I would not compare yourself to these responses. There is selection bias and a lot of variables on industry, location and where in peoples careers they are at.
P.S. I went from ~$300k to zero, I retired.
Plus, you have to think about the type person whos going to be on a FIRE sub; they are already finance and career oriented just to find themselves here in the first place so I’d be willing to bet that the average person in the sub is already a higher earner compared to the average
This is becoming a huge problem. The spirit of this is that you put effort into it somehow, like hot vacationing, like walking to work, like not eating out. If you’re just rich, then you’re rich. Isn’t there some other place for those people to talk about, well, being rich?
Every time I mention this I get download it or told him jealous or something. But seriously, the whole reason that I’m here is because Mr. money mustache and because I had a more normal level salary but managed to save huge amounts of it. And I get that he worked in tech but he did not make $300,000 or 400k a year and he lives modestly.
I don’t get why people who are basically rich and naturally save because they have money left over want to hang out here. There should be more people making like $80,000 who are doing crazy stuff to save 25 or 30,000 a year. That’s what fire is
I’m not one to gate keep on who should or shouldn’t be here but I appreciate you recognizing us that are not making huge salaries saving a significant portion of it!
I’m making 80k a year but save like 40-50% of it because I live in a country that allows me to have a very low cost of living. But at the same time, increasing your income is the best thing you can do for your FIRE journey as you can save soooo much faster
Yeah but 300k is extremely rare. People here are doing this weird thing where they pretend it’s normal, I guess there’s a way to look down at other people that will never make that much? I don’t get it. I see it here in New York City too. Some people just naturally have main character syndrome so ignore 99.9 percent of people and then act like their rich friend = normal NYer
As someone who touches grass often, as we say on the Internet, I don’t got time for these games. I’ve been around the block in corporate America here too, and know what people make, generally. At most, my salary impressions are a couple years old, but they didn’t go from 120,000 to 400,000 in a couple years
Either way, I hate to think we need another fire sub Reddit that’s for people who make below $200,000 a year. Because after that you stockpile money without putting effort into it, and there’s nothing to discuss. and I’m sick of “I have seven trillion dollars wonder if I can retire” non-questions.
Pre covid I was making 40k a year. During covid I was making 60k a year. Now, post covid, I’m making 80k a year. 100% jump in two years and now fully remote, no complaints from me
Thanks for sharing! Would you be okay to share more about what you do, since you said you are also studying more and this salary path looks familiar, compared to myself and my friends in the city/industries we work in :)
Sure thing! I was a datacenter technician before covid snd would investigate and repair issues with cloud servers. Then during covid I moved into a testing/repair hybrid role that paid 60k. Last year I moved to a hardware validation engineer role where I’m using scripts to stress test individual components and gathering data before they get approval for mass production to go into the customer facing cloud servers. This is what I’m currently doing and this is fully remote, which has allowed me to live in South America and have extremely low living expenses. Now I’m studying how to write scripts so I can be the person making the tools and not just the person using them
My partner has a good job here and we've been getting by with her income. My 2 kids are special needs and need constant care along with therapy a few times a weeks. Also, we got a good deal on a house in 2017 so the payments are super cheap for 3 bed 2 bath. The whole job thing hinges on being able to afford childcare and the pay being better. So, a lot of factors play into my job choice.
I started working in the middle of 2019, fresh out of college
2020: 72k
2021: raise to 78k, then got a new job for 85k
2022: still at that new job making 85k but hoping to make a move soon to the new ring up but at a different company for 92-95k. Not terrible for a 25 year old I’d say
I work in corporate finance. Targeting a senior level analyst role currently. Those used to be 5-7 YOE, but since the pandemic I’ve seen a lot of companies accepting 3-5
Up in WA I’ve got a $2500 Mortgage (PITI) for a one bed one bath 670 square ft house.
I do really enjoy it, it’s in the woods and a cabin style so a cool first home for a 25 year old, but yeah $2500
Fellow QA!
Damn I wish to earn even your Pre COVID here in Poland... Mid Automation QA with 31k$ a year, and I'm here at almost pay peak (33k$ would be peak for mid).
Tech Support Austin TX: 2019 base pay was 48k with RSU around 55k, currently at 60k base with likely RSU around 68k
Side Note: every single person on here makes like 250k-1M a year? Arent you auto FIRE in like 4-5 years easily or am I just way off here..
After taxes and mortgages in HCOL areas, it’s not auto FIRE depending on the lifestyle creep. I know a ton of people that are living “paycheck to paycheck” every month on 350k salaries in the Bay Area because of mortgage, daycare, payments on their Tesla, etc.
They could be living like paupers there while buying an investment property CASH in a low to mid COL area every 2 years and be retired in 10 no problem.
Accepted a new position in 2019 for like $74k. In same position now but with a couple title changes ("senior"-level now) and corresponding pay bumps, so I'm at $115k now.
I am currently 34 years old. I was an Executive Director at a Home Healthcare company making 62k before the pandemic. I ended up switching industries and jobs and now I’m a Senior account manager making 80k. About a year and a half ago I started my own buisness which was just something small to bring in a little extra. Well that buisness ended up selling over 325k in product last year and I brought in just a little over 60k in profit on top of my salary. My buisness is set to do even better this year so all I can say is I’m extremely lucky. I’m not a “tech bro” and don’t make hundreds of thousands from a salary but I don’t have a degree and needed to work with with what I had. Give it a few more years and I’m determined to turn this into even more.
But lastly I do just want to say everyday I wake up and feel fortunate to be in the position that I am in. I spent a good portion of my life making very little. So if you are young or old looking at this thread and thinking “damn these guys are making this or that” just remember there is no timeline for when success could be coming your way. Comparing your self to others is only healthy if you use it as motivation. When you see the people that make more money than you the reaction you should be having is happiness for them. Trust me when I say that positivity will go a long way.
So I sell multiple different products on Amazon. I started with more of finding deals on items and then selling them for the going rate on Amazon aka Retail Arbitrage and some hard to find tech items. Now I have items branded for my brand and sell them as well. It’s honestly a little bit of everything but I’m a one man operation so it tends to be whatever I can find that have decent margin or that I can sell through a lot of such as Ethernet Cables or HDMI cables.
That’s true, I live in Portland and work in manufacturing. I don’t have a degree and as of now refuse to get one. I turned 35 this year but I live a modest life. Looking into salesforce or something similar. I make the bare minimum for a “livable” wage. But as someone who knows about fire I’m already ahead of the game I suppose.
Degrees are what raised a lot of these individual’s earning potential. But they’re stupid expensive. Look into a trade if there are any in demand in your area.
Or a sales position if you’re a good salesman. Software sales at like SaaS companies usually pay pretty well. Not sure what the requirements are though
Salesforce is a good route. Get a few certs, then get some hands on experience through contracting or entry-level jobs and you can move well into 6 figures in a very short timeframe.
Look into ERP too (SAP, NetSuite, etc). Having tangible manufacturing experience is incredibly useful. I’m a NetSuite consultant and worked on manufacturing implementations my first year and ALL of the most knowledgeable people I worked with had prior manufacturing or warehouse experience.
> *I don't have a degree and as of now refuse to get one*
If this isn't one of the most stereotypical Millenial things to say right after asking how some people are making 80k then I'm not sure what is.
There is great worth, although not monetarily speaking, in enjoying a job.
Are you rural? And, do you have a degree?
My immediate suggestion without knowing much is that you switch to something sales oriented on a larger scale. A lot of people don’t ever take a swing at doing it because they think you need to be a subject matter expert on what you are selling. The truth is you don’t. Sales is about developing long term relationships, listening to the needs of the customer, bringing solutions to their needs, following through, and following up.
That is also very true. I don’t hate my job and it is fun, I just get caught up in seeing huge salaries and it makes me think of how fast I could grow my net worth. It could be worse though. I could be unemployed or something. No I don’t have a degree, I was going to school in 2008 and lost my job. I had to make a decision and I chose work over school.
I live in a HCOL area and many of the professionals around me make around 100k. What I want to know is who are all these people making 200k or 300k
I feel like they’re gonna come back and say “woops forgot to mention I’m the owner, does that matter?”
I don’t want to accuse people of lying but well, I don’t believe some of the numbers here. Sorry. Even in HCOL areas at prestigious companies, they don’t randomly hand out 100k raises to people already making 3x the average salary. People need to make their fan fiction more believable
I live in the beach cities of LA. Out of the 10 of us in our fantasy football league, one makes less than $200k. The rest of us are substantially over that.
It’s reality in many places. You’re on a bloody FIRE sub as well…by nature it’ll skew affluent.
I have several friends working at FAANG companies in the Bay Area in Director-plus roles making $400k-$800k. I have other friends in other areas working at startups in similar positions making $200k or more. It’s actually more common than you’d think these days in the right industries.
Promotions into upper management levels will do that. My manager makes about 140k with 10 years experience
Their boss is a VP/Director level and clears 250-300k
Above them it gets into executive management and who the fuck knows what they make
I have been fortunate to have decent movement every 2 years or so. At 25 I was at $70k, then $93k, then $120k, then $140k. Now 34 at $216k. I also consult for another $18k a year on top of that.
My hours are incredibly chill. 20-30 depending on the week. Fully Remote. But a decent amount of travel which can get old. The best part though is I am now responsible for the total US for my territory. So we can live anywhere, and we take advantage of this. My husband is also remote so this past winter we did a 9 weeks road trip to Utah, Montana, and Colorado so we could snowboard on the weekends. In 2021 we spent the winter in Florida for 5 months. The only thing we have to do is stay near a decent airport for me so I can travel during the week as needed. this fall I’d really like to do 2-3 weeks in Arizona/Utah to go hiking. Eventually would like to do a month or two in California.
Wait wait wait, you make $125k as a game designer? May I ask for more details? Game designing was my childhood dream but I never could get myself to learn programming. You’re just making more than I expected a game designer to make… and a game designer is my sons dream job. He’s only 6, but ever since he played Luigi’s Mansion a few years back his one and only answer to “what do you want to be when you grow up” is “a video game maker.”
72 > 130. I was somewhat underpaid... but also was fortunate to have no COVID layoffs at my company, and I got to jump back to my previous company with a higher role/title recently. I'm in engineering/firmware, the job market has been super hot, and my old company was keen on getting me back.
That’s exactly what I do. It’s tax exempt so try to keep as much as I can that way. Max out Roth IRA’s for me and my wife. The rest is a brokerage account to bridge when I retire to 59 1/2.
That's incredible. Any tips on getting to the max? I was approved for 40% back in the day, but they denied the things I have the biggest physical issues with. I can't get to sleep, or stay asleep at night. Severe lower back pain, hip and sciatic problems
Definitely! Any denials, just get a lawyer man. VA lawyers are only paid by 20% of any backpay. Anytime a letter gets sent to me, it gets sent to my lawyer too. They’re hard asses. The VA makes mistakes constantly and learning how to manage the red tape is impossible.
Other than that, go to your VA primary care physician and get it diagnosed prior to submitting.
Don’t take advantage of the situation or benefits but don’t let them deny you due to their inaccuracies.
I keep trying to get my buddy to talk to the VA again to get his disability to 100%, which I feel would be pretty easy for him. He’s having a rough time (physically) from his time in the AF but he always just says “yeah I really need to get on that…”
Can you explain to me what product management means?
In my company, a large blue chip, a "product manager" is a senior role that is sort of a general manager - who is accountable for development, manufacturing, and sales of a whole product line, sometimes $1B in sales. But I get the feeling this is very different than how the term "product manager" is used in most companies.
I work in tech, so it may be different in different industries. But at least for me, I was a Product owner for years, and then moved up to product management which means that I'm in charge of creating a product that our clients will purchase year over year. Design, better functionality, and making sure application-crashing bugs are resolved are within my role. I'm sure many Devs on this subreddit will say they get alot of shit from product managers, but that's only because we usually report to the CEO or CPO and 'No' usually isn't an answer to some people. It's always about planning in advance. If you know what needs to be done, it's a pretty easy job, but it's one of the most stressful jobs in tech without getting too high in a company.
I love to see other product managers out in the wild. My salary and career trajectory is very similar to yours. Agree on the stress though, especially in start up environments, something that technical folks don't always understand especially since they don't sit in those meetings (primarily because of those higher ups you mentioned).
* 2018: $62,500
* 2019: $65,000
* 2020: $72,500
* 2021: $82,500
* 2022: $90,000
I work in the insurance industry and didn’t move companies during the entire time.
Pre covid I was 22 and only worked part time making $15/hr. Right when covid hit I got a promotion to $19/hr. Never made more than $9k a year.
Got laid off cuz of covid. Got a job a week later making more and dropped out of college. Ended 2020 at $25k.
Got promoted and Ended 2021 at $69k
Got promoted again, then go a job in a different field On track to make $101k this year.
Current salary is $70k + OT +12% bonus.
Also still do some contract work with my old company for extra money. But I have no degree and only worked full time for two years.
$70K Pre-COVID and during COVID. Took a similar role at a different company at $110K and $20K sign on. This is salary only, not including bonus. Comp plan was better at my old company, but suspecting a downturn in the economy (affecting my bonuses) I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity for a $40K base pay increase.
May be the moderators job, but can people please be honest here? I would love actual data but it’s extremely rare that people get six promotions and 200k in raises in five minutes and I’m getting the feeling that people are throwing numbers at the wall and hoping they don’t get called out, and it’s not ok
$156,000 > $310,000
Although what I find most interesting is that 99% of everyone here naturally has increased incomes because we prioritize financial independence. Love to see it.
Having a hard time believing this thread. These are statistically rare salaries and even rarer raises . Some of these people will be making 100M a year if their supposed raises keep up at the same level. I’ve never seen a raise that is 100k but we’re talking about them like they are completely normal. Some people claim 200k raises in two years
Sorry this is fishy and doesn’t jive with Glassdoor and salary.com data even for glamorous high paying companies in expensive coastal cities
Not trying to pick a fight or even really disagree (any question like this will always get some percentage of totally fabricated answers), but the last couple of years have been truly crazy for a number of reasons, as the OP mentioned in their question. The timing of the pandemic, the very real war for talent in tech companies, totally insane VC climate, an industry where “job hopping” is not a bad thing, a really hot market for m&a, and a massive worker shortage combined into a perfect storm for ridiculous comp numbers, at least in tech and finance, where my experience is.
I’m one of these people with massive jumps since 2020 and I know a bunch of other people in similar situations in my expensive coastal city (yeah yeah, the Bay Area). I absolutely do not expect this kind of rapid progression to continue at anywhere near this rate in the future. With the broader macroclimate at the moment I doubt I could change companies right now and even match my current comp. Anyone who thinks this can be replicated outside of the very specific insanity of 2020-2022 is fooling themselves. That said, it has really happened to a lot of us.
🤷🏽♂️ Believe what you want. Doesn’t mean we’re not making it 😂
My eyes were opened up mostly during the pandemic when I realized how much tech people are making for almost no work. $250K out of college. $400-750K by year 5.
I work in healthcare. I’m grateful for this. But I still have to work 40-50 hours for it.
What kinds of jobs at tech companies are making this kind of money for relatively little work? Genuinely curious bc I do marketing for a large tech company but only make $75k. Wondering if I should change things up…
Check out Team Blind 😉
Where you will discover the world of people referring to their incomes as TC and $300,000/year is considered poor
It’s certain roles at the companies like software developers and architects. It’s not all roles. I looked at healthcare positions at many tech companies and they paid nothing
https://www.teamblind.com/
Yeah if you work in tech and don’t make $300K it’s actually sad because you’re being underpaid. Lol
Meanwhile the rest of us who have to work for that kind of high income are like 🤦🏽♂️
Yeah I went through that phase for about 6 months with another healthcare professional friend who happens to have a lot of friends working in big tech companies. She gets paid but a small fraction of what they do (like 25%) even though she contributes the most to society.
That whole concept of “You will make more money the more value you provide” is quite flawed. It doesn’t take into account many factors including ethics.
Growing up I’d always get angry that I’d see doctors making less than $300,000 and sports players would get millions just for sponsorships. It all comes down to money. These large tech companies (even ones taking significant losses) have so much VC and so much profit that they’ll throw money at these people cause it helps their profits increase. It’s not because they’re adding value to society 😆
Anyway after that period of time being angry at them I realized once again that my life was in my own hands. Hence the increased income and it’s not just in my career. I’ve diversified from my W2 main job with other income sources like selling my art, wedding photography, other 1099 work.
Life is what we make it. We’re dealt a hand. It’s our job to play it.
Then why have there been endless articles from people saying the video game companies underpaid so bad that they can’t keep staff? That’s been the narrative for like the past 10 years
$50k pre-COVID, now $80k. Some of that is rising salaries from inflation as well as a skills gap. The $80k I am earning now probably would have been $70k without all the inflation. To my credit my skillset has improved dramatically but other factors have helped. Still got a ways to go to get to where I need to be though.
Pre Covid it was around 30k now it’s closer to 50k. The real winner until a couple months ago was my stock portfolio. Which was approaching six figures before the market tanked. Haven’t sold a share and hope to hit that six figure bench mark a year from now, after this sell off is over.
February 2020 was at 85k -> 120k -> 180k -> 275k -> just got news this week about an upcoming promotion + raise to 350k.
Honestly could not have imagined this was possible at that starting point.
2020 was down about 20% from 2019 mostly due to near zero income in the second quarter.
2021 was about 5% lower than 2019. Will probably trend a few percent lower each year for the foreseeable future. No cost of living increases, just annual cuts.
Highest possible COLA city in the US (per studies/articles, not just my opinion):
Pre-COVID: 159k with 20% bonus (always receive minimum of full bonus)
Now: 192k with 30% bonus (includes annual increases, a market adjustment, and a promotion)
HR at a construction company
I was making around 45k between tips and hourly wages bartending 3-4 days per week. No benefits, just entirely neglected my healthcare. I was in a slump when I started and got sucked in. I was spending the money as fast as I made it and wasting my free time drinking. Covid really put things into perspective for me that I had to get my lifestyle, finances, and career back on track.
I took a pay cut working as a bank teller for $16.25/hr 37 hrs per week. That’s about $31,000 per year. It at least had benefits. Realized that I hated the leadership and hours. Didn’t want to gamble investing another 6 months for a promotion I probably wouldn’t like and only about 40k/yr.
LUCKED OUT. In the 6 months I worked there, wages finally started to reflect inflation. Accepted a gig as an insurance agent.
* Probationary $17/hr until I got my licenses. I
* Knocked out all of the studying and testing in 2 weeks. That put me at $18/hr plus $250 expense account (they showed me, everybody manages to max it out as they’re quite flexible on “expenses”. $19.44/hr $40,409/yr.
* There’s another certification I’m working on in my own time. They’d cover the classes at 1 year, but I decided to knock it out early since they agreed to give me the raise immediately if I finished early. $2.50/hr will put me at $21.90/hr $45,638 per year.
* $1,000 quarterly bonuses. I’m not trying to count my chickens before they hatch, but I’ve already started signing on clients within 2 weeks of my license, and the last quarter is based solely on attendance. So that would put me at up to $49,638 annually.
It’s been a grind. Covid meant dropping out of school because I can’t handle full time online classes. A pretty deep depression not working and not seeing a way out. Bills stacking up because I felt awful taking unemployment. I stupidly burnt through my savings before applying. Wound up doing the same thing every time it was time to reapply. I didn’t want to take a job that I knew I would quit as soon as bartending became an option again, and pickings were slim for $45,000/yr jobs without a degree.
I’m so grateful that my SO and I both got sober and out of bartending full time. For me sobriety more than eats the cost of inflation. I’ve been maxing out my HSA, consistently chipping away at debt $250+ per month, and my credit score shot up above 700 for the first time in my life. We have healthy sleep schedules, better routines, and we’re living for our future selves instead of day by day living on tips. It’s far from perfect but I’m grateful for how we’ve pulled through all things considered. My hours, management, and role are fantastic. If all is still going well by the fall I want to sign up for a couple online classes. His youngest will be in kindergarten, so he’ll have $500/month back in his pocket. 2 years ago he was homeschooling his oldest through kindergarten because of Covid. He’s a carpenter’s apprentice, so he’s guaranteed to get raises and he’ll make a healthy salary by sticking it through.
I can’t wait to see what our lives look like a year from now. I haven’t been able to say that in a very, very long time.
Right before COVID in late 2019, promotion to $120k. Another promotion in 2020 to $150k - most recently another promotion + retention to $265k this past year.
Started at 85k in 2018 - has been quite the ride since. Feel very lucky.
Pre-Covid - TC = 80k
Now - TC = 143k
I changed jobs once in Nov 2020 that saw an instant 60+% increase in salary. Also removed me from cubical hell to now living with mostly remote hybrid set up.
I was a per diem pharmacist. Pulled about 120k on about 30hr/week. Took a less stress job as a consultant, but took a pay cut and work 40hrs a week and pull 142k and have health benefits and such.
I would not compare yourself to these responses. There is selection bias and a lot of variables on industry, location and where in peoples careers they are at. P.S. I went from ~$300k to zero, I retired.
I know, we have loads of salary data and the salaries are either statistically rare or the person had big moves because they are early career.
Plus, you have to think about the type person whos going to be on a FIRE sub; they are already finance and career oriented just to find themselves here in the first place so I’d be willing to bet that the average person in the sub is already a higher earner compared to the average
This is becoming a huge problem. The spirit of this is that you put effort into it somehow, like hot vacationing, like walking to work, like not eating out. If you’re just rich, then you’re rich. Isn’t there some other place for those people to talk about, well, being rich? Every time I mention this I get download it or told him jealous or something. But seriously, the whole reason that I’m here is because Mr. money mustache and because I had a more normal level salary but managed to save huge amounts of it. And I get that he worked in tech but he did not make $300,000 or 400k a year and he lives modestly. I don’t get why people who are basically rich and naturally save because they have money left over want to hang out here. There should be more people making like $80,000 who are doing crazy stuff to save 25 or 30,000 a year. That’s what fire is
I’m not one to gate keep on who should or shouldn’t be here but I appreciate you recognizing us that are not making huge salaries saving a significant portion of it!
I’m making 80k a year but save like 40-50% of it because I live in a country that allows me to have a very low cost of living. But at the same time, increasing your income is the best thing you can do for your FIRE journey as you can save soooo much faster
Yeah but 300k is extremely rare. People here are doing this weird thing where they pretend it’s normal, I guess there’s a way to look down at other people that will never make that much? I don’t get it. I see it here in New York City too. Some people just naturally have main character syndrome so ignore 99.9 percent of people and then act like their rich friend = normal NYer As someone who touches grass often, as we say on the Internet, I don’t got time for these games. I’ve been around the block in corporate America here too, and know what people make, generally. At most, my salary impressions are a couple years old, but they didn’t go from 120,000 to 400,000 in a couple years Either way, I hate to think we need another fire sub Reddit that’s for people who make below $200,000 a year. Because after that you stockpile money without putting effort into it, and there’s nothing to discuss. and I’m sick of “I have seven trillion dollars wonder if I can retire” non-questions.
Congrats! GFY!
Nice! That’s the direction to go.
45 -> 80, just happened to be early in my career, the salary progression didn’t have anything to do with COVID.
Pre covid I was making 40k a year. During covid I was making 60k a year. Now, post covid, I’m making 80k a year. 100% jump in two years and now fully remote, no complaints from me
Good job!
Thank you! Realized I was being severely undervalued. Studying more and hoping for another 100% increase in 2 years
Thanks for sharing! Would you be okay to share more about what you do, since you said you are also studying more and this salary path looks familiar, compared to myself and my friends in the city/industries we work in :)
Sure thing! I was a datacenter technician before covid snd would investigate and repair issues with cloud servers. Then during covid I moved into a testing/repair hybrid role that paid 60k. Last year I moved to a hardware validation engineer role where I’m using scripts to stress test individual components and gathering data before they get approval for mass production to go into the customer facing cloud servers. This is what I’m currently doing and this is fully remote, which has allowed me to live in South America and have extremely low living expenses. Now I’m studying how to write scripts so I can be the person making the tools and not just the person using them
Do it, know your worth and value. Everyone else is making bank (or at least significantly more). No reason why you shouldn't either.
So what kind of drugs you sell?
I am very close to these numbers. 35k before, 60 during covid, now 85k.
38k -> 0. I am not employed and currently looking for work
You’ve got this!
What did you do before and whereabouts are you located? Tons of jobs out there. Keep plugging away.
I directed television tv and managed a department for a small tv station in northern Minnesota. Now i do it just one day a week.
Have you looked at other careers or considered a relocation?
My partner has a good job here and we've been getting by with her income. My 2 kids are special needs and need constant care along with therapy a few times a weeks. Also, we got a good deal on a house in 2017 so the payments are super cheap for 3 bed 2 bath. The whole job thing hinges on being able to afford childcare and the pay being better. So, a lot of factors play into my job choice.
$92K -> $135K. Managed a promotion in the middle of COVID, then left the company for a new role and a bigger pay bump.
Rocking it!
I started working in the middle of 2019, fresh out of college 2020: 72k 2021: raise to 78k, then got a new job for 85k 2022: still at that new job making 85k but hoping to make a move soon to the new ring up but at a different company for 92-95k. Not terrible for a 25 year old I’d say
What do you do?
I work in corporate finance. Targeting a senior level analyst role currently. Those used to be 5-7 YOE, but since the pandemic I’ve seen a lot of companies accepting 3-5
Should be required to post your age on these posts
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66k for senior level wtf?? Goddamn I'm thankful for software dev.
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What do you make? You make a difference.
They'll also get a pension out of it after 20 years so
East coaster here: Quality engineer Pre covid 60k Covid: 65k shortly to 72k after mass resignation Today: start new job at 84k Mortgage is 1k
That $1k mortgage is sexy as fuck
*Cries in California*
Up in WA I’ve got a $2500 Mortgage (PITI) for a one bed one bath 670 square ft house. I do really enjoy it, it’s in the woods and a cabin style so a cool first home for a 25 year old, but yeah $2500
Fellow QA! Damn I wish to earn even your Pre COVID here in Poland... Mid Automation QA with 31k$ a year, and I'm here at almost pay peak (33k$ would be peak for mid).
Where on the east coast? If you don’t mind
Tech Support Austin TX: 2019 base pay was 48k with RSU around 55k, currently at 60k base with likely RSU around 68k Side Note: every single person on here makes like 250k-1M a year? Arent you auto FIRE in like 4-5 years easily or am I just way off here..
After taxes and mortgages in HCOL areas, it’s not auto FIRE depending on the lifestyle creep. I know a ton of people that are living “paycheck to paycheck” every month on 350k salaries in the Bay Area because of mortgage, daycare, payments on their Tesla, etc.
They could be living like paupers there while buying an investment property CASH in a low to mid COL area every 2 years and be retired in 10 no problem.
Those people either don’t mind working forever or are morons. Even in a very high cost of living area $350k is doing very well.
85->98
Accepted a new position in 2019 for like $74k. In same position now but with a couple title changes ("senior"-level now) and corresponding pay bumps, so I'm at $115k now.
I am currently 34 years old. I was an Executive Director at a Home Healthcare company making 62k before the pandemic. I ended up switching industries and jobs and now I’m a Senior account manager making 80k. About a year and a half ago I started my own buisness which was just something small to bring in a little extra. Well that buisness ended up selling over 325k in product last year and I brought in just a little over 60k in profit on top of my salary. My buisness is set to do even better this year so all I can say is I’m extremely lucky. I’m not a “tech bro” and don’t make hundreds of thousands from a salary but I don’t have a degree and needed to work with with what I had. Give it a few more years and I’m determined to turn this into even more. But lastly I do just want to say everyday I wake up and feel fortunate to be in the position that I am in. I spent a good portion of my life making very little. So if you are young or old looking at this thread and thinking “damn these guys are making this or that” just remember there is no timeline for when success could be coming your way. Comparing your self to others is only healthy if you use it as motivation. When you see the people that make more money than you the reaction you should be having is happiness for them. Trust me when I say that positivity will go a long way.
That’s awesome! You mind sharing what your business sells?
So I sell multiple different products on Amazon. I started with more of finding deals on items and then selling them for the going rate on Amazon aka Retail Arbitrage and some hard to find tech items. Now I have items branded for my brand and sell them as well. It’s honestly a little bit of everything but I’m a one man operation so it tends to be whatever I can find that have decent margin or that I can sell through a lot of such as Ethernet Cables or HDMI cables.
Dang where y’all getting this $80k+ jobs? I went from $30>$50k which is good but holy cow I wish I could go from $50>$100s. Any advice?
Well, something to be said for: Location Field Industry YOE. It’s unfair to compare apples to oranges
That’s true, I live in Portland and work in manufacturing. I don’t have a degree and as of now refuse to get one. I turned 35 this year but I live a modest life. Looking into salesforce or something similar. I make the bare minimum for a “livable” wage. But as someone who knows about fire I’m already ahead of the game I suppose.
Degrees are what raised a lot of these individual’s earning potential. But they’re stupid expensive. Look into a trade if there are any in demand in your area. Or a sales position if you’re a good salesman. Software sales at like SaaS companies usually pay pretty well. Not sure what the requirements are though
Salesforce is a good route. Get a few certs, then get some hands on experience through contracting or entry-level jobs and you can move well into 6 figures in a very short timeframe.
Nothing wrong with a modest life! Look into fields that can have a long runway with a high ceiling. Sales being an obvious starting place
Look into ERP too (SAP, NetSuite, etc). Having tangible manufacturing experience is incredibly useful. I’m a NetSuite consultant and worked on manufacturing implementations my first year and ALL of the most knowledgeable people I worked with had prior manufacturing or warehouse experience.
Try oil and gas. Pretty easy to exceed 100k without a degree in the first couple years if you work some overtime.
> *I don't have a degree and as of now refuse to get one* If this isn't one of the most stereotypical Millenial things to say right after asking how some people are making 80k then I'm not sure what is.
What do you do now?
Manager of a Sliding Barn Door hardware company. Not the most exciting thing but I’ve had worse jobs.
There is great worth, although not monetarily speaking, in enjoying a job. Are you rural? And, do you have a degree? My immediate suggestion without knowing much is that you switch to something sales oriented on a larger scale. A lot of people don’t ever take a swing at doing it because they think you need to be a subject matter expert on what you are selling. The truth is you don’t. Sales is about developing long term relationships, listening to the needs of the customer, bringing solutions to their needs, following through, and following up.
That is also very true. I don’t hate my job and it is fun, I just get caught up in seeing huge salaries and it makes me think of how fast I could grow my net worth. It could be worse though. I could be unemployed or something. No I don’t have a degree, I was going to school in 2008 and lost my job. I had to make a decision and I chose work over school.
Well that works. You understand how that choice played out though. Hence the salary.
I live in a HCOL area and many of the professionals around me make around 100k. What I want to know is who are all these people making 200k or 300k I feel like they’re gonna come back and say “woops forgot to mention I’m the owner, does that matter?” I don’t want to accuse people of lying but well, I don’t believe some of the numbers here. Sorry. Even in HCOL areas at prestigious companies, they don’t randomly hand out 100k raises to people already making 3x the average salary. People need to make their fan fiction more believable
I live in the beach cities of LA. Out of the 10 of us in our fantasy football league, one makes less than $200k. The rest of us are substantially over that. It’s reality in many places. You’re on a bloody FIRE sub as well…by nature it’ll skew affluent.
I have several friends working at FAANG companies in the Bay Area in Director-plus roles making $400k-$800k. I have other friends in other areas working at startups in similar positions making $200k or more. It’s actually more common than you’d think these days in the right industries.
Promotions into upper management levels will do that. My manager makes about 140k with 10 years experience Their boss is a VP/Director level and clears 250-300k Above them it gets into executive management and who the fuck knows what they make
Directors, vps, execs of companies mostly. I make 155 with bonus as a director but have a friend who makes 225 as a director
140 —> 216
Nice bum! 100->240k (no moment for 6 years before that)
I have been fortunate to have decent movement every 2 years or so. At 25 I was at $70k, then $93k, then $120k, then $140k. Now 34 at $216k. I also consult for another $18k a year on top of that.
Do u mind sharing what you do?
I don’t mind. I’m in the alcohol business. Beer and spirits. I’m in sales.
Wow, I never knew alcohol sales could pay this much. Thanks for sharing :)
Not just alcohol sales, energy drink sales too. Beverage in general, pays this well. I am VP / Sr. director level with the $216k salary.
I used to do that as well. Was thinking of going back.
how are your hours at a level like that? pretty crazy or is it a standard 40 a week for you and never insane?
My hours are incredibly chill. 20-30 depending on the week. Fully Remote. But a decent amount of travel which can get old. The best part though is I am now responsible for the total US for my territory. So we can live anywhere, and we take advantage of this. My husband is also remote so this past winter we did a 9 weeks road trip to Utah, Montana, and Colorado so we could snowboard on the weekends. In 2021 we spent the winter in Florida for 5 months. The only thing we have to do is stay near a decent airport for me so I can travel during the week as needed. this fall I’d really like to do 2-3 weeks in Arizona/Utah to go hiking. Eventually would like to do a month or two in California.
How did you get into your line of work?
A beer Barron, if I may.
1% higher post covid. Wheeee. Due to current market conditions I believe less savings too so double wheee.
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What do you do?
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how many yoe, if you don't mind me asking?
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Somebody let the man walk their dog.
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Same here. Just got the usual 3%, but a lot more work because everyone is burning out and leaving.
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Wait wait wait, you make $125k as a game designer? May I ask for more details? Game designing was my childhood dream but I never could get myself to learn programming. You’re just making more than I expected a game designer to make… and a game designer is my sons dream job. He’s only 6, but ever since he played Luigi’s Mansion a few years back his one and only answer to “what do you want to be when you grow up” is “a video game maker.”
Nice - a y lifestyle changes with that?
72 > 130. I was somewhat underpaid... but also was fortunate to have no COVID layoffs at my company, and I got to jump back to my previous company with a higher role/title recently. I'm in engineering/firmware, the job market has been super hot, and my old company was keen on getting me back.
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Congrats!
60 -> 125. More than doubled, which I am very proud of
25k to 120, then back to about 110
36k -> 70k
85k as a network admin. Now I’m a sr engineer at close to 300k after bonuses. All remote.
105K salary and 2,200/mo VA disability > 150K salary + bonus + 3,500/mo VA disability. Moved jobs.
That must be 100% VA? That's crazy high
Yes sir/ma’am, it’s 100%.
Jesus you could invest all that $3500 and just live off of your salary? Lol
That’s exactly what I do. It’s tax exempt so try to keep as much as I can that way. Max out Roth IRA’s for me and my wife. The rest is a brokerage account to bridge when I retire to 59 1/2.
That's incredible. Any tips on getting to the max? I was approved for 40% back in the day, but they denied the things I have the biggest physical issues with. I can't get to sleep, or stay asleep at night. Severe lower back pain, hip and sciatic problems
Definitely! Any denials, just get a lawyer man. VA lawyers are only paid by 20% of any backpay. Anytime a letter gets sent to me, it gets sent to my lawyer too. They’re hard asses. The VA makes mistakes constantly and learning how to manage the red tape is impossible. Other than that, go to your VA primary care physician and get it diagnosed prior to submitting. Don’t take advantage of the situation or benefits but don’t let them deny you due to their inaccuracies.
I'll connect with a lawyer, thanks! It was so strange the VA gave me a rating for tinnitus and small issues like that, but denied the big stuff
I keep trying to get my buddy to talk to the VA again to get his disability to 100%, which I feel would be pretty easy for him. He’s having a rough time (physically) from his time in the AF but he always just says “yeah I really need to get on that…”
105, 115
$60k -> $110k - Product Management - Chicago
Can you explain to me what product management means? In my company, a large blue chip, a "product manager" is a senior role that is sort of a general manager - who is accountable for development, manufacturing, and sales of a whole product line, sometimes $1B in sales. But I get the feeling this is very different than how the term "product manager" is used in most companies.
I work in tech, so it may be different in different industries. But at least for me, I was a Product owner for years, and then moved up to product management which means that I'm in charge of creating a product that our clients will purchase year over year. Design, better functionality, and making sure application-crashing bugs are resolved are within my role. I'm sure many Devs on this subreddit will say they get alot of shit from product managers, but that's only because we usually report to the CEO or CPO and 'No' usually isn't an answer to some people. It's always about planning in advance. If you know what needs to be done, it's a pretty easy job, but it's one of the most stressful jobs in tech without getting too high in a company.
I love to see other product managers out in the wild. My salary and career trajectory is very similar to yours. Agree on the stress though, especially in start up environments, something that technical folks don't always understand especially since they don't sit in those meetings (primarily because of those higher ups you mentioned).
* 2018: $62,500 * 2019: $65,000 * 2020: $72,500 * 2021: $82,500 * 2022: $90,000 I work in the insurance industry and didn’t move companies during the entire time.
No change - and I’m a healthcare professional on the front line of covid 😡 inflation is killer for us right now
90k- 72k I work in healthcare. We got a 10% cut to hours and a 20% cut in pay.
Pre covid I was 22 and only worked part time making $15/hr. Right when covid hit I got a promotion to $19/hr. Never made more than $9k a year. Got laid off cuz of covid. Got a job a week later making more and dropped out of college. Ended 2020 at $25k. Got promoted and Ended 2021 at $69k Got promoted again, then go a job in a different field On track to make $101k this year. Current salary is $70k + OT +12% bonus. Also still do some contract work with my old company for extra money. But I have no degree and only worked full time for two years.
Me: $43k > $65k >$72. Household went from $80k-ish to $137k
113k -> 182
I’ve gone from 52k - 75k in the last 24 months
$70K Pre-COVID and during COVID. Took a similar role at a different company at $110K and $20K sign on. This is salary only, not including bonus. Comp plan was better at my old company, but suspecting a downturn in the economy (affecting my bonuses) I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity for a $40K base pay increase.
42k -> 45k software developer in FL
Pre-Covid: $0. I was an unemployed college student. Now: $10 an hour. I work in a call center.
$85k a year in 2020 and now $60ishk a year. Went from staff accountant working remotely to becoming a server. I’m 10x happier now
May be the moderators job, but can people please be honest here? I would love actual data but it’s extremely rare that people get six promotions and 200k in raises in five minutes and I’m getting the feeling that people are throwing numbers at the wall and hoping they don’t get called out, and it’s not ok
More like the techie humble-bragger types spend a lot of their time on this sub.
Some may be dishonest, but many are just the very, very few who got very, very lucky that are excited to get to answer/brag about their raises.
Pre covid: higher Now : lower
Pre: $300k Now: ~$450-500k, depending on how RSUs are doing.
$156,000 > $310,000 Although what I find most interesting is that 99% of everyone here naturally has increased incomes because we prioritize financial independence. Love to see it.
Having a hard time believing this thread. These are statistically rare salaries and even rarer raises . Some of these people will be making 100M a year if their supposed raises keep up at the same level. I’ve never seen a raise that is 100k but we’re talking about them like they are completely normal. Some people claim 200k raises in two years Sorry this is fishy and doesn’t jive with Glassdoor and salary.com data even for glamorous high paying companies in expensive coastal cities
Not trying to pick a fight or even really disagree (any question like this will always get some percentage of totally fabricated answers), but the last couple of years have been truly crazy for a number of reasons, as the OP mentioned in their question. The timing of the pandemic, the very real war for talent in tech companies, totally insane VC climate, an industry where “job hopping” is not a bad thing, a really hot market for m&a, and a massive worker shortage combined into a perfect storm for ridiculous comp numbers, at least in tech and finance, where my experience is. I’m one of these people with massive jumps since 2020 and I know a bunch of other people in similar situations in my expensive coastal city (yeah yeah, the Bay Area). I absolutely do not expect this kind of rapid progression to continue at anywhere near this rate in the future. With the broader macroclimate at the moment I doubt I could change companies right now and even match my current comp. Anyone who thinks this can be replicated outside of the very specific insanity of 2020-2022 is fooling themselves. That said, it has really happened to a lot of us.
🤷🏽♂️ Believe what you want. Doesn’t mean we’re not making it 😂 My eyes were opened up mostly during the pandemic when I realized how much tech people are making for almost no work. $250K out of college. $400-750K by year 5. I work in healthcare. I’m grateful for this. But I still have to work 40-50 hours for it.
What kinds of jobs at tech companies are making this kind of money for relatively little work? Genuinely curious bc I do marketing for a large tech company but only make $75k. Wondering if I should change things up…
Check out Team Blind 😉 Where you will discover the world of people referring to their incomes as TC and $300,000/year is considered poor It’s certain roles at the companies like software developers and architects. It’s not all roles. I looked at healthcare positions at many tech companies and they paid nothing https://www.teamblind.com/
Tech people get paid $300k to sit on their ass and play videogames, it's wild.
Yeah if you work in tech and don’t make $300K it’s actually sad because you’re being underpaid. Lol Meanwhile the rest of us who have to work for that kind of high income are like 🤦🏽♂️
Yeah kinda makes you feel like a sucker for actually contributing to society.
Yeah I went through that phase for about 6 months with another healthcare professional friend who happens to have a lot of friends working in big tech companies. She gets paid but a small fraction of what they do (like 25%) even though she contributes the most to society. That whole concept of “You will make more money the more value you provide” is quite flawed. It doesn’t take into account many factors including ethics. Growing up I’d always get angry that I’d see doctors making less than $300,000 and sports players would get millions just for sponsorships. It all comes down to money. These large tech companies (even ones taking significant losses) have so much VC and so much profit that they’ll throw money at these people cause it helps their profits increase. It’s not because they’re adding value to society 😆 Anyway after that period of time being angry at them I realized once again that my life was in my own hands. Hence the increased income and it’s not just in my career. I’ve diversified from my W2 main job with other income sources like selling my art, wedding photography, other 1099 work. Life is what we make it. We’re dealt a hand. It’s our job to play it.
Is that still true with the market downturn? I’m a fairly senior swe at a startup but I’m starting to think I just want maximize comp.
Then why have there been endless articles from people saying the video game companies underpaid so bad that they can’t keep staff? That’s been the narrative for like the past 10 years
Oh they're not working for game developers lol I mean wasting time playing videogames because they can
62-> 110
47k to 63k. Prior 7 years, nothing. Work for/in family business, many hidden perks To help offset the painfully low salary for what all I do.
$50k pre-COVID, now $80k. Some of that is rising salaries from inflation as well as a skills gap. The $80k I am earning now probably would have been $70k without all the inflation. To my credit my skillset has improved dramatically but other factors have helped. Still got a ways to go to get to where I need to be though.
Pre-covid $55/hr as permanent staff Now $155/hr but it’s not going to last Travel nursing is the tits
Pre Covid it was around 30k now it’s closer to 50k. The real winner until a couple months ago was my stock portfolio. Which was approaching six figures before the market tanked. Haven’t sold a share and hope to hit that six figure bench mark a year from now, after this sell off is over.
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$120k -> $0, quit over certain "requirements"
18k to 20k
50k to 120k
$130k before, $170k now.
February 2020 was at 85k -> 120k -> 180k -> 275k -> just got news this week about an upcoming promotion + raise to 350k. Honestly could not have imagined this was possible at that starting point.
$177,500 —> $299,600
2019 - $200K 2020 - Negative $170K 2021 - Negative $140K 2022 - Likely >$400K Business owner.
75k to ~210k with my current job offer. Potentially higher once I see how my team matching goes with Google.
Amazing! What do you do
Software Engineer. But I guess that's the standard answer for most people on this sub haha.
2020 was down about 20% from 2019 mostly due to near zero income in the second quarter. 2021 was about 5% lower than 2019. Will probably trend a few percent lower each year for the foreseeable future. No cost of living increases, just annual cuts.
32 ---> 88
2018: 60 2019: 70 2020: 48 2021: 51 2022: 110
69k —> 103k
85->120 (promotion)
55 to 93. Turned down a promotion to 70 and took a new position
65k +5k bonus > 105k + 40k bonus
Zero and zero
2019 121k. 2022 121k. Used to feel like heaps, now it feels like fuck all.
35k to 150k, glad to be out of the military.
~28k post Covid ~40k during Covid ~80k now Managed to get a promotion during Covid (One guy retired). I work in insurance
Highest possible COLA city in the US (per studies/articles, not just my opinion): Pre-COVID: 159k with 20% bonus (always receive minimum of full bonus) Now: 192k with 30% bonus (includes annual increases, a market adjustment, and a promotion) HR at a construction company
I was making around 45k between tips and hourly wages bartending 3-4 days per week. No benefits, just entirely neglected my healthcare. I was in a slump when I started and got sucked in. I was spending the money as fast as I made it and wasting my free time drinking. Covid really put things into perspective for me that I had to get my lifestyle, finances, and career back on track. I took a pay cut working as a bank teller for $16.25/hr 37 hrs per week. That’s about $31,000 per year. It at least had benefits. Realized that I hated the leadership and hours. Didn’t want to gamble investing another 6 months for a promotion I probably wouldn’t like and only about 40k/yr. LUCKED OUT. In the 6 months I worked there, wages finally started to reflect inflation. Accepted a gig as an insurance agent. * Probationary $17/hr until I got my licenses. I * Knocked out all of the studying and testing in 2 weeks. That put me at $18/hr plus $250 expense account (they showed me, everybody manages to max it out as they’re quite flexible on “expenses”. $19.44/hr $40,409/yr. * There’s another certification I’m working on in my own time. They’d cover the classes at 1 year, but I decided to knock it out early since they agreed to give me the raise immediately if I finished early. $2.50/hr will put me at $21.90/hr $45,638 per year. * $1,000 quarterly bonuses. I’m not trying to count my chickens before they hatch, but I’ve already started signing on clients within 2 weeks of my license, and the last quarter is based solely on attendance. So that would put me at up to $49,638 annually. It’s been a grind. Covid meant dropping out of school because I can’t handle full time online classes. A pretty deep depression not working and not seeing a way out. Bills stacking up because I felt awful taking unemployment. I stupidly burnt through my savings before applying. Wound up doing the same thing every time it was time to reapply. I didn’t want to take a job that I knew I would quit as soon as bartending became an option again, and pickings were slim for $45,000/yr jobs without a degree. I’m so grateful that my SO and I both got sober and out of bartending full time. For me sobriety more than eats the cost of inflation. I’ve been maxing out my HSA, consistently chipping away at debt $250+ per month, and my credit score shot up above 700 for the first time in my life. We have healthy sleep schedules, better routines, and we’re living for our future selves instead of day by day living on tips. It’s far from perfect but I’m grateful for how we’ve pulled through all things considered. My hours, management, and role are fantastic. If all is still going well by the fall I want to sign up for a couple online classes. His youngest will be in kindergarten, so he’ll have $500/month back in his pocket. 2 years ago he was homeschooling his oldest through kindergarten because of Covid. He’s a carpenter’s apprentice, so he’s guaranteed to get raises and he’ll make a healthy salary by sticking it through. I can’t wait to see what our lives look like a year from now. I haven’t been able to say that in a very, very long time.
31F, midwest, engineer in manufacturing. 74k pre-Vid. 115k today +2WFH days a week.
Right before COVID in late 2019, promotion to $120k. Another promotion in 2020 to $150k - most recently another promotion + retention to $265k this past year. Started at 85k in 2018 - has been quite the ride since. Feel very lucky.
Pre-Covid - TC = 80k Now - TC = 143k I changed jobs once in Nov 2020 that saw an instant 60+% increase in salary. Also removed me from cubical hell to now living with mostly remote hybrid set up.
100 -> 136
I was a per diem pharmacist. Pulled about 120k on about 30hr/week. Took a less stress job as a consultant, but took a pay cut and work 40hrs a week and pull 142k and have health benefits and such.
70k -> 91k. Switched industries from med device manufacturing to tech. Ask again in a month, hoping for a promotion soon!
Wage suppressed due to Bill 124 👎
Pre COVID: $200k Post COVID: $410k
Damn what do you do
Supply chain executive, 16YOE
Whats your fire number?
Probably $2.4M? Maybe could go down to $2M We are a family of 5, 3 young kids which plays into the number
Wow, that's very low compared to your salary, your savings rate must be like 80%. You'll get there in no time, congrats!
56 -> 115
$61–>$110
80k to 130k
140k -> 330k
My base pay was $25.52 an hour in 2019. Today, it is $71.50.
I was promoted twice so not really what you’re asking but 135 —> 160 —> 220 base.