ETA vs. W2 over 5 Years

October 30, 2025

by a searcher in United States

Like many of us in mid-career, I expect to average around $300,000 in W-2 income over the next five years. I’m very intrigued by ETA, but I also find myself questioning the ROI, or perhaps the “ROBD” (return on brain damage), of ownership. When I think about the next five years, I’m not entirely sure I’d come out ahead by more than $1.5M net of fees, taxes, and a potential sale. My hesitation really comes from a mix of fear and uncertainty, and I’m looking for honest pushback to help me get centered and make sure my expectations are realistic. If you have a perspective/insight, please share below for me and the broader community.

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Reply by a searcher
from The University of Texas at Austin in Houston, TX, USA

I think it’s important for me to weigh in here as someone who went down the ETA path and failed financially, miserably. If I were making $200K+ in a traditional corporate role, I would thank my lucky stars, and you’d have to claw me away, kicking and screaming, from that job. I never made over $65K annually when I owned my businesses, and never more than $160K in the corporate world (Mechanical Engineer with a UT Austin MBA). One thing rarely discussed is how hard it is to return to the corporate world after owning a business. In my case, it’s been nearly impossible. Today, I own two more companies not by choice, but by necessity to keep income flowing (and not much income to boot) and life afloat. If I had never received my MBA and just lived my life as a mid-career Mechanical Engineer, my annual earnings would greatly exceed (probably by 3x) what I am able to earn annually now. After my first business failure, I got divorced. Even though I sold that business for 3x my initial investment 7 years later, it didn’t come close to offsetting years of lost earnings. And free time? Unless you’re extremely lucky, it’s a myth. I work every day, sometimes doing physical labor just to make ends meet. When you deal with the public, your reputation is everything. You’ll find yourself bending over backward for difficult customers just to protect it. You will be sued, stolen from, lied to, and backstabbed, and that’s if you’re lucky. I was even physically threatened. My story might sound extreme, but I haven’t met a single business owner who doesn’t have their own version of these war stories that pale in comparison to any hardship they faced in their former corporate position. That said, there are positives. I’m now absolutely unbreakable. Nothing rattles me. I’ve developed a calm, solution-oriented mindset that surprises even me. And I’ve gained immense respect for anyone who’s built something from scratch or grown a business through ETA as they’ve earned every ounce of it. So here’s my takeaway: if my story sounds like an acceptable outcome to you if you can stomach losing, learning, rebuilding and the stigma of failure, then jump. Give it hell. As my tattoo says, “Never Give Up.”

Reply by a searcher
from Tsinghua University in Burlingame, CA, USA

For me, as a mid-career professional, pursuing ETA doesn’t necessarily make the most financial sense on paper. But what draws me to it is the freedom to structure my own time, the ability to work where and how I want—not within a corporate 9-to-5—and the excitement of building something entrepreneurial. More importantly, I want to be a role model for my kids, showing them that they don’t have to work for someone else if they’re willing to create their own path.

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