of my best and most motivated work was done when the bank account was at it's lowest.

 

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[ZF Lee]

The higher end of slowlane jobs and just save for 5 years and you would be near close a million as well, but this path has more or a gurantee. Working at a job, yes lack of freedom. Working on my business now, lack of freedom as well.

Both difficult, but it seems slowlane has a gurantee.

Do you know what is inflation? $1 million is too small to be rich. Heck, I would rather spend a bit more time gaining MILLIONS, not MILLION.
Working on your business gives you FREEDOM OF CHOICE. You make your hours, you choose your customers. Even the business can cover your expenses and has tax benefits. FREEDOM TO CONTROL.

Your lack of freedom in a business might signal that you need to begin planting money seedlings that produce passive income. MJ talked a lot about it in the book. Please read TMF again, as this is a vital part to obey the Commandment of Time. If you don't begin to streamline and automate, your business is as good as a Slowlane job.

Slowlane has a gurantee??? Tell that to my broke uncle who worked in sales all his life

 

[ravenspear]

There's no such thing as a moderate lane.

Either your paycheck is dictated by one person or by 10,000 customers.

Gotta disagree. If you are working a job and pursuing your own business ventures that earn you an income, then it can come from both.

Several very successful posters here pursued that path for a while, such as @Vigilante.

 

[Vigilante]

Gotta disagree. If you are working a job and pursuing your own business ventures that earn you an income, then it can come from both.

Several very successful posters here pursued that path for a while, such as @Vigilante.

I worked for Walmart, and they paid me while they trained me.

This week, I will be visiting Walmart corporate, with INSIDERS connections and INSIDERS knowledge as to how to make it successful.

 

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[steelandchrome]

I can tell you like many of the others have that money even when $125k a year plus can not be worth the headaches of corporate life, long hours with no increase in pay, dealing with poor bosses, and just not enjoying work. I also would say you then get into the keeping up with your peers mentality and buy a bigger house and better car and better clothes and eat out all the time and end up not really having as much as you would think left over after taxes, 401k, insurance, etc.. I think it would take at least 15 years plus at that wage to get to the million dollar mark and that's pushing it if you live in your means.. I am happy to earn a big paycheck at my job now but if I could work for myself right away and earn the same I would be out in a heartbeat. I know that's not the mentality of a full on fastlane plan right now but I'll get there soon enough when I decide on an official business to pursue. In the meanwhile I'll collect as much as I can to start off my new venture with a buffer in the bank for mortgage, expenses, etc..

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[MattR82]

I can tell you like many of the others have that money even when $125k a year plus can not be worth the headaches of corporate life, long hours with no increase in pay, dealing with poor bosses, and just not enjoying work. I also would say you then get into the keeping up with your peers mentality and buy a bigger house and better car and better clothes and eat out all the time and end up not really having as much as you would think left over after taxes, 401k, insurance, etc.. I think it would take at least 15 years plus at that wage to get to the million dollar mark and that's pushing it if you live in your means.. I am happy to earn a big paycheck at my job now but if I could work for myself right away and earn the same I would be out in a heartbeat. I know that's not the mentality of a full on fastlane plan right now but I'll get there soon enough when I decide on an official business to pursue. In the meanwhile I'll collect as much as I can to start off my new venture with a buffer in the bank for mortgage, expenses, etc..

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

Of course anyone would leave their corporate job if they could make the same working for themselves right away. Doesn't usually work that way for anyone though does it?

What are your current overheads like and how easy is it to get rid of ones that you don't need? Do you have dependants? How much time does your corporate job suck away from you? What's stopping you from leaving now and focussing on fastlane, or maybe getting a lesser paying job that gives you a shedload more time to work on fastlane but still covers your reduced overheads?

I'm not telling you to quit your job, but... actually I'm telling you quit your job

Take it from me, just don't get stuck on that one little point "in the meantime" - that's time slipping away

 

[steelandchrome]

Of course anyone would leave their corporate job if they could make the same working for themselves right away. Doesn't usually work that way for anyone though does it?

What are your current overheads like and how easy is it to get rid of ones that you don't need? Do you have dependants? How much time does your corporate job suck away from you? What's stopping you from leaving now and focussing on fastlane, or maybe getting a lesser paying job that gives you a shedload more time to work on fastlane but still covers your reduced overheads?

I'm not telling you to quit your job, but... actually I'm telling you quit your job

Take it from me, just don't get stuck on that one little point "in the meantime" - that's time slipping away

I have a wife and daughter and about $4k a month in expenses. I am still finalizing plans for e-commerce or potentially writing a leadership guide book for retail management with over $450 million in retail sales under my belt. I am at my day job 55-65hrs a week so not too much to get something started... I'll get there soon enough, thanks for the motivation.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

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[ZF Lee]

 

[MattR82]

I have a wife and daughter and about $4k a month in expenses. I am still finalizing plans for e-commerce or potentially writing a leadership guide book for retail management with over $450 million in retail sales under my belt. I am at my day job 55-65hrs a week so not too much to get something started... I'll get there soon enough, thanks for the motivation.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

Cool, good luck! Everyone's sitch is different, as yours is to mine. I'm by no means an authority on anything - still a wantrepreneur lol - but it's only that I had been trapped (or thinking I am trapped) in a high paying time stealing job and have seen it happen to so many of my friends that I don't wish it on anyone, let alone someone with an entrepreneurial mindset and ambition. Sounds like you are on the way out anyway

 

[MakeMoreMoves]

I worked for Walmart, and they paid me while they trained me.

This week, I will be visiting Walmart corporate, with INSIDERS connections and INSIDERS knowledge as to how to make it successful.

Wow, good job

 

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