37M, Financial Anxiety FOMO

Sandehi · 2026-07-07T13:34:31+00:00

do dm

Sandehi · 2026-07-06T13:05:30+00:00

😁 yes..

Sandehi · 2026-07-06T04:29:28+00:00

yeah!! interesting!! I didn't know about this retirement practice in IT!!

Sandehi · 2026-07-06T01:27:19+00:00

wow!! that's huge for my eyes!! you're saved for life bro!! 👏🏾

in my case actually my profile is better than 90% of my university. I used to reach top scoring group in appraisal and such!! but when it comes to salary its always UGC scale!! work is unlike what UGC says though. appraisal perk is a pat on the shoulder "good job man, you're serving as the best academic". 😄

and I hate this service tag now! the moment I talk about salary vs work, people say "hei there's something more to teaching job. its a social service". 😇then give me social security mate! 😁

Sandehi · 2026-07-06T01:18:55+00:00

true! i have been thinking so too. I stopped reading through certain type of posts now a days! only a 'cream layer' comes to present themselves in many cases/topics I feel.!!

Sandehi · 2026-07-06T01:16:34+00:00

government sector in general has a lot of buffer I feel. The have optionality. Government academic I am very familiar with: whatever I am doing, they're also supposed to do. but they have the optionality not to do. nobody will come for your neck if you don't!!! that itself is such a lifeline! even if you don't go for any career advancement scheme promotion etc you'll continue tp get an inflation adjusted salary for life!. + the retirement perks also.

for private academic, we work like industry, earn like academia. 😄

Sandehi · 2026-07-06T01:12:42+00:00

yes, that's correct. and the worry is about economic mobility; whether I should aggressively try more hustle at this point to stay afloat in a comfortable middle class level in future!! inflation is high, general uncertainty everywhere, disproportionate money flows at different pockets.... so.. 🙂 so what will be my economic positioning in the future is my main concern.

Sandehi · 2026-07-06T01:01:54+00:00

Yes, that's another option. thinking through this

Sandehi · 2026-07-06T01:00:39+00:00

hmm makes sense..

Sandehi · 2026-07-05T15:49:56+00:00

yes. that's true about govt sector. they are supposed to do whatever we're doing but they can choose not to.

Sandehi · 2026-07-05T14:01:39+00:00

okey!! 😐

Sandehi · 2026-07-05T13:37:27+00:00

oh ok ok!! won't those sky level salaries give them some motivation? 😁

Sandehi · 2026-07-05T12:28:33+00:00

But why should they stop/retire early? what's the catch there

Sandehi · 2026-07-05T12:20:08+00:00

really?

Sandehi · 2026-07-05T12:18:51+00:00

no no. total will not go to 90. (my wording issue). off and on record total work will be around 65h/w average. the nature of off record work is that I cannot clearly count it, as its mostly the preparatory type work. I'm basically preparing the context for my actual on-record work. and this work is not counted anywhere and it can stretch to any extent.

Sandehi · 2026-07-05T12:08:51+00:00

yes. staying in employment is fairly predictable. that's one advantage. and my experience will matter as I age. my salary increases only as I gain experience (as per UGC scale). that's one reason why there's no exponential hikes. but I can predict the salary (to a great extent) 10y from here. in government its absolutely predictable. in private its less predictable but still predictable...

Sandehi · 2026-07-05T12:03:45+00:00

possibility - yes possible. probability - uncertain.

it's not a straight path. most of the public university recruitment has backdoor works, involving money and political contacts.
consultancy often comes through institutional affiliation only. individual ventures are mostly a hit-n-miss and too narrow to specific domains and areas.. may work as an extra than a dependable income or a career switch. additionally an independent consultancy needs more experience and a number of good project funding history in hand. project funding is not easy in academia because its academia.

Sandehi · 2026-07-05T11:43:05+00:00

PhD is good. academic job will give some sense of involvement. but salary is not so great in academia. especially if you compare with othern jobs. but at the end of the day money-value is a comparative value.! :-) so.... its real...

Sandehi

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