A 33-year-old sparked a heated debate online recently after sharing a plan to work 80 hours a week for the next two years in hopes of catching up financially after struggling through most of their 20s.
The poster, who still lives with their 73-year-old father in San Diego, graduated with a film degree and spent years dealing with inconsistent freelance editing work. They recently lined up two jobs, including an Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) position paying $19 an hour plus overtime. Their idea was to invest nearly all of the income into the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) and let the money grow until retirement.
Don’t Miss:
- Explore whether your retirement strategy is optimized for income, taxes, and long-term withdrawals — take the AdviserMatch quiz today.
- One application. Multiple loan offers. See how AmONE helps borrowers quickly compare rates from participating lenders.
Burnout Imminent?
While some praised the discipline and willingness to sacrifice, the overwhelming response focused on the physical and mental toll of working 80-hour weeks.
“Your plan sounds absolutely miserable and I doubt you’d stick with it,” one commenter wrote in one of the thread’s most upvoted replies.
Another person who had previously worked similar schedules said the experience was brutal.
“I worked 72 hours per week for a couple of years straight and let me tell you, it completely wrecked my body,” they wrote. “I do NOT recommend it. It’s really not worth it, even with a six-figure salary.”
Several former warehouse workers specifically warned against trying the plan at Amazon.
“Being a human robot for 40 plus hours a week is going to destroy you, both mentally and physically,” one commenter wrote. “80-hour weeks for two years will absolutely break you.”
Trending: Not sure if your retirement plan is optimized for income, taxes, and withdrawals? See how SmartAsset helps match you with a financial advisor in minutes.
Others argued that the math simply didn’t justify the sacrifice. One person estimated that even after two years of nonstop work, taxes would leave the poster with roughly $140,000 to $150,000 invested.
“You really think you’re gonna be able to coast on $143K for the rest of your life?” the commenter asked.
The thread also became a broader discussion about burnout culture and whether people should sacrifice their health in pursuit of financial independence.
“You can’t invest your way out of regret,” one user commented. “But you can build something genuinely solid from where you are right now.”
The Most Common Advice
Many commenters said that spending those extra hours building higher-paying skills would create a far better long-term outcome than grinding through low-paying labor jobs.
Industrial controls and automation became one of the biggest side discussions after one commenter suggested learning systems like programmable logic controllers, supervisory control and data acquisition systems and process controls.
“You can be a self-employed Controls Engineer/Controls Designer/Controls Technician within a year if you take it seriously,” they wrote, adding that experienced workers can bill out at “$150+/hr plus your travel expenses paid.”
See Also: Find out if you qualify to reduce your monthly debt payments — see how much you could save with a quick, free consultation.
Other commenters …
This post was originally published here
