5 Miserable Jobs That Pay Big Bucks

Do you want to be miserable? Of course not. While there are exceptions, almost everyone wants to be happy. Your job and career path play a major role in your overall happiness.

Why would anyone choose a career that makes them miserable? Probably because of the money. A post by Time Magazine called “5 High-Paying Jobs That Will Make You Miserable” focuses on some of the most unhappy careers out there. If you’ve always dreamed of a high paying, high powered position, then this is worth a read.

Let’s take a look at these high paying, miserable jobs:

• Physician – Average Salary: $150,000+ – It may surprise you that many people in the medical profession regret their career decision. This high stress career revolves around life and death decisions, but it must be balanced with making money for hospitals and insurance agencies. Most doctors aspired to work in a honorable niche, but most find that the long hours and the lack of appreciation just aren’t worth it.
• Junior Investment Banker – Average Starting Salary: $75,000 – The investment industry is all about making money. Newbie investment bankers will easily log 120-hour work weeks for vague promises of wild riches in the near future. It seems that trading your prime years for endless office hours and a complete lack of any work/life balance isn’t justifiable.
• Sales Manager – Average Salary: $123,150 – Sales jobs are always a pressure cooker. It’s stressful to push products on people. Success is only measured by the amount of sales you create. Combine this with endless complaints and it might not be worth pursing a job in sales.
• Dentist – Average Salary: $155,000 – It’s smart to visit a dentist at least once a year to keep your pearly white teeth healthy. Even with an endless flow of clients, dentists find that the student loans and lack of prestige don’t boost morale.
• Lawyer – Average Salary: $160,000 – Lawyers and attorneys often top unhappy career lists. Lawyers also have the highest rate of depression among 100 professions and suffer from high suicide rates. Long hours, endless clients, and ethical situations make this a miserable job.

There’s no doubt about it, these jobs pay big bucks, but overall these jobs are filled with unhappy people. Obviously, there are exceptions to this article.  Some people love being doctors or investment bankers, but on a whole, these professions are full of unhappy people. Does money really equal happiness? That’s for you to decide. It seems that people are most often miserable because of:

• Working too many hours
• High stress
• Constantly tied to work via smartphones and Internet
• Stuck in a career
• Being out of shape
• Developing bad habits
• Lacking a work/life balance
• Poor health

When you ask someone what they want to do? No one says be unhappy. If these careers are filled with unhappy folks, why not avoid these careers? If you’re already stuck in one of these miserable jobs, maybe it’s time to switch careers? Or maybe you need to reassess your career path.

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