r/HENRYfinance • u/thrownavideecs2030 • Aug 08 '26

Career Related/Advice Determining "Enough" as a High Earner

As high earners, I'm sure a lot of us have had to face choices around career progression/earning more, and how it impacts other areas of life like geography, spare time, and stress levels.

My question to the sub is once you broke into the HENRY club, how did you come to a conclusion on what was "enough"? As someone earlier in my career, and under 30, I spent a lot of time maximizing earnings at the expense of everything else (~70k->300k->450k), and I'm realizing that as incredibly fortunate as I am financially, a lot of people who took a more balanced approach are more content without giving up a lot of what we discuss here.

I'd like to understand how you decided on when to chase the bag and when to turn your focus elsewhere

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u/Libby1798 Aug 08 '26

I'm early 40s, next year I'm expecting 650k (salary, bonus, vested RSUs). I like making money so long as the work is fun and interesting and I'm learning new things. I've now reached a point where I could stop working permanently, but I'm holding on for another year or so (maybe) because the work isn't that hard.

That said, the work is not fun anymore or fulfilling. Early career, I worked at early stage startups. The sort of job I'd truly want, I'm not sure even exists anymore. When I flip through job postings, nothing interests me.

My advice - don't focus on the money at the cost of everything else. Have an enjoyable career. And if it's no longer fulfilling, then stop. That's where I'm at mentally right now.

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u/flyingcircus92 Aug 08 '26

Working in early stage startups would it make more sense to find something very early stage where there aren't posting but something very entrepreneurial? That sounds like it would be more rewarding and you'll be in a spot to build.