Ask HN: Worth shifting from banking to programming career?

Ask HN: Worth shifting from banking to programming career?
6 by lakeshore | 19 comments on Hacker News.
I know it's often asked here whether it's worth learning programming and the answer usually tends to be 'yes'. I've been giving this quite a bit of thought and even embarked on The Odin Project, but still not sure if it's a good idea for me. A bit about me: Mid-30s; based in US; established career in banking; upper/middle management earning $250-300K; enjoy my work and have been doing well; I have a type of a role where I can shift to other industries (in a similar role) Why I think learning programming is a good idea - Software is the future, there's talk of DeFi potentially disintermediating traditional banks so need a hedge by developing an alternative skillset - I took some programming classes in high school and enjoyed them Why I think learning programming is a bad idea - There's an opportunity cost to my time. I have a family. More importantly, there ARE other skills that I can learn that stack well with my current career and increase my odds of landing a c-suite position over time - The amount of effort and time I will have to put to land a programming gig that pays just as well as my current gig will be immense (keep in mind I enjoy my current job as well as programming, so compensation will be a deciding factor) Would appreciate some thoughts from people who work in the tech industry.

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