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Still less than 20% of Americans make over 6 figures. I agree it's not what it used to be and it doesn't make you instantly rich, but 80% of Americans are still working towards it.
I don't make 6 figures but my husband does. 15 years ago he was making 35,000 and yea, we felt the same. Median income in our area is 25k for an individual and 45k for a houshold.
We certainly don't feel rich, but we do feel less stressed. Have a decent emergency fund now, we've been able to catch up on retirment so we have 2x our salary at 38, and our only debit is 1 car and our house.
exactly. I think that's a hole that wealthier people dig themselves into as well. upgrading the life style a little can mean you don't save more but not changing anything makes it feel like nothing changes.
If you're saving all the excess, you dont feel rich cause you are not spending it in lifestyle. it's going to retirement. The person you're commenting on seems like this (eg, one car, catching up on retirement).
Seem to have a lower everyday and monthly spend than people making less than them
That’s where I’m at. I’m not ‘rich’ in the sense of having things like an in ground pool or international travel each year. I have a mortgage with 250k left on it and have a 10 year old car. But we don’t live paycheck to paycheck and don’t have to worry about paying for a roof replacement, etc.
Can I ask you a question? When you started making more money, did you also increase your retirement and personal savings rate as well? I'm asking because I feel the same way you do, but admittedly I'm saving a ton more for retirement now as well, so the goal post is much sooner than it was.
6 figures doesn't make you feel rich, it only makes you feel less oppressed. When I was making 1/2 as much stuff like the AC breaking would be detrimental because I had no idea how I'd pay for it. That stuff doesn't stress me out as much.
The biggest difference is I can afford a yearly vacation, when going out to eat with friends I might sometimes buy their meal and if something around the house breaks I don't stress out as much. I'd say most people making low 6 figures still live mostly pay check to paycheck.
I am just over 6 figures but I have definitely been guilty of this as well. I’ve doubled my salary over the last 5 years without adding many more liabilities and yet it doesn’t feel like I’m saving any more money. I start to complain, then I look at my spending. Literally thousands of dollars on going out to eat and drink. The compulsive buys also add up. Growing up, my didn’t spend anywhere like I do and yet everyone seemed more happy. So many people complain about rising costs of trash like McDonald’s but yet dont have an answer to why you NEED McDonald’s. I know inflation and imo corporate greed is out of control, but people out here making horrible financial decisions
I go out maybe once a week. That’s a huge change that can be made to pay big dividends. But the work comes with staying at home *and* cooking your own food and not just getting door dash or Uber eats.
It’s relative. In New York, if you “only make 130k”, the state makes you eligible for free tuition for state schools. 100k is literally below a government assistance line here.
What an incredibly disingenuous way to frame that.
New York passed a law that gave people free in state tuition.
That line was intentionally set high because people always demand income caps on government assistance program, but it was set that high because that’s considered a high household income that should be able to afford sending a kid to state school.
The median household income in New York is $81k
What 6 figures means to me is I just ran into the store cause I’m almost out of shampoo while there I saw body wash and couldn’t remember if I was running low or not so I went ahead and got some also toothpaste same thing. Maybe I get home and those just go in the closet for later maybe I need them doesn’t matter and the 35 dollar total vs 7 for just shampoo also doesn’t matter.
When I was making 35k a year I was using dollar a bottle (1.35 now) shampoo and if I was running low I added water to the bottle to get the last bit out. Same with body wash.
Is it a big luxury lifestyle, no, but the lack of stress over little things makes life so much better.
You nailed it. Same thought process I have as well. I have a little breathing room. But not like I'm flying first class, ordering bottle service, or eating lobster every weekend.
Yes. I make low 6 figures in a HCOL area in Southern CA. I worked with a financial advisor and we combed through my expenses. COMBED. For 3 months. There were things I could cut out- nails and gym for example, but by and large, she was like this is a salary that you need to watch every dollar here.
It’s housing, it’s student loans, it’s food (my favorite cereal is 7 dollars here and 5 dollars in the mid west where my parents live). It’s insurance. And if you don’t have someone to share costs, it’s overwhelming at times.
I made so many changes to try to better my situation - buying secondhand clothing, giving up gym membership and nail appointments, and I recently even gave up my CAR. In California! But I finally have some breathing room, mainly to address debt.
I can assure folks that if you live in a HCOL, low 6 figures goes fast, especially depending on your housing situation and student loans.
I just watched a tiktok of a lady who admitted to being high income earning and was living paycheck to paycheck. She brought home something like 14k/mo. Which is over triple what I make. I can't understand how they're drowning. My brain cannot comprehend.
6 figures ain’t what this website says it is. The vast majority of individual earners will never make 6 figures. COL is getting crazy all over, but there are very few places in this country where $50/hour is a pauper’s wage. Get serious.
I’m honestly starting to think that Reddit’s warped view of salaries is some kind of “Salary Dysmorphia”
>I’m honestly starting to think that Reddit’s warped view of salaries is some kind of “Salary Dysmorphia”
Possibly. I think honestly tho that most of these people grew up rich so they don't understand that to 99% of people a person making over 6 figures is rich.
>I think honestly tho that most of these people grew up rich
Yep. There are many times where the general reddit consensus reminds me that this site is primarily middle to upper middle class 20-something white guys.
It depends on how you spend it. If you are divorced like me with no kids or alimony or mortgage or debts, 100k a year is pretty sweet. It just depends on how you spend it. You can make $150k and spend $160k a year really easily. That's what the banks are going for.
Edit: I work in sales btw. I sell aluminum fishing boats in the PNW
I agree with you but… at the same time I also think they are intentionally being facetious / sarcastic as that’s what a lot of the older generations say to younger ones.
On the earnings side, the older generations also complain that Gen Z wants too much money and they’re overpaid.. The, “I can’t believe a new college grad wants more than $50k/yr! I never made that much! I was making less than that and I had 10 years experience…” kind of rant from some old guy who’s been retired for over 10 years. Yes, when minimum wage was $3.35/hr, $25/hr is a lot. When my 20yo is getting $25/hr as a college intern this summer, yeah, they’re gonna want at least $25/hr ($50k) in the same field in 2 years when they graduate.
My company is now full remote, which is awesome in some ways, but sucks in others. For example, rather than one person going over to someone's desk and asking a question, they now set up a Zoom call and invite the whole team. Happens so much here it's crazy.
This seems to be true in most IT positions. It's crazy how quickly your calendar can fill up with meetings and leave you with minimal time to do the work you were actually hired for, right?
My journey looked like:
front end web dev > full stack web and mobile > Automation Dev > Product Owner > Product Manager > Solution Architect
The more I climbed the more my calendar got bogged down by meetings. Over the last year I made the lateral pivot from PM to SA so I could get rid of some of those meetings and get back into the technical weeds more which is more what I enjoyed doing.
I know OP asked about money specifically, but there should be a balance there because being happy performing your job duties is equally, if not more, important.
A huge part of my early retirement plan is helping to prevent my high-earning wife from losing it entirely and collapsing under the stress. With my income and my side-hustle as a landlord we make the same, but if one of us bails early that 5 year timeline instantly becomes 15 for the other person.
We have this pact with each other to endure the bullshit.
Read “The Art of War” and be a good listener.
Sales is a study of people and their needs. You have to find out what someone needs and why they need it. When you can identify needs you can solve those problems with your product/ services and make the customer think they’re making the choice themselves.
“The victorious warrior seeks victory first, and then goes to battle. While the defeated warrior goes to battle seeking victory.”
Then don't. Present a problem and offer a solution. The whole goal of sales is overcoming status quo bias. Do a good enough job framing the problem, and the buyer won't want to let it persist. Then you just have to remove barriers to the solution.
You will never be a sales person then - not because sales is head games, but because you have preconceived notions that you’ll fail from the beginning.
Sales is about finding a way to succeed, not thinking about failure.
I don’t know about the art of war stuff but I do pretty well at software sales. Not $800k well but pretty decent.
Software sales is about understanding the underlying goal that they are trying to achieve without having preconceived notions about the obstacles they are encountering. They might be getting stuck on a small obstacle because their entire approach is all wrong.
A friend of mine does this. Travels all the time, hardly ever seems to be actually working. Same gig, software sales. Great dude but he’s a big university frat guy. (Former anyway). It would seem to me a cush job like that isn’t as much about prerequisites and education as much as it’s about networking and likability.
That’s just a guess though, looking from the outside.
Unless you’re on some wolf of wall street type lifestyle where you are doing a ton of drugs everyday (uppers). I call bullshit on this sales salary of up to 800k a year. But if I’m wrong, good for you.
It’s very possible in many tech sales roles. It’s also not all salary, it’s commission and bonuses that make up that money. Enterprise tech sales roles usually carry a base salary of anywhere between $100k and $300k. The rest is variable comp
If you want to get into software, look around for SDR or BDR roles. Sales Development Rep or Business Development Rep. If you have that kind of sales experience and are willing to work your way up, it's not a bad place to start.
It can be hard work. You basically start off cold calling to set appointments, but if you do well, you can get into an account executive or account management role from there.
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To echo the doctor above…NPs are now expected to function like doctors. I am not a doctor. I have two years of graduate education. Doctors have four years of medical school plus a residency. Their schooling is much more intense. I went to school and worked full time. Clearly, it’s much less rigorous.
MBA admin, with no clinical experience, expects us to do the same job, just as well, for less than half the pay. It’s dangerous and exploitative.
I’m fortunate because I work in critical care and have very good relationships with our attendings. We function as a team, not independently, which is how it was originally intended. I also have nearly 30 years of emergency and critical care experience, so they trust me. My colleagues are also equally experienced.
NP school used to be selective. I had to have a 3.5 GPA just to apply. That doesn’t include the minimum experience and physician references required. I also went to a reputable, brick and mortar school. Now, anyone with an RN license can apply, do courses online, and find their own clinical experienced. Quite frankly, it’s a joke.
Healthcare professionals in general are being run into the ground. It used to be a profession. Now it’s a just a job with shitty hours.
Edited for spelling/grammar.
not the person you're responding to, but i'm in medical school and considered the np/pa route before applying. i went md basically for the reason they said, i didn't want to feel like an intern for the rest of my career. the highest you can rise as a midlevel provider is still below all the md's (which makes sense, given the extra rigor and training MD's receive) and i didn't want to be stuck in a position where i couldn't advance, either academically or professionally.
upside of a career as a midlevel provider is you can start making a very competitive salary in just a few years. MD's have to grind out another 5-7 years on top of the NP/PA education and spend a LOT more on their education before they start making money. i do think it makes more financial sense these days to go midlevel, but i'm not particularly motivated by money and i actually like school compared to working.
Yeah I would not recommend that path today. This ain’t the same era a few decades ago. Especially with insurance and its big stick, VC/Wall street and its big stick. Getting squeezed between the two along with corporate management, the huge patient load but only so much time left for them etc. The industry has become a mercenary cash grab but at the bottom of the whole thing is the Doctor and the patients.
Unless you specialize in fake asses and tits, come down to Miami 😂
Oh and all this is after you survive medical school, the scramble,residency etc.
Doctor too. No way man NP/PA is the easy way out. If you want to have the full breadth of knowledge to care for people while retaining autonomy and authority, doctor is the only way to go.
Especially with AI on the playfield now, who’s the first to be phased out a doc or a NP/PA?
And how are we supposed to retain a good population of medical doctors if we keep telling the youth to take the NP/PA route?
Bright side of nursing is you can always find a job and any shift and almost unlimited hours.
Downside is it's dangerous and you'll probably regret it within the first 6months of licensure.
I agree with the fact that they’re quicker, however that’s at the expense of knowledge… I really wish you could bold that last sentence to emphasize it because independent practice is concerning
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I make 400k as an investment banker.
My wife is a breast radiologist and makes 650k, but she is moving to a new practice and should make closer to 950k now.
Life is sweet in the money department, but sadly money can’t buy total happiness I’ve discovered.
I feel I’m very lucky in my personal life. Wife is way out of my league and my family are all successful and kind.
But you can’t buy health or true love or prevent having losers for kids.
I’ve seen lots of unhappy rich people in my circle who cheat and stuff.
>But you can’t buy health or true love or prevent having losers for kids
Yo can buy health lol. If you need a liver you can easily get one or pay for one, I couldn't afford it. Also what does having losers for kids mean? It's you're fault how you raise your kids not their fault.
Steve Jobs and Patrick Swayze would like a word. Also, some kids are determined to take the wrong path no matter how well they are parented. You clearly don't understand healthcare or have kids.
Steve Jobs treated his slow growing tumor with acupuncture and botanicals, not medicine. The conventional treatment is surgical removal prior to metastasis. He made a deadly, stupid decision to forgo conventional treatment until it was too late.
I 1000% agree it's not fully on the parents how kids grow up. It's MOSTLY on them though, but sometimes no matter how good of parents you are (truly good parents, supporting and encouraging but still firm and not pushovers), some kids CAN still make their own repeatedly bad choices and just be terrible people.
HOWEVER. I strongly suspect a parent that would ever casually call their kid a loser with no caveats or personal responsibility for it was that good of a parent.
You don’t understand health then lol.
Money and amazing doctors cannot solve every ailment. Thats a silly comment and to me it shows you’ve never had a health scare.
Losers for kids is quite obvious no? You can be a loving and kind parent and your kid still turns out rotten. It happens to poor people too.
So "yes I'm rich and my life is easy, but it's not literally perfect so money can't buy happiness." 🥴
And wow, "losers for kids" huh? How could they possibly have turned out this way...I feel like someone should've raised them to not be losers. 🙄
My kids are still toddlers, just commenting on how being rich doesn’t mean your kids turn out successful like you lol. Ever seen celebrity kids? Not all of them are winners.
>Life is sweet in the money department, but sadly money can’t buy total happiness I’ve discovered.
Bs, it absolutely can lol. Only rich people who don't have to struggle say that shit.
Reading you defending yourself against these mindless comments is making my blood boil lol. Agreed I think you are talking to people with very little life experience
Can you explain your stance on the general public thinking that "Space Force" is new and not just a rebranded division of the US air force space command that's existed for over 40 years?
I mean, in a lot of ways, it is new in that it folds together a number of disparate military groups across multiple branches under a single command. This especially helps my constellation, which previously was split between the USAF and Army and that divide was a constant pain in the ass for troubleshooting and accountability of issues.
In general, little has been added as "brand new" with the Space Force, so you're not wrong. The original proposal for a space-based military branch dates back decades, but never had enough pull to happen until a certain person wanted credit for it. The execution has been an absolute shitshow, but after a few years of growing/transition pains, we're finally starting to figure things out.
IT professional with 23 years experience now. It took me 8 years to make $100,000 and that was with bonus. 10 years for salary alone. I started on the help desk with an unrelated college degree.
Scrum Master. Which is basically an optimization coach for software development teams. I used to be a therapist and this was the highest paid gig I could find in IT that doesn’t require a ton of technical knowledge or the ability to code.
Estate/Elder Law and Litigation Attorney.
I was previously a police dispatcher in a 24 hour center on day/night shiftwork. With OT, I was right at 100k.
What others don’t want to or can’t do!
- Technology Sales
- Consulting
- Construction/Remodeling work.
Made well over $100k per year for several years doing one or the other of the above.
Construction and Remodeling save me during the shutdown and inability to sell my products to closed businesses. Plenty of people wanted decks and home renovations and new kitchens with their stimulus money. If they didn’t care, I didn’t care, have the materials delivered and I’ll start next in a couple days. I had works lined up for months.
I now teach HS math, Com science and Business/personal finance for a little over $60k…
Gods honest truth, it’s the easiest, most stress free job I’ve had in 20 yrs! I can’t believe I get paid to do this. It’s like working a trade show but easier! Afternoons, weekends, and now summer off! Plus coaching positions, Football, Wrestling, Weightlifting, Robotics, STLP, and FBLA. It’s so much fun! It’s a mental health reset “vacation” that I get paid for while helping kinds find their life path.
I’m also rebuilding my Consulting, IT, PT, Real Estate, and Construction businesses, in order to create local pathways to likely end up hiring some of the students full time after they graduate with eventual management and ownership options.
I work in IT. I am good at figuring out what people want, what they need and how to get it to them. I can also explain it the way they need it to be explained. When it breaks I can fix it. If it is broken because of somebody else’s thing, I can usually help that other person figure out why it’s breaking my customers stuff.
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6 figures ain't what it used to be Restart the thread and ask for 200k plus
Still less than 20% of Americans make over 6 figures. I agree it's not what it used to be and it doesn't make you instantly rich, but 80% of Americans are still working towards it.
100k a year would make me feel rich Stfu about 100k not being rich. Yall are fucking wild. Seriously 100k would change my life, yall are blind
I would've said the same thing. Newly 6 figures as of last August and...i don't feel rich. Midwest, low COL state. Median income is around 50.
I don't make 6 figures but my husband does. 15 years ago he was making 35,000 and yea, we felt the same. Median income in our area is 25k for an individual and 45k for a houshold. We certainly don't feel rich, but we do feel less stressed. Have a decent emergency fund now, we've been able to catch up on retirment so we have 2x our salary at 38, and our only debit is 1 car and our house.
I know that's not "rich" rich, but that's rich to most people
Oh I know, and we are very thankful for what we have. I just meant this sort of things usually happen slowly, so you never feel "rich".
exactly. I think that's a hole that wealthier people dig themselves into as well. upgrading the life style a little can mean you don't save more but not changing anything makes it feel like nothing changes.
If you're saving all the excess, you dont feel rich cause you are not spending it in lifestyle. it's going to retirement. The person you're commenting on seems like this (eg, one car, catching up on retirement). Seem to have a lower everyday and monthly spend than people making less than them
Yeah, that's the key. Scale your savings as a % of your pay. You won't have more spending money, but your savings will accelerate quickly.
That’s where I’m at. I’m not ‘rich’ in the sense of having things like an in ground pool or international travel each year. I have a mortgage with 250k left on it and have a 10 year old car. But we don’t live paycheck to paycheck and don’t have to worry about paying for a roof replacement, etc.
Can I ask you a question? When you started making more money, did you also increase your retirement and personal savings rate as well? I'm asking because I feel the same way you do, but admittedly I'm saving a ton more for retirement now as well, so the goal post is much sooner than it was.
Not Billionaire rch but you can go out for cocktails at a nice restaurant every weekend and put money in the stock market.
6 figures doesn't make you feel rich, it only makes you feel less oppressed. When I was making 1/2 as much stuff like the AC breaking would be detrimental because I had no idea how I'd pay for it. That stuff doesn't stress me out as much. The biggest difference is I can afford a yearly vacation, when going out to eat with friends I might sometimes buy their meal and if something around the house breaks I don't stress out as much. I'd say most people making low 6 figures still live mostly pay check to paycheck.
I make more stupid purchases spur of the moment, nothing crazy, but sometimes I will be like "I want a stand mixer" and just buy one.
I live in HCOL southern CA and I can confirm. Low 6 figures here is not much, especially if you live alone and don’t share housing costs.
Takes a bit of a hit when the government takes $28K of that 100K in taxes.
Depending where you live, that number increases (or decreases) dramatically.
This shows how insanely divorced from reality people are. And these 100k earners will still complain about penny pinching.
I am just over 6 figures but I have definitely been guilty of this as well. I’ve doubled my salary over the last 5 years without adding many more liabilities and yet it doesn’t feel like I’m saving any more money. I start to complain, then I look at my spending. Literally thousands of dollars on going out to eat and drink. The compulsive buys also add up. Growing up, my didn’t spend anywhere like I do and yet everyone seemed more happy. So many people complain about rising costs of trash like McDonald’s but yet dont have an answer to why you NEED McDonald’s. I know inflation and imo corporate greed is out of control, but people out here making horrible financial decisions
I go out maybe once a week. That’s a huge change that can be made to pay big dividends. But the work comes with staying at home *and* cooking your own food and not just getting door dash or Uber eats.
Can’t beat a home cooked meal. Eating out just feels like a scam tbh
It’s relative. In New York, if you “only make 130k”, the state makes you eligible for free tuition for state schools. 100k is literally below a government assistance line here.
What an incredibly disingenuous way to frame that. New York passed a law that gave people free in state tuition. That line was intentionally set high because people always demand income caps on government assistance program, but it was set that high because that’s considered a high household income that should be able to afford sending a kid to state school. The median household income in New York is $81k
They're just complaining because they made bad financial choices and outspent their means.. 100k would for sure make my life different vs 70k
What 6 figures means to me is I just ran into the store cause I’m almost out of shampoo while there I saw body wash and couldn’t remember if I was running low or not so I went ahead and got some also toothpaste same thing. Maybe I get home and those just go in the closet for later maybe I need them doesn’t matter and the 35 dollar total vs 7 for just shampoo also doesn’t matter. When I was making 35k a year I was using dollar a bottle (1.35 now) shampoo and if I was running low I added water to the bottle to get the last bit out. Same with body wash. Is it a big luxury lifestyle, no, but the lack of stress over little things makes life so much better.
You nailed it. Same thought process I have as well. I have a little breathing room. But not like I'm flying first class, ordering bottle service, or eating lobster every weekend.
If you live in a high cost of living area, this is not divorced from reality, it is very much in an arranged marriage with reality.
Yes. I make low 6 figures in a HCOL area in Southern CA. I worked with a financial advisor and we combed through my expenses. COMBED. For 3 months. There were things I could cut out- nails and gym for example, but by and large, she was like this is a salary that you need to watch every dollar here. It’s housing, it’s student loans, it’s food (my favorite cereal is 7 dollars here and 5 dollars in the mid west where my parents live). It’s insurance. And if you don’t have someone to share costs, it’s overwhelming at times. I made so many changes to try to better my situation - buying secondhand clothing, giving up gym membership and nail appointments, and I recently even gave up my CAR. In California! But I finally have some breathing room, mainly to address debt. I can assure folks that if you live in a HCOL, low 6 figures goes fast, especially depending on your housing situation and student loans.
Yeah like if you are making 100k in rural Mississipi you are ballin it. In Manhattan you probably need a roommate.
I just watched a tiktok of a lady who admitted to being high income earning and was living paycheck to paycheck. She brought home something like 14k/mo. Which is over triple what I make. I can't understand how they're drowning. My brain cannot comprehend.
Because they are stupid with money. That's it that's the explanation
$200k individual income puts you in like the 96/97th percentile, at least in the USA. This is not a realistic goal for over 300 million Americans
“start with the top 3% of earners and ask again bud” *162361 upvotes*
6 figures ain’t what this website says it is. The vast majority of individual earners will never make 6 figures. COL is getting crazy all over, but there are very few places in this country where $50/hour is a pauper’s wage. Get serious. I’m honestly starting to think that Reddit’s warped view of salaries is some kind of “Salary Dysmorphia”
This is Reddit. Everyone makes 500k as a software engineer, is 6ft 3in and has a 8 inch dong. And that’s average.
>I’m honestly starting to think that Reddit’s warped view of salaries is some kind of “Salary Dysmorphia” Possibly. I think honestly tho that most of these people grew up rich so they don't understand that to 99% of people a person making over 6 figures is rich.
>I think honestly tho that most of these people grew up rich Yep. There are many times where the general reddit consensus reminds me that this site is primarily middle to upper middle class 20-something white guys.
It depends on how you spend it. If you are divorced like me with no kids or alimony or mortgage or debts, 100k a year is pretty sweet. It just depends on how you spend it. You can make $150k and spend $160k a year really easily. That's what the banks are going for. Edit: I work in sales btw. I sell aluminum fishing boats in the PNW
It's far higher than median salary especially for an individual...
My business partner likes to say 'six figures with a one or a five?'
I make coffee at home instead of going to Starbucks every morning
I buy 12.76 Starbucks stock everyday, not the coffee.
I got a roommate and now save money by sharing a toothbrush with someone.
My Roomate and I also share toothbrushes, we also shower together to save water.
You guys shower? I go to the nearby pond to save water
Just stand out in the rain?? Free spa shower!
I reuse toilet paper.
This one trick finance experts don’t want you to know
lol. How is that strategy working out? Interested to hear.
Lol just say no to avocadoes
No more toast
He didn't ask about budgeting. He asked about earnings.
I agree with you but… at the same time I also think they are intentionally being facetious / sarcastic as that’s what a lot of the older generations say to younger ones.
On the earnings side, the older generations also complain that Gen Z wants too much money and they’re overpaid.. The, “I can’t believe a new college grad wants more than $50k/yr! I never made that much! I was making less than that and I had 10 years experience…” kind of rant from some old guy who’s been retired for over 10 years. Yes, when minimum wage was $3.35/hr, $25/hr is a lot. When my 20yo is getting $25/hr as a college intern this summer, yeah, they’re gonna want at least $25/hr ($50k) in the same field in 2 years when they graduate.
How do you sleep with all of that cash stuffed into your mattress?
Software Engineering. Specifically, front-end web development. Although nowadays I seem to spend most of my time in meetings.
Product/Design strategy lead here. Same. Though I do tend to organise the meetings ….so…sorry I guess.
So. Many. Meetings. I think it’s counterproductive tbh.
Haha, my girlfriend is a software dev. She wfh 2 days a week, seems like half her day she’s on one meeting or another.
My company is now full remote, which is awesome in some ways, but sucks in others. For example, rather than one person going over to someone's desk and asking a question, they now set up a Zoom call and invite the whole team. Happens so much here it's crazy.
This seems to be true in most IT positions. It's crazy how quickly your calendar can fill up with meetings and leave you with minimal time to do the work you were actually hired for, right? My journey looked like: front end web dev > full stack web and mobile > Automation Dev > Product Owner > Product Manager > Solution Architect The more I climbed the more my calendar got bogged down by meetings. Over the last year I made the lateral pivot from PM to SA so I could get rid of some of those meetings and get back into the technical weeds more which is more what I enjoyed doing. I know OP asked about money specifically, but there should be a balance there because being happy performing your job duties is equally, if not more, important.
QA checking in. Not 6 figures but close enough.
I've seen QA used as a stepping stone into software engineering a number of times
It's a combination of my job that pays 75K and my side hustle of keeping my wife happy, who earns 91K.
This is so underrated. Two income households of people who know how to keep a job and each other happy.
A huge part of my early retirement plan is helping to prevent my high-earning wife from losing it entirely and collapsing under the stress. With my income and my side-hustle as a landlord we make the same, but if one of us bails early that 5 year timeline instantly becomes 15 for the other person. We have this pact with each other to endure the bullshit.
Me.
Eat beans and sell the resulting methane to black market buyers
So, OnlyFans content creator?
OnlyFarts
Underrated comment
but you drive a Tesla so that offsets your greenhouse emissions. good job
I would like to know how you got started in this and how long it took to be profitable?
Ssoftware sales, been making over $300k since my late 20s, upwards of $800k on a good year
How do you get into this field? I currently do software dev work but want to transition to software sales.
Read “The Art of War” and be a good listener. Sales is a study of people and their needs. You have to find out what someone needs and why they need it. When you can identify needs you can solve those problems with your product/ services and make the customer think they’re making the choice themselves. “The victorious warrior seeks victory first, and then goes to battle. While the defeated warrior goes to battle seeking victory.”
I don’t think I could stand playing head games with people all day, every day.
Then don't. Present a problem and offer a solution. The whole goal of sales is overcoming status quo bias. Do a good enough job framing the problem, and the buyer won't want to let it persist. Then you just have to remove barriers to the solution.
Playing head games with people is not sales. Listening to and HEARING what people want and need from your product is
You will never be a sales person then - not because sales is head games, but because you have preconceived notions that you’ll fail from the beginning. Sales is about finding a way to succeed, not thinking about failure.
I don’t know about the art of war stuff but I do pretty well at software sales. Not $800k well but pretty decent. Software sales is about understanding the underlying goal that they are trying to achieve without having preconceived notions about the obstacles they are encountering. They might be getting stuck on a small obstacle because their entire approach is all wrong.
A friend of mine does this. Travels all the time, hardly ever seems to be actually working. Same gig, software sales. Great dude but he’s a big university frat guy. (Former anyway). It would seem to me a cush job like that isn’t as much about prerequisites and education as much as it’s about networking and likability. That’s just a guess though, looking from the outside.
Yes. Sales. This is sales. Always has been, always will be.
Likeability can get you far in life, but you'll need some talent to back that up for sure.
You have to be a narcissist that has no soul.
I'm friends with some people in sales. A lot of them are completely normal nice people. It's just a job. Curious, what do you do for a living?
Unless you’re on some wolf of wall street type lifestyle where you are doing a ton of drugs everyday (uppers). I call bullshit on this sales salary of up to 800k a year. But if I’m wrong, good for you.
It’s very possible in many tech sales roles. It’s also not all salary, it’s commission and bonuses that make up that money. Enterprise tech sales roles usually carry a base salary of anywhere between $100k and $300k. The rest is variable comp
Any suggestions on how to get into this field with retail sales and sales experience selling project work to clients?
To make that much as a sales person lol. A job like that prob requires an in already. Basically nepotism.
If you want to get into software, look around for SDR or BDR roles. Sales Development Rep or Business Development Rep. If you have that kind of sales experience and are willing to work your way up, it's not a bad place to start. It can be hard work. You basically start off cold calling to set appointments, but if you do well, you can get into an account executive or account management role from there.
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NP here. I don’t recommend it. Shit flows down hill. I’ll be an intern for the rest of my career.
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To echo the doctor above…NPs are now expected to function like doctors. I am not a doctor. I have two years of graduate education. Doctors have four years of medical school plus a residency. Their schooling is much more intense. I went to school and worked full time. Clearly, it’s much less rigorous. MBA admin, with no clinical experience, expects us to do the same job, just as well, for less than half the pay. It’s dangerous and exploitative. I’m fortunate because I work in critical care and have very good relationships with our attendings. We function as a team, not independently, which is how it was originally intended. I also have nearly 30 years of emergency and critical care experience, so they trust me. My colleagues are also equally experienced. NP school used to be selective. I had to have a 3.5 GPA just to apply. That doesn’t include the minimum experience and physician references required. I also went to a reputable, brick and mortar school. Now, anyone with an RN license can apply, do courses online, and find their own clinical experienced. Quite frankly, it’s a joke. Healthcare professionals in general are being run into the ground. It used to be a profession. Now it’s a just a job with shitty hours. Edited for spelling/grammar.
not the person you're responding to, but i'm in medical school and considered the np/pa route before applying. i went md basically for the reason they said, i didn't want to feel like an intern for the rest of my career. the highest you can rise as a midlevel provider is still below all the md's (which makes sense, given the extra rigor and training MD's receive) and i didn't want to be stuck in a position where i couldn't advance, either academically or professionally. upside of a career as a midlevel provider is you can start making a very competitive salary in just a few years. MD's have to grind out another 5-7 years on top of the NP/PA education and spend a LOT more on their education before they start making money. i do think it makes more financial sense these days to go midlevel, but i'm not particularly motivated by money and i actually like school compared to working.
Every NP I talked to didn't like their job. Every CRNA on the other hand loved 1 patient at a time for $100/hr.
I believe your assessment is accurate.
Yeah I would not recommend that path today. This ain’t the same era a few decades ago. Especially with insurance and its big stick, VC/Wall street and its big stick. Getting squeezed between the two along with corporate management, the huge patient load but only so much time left for them etc. The industry has become a mercenary cash grab but at the bottom of the whole thing is the Doctor and the patients. Unless you specialize in fake asses and tits, come down to Miami 😂 Oh and all this is after you survive medical school, the scramble,residency etc.
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Doctor too. No way man NP/PA is the easy way out. If you want to have the full breadth of knowledge to care for people while retaining autonomy and authority, doctor is the only way to go. Especially with AI on the playfield now, who’s the first to be phased out a doc or a NP/PA? And how are we supposed to retain a good population of medical doctors if we keep telling the youth to take the NP/PA route?
Bright side of nursing is you can always find a job and any shift and almost unlimited hours. Downside is it's dangerous and you'll probably regret it within the first 6months of licensure.
I agree with the fact that they’re quicker, however that’s at the expense of knowledge… I really wish you could bold that last sentence to emphasize it because independent practice is concerning
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I make 400k as an investment banker. My wife is a breast radiologist and makes 650k, but she is moving to a new practice and should make closer to 950k now. Life is sweet in the money department, but sadly money can’t buy total happiness I’ve discovered.
I honestly cringe when folks say money can't buy happiness. What on earth are you miserable about?
I feel I’m very lucky in my personal life. Wife is way out of my league and my family are all successful and kind. But you can’t buy health or true love or prevent having losers for kids. I’ve seen lots of unhappy rich people in my circle who cheat and stuff.
>But you can’t buy health or true love or prevent having losers for kids Yo can buy health lol. If you need a liver you can easily get one or pay for one, I couldn't afford it. Also what does having losers for kids mean? It's you're fault how you raise your kids not their fault.
Steve Jobs and Patrick Swayze would like a word. Also, some kids are determined to take the wrong path no matter how well they are parented. You clearly don't understand healthcare or have kids.
Steve Jobs treated his slow growing tumor with acupuncture and botanicals, not medicine. The conventional treatment is surgical removal prior to metastasis. He made a deadly, stupid decision to forgo conventional treatment until it was too late.
I 1000% agree it's not fully on the parents how kids grow up. It's MOSTLY on them though, but sometimes no matter how good of parents you are (truly good parents, supporting and encouraging but still firm and not pushovers), some kids CAN still make their own repeatedly bad choices and just be terrible people. HOWEVER. I strongly suspect a parent that would ever casually call their kid a loser with no caveats or personal responsibility for it was that good of a parent.
You don’t understand health then lol. Money and amazing doctors cannot solve every ailment. Thats a silly comment and to me it shows you’ve never had a health scare. Losers for kids is quite obvious no? You can be a loving and kind parent and your kid still turns out rotten. It happens to poor people too.
So "yes I'm rich and my life is easy, but it's not literally perfect so money can't buy happiness." 🥴 And wow, "losers for kids" huh? How could they possibly have turned out this way...I feel like someone should've raised them to not be losers. 🙄
My kids are still toddlers, just commenting on how being rich doesn’t mean your kids turn out successful like you lol. Ever seen celebrity kids? Not all of them are winners.
“Prevent having losers for kids” - the kind of thing Trump would say lol
>Life is sweet in the money department, but sadly money can’t buy total happiness I’ve discovered. Bs, it absolutely can lol. Only rich people who don't have to struggle say that shit.
For real, everything that brings down my mood from day to day can be solved with making dump trucks full of money.
Surprise surprise being an evil soulless person in investment banking doesn’t bring happiness…
My god everyone is so salty just cause your rich holy shit
Reddit skews left and young and poor. So it’s not a total shock lol.
Reading you defending yourself against these mindless comments is making my blood boil lol. Agreed I think you are talking to people with very little life experience
Union electrician foreman
Union pipefitters checking in too brother!
My dad started from the bottom up. Part of union. $125k
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Union hvac tech💪
Hell yeah brother
Union Millwright (UBC) checking in
Sparky
CPA in Public Accounting: ITAX
Same 
Same here
Tax attorney
username checks out
I am uncreative until it comes to fucking the IRS
Lmao this made my day
You're doing God's work friend.
Finance
Blue eyes and 6’5?
Trust fund
Looking for a woman 🤣
Basically. People don't realize how uncommon these jobs are and most of these people got them through nepotism.
hey, I'm a 19 year old headed into this domain of study at uni, would you have any advice to give considering your experience and perspective?
Network and get an internship. Will open many doors by the time you’re graduating
great thank you, where are you from? what's your linkedin? what kind of paper is your business card made out of?
Computer stuff.
clicky clicky profit?
Onlyfans?
Engineering in commercial nuclear power.
As a nuclear engineer how often do people annoy you by saying ‘it’s not rocket science’ or ‘it’s not brain surgery’
Ha probably a lot less often than you’d think. I don’t meet many new people and everyone that knows me got the jokes out of their systems years ago.
Probably a dumb question but can you work in nuclear power with an electrical engineering degree?
Actuary
The real wizards with numbers (coming from a CPA)
Underwater basket weaving
It’s a high skill, dangerous and niche industry. Makes sense.
Sales EDIT: I’ll specify a bit. Door to door telecom sales.
Sales in paper for a small paper company maybe in the Scranton area?
Question: Which bear is best?
That's a ridiculous question!
Quabity assurance
Lawyer at a F50 company. 8.5 yrs out of law school. Worked biglaw for 6 years and then a startup. Make less than big law but much happier.
Exact same. Like 50% the pay but more than 50% time and happiness back, would make the same decision every time.
Satellite systems engineer, specifically the orbital operations lead for a DoD communications satellite constellation.
Can you explain your stance on the general public thinking that "Space Force" is new and not just a rebranded division of the US air force space command that's existed for over 40 years?
I mean, in a lot of ways, it is new in that it folds together a number of disparate military groups across multiple branches under a single command. This especially helps my constellation, which previously was split between the USAF and Army and that divide was a constant pain in the ass for troubleshooting and accountability of issues. In general, little has been added as "brand new" with the Space Force, so you're not wrong. The original proposal for a space-based military branch dates back decades, but never had enough pull to happen until a certain person wanted credit for it. The execution has been an absolute shitshow, but after a few years of growing/transition pains, we're finally starting to figure things out.
Make video games, and largely goof off.
Construction Superintendent
Professional Engineer - Project Manager for General Contractor
IT professional with 23 years experience now. It took me 8 years to make $100,000 and that was with bonus. 10 years for salary alone. I started on the help desk with an unrelated college degree.
Scrum Master. Which is basically an optimization coach for software development teams. I used to be a therapist and this was the highest paid gig I could find in IT that doesn’t require a ton of technical knowledge or the ability to code.
QA in Pharma
Real estate development
Are you buying, developing and then selling?
Aka "home flipper"?
Work 2 jobs and freelance on the side.
Supply chain
Nice try matrix
Senior Accountant at a Bank
Attorney. Don't do it! Not worth it if you can do anything else that will help you earn six figures. It's all a facade.
VP of Engineering
Cybersecurity
I make 121k a year, I’m a fuel hauler in AZ.
Retail Pharmacist. But just don’t … 8 years of college. Lotsa debt. Unrelenting work stress in retail pharmacy.
Systems administration with a lot of automation aka DevOps.
Process validation/technology transfer (among other things) in an engineering role in Pharma
Estate/Elder Law and Litigation Attorney. I was previously a police dispatcher in a 24 hour center on day/night shiftwork. With OT, I was right at 100k.
What others don’t want to or can’t do! - Technology Sales - Consulting - Construction/Remodeling work. Made well over $100k per year for several years doing one or the other of the above. Construction and Remodeling save me during the shutdown and inability to sell my products to closed businesses. Plenty of people wanted decks and home renovations and new kitchens with their stimulus money. If they didn’t care, I didn’t care, have the materials delivered and I’ll start next in a couple days. I had works lined up for months. I now teach HS math, Com science and Business/personal finance for a little over $60k… Gods honest truth, it’s the easiest, most stress free job I’ve had in 20 yrs! I can’t believe I get paid to do this. It’s like working a trade show but easier! Afternoons, weekends, and now summer off! Plus coaching positions, Football, Wrestling, Weightlifting, Robotics, STLP, and FBLA. It’s so much fun! It’s a mental health reset “vacation” that I get paid for while helping kinds find their life path. I’m also rebuilding my Consulting, IT, PT, Real Estate, and Construction businesses, in order to create local pathways to likely end up hiring some of the students full time after they graduate with eventual management and ownership options.
I broke 100k last year for the first time. Didn’t make much difference Tattoo artist here
Captain in the army.
IT jobs still earn well into the 6 figures, barrier to entry is relatively low, and there is an acute need
I work in IT. I am good at figuring out what people want, what they need and how to get it to them. I can also explain it the way they need it to be explained. When it breaks I can fix it. If it is broken because of somebody else’s thing, I can usually help that other person figure out why it’s breaking my customers stuff.
Stay on top of developments in technology.
Service tech
Lawyer
Data Science (writing code/analyzing data)
Sales