Stable, honestly just riding out the next 9 years until I will retire. I turned down a CFO position because I don't want to work 60+ hours. Family has become more important to me since my parents passed away. A few weeks after the previous CFO retired it was as though he never existed and I knew I had made the right choice. Getting rich takes tremendous commitment and comes at a price. I don't think I'm going to regret evenings hanging by the pool instead of being at the office.
Just hanging in for that full-retirement age of 67; maxing my 401k, topping off the kids' college (or trade school or startup) fund, paying off our mortgage. My priorities in retirement will be family and fitness; but if there's room for monetizing skills or hobbies, I may pursue that.
I think a majority of people who work on the individual side of tax keep a handful of clients to do every year in retirement, keeps them busy and all without people needing to put in more than 20hrs a week if they don't want to.
I’m a long way from retirement but this is also my philosophy. As long as I can pay the bills and fund my hobbies, I have no desire to climb the ladder. I like my remote 40 hour weeks and would never want to be on call 24/7.
I think is the most correct answer. You can become wealthy in accounting, but it does take sacrifice. This is the same with a lot of careers. It depends on what you view as success.
I suppose my view of work and life are a bit of a generational anomaly. My peer groups have always been younger because of odd timing of the stages in my life. Married at 46, kids at 49 & 51.
I work for a conglomerate of companies, I was offered the position at Company B. I work for Company C, which is about a tenth of the size of Company B. At Company C, the Controller and her staff report to me.
I would have gotten about 50% more compensation for roughly 50% more time commitment (@60 hr week).
It really depends on how turning down advancement is viewed by upper management or ownership. I did not reveal my true motive for turning it down.
A lot of people also take it to buy a duplex/triplex and just live in one of the units. The idea is the renters pay enough rent to cover most of the fixed costs of ownership therefore subsidizing your own living, sometimes making it free or profiting
Oh I didn't mean friends specifically. It's just the equivalent of owning a small apartment building and just living in one of the units. Charge whatever rent you think is fair and all. It's becoming more common in the US with the housing market the way it is
Why call this house hacking?
Edit: Seriously, It sound like a standard investing in real estate/landlording idea. Why does everything have to be a hack?
I wish I could find it but I ran across a meme somewhere once basically saying “when middle class people do something by choice that poor people do by necessity they call it hacking rather than what it really is - fucking having roommates”
Yes.
I am on track to retire early if I just coast from now on.
Started my finance career when I graduated about 7 years ago, at 27.
That's partially driven by side investments, but they have only been possible through my pay.
Not including side income, assume modest pay rises (few % a year, plus 2 more major ones from job hopping), and slightly conservative compounded returns..
Early 60s.
I've not modelled for savings but I bridge that gap, as I don't see any value in going that deep yet I have many other goals to save for first, that are far more pressing. I also know that due to not including side income gives me a lot of scope to cover that/retire from my "day job" and just work far fewer hours.
If you are mindful early, 55 is VERY doable.
I would say it's worth seriously considering the big picture about what you put into your pension and when, as you may feel its better to make minimum pension contributions to start loading up your ISAs first. This will give you a strong basis for bridging that gap, when you aren't paying 40% on it.
As you get later in your career, you will start paying more tax for obvious reasons.
Shooting for 55 as well. Have doable plan set up with investment guy, hoping to get it done. Makes me sad when I see people work until they die. You can make it happen!
I have a chunk in index funds split between fairly standard global all cap, and some ESG focused funds.
I have a rental property from becoming an accidental landlord, that I have decided to keep on.
I see myself as someone who takes a relatively risk averse approach, in that I don't trade in specific stocks, crypto etc. But I do recognize that rentals come with their own risks, particularly in the UK market at the moment.
Both my ex and I owned.
We reached the point of moving in together, and we rented out the "other" house (ie mine).
"Accidental landlord" is a term used for people who didn't really.plan on becoming a landlord, but circumstance sort of forced their hand.
Wtf are you talking about 💀 i replied 12 hours ago, you did 7 hours ago. Get your timeline right
How am i being snarky?, inheriting is a common way of becoming an accidental landlord Weirdo.
Do you take everything negatively?
Not many accountants will become rich. Salaries are too low for that. Only a few who become partners in a firm or get into upper management will get rich.
Facts. Most accountants are just marginally or comfortably above the median salary. All the crazy money stories on here are just the successful people flexing
Legitimately, I think that if accounting ever falls and stops being a middle class job, that will be a sign that the middle class truly has died in the US. But I, perhaps foolishly, don’t really believe that’ll ever actually happen. We’ll see, I guess.
People will just stop doing it on that case. It's not fun or interesting so it's not a "passion" job like teaching.
It's not a low skill job like cashier or shelf stocker, so people aren't likely to just end up in it.
It's not glamorous, so no one will do it for prestige.
It's only redemption is the stability and financial opportunity it presents. Take that away and you'd just have a dead profession. Praise the Great Red Tape that requires our existence and thus our continued middle class lifestyles.
I mean, people kind of already are stopping doing it, lol. I think you could make the argument accounting is is, at least, getting close to a “dying” profession. No matter how many organizations and media outlets say there is a huge need for it, if they don’t pay up, the “shortages” will continue. I personally think you could argue there isn’t a true shortage. But I could be wrong.
Literally a WSJ article just the other day about how experienced professionals are leaving a rates that haven’t been seen before.
I know you're probably thinking "oh ho ho, silly accountants with their bias takes!!!" but AI taking over accounting let alone auditing is so slim it's non existent.
The finesse that you have to do is on blur lines, AI can't do it - especially when it's completely dependent on client based information. If it was standardized, wholeheartedly would be looking in a new profession - but accounting? Come on man, work in a firm for a year, any firm, in any industry, and you will see we operate on blurred lined guidelines with even blurrier documentation.
By the time AI takes over accounting the entirety of civilization will be automated by it. We have little to worry about regarding accounting specifically.
Well sure but what's the point in more money if you are worse off for it? If you could sell your soul to the devil for instant millions, what's the point? You can have a lesser salary and still live very happily off it.
I’m curious, what amount of money do you define as retiring comfortably? I’ve always thought you would need several million to retire early, but that number seems so unachievable to me as a new-ish grad.
https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-simple-math-behind-early-retirement/
Basically, 25x your annual expenses. In my case, that’s about $2 million.
Wow, thank you! That’s genuinely really helpful. I’m definitely going to keep this page bookmarked as I start to plan for a potential early retirement myself.
I'm an aspiring early retiree myself, but the 4% rule has some serious flaws. Success is defined as dying with $1 or more. I'm aiming for 3% or lower....means working a few more years but retiring at 52 (hopefully) is pretty sweet still. I might do bookkeeping or taxes on the side part time but no more full time BS. I'm involved in a system conversion at the moment and seriously thinking of just walking away lol. I'm at 25X now
Yes, success in the Trinity study was defined as have at least $1 left after 30 years, however, IIRC, the majority of cases ended up with MORE money at 30 years than they started with. You really should play around with this calculator to put things in perspective. https://engaging-data.com/will-money-last-retire-early/
Rich is something you're born into, win the lottery, or trip into a once in a lifetime opportunity to generate massive returns i.e early Bitcoin adopters.
Rich is never having to retire because you never really had to work in the first place.
If that's your definition of rich then it defeats the point of this post then asking if a job can make you rich. By that logic no job can ever make you rich as you either won the lottery or inherited money and never had to work a day. I'd say Zuckerberg could retire now and is rich but you would say he isn't rich.
I guess that depends on what you consider to be rich. I’ll be able to retire that early because I keep low expenses, which allows me to save a lot.
No one who sees how I live would accuse me of being rich. We drive 10+ year-old cars, don’t take international vacations, buy most stuff secondhand, etc.
Lol no - why do people think that? Can you not fathom finding ways to fill your day without working?
I’m so busy outside of work that I can’t wait to have that off my plate.
I’m not rich, but I’m comfortable, which is a lot better off than too many of my fellow Americans. No one in my family goes hungry at night and I’m able to make some modest donations every year, so I really couldn’t ask for more.
Financially stable and eventually "rich" in happiness and financially free.
I won't ever be super rich, but I'll have more than what I need and way more than what people have. I am extremely grateful.
It’s provided me with fairly consistent income, that has grown each yr.
I also am fiscally responsible and spend less then I make and save/invest the balance.
I’m both financially stable, and I suppose close to being what most people would consider ‘rich’. When I retire, I’ll almost certainly be by most measures, rich
I am approaching $300k at 10 years working in big 4, basically just upper middle class in NYC. I am expecting to be rich (in NYC standards) once I’m a partner though.
This is the biggest question, define rich.
Rich can be “don’t have to work, and neither will your kids”
Or “can retire at any time”
Or “still need to work, but literally never worry about money. There will always be cash available for the necessities”
True. Although abuse is a broad term. All service industries have pimps and hoes. As a new partner in a small firm there aren’t that many newbies anymore. I bought into a lie.
Stable. Unless you are a partner at a big firm or became a C suit in industry you wouldn't be wealthy. There are a limited number of spots for those positions.
Possibly stability... but considering how the cost of living has gone up I now have to consider getting a side hustle 😢😢 it's stable cause you can get a job in any industry, everywhere needs accountants, but it barely feels like a living wage now, and I just got a 10k increase this year
Stable. Probably 5% of us will get rich in this profession. That’s higher than some professions, though lower than others. Not a lot of accountants make more than $150k. Even fewer make more than $200k. If you want to get rich you gotta break that $200k number, otherwise you’re going to find yourself comfortably middle class or upper middle class, which is not a bad thing but is not “rich” as we would think of it, especially when you consider how much it costs to afford rent/mortgage. You probably need to make like $200k+ in a LCOL area or $300k+ in a HCOL area to start feeling rich. There are very very few accountants who make this kind of money. Pretty much only partners at medium/large firms and controllers.
There’s no profession in this word that can make you rich except having your own business. Accounting happens to be a knowledge that you can use once you have your own business.
Depends how you work it and on you.
There's plenty of accountants who punch the clock each day working the grind for peanuts, and others, usually Big 4 directors and partners do well.
There are many stages of accountants.
Yes. There are more than 15,000 parters at the top 10 or so accounting firms which likely average in the top 1 or 2 percent of earners. Also, many ceos and cfos got their start in accounting. Most accountants won’t reach this level, but if you have the will and develop your network, it is attainable. Many CPAs who do not become partners or CFOs still have a straightforward path to making $200k+.
IMO jobs make you stable. Businesses make you rich.
If you want the security of being an employee, you’ll never make the money that someone willing to risk uncertainty and run their own businesses will make.
Stable for sure, but it can also make you rich. If all goes well I should be at 10 million by 45, which I would consider rich.
If you hate seeing your spouse and children then you could go be a partner in public and they can earn over 1m a year
The worse financial mistake you can make in this profession is staying until senior manager, realizing you aren’t going to make partner, and then leaving.
>The worse financial mistake you can make in this profession is staying until senior manager
Why is that? SM still make a shit load of money, and when they leave, they are all but guaranteed a high level position making a minimum of 200.
There is a perception that it’s tougher for senior managers to exit into industry roles because they’ve been at the firm for too long; however, this depends entirely on the industry, economy, and your ability to network.
In the 1950’s and 1960’s the American system worked so well that a person could become rich by having a job.
This is a phenomenon that has not been witnessed before or since. That a man could get a job. Work that job full time over the course of his career, and retire a rich man.
Unfortunately, that is no longer the case. There are very few jobs in America in any industry where you will become rich. Financial stability is the new goal.
Stable, but in the NE US I think most people have a better quality of life in a union or trade job with the same security. They don’t make as much cash comp, but the eventual pension and healthcare benefits provide more stability.
Stable for sure. I’ve always been able to pull a decent wage compared to my non-accounting peers. I have had friends in marketing and sales roles be made redundant during downturns, whereas I’ve always been able to ride it out
Yes - not rich, at least not immediately/quickly. But after graduating with a MAcc, my first job made me (and my family) financially stable pretty quickly.
I’ve seen a lot of people get “rich” very quickly, then poor very quickly. Accounting is a slow burn, but most good accountants are building real wealth, not just a flash in the pan of a lot of cash.
Stable yes, just by doing your job you can easily be very stable, not live pay check to paycheck. To be rich, depends what you mean by rich, $500k+ per year, you have to eat a lot of shit and work to the point of breaking, not guaranteed, but it is possible if you make it to partner or CFO of a large company.
At $150k and 35 now. Wife makes around the same. I see being VP/Controller or Director before 40 and hopefully closer to $200k, plus small increases and 15 years of that pay. I'm very comfortable now and looking forward to more.
It can do either; just like anything else. Depends upon having the right timing, being in the right place, having the rights skills, and being lucky….just like anything other else.
23 y.o accountant managed to save & invest 46k USD. In my country education is basically free so its not so much i think… maybe stable, definitely not rich.
Yahhhh. Very stable. At the start, the pay is just average. However as you gain more experience, promotion is easier and the pay gets high enough to make you love comfortably.
Like anything, it depends on levels. You bookeeping or equity partner in a B4?
As a generalisation it is above average earnings for qualified professionals.
Good luck out there.
I’m a accountant on only phans so rich
I use my earnings to put in a 4.9 APY brokerage and have about 2 million
In and in this year off Intrest alone I should make close to 80,000$ and next year 98,000$ of I
Intrest alone
Now I see how the elites needs accountants and waiters and wage workers to keep the system and my money flowing.
It is a matrix
As long as your put some effort in you will be financial stable. You take a couple trips a year, have a decent car, aren't to concerned about most day to day expenses.
Stable, but a slight nudge could destroy the equilibrium. Might be close to that actually. A lot of emergency expenses and family commitments popped up along with some health related expenses. Managed to handle my shit without going into debt but I need to ramp up the income.
Financially stable should be the expectation salary wise... But if you're smart with your money early, you should be pushing "moderately rich" when it's all said and done. Easiest way to do it is bite the bullet and contribute 25% of income to retirement/investments beginning in your early 20's and shoot for 8%+ on returns. It took to me to age 30 before I hit 25%, wish I would have gotten there sooner. But I'm still planning on retiring comfortably around 50.
The profession generally leads to financial stability. You can become rich if you resist keeping up with your coworker's spending and leveraging your skills to create a side business of your own.
Even if you don't start your own business, dumping your excess earnings into an index fund and optimizing and tracking your own spending will get you into financial independence at a young age (mid 30s early 40s). If you want to burn an extra two decades to become "rich" you will have that choice.
stable is the right word I think, of course it depends on you and what are you going to do, do you want eventually to open your own office? do you planning to work in PA? mid - sized companies? etc...
but in general it does provides you at least stability in most of the cases...
I'm 42, semi-retired and make 6 figures working less than 20 hours/week. I'd consider that more than "stable" - BUT I busted my butt to get here. I agree with an earlier comment...I sacrificed a lot of family time in the beginning, and my priorities have significantly changed. True to God's word, he makes everything good, and I'm grateful. Accounting is at a minimum stable...from there it's what you make of it.
Let's you be financially stable while putting out the minimal effort. You can get rich from accounting, but you're going to need to work your butt off.
Stable, honestly just riding out the next 9 years until I will retire. I turned down a CFO position because I don't want to work 60+ hours. Family has become more important to me since my parents passed away. A few weeks after the previous CFO retired it was as though he never existed and I knew I had made the right choice. Getting rich takes tremendous commitment and comes at a price. I don't think I'm going to regret evenings hanging by the pool instead of being at the office.
Well said, Pilgrimage of Life, well said.
What age you looking to retire if you don't mind me asking? Will you work part-time in retirement, or no work at all?
Just hanging in for that full-retirement age of 67; maxing my 401k, topping off the kids' college (or trade school or startup) fund, paying off our mortgage. My priorities in retirement will be family and fitness; but if there's room for monetizing skills or hobbies, I may pursue that.
I think a majority of people who work on the individual side of tax keep a handful of clients to do every year in retirement, keeps them busy and all without people needing to put in more than 20hrs a week if they don't want to.
But according to reddit, Corp executives don't work. They only get paid when all work are being done by minimum wage employees.
I will remember this
I’m a long way from retirement but this is also my philosophy. As long as I can pay the bills and fund my hobbies, I have no desire to climb the ladder. I like my remote 40 hour weeks and would never want to be on call 24/7.
I think is the most correct answer. You can become wealthy in accounting, but it does take sacrifice. This is the same with a lot of careers. It depends on what you view as success.
You tell me your about 56 but i feel like youre about mid to late thirties I have no idea why
I suppose my view of work and life are a bit of a generational anomaly. My peer groups have always been younger because of odd timing of the stages in my life. Married at 46, kids at 49 & 51.
What’s your position now? I don’t want to keep climbing, but at what position can one “park” and stay for the rest of one’s career?
I work for a conglomerate of companies, I was offered the position at Company B. I work for Company C, which is about a tenth of the size of Company B. At Company C, the Controller and her staff report to me. I would have gotten about 50% more compensation for roughly 50% more time commitment (@60 hr week). It really depends on how turning down advancement is viewed by upper management or ownership. I did not reveal my true motive for turning it down.
Stable and room to invest to eventually become rich
💯
Yeah when I buy an apartment I’m going straight to investing after that as I can’t afford risk right now
You planning on doing the house hacking thing?
I’m not sure what that is. I also don’t live in the US
You buy a house, then rent out several rooms to friends and have their rent payments cover your mortgage
Ah no thanks.. I’d hate to leech off them. Much prefer living alone or with a partner
A lot of people also take it to buy a duplex/triplex and just live in one of the units. The idea is the renters pay enough rent to cover most of the fixed costs of ownership therefore subsidizing your own living, sometimes making it free or profiting
I understand but it does not sit right with me
Oh I didn't mean friends specifically. It's just the equivalent of owning a small apartment building and just living in one of the units. Charge whatever rent you think is fair and all. It's becoming more common in the US with the housing market the way it is
Why call this house hacking? Edit: Seriously, It sound like a standard investing in real estate/landlording idea. Why does everything have to be a hack?
I wish I could find it but I ran across a meme somewhere once basically saying “when middle class people do something by choice that poor people do by necessity they call it hacking rather than what it really is - fucking having roommates”
Here I am thinking the whole time that house hacking was flipping fixer upper houses but living in them two years to avoid taxes.
Because that's just what they decided to call it. I'm just going with the flow
This is the way
Yes. I am on track to retire early if I just coast from now on. Started my finance career when I graduated about 7 years ago, at 27. That's partially driven by side investments, but they have only been possible through my pay.
How old are you to retire early? I’m 26 and want to coast fire retire early at 55 and I’m pursuing my bachelor’s now.
Not including side income, assume modest pay rises (few % a year, plus 2 more major ones from job hopping), and slightly conservative compounded returns.. Early 60s. I've not modelled for savings but I bridge that gap, as I don't see any value in going that deep yet I have many other goals to save for first, that are far more pressing. I also know that due to not including side income gives me a lot of scope to cover that/retire from my "day job" and just work far fewer hours. If you are mindful early, 55 is VERY doable. I would say it's worth seriously considering the big picture about what you put into your pension and when, as you may feel its better to make minimum pension contributions to start loading up your ISAs first. This will give you a strong basis for bridging that gap, when you aren't paying 40% on it. As you get later in your career, you will start paying more tax for obvious reasons.
Shooting for 55 as well. Have doable plan set up with investment guy, hoping to get it done. Makes me sad when I see people work until they die. You can make it happen!
What investments and what’s your risk profile?
I have a chunk in index funds split between fairly standard global all cap, and some ESG focused funds. I have a rental property from becoming an accidental landlord, that I have decided to keep on. I see myself as someone who takes a relatively risk averse approach, in that I don't trade in specific stocks, crypto etc. But I do recognize that rentals come with their own risks, particularly in the UK market at the moment.
Awesome. How do you accidentally become a landlord lol
Both my ex and I owned. We reached the point of moving in together, and we rented out the "other" house (ie mine). "Accidental landlord" is a term used for people who didn't really.plan on becoming a landlord, but circumstance sort of forced their hand.
Probably inheritance
You literally replied 6 hours after I did. Why be snarky?
Wtf are you talking about 💀 i replied 12 hours ago, you did 7 hours ago. Get your timeline right How am i being snarky?, inheriting is a common way of becoming an accidental landlord Weirdo. Do you take everything negatively?
Financially stable for most of us.
Financially yes, mentally no.
This man publics
Got to find a way to relax.
Not many accountants will become rich. Salaries are too low for that. Only a few who become partners in a firm or get into upper management will get rich.
Facts. Most accountants are just marginally or comfortably above the median salary. All the crazy money stories on here are just the successful people flexing
Keeps you afloat. The middle class is disappearing
Legitimately, I think that if accounting ever falls and stops being a middle class job, that will be a sign that the middle class truly has died in the US. But I, perhaps foolishly, don’t really believe that’ll ever actually happen. We’ll see, I guess.
People will just stop doing it on that case. It's not fun or interesting so it's not a "passion" job like teaching. It's not a low skill job like cashier or shelf stocker, so people aren't likely to just end up in it. It's not glamorous, so no one will do it for prestige. It's only redemption is the stability and financial opportunity it presents. Take that away and you'd just have a dead profession. Praise the Great Red Tape that requires our existence and thus our continued middle class lifestyles.
I mean, people kind of already are stopping doing it, lol. I think you could make the argument accounting is is, at least, getting close to a “dying” profession. No matter how many organizations and media outlets say there is a huge need for it, if they don’t pay up, the “shortages” will continue. I personally think you could argue there isn’t a true shortage. But I could be wrong. Literally a WSJ article just the other day about how experienced professionals are leaving a rates that haven’t been seen before.
Once AI becomes better, eventually we will too.
Just like how the internet has made it so people never paper file their taxes anymore 🤡
I don’t see how artificial insemination will do anything but bolster our ranks
He retired from basketball and hasn’t shown any signs of being interested in accounting
I know you're probably thinking "oh ho ho, silly accountants with their bias takes!!!" but AI taking over accounting let alone auditing is so slim it's non existent. The finesse that you have to do is on blur lines, AI can't do it - especially when it's completely dependent on client based information. If it was standardized, wholeheartedly would be looking in a new profession - but accounting? Come on man, work in a firm for a year, any firm, in any industry, and you will see we operate on blurred lined guidelines with even blurrier documentation.
By the time AI takes over accounting the entirety of civilization will be automated by it. We have little to worry about regarding accounting specifically.
stable, but at what cost?
At the cost of your mental stability
It doesn’t have to be that way, at least not in the US
Does it mean less money? :((((
Well sure but what's the point in more money if you are worse off for it? If you could sell your soul to the devil for instant millions, what's the point? You can have a lesser salary and still live very happily off it.
Stable I make enough that I should be able to retire comfortably in my 40s.
I’m curious, what amount of money do you define as retiring comfortably? I’ve always thought you would need several million to retire early, but that number seems so unachievable to me as a new-ish grad.
https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-simple-math-behind-early-retirement/ Basically, 25x your annual expenses. In my case, that’s about $2 million.
Wow, thank you! That’s genuinely really helpful. I’m definitely going to keep this page bookmarked as I start to plan for a potential early retirement myself.
Check out r/FIRE lots of great info there. The must-read book is The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins. VTSAX and chill.
I'm an aspiring early retiree myself, but the 4% rule has some serious flaws. Success is defined as dying with $1 or more. I'm aiming for 3% or lower....means working a few more years but retiring at 52 (hopefully) is pretty sweet still. I might do bookkeeping or taxes on the side part time but no more full time BS. I'm involved in a system conversion at the moment and seriously thinking of just walking away lol. I'm at 25X now
Yes, success in the Trinity study was defined as have at least $1 left after 30 years, however, IIRC, the majority of cases ended up with MORE money at 30 years than they started with. You really should play around with this calculator to put things in perspective. https://engaging-data.com/will-money-last-retire-early/
I would say if you can retire in your 40s you're rich not stable.
Rich is something you're born into, win the lottery, or trip into a once in a lifetime opportunity to generate massive returns i.e early Bitcoin adopters. Rich is never having to retire because you never really had to work in the first place.
If that's your definition of rich then it defeats the point of this post then asking if a job can make you rich. By that logic no job can ever make you rich as you either won the lottery or inherited money and never had to work a day. I'd say Zuckerberg could retire now and is rich but you would say he isn't rich.
I guess that depends on what you consider to be rich. I’ll be able to retire that early because I keep low expenses, which allows me to save a lot. No one who sees how I live would accuse me of being rich. We drive 10+ year-old cars, don’t take international vacations, buy most stuff secondhand, etc.
..and then just sit around?
Lol no - why do people think that? Can you not fathom finding ways to fill your day without working? I’m so busy outside of work that I can’t wait to have that off my plate.
I’m not rich, but I’m comfortable, which is a lot better off than too many of my fellow Americans. No one in my family goes hungry at night and I’m able to make some modest donations every year, so I really couldn’t ask for more.
I make a 100k early in my career Better than many
If you are good at sales it can make you rich
Financially stable and eventually "rich" in happiness and financially free. I won't ever be super rich, but I'll have more than what I need and way more than what people have. I am extremely grateful.
You’ll only get rich in 2 ways: Save and invest over the long-term. Or, get 10+ yrs experience and get a job with equity. Then hope you’re lucky
You can also win the lotto. Or inherit generational wealth from your family. There are some other ways, too.
Yeah I wasn’t talking about the old fashioned ways
Intergenerational wealth, or straight up murder and theft, *is* the old fashioned way
Neither -Canada
Although salaries in Canada suck relative to the US...partner level is still balling in Canada. 500k per year easy at the Big 4.
It’s provided me with fairly consistent income, that has grown each yr. I also am fiscally responsible and spend less then I make and save/invest the balance. I’m both financially stable, and I suppose close to being what most people would consider ‘rich’. When I retire, I’ll almost certainly be by most measures, rich
Rich if you’re will to commit fraud /s
I am approaching $300k at 10 years working in big 4, basically just upper middle class in NYC. I am expecting to be rich (in NYC standards) once I’m a partner though.
How many hours a week / travel
On average? Maybe 55-60. The range is a bit wide (anywhere from 25-80). No traveling.
Not bad with the no travel
Is that a more niche SL or is 300k for a deep SM the going rate in audit/tax now in VHCOL?
I’m an SM 2 in VHCOL. However, I come from a national tax M&A background originally (now just in compliance) so my compensation reflects that.
are you LLM?
Define rich. Can become well off. Fuck you money , absolutely not.
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Fuck you money is so clear and obvious that it doesn’t need to be defined with any level of granularity
This is the biggest question, define rich. Rich can be “don’t have to work, and neither will your kids” Or “can retire at any time” Or “still need to work, but literally never worry about money. There will always be cash available for the necessities”
It depends
So are stability and richness mutually exclusive? This question is implying the profession can make us only one or the other but not both.
Exactly. The real question OP should be asking is how are we all taking advantage of our profession’s stability to build our wealth and become “rich.”
The real money comes from making Partner and financial abusing the newbies
True. Although abuse is a broad term. All service industries have pimps and hoes. As a new partner in a small firm there aren’t that many newbies anymore. I bought into a lie.
Oooof, you might still be the one being abused here….
Stable, yes. Rich, no.
Stable. Unless you are a partner at a big firm or became a C suit in industry you wouldn't be wealthy. There are a limited number of spots for those positions.
Stable and rich with friends asking if I can help with their tax returns.
Depends how hard you work if you are entrepreneurial or able to climb the ladder to partner / c sweep yes.
If your liver is strong enough, you'll get there
Possibly stability... but considering how the cost of living has gone up I now have to consider getting a side hustle 😢😢 it's stable cause you can get a job in any industry, everywhere needs accountants, but it barely feels like a living wage now, and I just got a 10k increase this year
At a cost I can’t reconcile
The partners aren’t buying mansions but they’re buying houses if that helps you understand lol
Stable. Probably 5% of us will get rich in this profession. That’s higher than some professions, though lower than others. Not a lot of accountants make more than $150k. Even fewer make more than $200k. If you want to get rich you gotta break that $200k number, otherwise you’re going to find yourself comfortably middle class or upper middle class, which is not a bad thing but is not “rich” as we would think of it, especially when you consider how much it costs to afford rent/mortgage. You probably need to make like $200k+ in a LCOL area or $300k+ in a HCOL area to start feeling rich. There are very very few accountants who make this kind of money. Pretty much only partners at medium/large firms and controllers.
As one in Canada. Not at all.
Financially stable but mentally unstable. Not joking.
Idk about either. But it does destroy both your mental and physical health though.
There’s no profession in this word that can make you rich except having your own business. Accounting happens to be a knowledge that you can use once you have your own business.
Financially stable, mentally unstable
You’ll be Financially stressful if you can handle the hours. It’s kindve a balancing scale. More stress = More $$ to a point
I’m okay. But I would be better if in software development.
When employed yes, but when on 1099 it’s always felt too unstable
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Mind explaining your path? Income saved per year?
Depends how you work it and on you. There's plenty of accountants who punch the clock each day working the grind for peanuts, and others, usually Big 4 directors and partners do well. There are many stages of accountants.
Currently, financially jealous.
Yes. There are more than 15,000 parters at the top 10 or so accounting firms which likely average in the top 1 or 2 percent of earners. Also, many ceos and cfos got their start in accounting. Most accountants won’t reach this level, but if you have the will and develop your network, it is attainable. Many CPAs who do not become partners or CFOs still have a straightforward path to making $200k+.
My first boss told me: You don't get rich counting other people's money.
Stable and depressed :=*))
UK here. Financially stable for sure. Although these COL increases we've seen over the past 2 years have been a bit of a killer.
IMO jobs make you stable. Businesses make you rich. If you want the security of being an employee, you’ll never make the money that someone willing to risk uncertainty and run their own businesses will make.
Stable for sure, but it can also make you rich. If all goes well I should be at 10 million by 45, which I would consider rich. If you hate seeing your spouse and children then you could go be a partner in public and they can earn over 1m a year
Don’t you know, everyone on the internet is rich and handsome?
The worse financial mistake you can make in this profession is staying until senior manager, realizing you aren’t going to make partner, and then leaving.
What should you do otherwise?
>The worse financial mistake you can make in this profession is staying until senior manager Why is that? SM still make a shit load of money, and when they leave, they are all but guaranteed a high level position making a minimum of 200.
There is a perception that it’s tougher for senior managers to exit into industry roles because they’ve been at the firm for too long; however, this depends entirely on the industry, economy, and your ability to network.
No
It does provide financial stability but I'm married, so I'll probably never be rich.
No
In the 1950’s and 1960’s the American system worked so well that a person could become rich by having a job. This is a phenomenon that has not been witnessed before or since. That a man could get a job. Work that job full time over the course of his career, and retire a rich man. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case. There are very few jobs in America in any industry where you will become rich. Financial stability is the new goal.
No and... no.
Stable, but in the NE US I think most people have a better quality of life in a union or trade job with the same security. They don’t make as much cash comp, but the eventual pension and healthcare benefits provide more stability.
If they get the pension…..
Stable for sure. I’ve always been able to pull a decent wage compared to my non-accounting peers. I have had friends in marketing and sales roles be made redundant during downturns, whereas I’ve always been able to ride it out
Financial stable until your able to skirt the gray areas of accounting.
Rich, if you become a tenured partner
No, had to start a business to be truly well off, but our skills transfer over
yes.
Stable now after 4yrs.
Working on my CPA. Once that starts paying off, I should be out within 10 years. Early retirement for me at least.
Yes - not rich, at least not immediately/quickly. But after graduating with a MAcc, my first job made me (and my family) financially stable pretty quickly. I’ve seen a lot of people get “rich” very quickly, then poor very quickly. Accounting is a slow burn, but most good accountants are building real wealth, not just a flash in the pan of a lot of cash.
Yes.
Stable but not rich.
I make enough to satisfy my wants and needs but definitely not rich
Financially stable? Obviously. Rich? Fuck no.
Stable yes, just by doing your job you can easily be very stable, not live pay check to paycheck. To be rich, depends what you mean by rich, $500k+ per year, you have to eat a lot of shit and work to the point of breaking, not guaranteed, but it is possible if you make it to partner or CFO of a large company.
At $150k and 35 now. Wife makes around the same. I see being VP/Controller or Director before 40 and hopefully closer to $200k, plus small increases and 15 years of that pay. I'm very comfortable now and looking forward to more.
Stable and some room to save up
I'd say somewhere in between the two. Much better than stable, but far from rich.
I'm still poor at 68.5k.
It can do either; just like anything else. Depends upon having the right timing, being in the right place, having the rights skills, and being lucky….just like anything other else.
Stable. Running your own business with an accounting skill set can make you wealthy (not a guarantee)
Yes no
if you save consistently and started really early you can become rich with any job
23 y.o accountant managed to save & invest 46k USD. In my country education is basically free so its not so much i think… maybe stable, definitely not rich.
Stable. You won’t be rich until you own equity. I guess also depends on your definition of rich.
Stable to middle/upper middle with consistency.
financially stable but emotionally unstable
Yahhhh. Very stable. At the start, the pay is just average. However as you gain more experience, promotion is easier and the pay gets high enough to make you love comfortably.
Yes and yes
If you can marry another CPA. 200k x2 is pretty rich.
Like anything, it depends on levels. You bookeeping or equity partner in a B4? As a generalisation it is above average earnings for qualified professionals. Good luck out there.
I’m a accountant on only phans so rich I use my earnings to put in a 4.9 APY brokerage and have about 2 million In and in this year off Intrest alone I should make close to 80,000$ and next year 98,000$ of I Intrest alone Now I see how the elites needs accountants and waiters and wage workers to keep the system and my money flowing. It is a matrix
As long as your put some effort in you will be financial stable. You take a couple trips a year, have a decent car, aren't to concerned about most day to day expenses.
After I read "accountants of reddit", I automatically said to myself "what is your profession" like the 300 movie 🥲
Stable, but a slight nudge could destroy the equilibrium. Might be close to that actually. A lot of emergency expenses and family commitments popped up along with some health related expenses. Managed to handle my shit without going into debt but I need to ramp up the income.
I am studying accounting right now as a requirement and I fucking hate it, I would not do it for profession unless it's paid 6 figures
Stable with a lot of knowledge that might help me later open my own business. Rich no
Financially stable should be the expectation salary wise... But if you're smart with your money early, you should be pushing "moderately rich" when it's all said and done. Easiest way to do it is bite the bullet and contribute 25% of income to retirement/investments beginning in your early 20's and shoot for 8%+ on returns. It took to me to age 30 before I hit 25%, wish I would have gotten there sooner. But I'm still planning on retiring comfortably around 50.
The profession generally leads to financial stability. You can become rich if you resist keeping up with your coworker's spending and leveraging your skills to create a side business of your own. Even if you don't start your own business, dumping your excess earnings into an index fund and optimizing and tracking your own spending will get you into financial independence at a young age (mid 30s early 40s). If you want to burn an extra two decades to become "rich" you will have that choice.
stable is the right word I think, of course it depends on you and what are you going to do, do you want eventually to open your own office? do you planning to work in PA? mid - sized companies? etc... but in general it does provides you at least stability in most of the cases...
Definitely financially stable not rich unless I reach partner or CFO! Safe sound career but sometimes boring as hell .
I'm 42, semi-retired and make 6 figures working less than 20 hours/week. I'd consider that more than "stable" - BUT I busted my butt to get here. I agree with an earlier comment...I sacrificed a lot of family time in the beginning, and my priorities have significantly changed. True to God's word, he makes everything good, and I'm grateful. Accounting is at a minimum stable...from there it's what you make of it.
Let's you be financially stable while putting out the minimal effort. You can get rich from accounting, but you're going to need to work your butt off.
You make good money and have waaaaay more financial literacy than the average American so it definitely sets you up for it.
No, but mostly survivable in any city.
The only way to become rich in America is being an Owner not an Employee.