Most researchers at some point have to answer the question of whats more important, Money or Passion? Megha Dubey here share’s her experience, on how she has handled this very question. In the second half, Paurvi adds some tools one could use to secure their financial future while still doing what they like.
Life is always full of dilemma and confusions. For me this dilemma began very early in my career when my parents asked me whether I want to be a mathematician or a biologist. At that time some of my friends chose Mathematics so that they could have plenty of career options in the future; I decided to go for Biology because of my interest and curiosity in that subject. Since then I never stopped loving science. After finishing my PhD, I came to California two years ago, for my postdoc at Stanford University.
Bay area is one of the most amazing part of the US. At one end, it has headquarters of several big global tech firms such as Apple, Google and Facebook, while on the other end it’s well known for some of the best research institutes in the world such as Stanford University and UCSF (University of California, San Francisco). It is a home not only to many highly successful IT people, but also for some of the most amazing scientists and Nobel laureates. When I got an offer from Stanford it was like a dream come true. But after moving here I realized that there is a huge difference in the expenses if one compares this place to the rest of the US. Thought of moving to a less expensive state and doing something in which I have no interest has never occurred to me. Many people from non-scientific background (my friends, family and parents) ask me, when will I stop studying and I constantly think, how to explain them what I am doing.
Lot of times, I encounter people who believe that if you don’t get enough money and/or opportunities in the academia you should switch to industry. I always wonder how fair it is to compare someone’s interest with the amount of money they earn.
There is no comparison between money and love for science; and it’s just beyond that. In spite of being in the most expensive area and being surrounded with the highly paid IT people who earn a very decent package (which a scientist cannot get very soon in life), I have always respected and enjoyed my work, and everyone should also because there is nothing better than following your dreams and it’s not always about the money.
REALLY??
These things really sound good but in the real world it’s not as simple. Not every person thinks like that because the situation is not similar for everyone. Many people in this world struggle for their survival and existence, and giving priority to money over passion doesn’t look wrong in the current scenario. Every year millions of people get PhD around the globe and only some of them are actually fortunate enough to follow their passion. With the limited funding and unfair competition, one has to decide how much it would cost to follow your passion. PhD and Postdoc fellows don’t always get all the employment associated benefits; and one of them is a secure retirement plan. Managing finances yourself could be a little intimidating, but the availability of online financial resources, books in local libraries and ease of looking up and hiring a financial advisor can make the process easier and accessible than ever.
No matter, whether you are early in your career or an established researcher the key is to start saving early on. Learning few things such as personal finance, budgeting, saving, handling debts and tax-efficiency could be beneficial in a long-run.
One can learn about their options from different resources and start saving as little as 100$ and scale up as you become confident. Below are few suggestions on automated investing platforms or Robo advisors. There are other similar services that might offer better options, but these are some good options to start with.
1. Wealthfront Inc.
What is it: It’s an automated investing platform that has democratized investing by providing services that you once needed from an expensive personal advisor.
How it works: You invest your money into a Wealthfront account, it allocates it to an assortment of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). It decides the ETFs based on how much risk you are willing to take. It comes at the equation from a few different directions and measures not just your stated risk tolerance, but also the consistency of your answers. It results in a much more diversified portfolio than most lay people would ordinarily select on their own.
Suitability: Its suitable for people who want to have a long-term investment plan. The combination of instant diversification across multiple asset classes and reasonable fees, can serve one well, as long as they keep an eye on the big picture.
Source: https://investorjunkie.com/16817/wealthfront-review/
2. Vanguard
What is it: Founder Jack Bogle actually invented the index fund — so if you are interested in low cost index funds you’re in excellent hands. Their investing philosophy is low-cost, long-term, and no-hassle.
How it works: While it offers a full complement of investment products, including stocks, bonds and CDs, it is best known for its mutual funds and ETFs. Wealthfront often uses Vanguard ETFs to keep expenses low.
Suitability: It is crafted for the long-term, buy-and-hold investor. Their emphasis on index funds and the low annual fees benefits this style of investing.
Source: https://investorjunkie.com/5769/vanguard-review/
https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/investing/vanguard-review/
https://www.thesimpledollar.com/vanguard-review/
3. Robinhood
What is it: Robinhood offers commission-free stock and option trades at a time when even the least-expensive brokers charge $5 per trade. While, Robinhood can save users real money on commissions, the service trades user experience for tax inefficiency.
How it works: When you buy shares of stock, a cost basis is ascribed to the lot. For instance, if you bought Shopify shares in 2014 for $25 each, you would have a capital gain of $120 per share if you sold them at a recent price of $145. People often add to their portfolios little by little, purchasing shares at different times and prices. That means that the investor would incur a different tax bill when they sell, depending on which lot of stock is sold. Most brokers make it easy to choose which tax lots you want to sell but with Robinhood, the stock you bought first is sold first. Since stock prices generally increase over time, the earliest lots are most likely to have the largest amounts of gains.
Suitability: Robinhood can be a good choice for people who want to rapidly churn a small portfolio, since commissions saved will likely be more than the tax costs. Also since most companies tend to grow over time, it could be useful for people who want to buy and keep their stocks for long term.
Source: https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/05/20/robinhood-the-high-price-of-free-stock-trades.aspx
https://thecollegeinvestor.com/15582/robinhood-review-commission-free-trades/
You could go for any of these options depending on your needs. For people who wish to invest a lot of money or need advice on handling debts, hiring a personal advisor might be a good option. In that case, one could visit NAFPA association. It provides information on fee based fiduciary advisors, who give you advice based on your needs and not based on the services they endorse or are associated with.
Altogether can say, where there is a will, there is a way. Although gaining financial stability is important in life, but leaving dreams for money is not a great choice to make.
Overall, in the present situation with rising expenses and less interest of current government in the research; it’s hard to say if someone should sacrifice their scientific interest for money or follow their passion at the cost of a less luxurious life.
Disclaimer: The information provided in the article is for general awareness and not a financial advice. People should consult a fiduciary and learn about their financial options before making any investment decisions. Do not consider this as an endorsement for any of these services. Since investments are inherently risky, any loss of capital is not our liability.
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Authors: Megha Dubey and Paurvi Shinde
Megha Dubey did her PhD in 2016 from CDRI Lucknow (Pharmacology Division) where she was working on oxidative stress induced post-translational modifications in neutrophils and then joined Stanford University in September 2016 (Department of Microbiology and Immunology). Her current research interest is in the role of gdT cells in infectious disease.
Paurvi Shinde did her PhD in Immunology from Uconn Health and her expertise lies in T/B cell biology and activation pathways. She currently works as a Post Doc Fellow at Bloodworks Northwest Research Institute in Seattle, where she studies the mechanism of alloimmunization to certain human ‘Red Blood Cell’ antigens. Apart from doing experiments, she loves communicating scientific information in a clear and concise form. Follow her on Linkedin.
Editor
Rajamani Selvam is currently a Neuroscience Ph.D. student at University of Connecticut Health, Farmington, CT. Her research focuses on understanding the interactions between growth factors and endocannabinoids in modulating acute synaptic transmission in the brain. Post-graduation, she is interested in pursuing a career in medical communications. She is passionate about communicating STEM education and outreach to middle and high schoolers. She is also a mentor for 1000 girls 1000 futures program, New York Academy of Sciences. Away from science, she is an artist and enjoys leisure travel. Follow her on LinkedIn.
Illustrator
The cover image was designed by Vinita Bharat, PhD. Follow her work as Fuzzy Synapse on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Blog design: Paurvi Shinde
The contents of Club SciWri are the copyright of PhD Career Support Group for STEM PhDs {A US Non-Profit 501(c)3}. (PhDCSG is an initiative of the alumni of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. The primary aim of this group is to build a NETWORK among scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs).
This work by Club SciWri is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
