Dear Massage Therapists,

If you're struggling to earn a good living without burning out, it's likely that the massage school you went to intentionally and unethically didn't tell you the following critical truth that would have compelled you to consider a different path, because they definitely know:

And here's the next ugly truth: Everyone peddling paid programs to teach you how to prevent "Massage Therapist Burnout" either really don't know better, or they're intentionally lying to you to profit from your naiveté. The simple fact is, there is NO way to prevent "Massage Therapist Burnout." Why? Because the hard, logistical, socioeconomic realities of Massage Work make it literally impossible, at least, if you have any desire to support a family of four.

Here's the PROOF in simple MATH:

1) Notwithstanding your initial tuition of $9,000 - $18,000 for a minimum of 500 hours, up to 1,000 hours in some states, your annual or biannual State License fee, and the capital needed to invest in all the equipment to start a private practice (we'll visit working for employers later here), let's just look at your monthly expenses.

Combined MONTHLY expenses: $15,153 = $181,836/year Don't forget that is what you need to NET after taxes! Assuming this is what you have left after the State and IRS claim 30% of what you made that year, you're really looking at a target income of $259,766/year (always round up!). But, if you're a responsible and sensible person, you have to add another 20% of that income for SAVINGS which brings your target annual income up to $324,708. Finally, add another 30% of those savings for Uncle Sam, and you can see that, to support a family of 4 in the US (on average) you have to make at least $417,482 per year ($34,791/month). This still doesn't include extracurricular activities for your kids, like dance, band, martial arts, etc. But we'll ignore that for now, and assume you plan to earn whatever it takes to get your kids out of the house before/after homework, and on the weekends, doing something productive, so they don't become video game addicts with Type 2 Diabetes, or develop more concerning activities to pass time. Now, let's look at what it takes to make $34,791/month as a Self-Employed Massage Therapist (who doesn't want to die alone without children).

2) There are 250 working days on average per year. $417,482 / 250 = an average of at least $1670 per DAY.

3) Doing more than 4 hours of massage a day is physically unsustainable for the long-term no matter how young and healthy you are. And let's not forget you need to have enough time and energy for your partner, your 2 children, and most of all, yourself! 4) That means you need to charge $417.50/hour of service.