>>13104065Doing a PhD never, EVER makes monetary sense. For me it was because I wanted to make my mark in the world and I knew that a PhD was the only way to ever do that. Even as soon as you start a postdoc you basically are someone else's bitch for life in any direction you go, even if your master is your investment board or voters you will always be someone's bitch except during your PhD. So I did my PhD, a stint in industry and started my own firm.
My PhD work has contributed on so many countless other projects including gravitational waves, climate science, forest management and all the way down to quantum topology analysis. I don't regret my PhD for a second. I still get e-mails from smart people all over the world and this gives my life meaning while boosting my mental health. It has even allowed me to network with wallstreet quants who have applied my work (not that I would ever want to work there, but these are the type of connections you usually have to be born into).
That being said so many countless students have wasted their PhDs doing boring, meaningless industry tier research (and their lack of prospects after graduation reflects that too). Never do a PhD if:
>You worry about finances (i.e. you have debt or you can't afford to support your family from other sources of income).>You don't have a revolutionary idea to base your thesis on.>You don't have your own funding.>You don't have a good professor to act as your PI.>You think that a PhD will help you break into a certain industry (it won't).It is important to understand doesn't open any new doors from your bachelors. If you can't get a job with your B you won't get a job with your PhD. If you can accept that fact you might have the right reasons for doing gradschool. Otherwise you are suffering from some kind of delusion or misinformation.
