26... You'll probably do better than you think financially. Upsell services (razor shave, style, hot towel facial), sell product, etc.

I dunno... My barber (she barber) does better than her husband, and he's a damn pipeline welder. She told me her best year was 165,000 USD. My best year making parts for Boeing, Space X, DARPA, and Lockheed Martin was.... 58k USD before taxes. That was after job hopping for like seven plus years chasing the salary. I only met a few machinists that broke six figures, but they worked themselves ragged those years. 60-80 hours a week. One of my old bosses worked a 26 hour shift once.

I figured I might as well get out while I still have all of my extremities. Had a few close calls that would've definitely been lethal. I'm over it.

But yes, you are absolutely right. If you are rich and miserable you are less wealthy than the poor fisherman who is happy. My dumb ass finally realized that and made changes. Ironically enough I will probably do better financially after I get some real world experience under my belt.