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California teens are ditching office jobs – and making $100K before they turn 21

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Re: California teens are ditching office jobs – and making $100K before they turn 21

#21

Post by kbar13 »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #20
bsder wrote: post #19

Here's what look like some real numbers: https://ibew11.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Residential-wa... Those rates are nothing to sneeze at, but the work is often hard work out in the beating sun (not everybody is installing data centers in air conditioning). And the work takes a toll on your body. Those are certainly not numbers that would make people genuinely qualified for software jobs think once let alone twic…

> the work takes a toll on your body It doesn’t need to. Not for welding.

your eyes

tho i guess staring at a screen for 90% of your day is probably also bad for the eyes

Re: California teens are ditching office jobs – and making $100K before they turn 21

#22

Post by bsder »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #20
bsder wrote: post #19

Here's what look like some real numbers: https://ibew11.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Residential-wa... Those rates are nothing to sneeze at, but the work is often hard work out in the beating sun (not everybody is installing data centers in air conditioning). And the work takes a toll on your body. Those are certainly not numbers that would make people genuinely qualified for software jobs think once let alone twic…

> the work takes a toll on your body It doesn’t need to. Not for welding.

> Not for welding

What? Where? All the welding jobs I have ever known were terrible for your body. Between the exposure to high UV, all the bits of toxic crap that you are breathing/ingesting, and the noise from heavy machinery, it's quite bad. And that's not to mention just the baseline damage from lugging and hauling and hefting heavy pieces of metal.

My grandfather did welding for Bethlehem Steel as did my father. My grandfather died from a weird cancer from all the crap he was exposed to. My father quit working at the mill precisely because it was doing so much damage just by wear and tear. They both made a point to make sure that my job would be based around my brain and not my body.

Electricians, by contrast, at least don't have anywhere near the same level of exposure to toxic crap.

Re: California teens are ditching office jobs – and making $100K before they turn 21

#23

Post by hiAndrewQuinn »

kubb wrote: post #12
hiAndrewQuinn wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's run the numbers. If I were an 18 year old financially savvy person making $100k a year in California, I would probably take home about $70k. About $1k, maybe $2k at the highest would be set aside for rent with roommates because I'm 18 and there's very little upside to me having my own apartment yet. Groceries here in Finland are more expensive than I remember them ever being in the United States, and so based o…

They’ll way to start families, not live with roommates.

At 18? Who is starting a family at 18 years old in that climate?

Claude Opus's Fermi estimate of the number of 18 year olds, making at least $100,000 a year, in California, with children, to be about 8 people. Not 8 thousand, not 8 hundred. Eight. Single digit. In a state of 40 million people.

Re: California teens are ditching office jobs – and making $100K before they turn 21

#24

Post by hiAndrewQuinn »

imgabe wrote: post #13
hiAndrewQuinn wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's run the numbers. If I were an 18 year old financially savvy person making $100k a year in California, I would probably take home about $70k. About $1k, maybe $2k at the highest would be set aside for rent with roommates because I'm 18 and there's very little upside to me having my own apartment yet. Groceries here in Finland are more expensive than I remember them ever being in the United States, and so based o…

I'm not saying an 18 year couldn't easily live on $100k / year. They certainly can, but you do have expenses besides rent and groceries you know.

I actually don't, those are the only two expenses my family has. Come to think of it those are the only two expenses I've ever had. I guess if we lived in the countryside we'd need a car, so, three expense categories total.

But alright, gather all of these other miscellaneous expenses up and take out another $10k per year to cover them. You still have $30,000 left if you're paying $2k a month on rent.

Re: California teens are ditching office jobs – and making $100K before they turn 21

#27

Post by idiomat9000 »

kubb wrote: post #12
hiAndrewQuinn wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's run the numbers. If I were an 18 year old financially savvy person making $100k a year in California, I would probably take home about $70k. About $1k, maybe $2k at the highest would be set aside for rent with roommates because I'm 18 and there's very little upside to me having my own apartment yet. Groceries here in Finland are more expensive than I remember them ever being in the United States, and so based o…

They’ll way to start families, not live with roommates.

The demographics stats say no. It is not the job of the individual to engage in self destructive life plans because the previous generations have eaten the future and wrapped in nostalgia extruded plans think they can now comand them around like plantation owners cattle.

Re: California teens are ditching office jobs – and making $100K before they turn 21

#28

Post by rat9988 »

hiAndrewQuinn wrote: post #23
kubb wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They’ll way to start families, not live with roommates.

At 18? Who is starting a family at 18 years old in that climate? Claude Opus's Fermi estimate of the number of 18 year olds, making at least $100,000 a year, in California, with children, to be about 8 people. Not 8 thousand, not 8 hundred. Eight. Single digit. In a state of 40 million people.

Then what is this 100K good for? Paying for food and living with roommates? This is not great.

Re: California teens are ditching office jobs – and making $100K before they turn 21

#29

Post by jstanley »

hiAndrewQuinn wrote: post #24
imgabe wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not saying an 18 year couldn't easily live on $100k / year. They certainly can, but you do have expenses besides rent and groceries you know.

I actually don't, those are the only two expenses my family has. Come to think of it those are the only two expenses I've ever had. I guess if we lived in the countryside we'd need a car, so, three expense categories total. But alright, gather all of these other miscellaneous expenses up and take out another $10k per year to cover them. You still have $30,000 left if you're paying $2k a month on rent.

You don't have utilities? You don't have a computer? You don't wear clothes? You don't go anywhere further than you can walk?

Re: California teens are ditching office jobs – and making $100K before they turn 21

#30

Post by JumpCrisscross »

bsder wrote: post #22
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the work takes a toll on your body It doesn’t need to. Not for welding.

> Not for welding What? Where? All the welding jobs I have ever known were terrible for your body. Between the exposure to high UV, all the bits of toxic crap that you are breathing/ingesting, and the noise from heavy machinery, it's quite bad. And that's not to mention just the baseline damage from lugging and hauling and hefting heavy pieces of metal. My grandfather did welding for Bethlehem Steel as did my father.…

> My grandfather did welding for Bethlehem Steel as did my father

How do they view modern eye, respiratory and skin protection every welder I’ve seen on an industrial site clad in?

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