Millennials who have started to make good money what motivates you the most?
I’ll go first: 1. Financial security of my family 2. Traveling the world (Exploring new cities, places and cultures) 3. Silencing my critics (This one was in my 20s, now I don’t care lol)
Kids
Honestly motivation to excel at work has fallen off a cliff since my kid was born, work seems so unimportant now.
My motivation went from making every dollar I could, no matter how many hours it took, to making enough so I could spend more time with the kiddo and wife.
no matter how many hours it took, to making enough so I could spend more time with the kiddo and wife.
But the more hours you work the less time you can spend, no?
Didn’t word it quite right. What I meant is that used to work 70-80 hours per week because I was obsessed with making every dollar I could.
Now that I have a wife and kid, I work less hours and it gives me more time with family. I also work for myself so technically I can work as much or as little as I want depending on how much income I want, but it works out to me working about 30-35 hours per week and actually making a bit more than I ever was when I worked 80+ hours.
That's awesome 😎
To not be homeless mostly. 😂
Retirement + kids.
I spent 10 years in higher education getting a PhD. Now I am years behind on retirement because stipends are not actual employment. I have been saving aggressively and switching jobs to increase my pay.
FI/RE and vacations.
I plan to retire at 54-- 57 at the oldest.
Yeah FI is my biggest motivator too.
A promise. When my younger brother was diagnosed with autism, we weren't sure if he would be able to support himself when he grew up. My mom was really stressed about it, and made me (I think I was 15 at the time) promise that if I had to, I would abandon her to support him. I made a second promise to myself that day, that I would make sure I never had to make that decision. I joined the USAF to break out of our small poverty trap southern town, and got quite good at computers.
Thankfully it turned out that we didn't have any reason to worry, he's grown to be a bright and independent young man. I did end up spending a fair amount of money on the family to help take care of the kids when my mother divorced, and when I get home from TDY I plan to give him his first car so he can begin working. I'm happy with how I've done, and with my existing family safe, I plan to build another with my boyfriend :)
I grew up in poverty with no healthcare and food/shelter scarcity as a child; I even have relatives who cannot read. Many of my able bodied relatives gamed the system to collect government funds and sold our food stamps for drug/beer/cigarette money. My drive comes from the fear of being poor again and the desire to contribute to society.
I started working when I was 18. I have a morbid fear of going hungry, bordering on being a phobia. I have been working non-stop ever since, yet to get over my fear.
Fear is a good motivator
Growing up broke as shit and not wanting the same for my family. Plus my addiction to running marathons...
Which ones were your favorites?
Retirement plus financial security.
When i was just getting started in my career it was to own fast cars. Now it's just for living a comfy life.
A good life for my family, but besides that I LOVE not having to worry about every "frivolous" purchase. It's new to me to be able to drop $250 pn something without giving it a second thought.
So retiring is less of a pipe dream. It's still unlikely for me since I got such a late start and only started making enough to save like 3 years ago and I'll be 40 next year 😩.
I also got laid off from my last good job so I'm kind of obsessed with having more than enough in an emergency fund in case it happens again. So, basically, security is my biggest motivator I guess.
I’ve struggled and had ups and downs, I’m on my way to making much more in the coming years. My motivation is to be as far away from any life my parents have ever experienced. My mom is just about homeless, my dad lives in a crappy house in a crappy neighborhood. They both had substance issues my whole life. I’ve had to raise myself and learned everything NOT to do through them. So my purpose is to live a life that is as far disconnected from their ways as possible, along with way beyond what my family ever expected.
Be able to buy a house one day. Grew up in a HCOL area. Houses have always cost 600k+ where I lived. Knew I'd realistically never achieve the American dream unless I worked hard for it.
Just generally how shitty everything is getting. Money gives me the ability to move myself and my family if we need to. Like if we are forced to move due to war or climate. Money sure makes that easier.
Retirement
I just want to retire as soon as I can.
It’s a combination of making sure my cats have a happy childhood and making sure I make enough to never EVER need a roommate again.
I had difficult jobs when I was younger, and they barely paid enough for me to do what I wanted as a single person with a roommate. It seemed like whatever discomfort / extra work was required to get a better job would be worth it.
I want to build a catio for our two cats and a nice yard for our dog to have all to himself. I'd like to be able to buy my gf things without having to check my bank account first.
I didn't imagine motivation varies that much... for the most part things get tough and (mark my words) will continue to get tougher economically, I have to make sure I have resources to weather the impending sh*tstorm.
To pass down generational wealth and break the cycle of "I'mma live for me and get mine!" b.s. that's gone on for far too long.
Lots of other reasons too, but this ain't the Gettysburg address.
Well I grew up pretty poor, so not wanting to live my entire existence like that was the only motivator I ever really needed.
I grew up poor. Not quite poverty but pretty damn close. Always had a roof, but not always food or electricity lol.
Anywho I just didn’t want that for my kids.
Just so I can be left the fuck alone.
not wanting to budget or worry about money
I'm still working on making good money yet but my #1 motivator is my pets' vet bills. lol. I want to be able to easily pay for surgery in a life or death situation.
Financial insecurity when I was younger. I just had the never again attitude
Want a 992.1 Turbo S while I am still young.
Being old(er) and driving these cars is not a good look imo.
Taking care of my mother. She’s not in the best health. I don’t have a wife or kids.
Honestly, it’s just to live a comfortable life. My husband and I don’t have any children right now, hope to in the future, but not expecting it at the moment. We both work right now so that way we can have the option to retire at 60 and live the same lifestyle until we’re 90 if needed. I have always joked with my husband that I’m tapping out at 75.
Not dying old and poor living in a box under a bridge somewhere.
Trauma from the recession.
I was 16 and suddenly also responsible for my family's food and housing. We lost our house and then I learned what credit was when every apartment in the college I didn't think we could afford (Pell grants saved me) required a cosigner, and after foreclosure found out there was a very real chance I would have to come home simply for not being able to get a place I could afford with my job that paid enough to qualify (I figured it out).
I feel like I found my way to earning good money because I have blindly followed my terrorized instincts into better and better paying jobs, regardless of how good it was for me or how much I liked it.
Now I'm not rich but I make a bit over $100k and my husband makes the same, that I can afford to finally try and de-escalate and try to make choices with things other than money in mind. It's so hard. I was making 6-figures and working a side hustle for $200 a month that was stressing me out and my husband was like......we do not need that, just stop. But I've really been working on work-life balance, reminding myself money is only everything if you don't have it and I've put myself in a position where I do have it, so it can stop being everything. Hopefully lol.
I don't think any amount of money will ever be 'enough' to earn or have saved will ever make me feel okay. But my husband and I are both very financially responsible and have similar financial values (his were trauma-free, yay!) so it helps having a sounding board I trust and is less biased than me.
Really, just intense anxiety. I’ll never get to actually do work I want to do because I have to make money, but shit it’s not an option any more to make less than six figures.
Not being anxious about money…. Honestly
Probably the upcoming end of the world and my desire to be prepared for that.
The main things I want to accomplish in this life are outside of the traditional working environment. So, what I need to do is get a good job that pays well so I can invest heavily and retire or decrease my working earlier.
Plus I know that all the central institutions are planning on continuing to debase the currency, so I gotta have long term assets that will provide growth.
Realizing that money does infact buy happiness and solves 99% of your problems is all the motivation I needed
My hatred of work.
Financial security mostly.
I also don’t want to reach retirement age with nothing in the bank, while collecting the minimum social security benefits each month, and complaining that it’s not enough to live on.
My concept of a career was isolated from pay and I focused on finding interesting and complicated things to work on. I assumed that if I did the important things well then the compensation would naturally follow. This thinking shifted when I got older and when I started focusing on my finances. Then things become a bit more stressful. Money more real.
A low paying research position was how my career started. I've since leveraged that into something that pays significantly better in the private sector and am making what I need to.
Compensation at this stage in my life is about security and being able to retire with a future family. I don't travel a lot and keep my hobbies focused to things that don't burn through money, Cycling, cooking reading, and volunteering. Even if you're making good money. Need to watch your spending and develop a lifestyle that's fulfilling without it.
The only motivation you need, I think, is a grim awareness of how quickly things can go south.
That's about it. =)
that's it.
that's my motivation.
and after today, it became a lot stronger.
Silencing critics of what? Of your pay? Anybody who brags about making money is a douche bag, and you shouldn't be talking to them.
This is why you should take more effort to understand more instead of jumping to conclusions. :)
That third point is because I screwed up pretty badly in high school and went through quite a lot of trauma from that. It gave me nightmares for well over 10 years. However I converted all that energy into hard work and positive energy and changed the perception of all those doubters and naysayers through quick growth when it mattered. People who didn’t give me a ray of hope congratulated me on Linkedin for example when I rose up quickly on the corporate ladder or in other areas. Obviously I wasn’t ‘bragging’ about the money I make. Only my wife has ever known that figure.
And like I said, as with most people, I too stopped caring about what others thought when I got into my 30s.
Have a nice day.
Thanks for your submission! For more Millennial content, join our Discord server.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.