I fully endorse the sentiment put forth by It's a Plant in the early part of the thread. i've been impoverished, not really having a place to live and crashing at friends' houses, and at other times I was making more than anyone my age that I knew of (often $30-40 an hour selling speed reading programs via telephone). Neither situation came as a result of fortuitous events, but as a conscious choice on my part based in what I valued at the time.

Yeah it was really gratifying to make a lot of flow, but I had insecurities because I was putting a lot of emotion into concentrating on revenue, and it was time I knew I could spend enriching my soul, not just my bank account. I didn't want a life in which a lot of my time was spent seeing how much I could make; it wasn't impressive to me. This is America, any douchey putz can earn a lot by putting emotion and energy into it; how could I possibly use capital to mark my degree of accomplishment?

Fortunately now I'm married to a girl who currently does $62,000 a year as an insurance broker (NOT an insurance carrier, but someone who negotiates with the carrier to get better employee benefits to companies), and I stay with our 2-year-old and 2-month-old, while raising delicious cannabis in the closet. It works out cuz I don't like thinking about money and office competition and she does. When the kids go to school I'll study botany and literature with absolutely no intention of turning it into a career.

Sorry about this autobiographical addendum, especially since it's not relevant to the thread " What do you do for a living and how much do you earn?" albeit being relevant to life, I guess

"the greater wealth is contentment with little" -some guy