Career dilemma

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Howdy. I'm currently at a bit of an impasse on my career. For the past few years I've been preparing and planning for a career in investment banking and all the horrors that will entail; potential 100+ hour work weeks, arrogant and "alpha" coworkers, and a fierce amount of competition. In conjunction with that my AS will also likely open up problems. Although I pride myself in having worked hard to be able to disguise and work against my symptoms, such a high-stress environment with constant client and colleague (ie, forced) social interaction will significantly increase the probability of mistakes and breakdowns on my part. The chance I won't be able to adapt to this environment due to my condition/temperament also means that there's a chance I may not be able to rise far up the career ladder (which is usually a measured progression through the hierarchy) or even end up being dropped out the company.

The one reason which justifies going into investment banking is the money upon beginning the job and the potential earnings of a banker. If I persevere through those years of work, I will stand to make enough money to retire comfortably and begin my own independent business ventures with the capital by my mid thirties. I have big plans in terms of business ideas, so the contacts and capital I'll get from this will be extremely desirable.

This plan is highly risky to say the least. The significant chance of me being incapable of ascending far up the career ladder coupled with the likely damage to my health such a job will take on my health has made me consider whether the prospect of extremely high earnings is a good idea.

A month or so ago I found out about being an actuary. It ticks all the boxes for a fulfilling career; heavy use of mathematics and statistics, variance in problems I'll have to solve, a relatively sedate atmosphere, and a friendly professional body made of people I'd get on well (actuaries are often described as "nerdy"). I also weirdly like the strenuous examinations required by the profession - it offers a chance to continue my education in topics I enjoy in a pretty structured context, and leads to a pretty flexible and respectable professional qualification. An actuary also has good compensation. The issue is that unlike an investment bank, the pay progression is not as rapid (nor potentially as high), and you also deprive yourself of access to fields like private equity which bankers typically have, which have high compensation sans the gruelling conditions. Whilst you can earn a very high salary as an actuary, it doesn't reach the ludicrous salary+bonus packages a banker earns; so my plan of early retirement followed by my own business ventures is certainly altered.

I'm stuck in a rut on this topic. Does anyone hear have any takes on this?

There will always be the need for an actuary: much less risk than an investment banker.

It seems like you like it: why not go for it?

As I said, the issue is with the money.

Is being successful the issue or making a lot of money? By the sounds of things if you become an actuary you will be successful but won't earn as much as an investment banker. You seem to be convinced that if you take up investment banking you will fail. If that is the case you probably will fail, so if you decide on the investment banking choice you need to change your mindset altogether to convince yourself you can succeed as an investment banker, because otherwise I can't see you making it.

Having a lot of money before I get too old is part of my larger plan, so getting ahold of that money would be what I consider to be successful.

You're right in saying that going in with the right attitude/confidence is important. I don't think it's necessary I will fail. I'm just stating the evidence in regards to the dropout rate in that business and how it may be something I could find difficult. I don't know if I will fail or not, but I do know it's without a doubt the most difficult option.

As a general rule, the more money you make the higher the drop out rate. If you can time it and make the money you need for the business you want to run, and then get out at that point, you have done well. Money though seduces you to a point where you don't know whether you have enough, so you just keep going. The more money you make, the more money you spend, so you never have enough, so you never stop until someone higher up the tree stops you. Hope you saw the movie Margin Call. One of the characters in the movie was once an engineer who built a bridge, who boasts about the benefit that bridge made to the lives to all the people who use that bridge everyday. Now he just moves money around from one pocket into the other pocket for his boss, to get himself a bigger bonus. At the end of the movie, characters sit in an office room, earning hundred of thousands of dollars an hour for doing nothing while about to be terminated, while the main character goes off to bury his dog, which is the only tangible thing left behind from his mangled marriage.

Yes, actuaries get paid quite well. It was one of the fields I considered, but, I wasn't sure about the maths (at that point, I was struggling with getting through algebra) and the grueling tests for certification.
It would still be a career I'd consider.

My health is more important than money (she says, though I killed myself for a few years, but, that was to work through college).

If you live really frugally, and if you invest well, you could build a good nest egg as an actuary, too.

I understand you might miss some career connections that way, but, there might be other ways to meet them.

http://www.indeed.com/salary?q1=Actuary ... t&l2=&tm=1

Oh a career eval by my last employer suggested I could become a dosimetrist (person who measures up chemo doses), it pays almost as well as actuarial work and would be another where it will always be needed.