How much money can you make in physics?

[Dr. Courtney]

Yes. It's similar to the jokes writers tell each other: to become a millionaire as a writer, you have to start out as a billionaire. :P

Don't get me wrong, Physics is a path to a solid upper-middle class income and can definitely pay the bills. But like most career choices, focussing on the money and hoping to get rich is likely a path to frustration. My advice is to be content with more moderate income and do science for the love rather than the money.

https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/science-love-money/

When you stop to think about it, by historical standards, or even by worldwide standards, an upper-middle class income in 21st century America is greater wealth than most people in human history have enjoyed.

 

[pinball1970]

I am currently trying to decide between going into artificial intelligence and being a researcher in theoretical particle physics. I think I could make a lot of money in ai but the second option seems far more interesting and fulfilling. So my question is; is there potential to make around 500k a year as a researcher in theoretical particle physics, and if so, what level of degree would I need, about how many years will I have to be in the work force to land a job like this, and are the odds very low of this happening or is it not too uncommon?

Banking I think or the actuarial /stocks side. Lots of maths and stats. Keep you interested with potentially very high salary.

 

[elkend]

If you want to pursue money and a highly fulfilling career, there's medical physics. 2 years MS which you can be paid for at some schools, 2 year residency making 50k, couple years at 120-140k, then 180k median. Caveat? It's difficult to get a residency unless you're smart, hardworking, and can interview decent. Unfortunately, I think anyone who didn't get a residency when I was in school had some deficiencies in their application or as an applicant.

 

[elkend]

I run a hedge fund and have come across a wide cross-section of wealthy persons as a side effect of my work.

I'm interested in this. I enjoy my career as a medical physicist, but towards the end of my physics BS I realized I had a personal interest in finance and investments. How did your career take you here? About how many hours do you spend a week at work and also working from home? I hear some finance careers can be brutal.

 

[mfb]

When you stop to think about it, by historical standards, or even by worldwide standards, an upper-middle class income in 21st century America is greater wealth than most people in human history have enjoyed.

That is true even for a minimum-wage job in the US, Western Europe and so on.

 

[jtbell]

Physics is a path to a solid upper-middle class income and can definitely pay the bills.

Nevertheless, if someone grows up in a high-income family (parents are e.g. MDs , or work in "big law", investment banking or high-flying tech companies) it may be difficult psychologically for him (or his parents!) if he doesn't end up with an income that supports the lifestyle that he grew up in.

I'm not saying this is necessarily the OP's situation, of course. (Nor was it for me!)

 

[rkr]

I'm interested in this. I enjoy my career as a medical physicist, but towards the end of my physics BS I realized I had a personal interest in finance and investments. How did your career take you here? About how many hours do you spend a week at work and also working from home? I hear some finance careers can be brutal.

I got into it by coincidence, really. We spawned off a class at a university. Wouldn't have been possible without the financial support of alumni who propped us up.

The median work hours are about 10h per day. There's a lot more on-site work than remote work given the nature of IP protection. Besides, you usually get free food and better idea generation on-site. The bigger issue I see is that there's a high variance of work hours - if something breaks, there's very strong incentives to drop everything to get it fixed. You can't just leave it for later. Some of my colleagues have to work a full day on Christmas Eve.

The hours are probably best in the research group of a bank because the job is more stable and the competition is less tight. Then long-term hedge funds. High-speed and intraday trading firms like us are usually a lot more short-sighted in our payroll.