How much $ do you currently make?

Meh, it's anonymous anyways, so I'll contribute my info as a data point. Unless of course I end up with one of you guys/gals at the school I'll be attending (which will definitely remain nameless to ENSURE that I remain anonymous! ). Unless of course I blabber it out in another thread.

Annnnyyyyways...

I'm an anti-personnel expert. In other words, I'm a contract assassin. I usually charge 50k to start, up to 250k if they are very high profile or risky. I usually do one per week, so my income is pretty good. Especially with all the turmoil going on in the world, business has been VERY good. Last year I took home north of $2mm, best part of all is that since I'm paid by wire from offshore accounts to my offshore account, it's all tax free.

*now that I woke up from my Hollywood fantasy dream*


I currently work as a CPA in the IM industry. My compensation this year is just about the average starting salaries (not including the $500k hedgie outliers!!!) at the schools I applied to (top 15 range). If the year had been better it would have been much more. I also get a ton of benefits, to the point that other than rent + basic necessities, I usually end up not spending anything at all during the week. Bonuses are also highly variable, which can range from bleh to POW.

I am giving up quite a bit, in terms of the opportunity cost department in going to B-School, but I think my some or all of my reasons will ring true to many people.

First, as much as it is about the money, it's not ALL about the money (yes, it can be hard to swallow sometimes!). At my current job, if I worked hard, I'm sure I could get some pretty good raises as well as a growing piece of profit-sharing. Will my post-MBA earnings (after taking into account lost wages+salary), especially once properly discounted, exceed my earnings had I not done the MBA?
I'm almost sure they will, and hopefully many times over. But even if I end up the same, or ever-so-slightly less, would it still be worth it?

In my mind, yes. And I have thought about it a lot throughout the application process and even after I gained my first acceptance. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate my job, but at the same time I don't love it. Then again, who LOVES their job right? (It's called WORK for a reason heheh). But seriously, I believe that the MBA will place me on a different trajectory, and a different path than the one I am on now. Even if I do end up returning to the finance community (my initial plan), the MBA will enable me to take on a different, more interesting role. However, there's also the possibility that I'll end up doing something completely unexpected, either immediately or the years after my MBA. The opportunity to learn, network, (and party on a first-class level LOL on a two-year "vacation"), is well worth the price of admission, and then some. Let's say I end up making the same. Fine. More? Better. A bit less? Still fine. One cannot measure job satisfaction and happiness on pure money alone (if you don't believe me there are actually studies done on the amount of $$$ that makes one happy, and once you exceed that number, the marginal difference in happiness for each add'l $ rapidly decreases).

Please excuse the digression. I may sound like a crusty old curmudgeon for what I'm about to say, but I'm about to start b-school with 6 years of experience at matriculation. Making more money is one factor that came to my mind during the application process. But most of all, I looked at myself and saw my current path, and realized while it could be financially lucrative, I'd quickly get bored doing it. Money is very important to me, but I've also realized that needs become wants as one makes more $, and the process will forever continue. Part of being happy is being able to restrain yourself, sometimes. It all comes down to priorities, really.

As for me, I know work will always be work, but I'd like to be as happy and fulfilled as possible while doing it (now I'm coming off as a hippie, must be the fact I grew up around them. But that's another story for another time). While the MBA is NO guarantee of riches or happiness, it surely increases the odds of that intersection coming true. And at least to me, it's a calculated risk that's worth it. YMMV.