Well paid jobs where you can just walk out of the office at 5pm and forget about work completely until you next sit down at your desk

do these exist?

I thought bond trader, but every trader I know is always reading, thinking and strategising about market issues and potential plays, and I assume that’s what makes them good.

Equities trader on the other hand…

Equity partner

Insurance sales man

In the good old days insurance guys would be lucky of they could remember where they iived by 5pm, let alone where their office was.

Define well paid.

£100-150k - ISDA negotiator.

£150-200k - IT project "manager"

£200k+ - umm

It's not about the job though, it's about you and your ability to compartmentalize. Read some books on Lehman. As their industry was on verge of annihilation, wall st CEOs went to dinner with their families. I say this as someone who struggles massively with switching off.

Managing your own money is probably the ideal. That's equities trading.

IT project manager seems like the most stressful job imaginable to me. Constantly managing other people to do stuff, and trying to deliver something where almost none of the input or effort is within your control.

fair play to wall street CEOs too

there was fvck all they could do nor could have done, given the market’s irrational determination to self-immolate

in the circs, I’d have switched off the blackberry and read stories to the kids tbh. Or I hope that’s what I’d do.

LOL @ the idea that IT project managers, who face hard deadlines, massively extended and complex teams and cold hard success/failure dichotomies - I just switched it on, does it work? - just walk out and forget about work.

Ok project managers generally then.

Plenty of ISDA negotiators are sub-£100K

Yes and plenty are over that which is where our thread hero would be positioning himself I feel sure.

"£100-150k - ISDA negotiator."

fook the fook off. Even in these crazy times that's more than your average DSF associate at an MC firm is on.

I remember Supes years ago would go on, ad nauseum, about how he as an ISDA negotiator was fooking amazing and the actual lawyers knew jack shit.

Well to borrow an analogy from a fighter pilot friend. The takeoff and landing - the most stressful part for a commercial pilot - or the ISDA negotiation - is merely the commute to the office before you start the actual work.