I would trade my corporate job for a job at my LBS if I could afford it. Those people always look like they are having a blast.

I'm a self employed Lighting Designer, Technical Director, Master Electrician, and Stage Manager for high end corporate events. I spend about half the year away from home on the road. My time away involves many many long hours and training can be hit or miss when Im away. Its hard to getup at 4am to train between back to back 18 hour days, but I've done it for my A races. The payoff is that when I'm home I only work half days at most so I can fit my training in easily. My wife is a health educator do the air force and also a triathlete. Weekend long rides are easy to fit in as we often do them together. Together our income is over six figures and we are quite comfortable. When I was single I spent a TON in my first two years in the sport, but now I seem to spend more on doctors battling injuries! Hope to be back in full swing by next year. I train about 8-12 hours a week on average for tris but also paddle board quite a bit as well. I'd guess most years my wife and I each spend about 500-1000 on races, but have often spent more for iron distance years.

So here is a question for you high end job people.... if you could take a part time job that pays minimum wage but allows you to train more and better, would you?

I made that choice 22 years ago... except it wasn't really to train more, and I didn't make minimum wage (more like zero). Lived on savings~ $5k/yr for 13 years. I decided I liked freedom more than anything I could buy... and jobs really do suck. Those days are gone, but I didn't have to drift too far from it...

To me its not the hours but WHEN/WHERE/HOW you have to put in the hours and flexibility that makes me happy. Sitting chained in a cube all day would drive me nuts.

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I *heart* weak, dumb ass people...

Are you assuming the ONLY thing the extra cash buys/pays for is a fancy bike? Er, um, Ok.

Let me know how that whole retirement thing goes someday... :-)

If the OP had asked what we did in a *previous* life, then I'm sure you'd see more answers along those lines. Plus, juvenile records aren't publicly available ;)

Current life:
Co-owner (w/ wife, she's head dr.)/administrator of a veterinary hospital, do some real estate stuff on the side
How much do I spend? I am not sure. What I am sure of is that I have no desire to figure it out. I think the correct answer is more than what I tell my wife I've spent. Maybe $3k between coaching, race entry, travel, gear, food, etc. This year is like double that with new bike purchase *sigh*.

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Yes, I know it's grammatically incorrect. Blame AOL and their 90s-era character limits.
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My favorite so far!!!

X 2!!!!!!

Oh no hell no.

As thrifty as I am, I'm not into living on nothing.

And the main issue for me, is that total lack of financial security when you're on minimum wage. One mild (not even major) health or other setback, and you're at the mercy of the generosity of the gov't and strangers just to survive.

I wouldn't even do it in my young adulthood when I was single and had much fewer obligations. The prospect of losing several years of retirement savings compounded over a lifetime are big-time if there's no upside.

Far easier just to work less and play harder.

I swim, bike, run, play PS3 (recovery) and recieve a check once a month in my bank account. Life is good!

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B.Oliver -My Blog...triguywithavx.wordpress.com
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I'm not sure if I qualify for 'high end' or not, but I totally love what I do and it's really more about the challenge and professional accomplishments than it is about bringing home the cake and having some toys

I am a Leadership/Management Trainer....I teach people how to be a boss without being an asshole.....

I don't work to hard at all and have some flexibility for training....

I blow things up for the military. Luckily they give me 2 hours plus a day to workout with pretty good facilities and trainers at our disposal so it doesnt affect my off time as much. My job is pretty physical so it makes it tough to peak for races but can usually do up to 1/2s on a whim but generally do better at the short stuff. I am trying to get into ultras which is proving tough but I am pretty dumb so I suffer through them. I buy most of my gear used and stick to local races as no notice TADs have lead to many missed races without refunds and where I am in the sport doesnt justify the gucci gear. Looking forward to retirement in a few years to a job that leaves me plenty of time to get into long course racing.

GM of a building supply business. I work all day, train, eat, go back to work.

No kids, soon to be no wife, no worries.

Business Analyst at IBM. I enjoy my job. Unfortunately I don't enjoy where I live and am trying to relocate to the Phoenix area.

I considered working less, but that's almost harder to figure out. Jobs that pay half way decent usually require full time dedication. Being a waiter (something I did for a few years after I went back to work) is one of the better options.

You mentioned part-time minimum wage... if you work 20 hrs a week year round you are looking at a little over $7k/yr currently... no benefits. And you'd need a place to live and transportation and the other paraphernalia associated with having a job.

When I was living on <$5k/yr, that included health insurance BTW... and depreciation on the truck. I did train and race full time for a few years on that... it's doable.

I think one of the better ways to swing it would be to find a good paying seasonal winter job, and then train and race full time in the summer.

Security is of course a typical concern... but if you worry about that your whole life, you still end up dying at some point... just like everyone else.

Porn star. The work is long and hard. The money may not be great but the fringe benefits are worth it.

pharmaceutical compounder turned barista turned groundskeeper turned sign installer turned parole officer turned ski/bike shop bum. soon to be a full-time volunteer through nepal, india, and southeast asia. i have a lot of interests.

Ha .. sure it is.
Police officer. Night shift, 10 hour days (4 on, 3 off). Great for training. I love the job, except when I don't. My main focus the last 4-5 years has been training rookie cops, which is both rewarding and frustrating. Decent middle class income.

Excluding equipment purchases (this year was expensive .. splurged on a new road bike to the tune of about $7k), $1000-$1500 a year in entry fees etc. I live in CO so there are lots of high quality events in my backyard.

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"In case of flood climb to safety"

During the day, I work for a financial firm; at night I design bikes and run a bicycle company; I also moonlight as a cycling journalist when I get a chance, and have managed to hang out with grand tour champs from time to time. Of course the earnings from the latter 2 engagements is generally around 5-10% of the former for any given time.

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http://www.falcobike.com
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Sales for almost 30 years now. We're doing fine. However, I am happiest when I'm not tied to a desk. Also, if you have to work somewhere, keep your commute short.

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What I do: http://app.strava.com/athletes/345699

Policy committee consultant for the California State Legislature (Banking and Financial Institutions Committee). Love the job, the people, and the challenge, though the frustration level (and thus the need for.mind-clearing workouts) is pretty high. It is daunting knowing that your work affects several tens of millions of people.

Legislative jobs are very seasonal. Some months, training is very tough, because work lasts well into the night on an unpredictable and irregular basis. Other months, training is vastly easier, as work days are shorter and more predictable.

Government jobs don't pay a lot, but with no kids and only two expensive hobbies (tri and golf), tri expenses are probably under 5% of annual income on an average basis. That includes medical expenses, which are growing quite large as I try to keep pushing this aging body through long-course SBR. For a youngster with non-M Dot aspirations, you should be able to keep costs down. Used equipment, sales, race discounts, volunteer discounts, share rooms at races.

Goat herder, but Im in between herds at the moment so Im moon lighting as a property developer.

I have no intention of retiring...many retire to find they are bored with life and go back to work.

I'm pretty new to the sport, only been in it for about a year. I'm a Safety and Hazmat specialist for a fortune 50 company. The pay is over 40k a year, which isn't terrible in Indiana, and I am divorced with no children. The divorce hurt me pretty badly financially because I was the only one that had a savings account and a decent job, so it got split and I lost a lot of money to continue my schooling. As for triathlon, I ride a used road bike, a decent one, with clip ons. To get started it was pretty expensive, but now that I've accumulated some things over birthdays and Christmas, I'm now down to the dreaded tri bike. That's my next, and probably last, big purchase for the sport for a bit. I would say I've probably put 2k into the sport over the last year or so, but after the tri bike I am cutting way back. I have my first HIM this year, and that is usually the only race outside of local stuff I will do that costs me significant money.