Current Events > What are jobs where someone can make decent money working only 8 hours a day?

(+) Yeah! (+)

The only choices I always see are:

work nonstop till you drop like investment bankers or nurses do if you want to go the one job route

or

work an 8 hour job and needing to get a 2nd job to make ends meet

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


You are working way more than 8 hours a day as a CEO

hahahah the big money they get isnt free

I work at a power plant making electricity. Pretty good money.

https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Power-Plant-Operator-Salary--in-Iowa

I know a lot of people dislike the Midwest but that is the average salary in my state. It's cheap cost of living here and the money can be quite good compared to your expenses.

My job in particular also happens to have great benefits. Like amazing health insurance that was free the first 20 years I was here. I have had to pay the last 5 years but it is $20 a month. I'm fine with that. My University has amazing retirement and contributes 200% of what I put in. So not just a match but double.

I get tons of time off. This is literally my "Friday". I'm at work now and when I get off tonight I'm on my third 3 day weekend in a row because I earn so much vacation and can only hold so much so I have to use 2 to 3 days every month just to keep it under my max balance. I also get 18 paid sick days a year and so many other great benefits.

I could go somewhere else and earn even more money but the benefits here are so good I sacrifice a little in money. Still make good money though for the area and cost of living.

In the last few years we have hired like around 10 different people in their 20's as "trainees" with no experience to train them up to do the job because it is hard finding people with experience here. So it is pretty easy to get your foot in the door some places too.

It's not so much the job as how good you are at it.

ai123 posted...

It's not so much the job as how good you are at it.

The salary matters too no matter how good you are at the job

Nobody gonna pay a McDonalds worker six figures even if theyre the creme of the crop

Office jobs

i have never worked longer than 8hrs/day as a software developer

MAR10_KarT posted...

The salary matters too no matter how good you are at the job

Nobody gonna pay a McDonalds worker six figures even if theyre the creme of the crop

True, a lot of jobs have a very low ceiling.

most anything with a business degree

TheGoldenEel posted...

Office jobs

i have never worked longer than 8hrs/day as a software developer

This, I work IT and it's very rare for me to do more than 40 hours a week. Most days I don't even have enough work to fill up a whole day, but sometimes I'm busy.

I opt for 10 hour days, though, but could do 8 hours if I didn't want an extra day off.

Many backend jobs like accountant and HR tend to have stable schedules and decent pay.

Undesirable service jobs pay well too. You can get into plumbing, sanitation. Even custodial work. Once of my friends got to become the lead custodian. The man is making 90k net income.

MAR10_KarT posted...

You are working way more than 8 hours a day as a CEO

hahahah the big money they get isnt free

@MAR10_KarT
That is true for low income CEOs who started their own company from their own bootstraps. And actuallyhave to bist their ass to keep the company going since they dont have foundational wealth to keep it going or mommy and daddy to clean up their fuck ups.

However, don't be fooled into thinking all CEOs more specifically, the top earners, work 8 hour+ days, busting their assess. People like Musk is not busting his ass like the minimum wage worker does.

Yeah, executives work long hours, but get paid beyond too well and this is before bonuses and other benefits.

TheGoldenEel posted...

Office jobs

It highly depends on what office job

Admins dont get paid much of anything and neither do most cubicle workers in office jobs

Learn a trade

being a train operator

But good luck getting in because its very hard

Project manager for a federal position like a college university, etc. my jaw dropped because I was being paid $55/hr just to sit in front of a computer and answer/coordinate emails.

The only downside you only get paid once a month.

UPS driver. If you live in a big city you can get on as a driver pretty quick. Cover drivers make around 38 an hour in my area, and full time drivers top out at 49 an hour. Plus pension and free heath benefits. Tough work though.

First, be smart enough to go to any accredited law school and pass any bar (doesn't matter which), which really isn't that hard. Then use usajobs.com to apply to any government paralegal or attorney job. It may take 100s of applications (esp. if not a vet), but you'll get one eventually. You'll eventually only make almost what a starting BigLaw associate makes, but you won't work more than 40/wk (with much more job security). Try to lateral into a non-supervisory GS-15. Retire in 20yrs, then take a high-paying consulting job "for the opposition" (e.g., an oil company, if you were at EPA).

MAR10_KarT posted...

You are working way more than 8 hours a day as a CEO

hahahah the big money they get isnt free

Ahahahahahahahahhaakahahahahahahah

rideshort posted...

Yeah, executives work long hours, but get paid beyond too well and this is before bonuses and other benefits.

Depends, my husband is a senior VP and doesnt work long hours.

Took him a long ass time to work his way to that position though.

that one fan site

The definition of decent money is going to depend on your standard of living and expectation though.

TheGoldenEel posted...

Office jobs

i have never worked longer than 8hrs/day as a software developer

Seconded, except I do accounting/payroll. 50:hours a week and I rarely work more than that.

In my area at least a decent office job let's someone make ends meet.

NatsuSama posted...

@MAR10_KarT
That is true for low income CEOs who started their own company from their own bootstraps. And actuallyhave to bist their ass to keep the company going since they dont have foundational wealth to keep it going or mommy and daddy to clean up their fuck ups.

However, don't be fooled into thinking all CEOs more specifically, the top earners, work 8 hour+ days, busting their assess. People like Musk is not busting his ass like the minimum wage worker does.

Most low to medium size company CEOs are probably working hard still and people like Musk and those running Fortune 500 companys or similar are far from the norm. Those can probably get away with a crappy CEO that doesnt know the company or industry on top of being a idiot.

On topic outside of white collar work or some highly specialized jobs there are little to none sadly. At least non that wont force you to work overtime for a decent check.

^the American work culture defined

sigh

I make enough to afford a 2 bedroom apartment by myself and I only work ~6-7 hours per day

but I work 6 days

At Walgreens, they start you off at $15 an hour.

MAR10_KarT posted...

The salary matters too no matter how good you are at the job

Nobody gonna pay a McDonalds worker six figures even if theyre the creme of the crop

If six figures is decent money, the area you live in is overpriced. I really dont know how people afford to live in places like that.

Lab Tech, but work at a private lab. Hospitals have unreasonable expectations and smaller hospitals will force you into phlebotomy work. State jobs pay too little (but excellent benefits).

I make >60k annually and I never have to worry about budgeting stuff out, plus I get benefits like 401k matching, getting more PTO the longer I stay, etc.

BDSMKane posted...

If six figures is decent money, the area you live in is overpriced. I really dont know how people afford to live in places like that.

100k in ny would make you middle class, even in upstate

I do typically work more than 8 hour days, but I also get fuckloads of time off, and my money is very good.

However, its important to note that thats not typical for the profession.

I have 39 hour work weeks, and live in a low CoL area so my pay (which is pegged at a federal level) is very good

I'm a scientific researcher

BDSMKane posted...

If six figures is decent money, the area you live in is overpriced. I really dont know how people afford to live in places like that.

six figures is what you need to even get close to a decent life living in the San Francisco bay area

same with LA, New York, etc

In IT you kinda just work your 40 hours, with the occasional after hours (more so for network engineers) depending on if there's upgrades which will bring the system down or an emergency outage

I'd imagine most salaried office jobs are similar. i know a bunch of people who work weekends and whatnot but I think they hate their families and do so to avoid them

You can get a hell of a lot of money from 8 hours of work in the trades if you know what you're doing and work for the right people.

Im constantly wracking my brain trying to figure out how to make money without basically living to work. I know I fucked up big time by not really learning anything during the almost fifteen years as a disgustingly underpaid grocery store worker, but Im trying to improve myself. Only thing is, I dont know how.

Im living comfortably enough, I can pay bills and everything and treat myself or go out once in a while, but Im not also not unaware that this isnt really a sustainable lifestyle. Id love to be able to own a home and have some more room, maybe even start a family (but I think the window is kind of closed on that at this point lol).

Ive been working tons of overtime lately and the money is great but Ive been having to work like 50+ hours a week for it (overtime work is from home though so its not terrible). And now I have a taste for real money but I would definitely prefer not having to work over 40 hours for it lol. The problem is I just dont have a lot of options. I cant really get into any physical work (though I certainly would love to not be chained to a desk all day) and I only have an associates degree and I definitely cant afford more education

rexcrk posted...

Im constantly wracking my brain trying to figure out how to make money without basically living to work. I know I fucked up big time by not really learning anything during the almost fifteen years as a disgustingly underpaid grocery store worker, but Im trying to improve myself. Only thing is, I dont know how.

Im living comfortably enough, I can pay bills and everything and treat myself or go out once in a while, but Im not also not unaware that this isnt really a sustainable lifestyle. Id love to be able to own a home and have some more room, maybe even start a family (but I think the window is kind of closed on that at this point lol).

Ive been working tons of overtime lately and the money is great but Ive been having to work like 50+ hours a week for it (overtime work is from home though so its not terrible). And now I have a taste for real money but I would definitely prefer not having to work over 40 hours for it lol. The problem is I just dont have a lot of options. I cant really get into any physical work (though I certainly would love to not be chained to a desk all day) and I only have an associates degree and I definitely cant afford more education

I dont know how it is with other fields, but in IT you can get qualified on the cheap so long as youre willing to put in study hours after work. You dont need to take expensive classes or anything, theres loads of free (or relatively affordable I.e. couple hundred bucks or less) learning material online. Then you take a cheap exam (depending on what it is, could be a couple hundred or less), if you pass that you are now certified in that area for a while which is something you can leverage to get a foot in the door somewhere. Im not sure about fields other than IT though. Although even if you do get certified, employers either want prior experience or a university degree or something as well so its still gonna be rough finding a place to work. Youd probably have to start your career all over again essentially and work your way up

rexcrk posted...

Im constantly wracking my brain trying to figure out how to make money without basically living to work. I know I fucked up big time by not really learning anything during the almost fifteen years as a disgustingly underpaid grocery store worker, but Im trying to improve myself. Only thing is, I dont know how.

Im living comfortably enough, I can pay bills and everything and treat myself or go out once in a while, but Im not also not unaware that this isnt really a sustainable lifestyle. Id love to be able to own a home and have some more room, maybe even start a family (but I think the window is kind of closed on that at this point lol).

Ive been working tons of overtime lately and the money is great but Ive been having to work like 50+ hours a week for it (overtime work is from home though so its not terrible). And now I have a taste for real money but I would definitely prefer not having to work over 40 hours for it lol. The problem is I just dont have a lot of options. I cant really get into any physical work (though I certainly would love to not be chained to a desk all day) and I only have an associates degree and I definitely cant afford more education

I think that, unfortunately, living to work is necessary for at least part of most successful career paths.

US Congress

MAR10_KarT posted...

six figures is what you need to even get close to a decent life living in the San Francisco bay area

same with LA, New York, etc

Well yeah, those are some of the highest cost of living locations in the entire world and arent realy indicative of most of the nation.

SammyLiimex posted...

Well yeah, those are some of the highest cost of living locations in the entire world and arent realy indicative of most of the nation.

The other dilemma is these cities are where a lot of the jobs are.

Cheaper cost of living areas tend to be job deserts a lot of the time. I lived in Florida and I know enough to tell you guys. good luck finding a decent job there. Every job I was offered there when I lived there pays trash and isnt even enough to get my own place.

MAR10_KarT posted...

You are working way more than 8 hours a day as a CEO

hahahah the big money they get isnt free

Well, you're right that the CEOs making big money aren't working eight hours a day, anyway...

Bathhouse, under a bridge or a beach public toilet.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Correct, but it needs to be very distinguished that not all CEOs are these hard working people that bust their assess. Especially anymore than your average minimum wage worker who has 2 or 3 jobs to keep the lights on.

Because that over romanticized idea of what a CEOs life is like, is what got us the fiction version of Musk and Trump so many envision to be super smart hard workers. Too many plop up "CEOs" on a pedestal.

Being a "CEO" and making more money than the guy working 2 or 3 jobs doesn't mean the CEO is working harder than the low wage worker with multiple jobs. Nor does it mean the CEO actually works 8 hours a day given not all CEOs are under the same circumstances with their company.

your own landscaping business.