
"Why risk what you have and need for what you don't have and don't need?"
~Warren Buffett
A few weeks ago I was seduced...
I recently had lunch with a buddy of mine who finished business school and now is about two years into his investment banking career.
As we indulged in some Chipotle, he casually mentioned the kinds of salaries some of his buddies were getting and how he was looking forward to his massive year-end payout. Mind you, these are the type of bonuses that can buy homes (or perhaps even small countries). All he had to do was put in the time and he was all but assured the golden check.
That's when it hit me.
Suddenly I caught myself thinking of how nice it would be to have what he 'had'. The seemingly certain paychecks, the consistency - It all sounded so freaking awesome. For a moment it felt worth trading for.
Then I remembered how our lunch started...
He explained how out of the last three weeks he'd had dinner with his wife once. He had been at the office for around 12-14 hours a day (except on weekends when he was lucky to only work 9-5). And his workout routine was about as consistent as his family dinner appearances.
Many of his friends and co-workers spent 20% more than their monthly take - despite it being enough to buy that small country. The watches, the suits, the status, the dinners, the seemingly 'necessary' luxuries they'd gotten used to.
All this added up - to a price I knew I wasn't willing to pay.