RAF183: Why You Need Money

Why do we need so much money? Why not go do a job I love that pays peanuts?

Some of the jobs in which you can make a difference or pursue a passion are not the best paying jobs. For example, acting. The average member of the screen actors guild makes $1000 per year. Musicians? I know a little about this from personal experience. I never made any money to speak of playing my own songs. Orchestra players, unless they are in a big city, do not make enough to live on, and maybe nothing at all. Playing in clubs, if you play cover music and not your own, you can make maybe a few hundred dollars for a weekend gig. All this is before expenses, taxes etc. More importantly, all artists have to hustle to get work. Even if you make $50 per hour, the average for film and tv actors, you're not guaranteed to get those hours. Teachers make about $45K per year, and police officers make $39K. Suppose you are passionate about your religion and want to make a difference there? Priests in my diocese get room and board plus $1,000 per month.

Isn't this enough? Well, let's look at how much of this you get to keep while pursuing your dream job. Average living expenses for a single person add up to $13K not including rent, which is $17K on average. That is $30K for a single person. Average tax is 23% including Social Security and Medicare. So the average teacher, probably the most stable job I mentioned, is down to about $400 a month left over. No entertainment, no savings for retirement, no medical care, no student loan payments, no vehicles. We haven't included anything here except survival. And this is assuming you are able to work and able to find work. Are you starting to get the picture?

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