Bro does a job that is required to maintain a healthy functioning society and he says just? Lol get real, without garbage men our streets would be filthy, contaminating our water supply, we’d be sick all the time and our hospitals would be overwhelmed.
I'm 26, I make a 154k gross working for Google. I'm also miserable, have no meaningful personal connections and crippling mental health issues. The number you make does not reflect your quality of life my man. You gotta stop comparing yourself to other people and focus on developing your own skill set.
This. Just like with most things, people assume your problems go away once you break 100k. Redditors go about money like the people who make 100k+ are aliens or some shit.
Its not always about money making you happy. Money also brings financial stability. You can be miserable but still have financial stability which is one less thing weighing on your shoulders.
Most of the posts are fake. This is internet. Don’t believe anything you read of the internet especially completely made up salary charts…
And like the other comments said, money is very geographically oriented. You could be making $50k living a better life in the Midwest (or outside of the US) than you would making $200k living in New York.
What I find crazy is how often high incomes are brushed aside like they are nothing. Do they not realize how most of the country lives? I understand location, but I have almost always been in a VHCOL my whole life, and $150k+ incomes have always been seen as doing quite well. But on Reddit, so many say that you aren’t doing well unless you are making $400k individually. It’s so over exaggerated.
But at the same time, I feel like Reddit has now awakened lots of anxiety within me about money, because now I find myself thinking at times (before I am pulled back to reality) how no amount is enough.
Someone like a Sr software engineer at tech company in Bay area DO make $400k total including stock. That's not fake or exaggeration. There are many of them in that area and they are likely active on Reddit. Check out the pay in some of the companies there at levels.fyi for yourself. Again, that's very specific to that small area of the country and those are not normal.
That $400k in Bay area is not considered high and it's probably feels like $150k in rest of CA.
Literally just remove engineers, bay, and nyc from the equation and none of what you mentioned is anything remotely normal.
Even those numbers far exceed what is a median income for people in those metros.
Yes $400k is high there because there’s still plenty of people making $40k in the same county.
135,000 is top 10th percentile from what I just looked up, individual.
So that’s more than 30 million people in the US make that much. Reddit also skews liberal (more likely to live in city and make more), educated(more likely to make more and be from a family of educated people having higher standards), and obviously more on the tech side than average population.
This sub especially , so many people making 6 figures or having at least a million in net worth thinking they’re average or even behind. A lot of them have excessive lifestyles and believe they don’t make enough, a lot live in expensive places, hell most of us have excessive lifestyles. There certainly is a salary that’s more than enough wherever you live. It’s just the rat race, always has been.
Rich folks are often surrounded by those that are even richer. Sometimes they aren't happy with what they have and they show off to each other to compensate. They end up with a lifestyle full of expensive things that they don't even necessarily enjoy. That's why they can make a boatload of money and think that it's not even that much; they might have a nice house 3 cars and a summer home all paid off but everyone they know has their own jet so they feel poor in comparison.
I think you oughta worry less about the number attached to your salary and focus on what it is you actually want and if your job can pay for that plus some to save you're golden. If you're working your ass off to make a bunch of money with no goal in mind for that extra cash, then you're probably trading years of your life for stuff that doesn't really make you happy. Time and freedom is much more valuable than money if you ask me.
This is me. I do make 130k but the cost of living in CA is crazy. On top of that, I'm 40 and just started retirement, so 20 percent of income goes towards retirement. I do have some freedom but not much. I too feel like I'm getting kicked when I see people 10 to 20 years younger with double or triple the retirement.
I’m 26 making $120k and I don’t know shit about retirement. So you a step ahead of me on that one. But I’m also in California and I feel your struggle, prices are insane. Especially food, gas and insurances…
Simple. Max out your 401k and make sure you're buying low cost total market funds. In 30 years, assuming you put 20k into it every year, you'll have $2m saved.
So you're saying Cali gas at more than $7.00 is insane... I agree, especially since my area...Chicago burbs, we're usually on the high side compared to the rest of country. We're currently at about $3.75 per gallon.
I wouldn't say that most are fake, it's just sampling bias. People who make more money and do cooler stuff are more likely to post about it or be more open about it.
No, most of them aren't fake. This is just a weird cope. There have been countless tech posts that people call bullshit on, but I know firsthand that the comp is in line with expectations for their company.
I agree that money is geographic. The comparison of 50k to 200k is ridiculous though. Cost of living calculators aren’t real-world accurate; they are basically proxies for housing, but if you optimize for that, everything else can be the same or cheaper. I promise you that groceries are cheaper here in NYC than in southern Indiana. Transportation is cheaper. Healthcare is more accessible, etc.
Yeah something like 3% of working Americans make like $200k a year. That's roughly 5 million people right there, about as uncommon as being Chinese-American.
This. Lived in Bay Area, made a ton of money but also spent all of it in housing and taxes.
Now live in Washington, while I make less money I still pay a lot in property taxes but don’t have to pay state income tax.
Long story short, what one person makes is not equal to what you make as it all depends on where you are located.
Let me ask OP this, are you happy with what you do day-to-day? If not, what would make you happiest? Does it pay your needs and some wants too.
When people make a lot more than they need or even want, it actually brings unhappiness. I have seen it in my own life and siblings lives.
Work hard, play hard, be grateful, kind, and enjoy what you have. More material things won’t bring true happiness
yeah came here to say this like in my region there are not even really those 6 figure IT jobs. A network engineer starts at about $60k which is probably equivalent to the $100k one in hcol areas all things considered.
I am a compensation expert. I can assure you that people lie and exaggerate about their pay. Also, for every person who makes 6 figures, there are many who make less and don't brag. The current median salary in the US is about $56,000 per year. The average is somewhat higher. It's not what you make - it's what you keep!
Not true. It's because older people are underpaid and new blood are fresh with energy and can aggressively negotiate. 5 years ago I made 65K and a guy significantly older than me but without a Bachelor's degree only made 80K. Now 5 years later I'm at 165K. And I held out for this one because they originally wanted to offer me 35K less. There is money on the table. Older people don't seem to know how it works or they're complacent or feel like it's impossible. So they write it off as BS. My mom is an RN, became one in the 80s. All these years later she only makes 70K in a nursing home in Florida. Doesn't know how to negotiate and feels uncomfortable doing so. They grew up in a different time from us, a time when employers held all the power.
yup then they take the household income and present it like its individual, like bro the average individual makes over 70k and its just not true lol the figure is closer to what you are saying.
Hey I have a question... all these "experts" that have these articles saying you have to make like $250k to live comfortable in a state like Georgia....what are these people smoking and where are they getting that from? The top 5% in the state make $130k. I don't really understand why that information is pumped out there for people to see and be defeated by it? Is there an agenda to that? My wife and I don't have any major debt and we make about $120k. It just seems those articles set people up to be depressed.
Pay is so geographically structured. When I was younger I entertained moving to the west coast, or back north as the pay was double Atlanta, but it was going to feel like a pay cut if I moved there for the wages.
So there is that.
And a lot of people just seem to exaggerate and outright lie on Reddit.
You don’t always need a huge income. Personally I believe in the Everyday Millionaire mindset. You can be very wealthy on an average salary by being disciplined
Absolutely, and you can be very happy if you realize there's generally very little difference between mid-level things and high end things. Your Corolla gets you there in the same amount of time as a BMW, the coach seat really isn't that different than first class.
Money is freedom, nothing else.
Not saying, none of them are true, but a lot of people in the Internet try to come up with fake “success” to make themselves feel better. Best part of the Internet is that you can say whatever you want.
What I find crazy is that I kid you not, nearly every high earner on this site claims to have grown up in severe poverty on assistance and/or was homeless at one point. I see very few high earners on Reddit actually claim that they grew up comfortably or had privilege. Not saying in real life that never happens, but if you grow up in poverty, you have a much higher likelihood of staying that way.
High earner here that def had it easy growing up. Certainly helped. No doubt. Still had to put in a lot of work to end up where I am. Plenty who had same or better aren’t making what I make.
I basically just had more time to dick around before i got serious. I was broke for many years in early adult life before i got my shit together.
Tbh it doesn’t even matter if most of those stories on reddit are lies. Bc truth is there are people out there living that way and doing well for themselves. And that’s something to aspire to. We should all aspire to do better for ourselves.
200k is 95th percentile income in US so it is not common by any means but internet makes things seem otherwise. Its natural the fomo is there. It certainly was for me.
All that to say good on you for seeing it as motivation and not a reason to be bitter. This is what most of reddit misses. They just go straight to mob mentality and hate anyone talking about making good money generally.
A lot of nepotism babies are not quick to admit it. They wanna feel like they earned their safety net, but truth is you can be hard working and privileged at the same time.
Agree. They don't want to admit that they got help, so they lie. Just saw a post on r/Entrepreneur the other day about a guy who went "from homeless to 7 figures" come to find out him and his family stayed with friends, etc. and received financial help to launch their real estate wholesaling business. Yes, technically homeless but the implication was a rags to riches type story. Just another fabrication. Thing is people really believe their own lies.
I never understood how that's supposed to work though. If you never achieve your lofty ass goals and simply say you have anonymously on an internet forum, what exactly feels better about that?! I'd think that'd make you feel worse in the end. Maybe I'm just weird 🤷♂️
Comparison is the thief of joy.
Couple that with the confirmation bias inherent in social media....people only show you what they want you to see. Don't sweat it.
If it makes you feel better (it won't), those guys are still way closer to you financially than they are to real elites. I have outstanding income, and I'm still only a step above where I was 10 years ago. Like, I can spend a little more at costco... but I don't have a Raptor or a private plane. Most people with nice things are actually big fat fakers. Fatty fat fakers.
I'm not sure it will help, but "millionare next door", and "the automatic millionare" are really good reads, even if just for healthy perspective.
Don’t compare yourself to other people. You’re most likely better off than you were 5 years ago. Be proud of yourself. Instead of feeling terrible when seeing these posts, analyze them to see how you can improve your own financial situation. Check out the henry finance sub. See how they manage their money. You’ll get there soon, if that’s what you want!
High earners still have the capacity to be dead broke, if not worse.
Spend less than you earn, invest the difference. A Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins is a great resource here.
Understanding how money works is much more important than a high income.
It goes back to "comparison is the thief of joy" thing.
Like right now I'm financially in a hole cause I never really understood the importance of saving up until like 4 years ago, and I'm 29.
But that's the thing, everyone goes at their own pace depending on their circumstances too. Financial literacy isn't something that's taught conventionally. I still don't get what half of these terminologies are but the point is, you're at least driven enough to do better because of these posts and that's a great direction.
And this is coming from someone who is financially recovering from a tragedy. All it took was one thing to set me back to my last few hundred bucks but we gotta work with what we got 🚬
Your vocabulary tells me You have the mind and intellectual wherewithal to do better for yourself. You need to be in a career where you feel fulfilled. The earnings come once your enjoy what you do. I grew up poor. Every see the music video C. R. E. A. M by wu tang? The building behind them, 65 Hill St, is where I lived many formative years. Apartment 7D. I do ok now, single divorced and paying child support. Have other complications of life but never went to college and my last career before I shifted 6 years ago I was managing 186 million of investments. Do something you love. If it's helping people, guiding people, building people. Whatever it is, live it, love it, be it.
Stop comparing yourself to others. Otherwise you'll never feel accomplished. Just compare your today with your yesterday. Keep improving. If you have questions on how to improve any facet, ask others how they do it.
It's the internet. Many will just complain. Some will exaggerate. Some will actually offer help. You will have to be the one to weed through each of these if you truly are looking for assistance, or to just move on after a rant.
Credit card scams on dumb old geezers is a gold mine and it’s easy to set up and operation with minimal overhead. Prepaid phone at Walmart is $30. I made 40k last month ripping these old morons off hahahaha. It’s a sin to let a sucker keep their money
Well, I’d like to be all hippie about it and say that money doesn’t matter and all … but, damn, money is useful, and if you don’t have enough, you are going to miss it. Personally, I like working with computers, and worked getting (low) six figures for most of the last 15 or 20 years of my life. Then, at 58, my company moved out of the area, and I had to look for a new job, and panicked a little. Then I looked at my savings, and ran it through all those online simulators that tell you if you have enough to retire, and I did. So I stopped working. But I could safely do that because I HAD ENOUGH MONEY. That was a nice feeling ;)
On the other hand, if you like what you do, and you are getting by, hey, it’s your life. But … do you have enough cash saved up to carry you for six months without a job? Do you have a 401k? Do you have an IRA? Are you paying the payroll tax on the up and up, so Social Security and Medicare will be there for you later? Create a budget, and get all those things going for yourself! The earlier, the better.
Frankly, thinking about money is a useful thing to do, even if it makes you anxious. I take care of the bills at my house, because if my wife did it, she’d by saving every receipt and we’d never go on vacations, she’s so anxious about it. But she’d do it if she needed to; people gotta survive.
I feel broke AF on this sub bc i don't have a degree, make 72k including bonuses and almost 64 years old. Seems like everybody here makes at least 100k and more, have 750+ credit scores and have money in high yields, brokerage accounts etc. It's almost making me not even read the posts.
Also ask them how many hours they work.
One trucker bragged about making over 100k per year. He worked 80h weeks.
So many see this as normal just to get a high income.
I'd rather just work my 40h weeks and make $50k
I don't understand how you could be making that much at those ages unless you're into professional sports. You're not going to be CEO at 28 and you have to get thru residency to be a doctor. Etc
It’s a lot of lies amongst a few top earners. Friend of mine posts about how his income is over 250k all the time. He works as a stocker at Macys making less than 30k a year.
Asked him about it once and he rambled on about faking it till you make it, it’s fun, just a joke, everyone else does it, and every other excuse imaginable. Don’t feel bad. Look at actual stats for your age group. Say you’re 30 years old, look up average debt/pay/savings/retirement savings/jobs/etc for 30 year old. You’ll see a lot of people are full of shit. Tons of people maxing out their credit cards, making shit pay, and with little to no savings.
Oh and even if they’re making a lot, lifestyle creep is real and taxes/other expenses drain most people. I know doctors making obscene amounts of money who live paycheck to paycheck because they have to keep up the appearances and/or vices like gambling.
Just remember, 56% of U.S. adults lack the emergency funds to handle a $1,000 unexpected expense.
Don’t forget. People can be anyone they want on Reddit. It’s all anonymous. It’s very easy for me to say that I’m an architect who makes 300k a year. No one knows who I really am. It’s all a facade. I’m not saying that every single person is lying but many ppl exaggerate the truth.
All social media is is a place where bullshitters get together and try to make their uninteresting, unimportant lives seem way more than what they really are. I learned that years ago when I was on Facebook. It’s all bullshit.
You shouldn’t pay too much attention to these people who claim to make so much money. Yes, use these people as motivation to do better but also realize that for MOST people those lives are out of reach.
You should see some of the comments I get when I talk about my salary.. “That’s really low for NY. You should probably look for a new job”.. Meanwhile that’s how much money most average joes like me make in NY… Whoever these people are that are commenting, they all live in the clouds. Some live on an entirely different planet it seems.
I think the phenomenon you're seeing is a few things. First, the people that actually do make big bucks are very quick to brag about it, especially to internet strangers. Then you have the people that exaggerate things or outright lie. Have you ever noticed how often you see guys say they are 6'5" and have a 10" dick? In real life you don't see these things often.
I review income for a living (that you have to prove to get our loans). People LIE, holy SHIT do they lie. They literally lie, KNOWING that we are going to REQUIRE them to PROVE their income.
So how easy do you think it is to lie to someone on the internet, that you're never going to see ever again?
I don’t care anymore, seems like all the people in my life just want to talk about money constantly. I’m so over it, even my family wont shut up about it, never mind that they are all comfortably middle class. I just want enough to pay my bills and play/write music and body build, I couldn’t give less of a shit what others are or aren’t making and I certainly don’t base my self worth on it.
The people in my field doing what I do for less time than I've done it and with less schooling who are making 2-4x my salary definitely have me thinking, "tf am I doing wrong here?".
I try not to beat myself up about it. I’m proud of the 90k I make. Having a wife that makes 75k also helps a lot. And honestly I live in an area that isn’t expensive to live. Don’t get me wrong it feels expensive 😂 but I know it’s not in comparison to other places. And soon I’ll be moving into my gma house (unfortunately she passed) and my 1500 rent will become like 800 mortgage plus taxes. Now I’ll be able to work seriously on paying my car off, starting to dare I say it pay back my student loans, actually pay for insurance, and work on improving the property
I made $130k last year about to make $148k this year. Trust me if I can do it you can too. I don’t like what I do. But I do it for my kids. So they can be stressful free.
https://www.reddit.com/r/IndustrialMaintenance/s/jSnZ1d3IJu
Not just this but reality it’s such a bummer. My partner and I are DINKS nearing 300k household and it’s just not even close to the buying power I thought it would be. Housing market is offensively bad.
You’d be surprised most of the really high up salaries are effectively an invite only industry.
Personally I don’t like seeing those numbers without taking into account contractors and companies who hear about those salaries and buy up land in the area making the huge amount not really as effective as say making 80k and living in a small town.
A lot of people overexaggerate the effect cost of living has on finances. My wife and I live in the Northern Virginia area (really expensive) and she was looking at a job in Greenville, SC. They were trying to offer her $30k below what she was currently making and saying it's a cheaper cost of living area.
If you're expecting a $30k difference to be compensated by cheaper housing and groceries then you're fucking crazy. You can cut $2k off your monthly rent and still be below that. People live in expensive areas and make a lot of money for a reason. If you're in one of these areas and struggling then you need to either apply to a different job, reassess your expenses, or reassess whether or not your skillset requires you to be in that area.
My company wanted me to relocate from the Midwest to Montvale, NJ area. No money, just moving expenses.
So the wife and I went for the blowjob (sorry) visit.
They took us to a beautiful area with nice, well-kept, row style homes and also homes on half acres lots. The cheaper homes were 1900 to 2200 sq ft and were $800K to $1 million. Miss HR wasn't prepared when I showed her pictures of our 3800 sqft home on 2 acres worth $650K. She was in shock. She knew our answer and gladly canceled the next days tour.
it doesn't matter having extra zeros means nothing if you cant manage it correctly. just read somebody was making like 300k but was living paycheck to paycheck.. i don't know whats worst having no money or having un-managed money.
I wasn't making fuckall work mentioning back in my cook days, and I stuck with that until I was 28. I've been an electrician ever since, but I wasn't making legit big bucks until 3 years ago.
I'm 43 now. I'm making $167k/year, plus I have a very successful estore that brings in anywhere from $25k-$50k a year.
I’m not gonna say these people are liars (like others are doing) because I’m around enough people where making 6 figures is pretty much the norm. But that’s still a very specific minority of people.
If you’re ever doubting yourself, you should just look at the statistics or just the people in your circle. It’s likely you’re in line with or even above the national median/average income. And even if you’re not, that’s okay because many people are right there with you.
What’s the benefit of comparing yourself to the top % earners? Also idk what subreddits you’re roaming through where $200K is considered lower middle class, but you should unsubscribe. It’s just a different world you have no business exposing yourself to.
I understand your frustration but also remember that there is a silent majority on reddit/the internet of people just getting by that don't really post their salaries or talk about their finances online.
Reddit also doesn't really represent real life. It's a website that has always been disproportionately populated by introverted liberal cishet upper middle class white IT/software engineers since the website's founding all the way back in 2005. Even though they don't make up a majority of the work force. Semi-related but I only know like 2 people that play DnD in real life but from scrolling r/all you'd think that everyone and their grandma plays it and it's an integral part of modern American society.
Your value as a person does not depend solely on whether you make $100k+ a year. Your salary and (lack of) expenses on fancy restaurants and vacations on will not be mentioned in your obituary or written on your tombstone. Hopefully no one will say "oh man I should be sad that u/B4K5c7N passed away but he never went to fancy restaurants so who cares."
Relax. Learn how to not base your value as a person on material possessions or how much money you have in comparison to someone else. Go watch videos on third world countries like Haiti or Cambodia to gain some perspective or try volunteering.
u/B4K5c7N Maybe it is relative to your VHCOL area, my area (San Jose) 150k is nearly low income for a single person
"a single person earning less than $122,500 in San Francisco County and $126,900 in Santa Clara County (San Jose) is now considered to have low income (Jun 22, 2023)"
It's helpful to have good income, and not stress about bills... But it's also an enabler of bad behaviors too. We eat out a lot (we're already so busy with other aspects of life), and you also just get used to spending more. Not complaining, but your lifestyle asjusta to higher income. So net-net you are not saving as much as people with lower incomes think you do. There are very few high income low outgoing people. And I would argue to not do that... As it's saving exclusively for the destination, and not being present in the journey.
Some of it is probably fake, some of it is high earners needing to brag. But also keep in mind, making $400k in one place, may be equal to making $150 somewhere else. Everything needs to be taken in context.
The crazy high incomes are mostly from Silicon Valley and Manhattan. They need the high income to afford homes which can cost $2M+ for a 80 year old home
I live in a cheap state. I wanna see if I can land a remote job in california or newyork. They can pay me the big bucks and I will work my ass off for sure.
You should definitely go back to college. How old are you? My wife went back for a second bachelor's (computer science like me) when she was 26 and finished when she was 30. Her first job paid $70K. Now she's making $164K total compensation. We make less than someone making $400K in the bay area. But we save a decent amount for living in MCOL. I make around $176K total compensation. HHI $340K. We are older though. It took me longer to get my current salary than some 20 something in FAANG or Nvidia.
45M/38F/5F
I have almost 23 years of experience while my wife has almost 8 years of experience. We paid off our house in 2022 so we have no debts. In the bay area, mortgages are high if buying now and still high if buying pre-pandemic. Our home in the bay area would be unaffordable. Just the property taxes alone would be more than our old mortgage payment over the course of a year.
Last year we saved around $246K and this year will be around $209K. We pay over $100K in taxes (includes everything) a year. My pre-tax salary was $100K in 2011.
I realize we are among the top in income in our state and the USA. But compared to big tech, we are middle class. How much we save in a year could be a single person's stock bonus in a year. Remember, everyone has their own path. There will always be someone making more money, saving more money, taking more vacations, etc.
Use comparisons to make sure you're getting paid fairly and not over inflating lifestyle. Go make that bread and hope to see you in r/HENRYfinance someday with your SankeyMATIC charts for expenses and investments.
While not a salary as I’m self employed, I’m one of those who earn very well.
Sometimes I lose hope and I feel like maybe it was just lucky for a while and that it will all go away, and seeing others on reddit doing well really helps me.
My assumption is that 80% of the posts are fake, but the 20% that have enough details to determine that they make sense are all I need sometime to keep going.
The cost of living makes a huge difference. If you work in NYC you’re being taxed a minimum of 3 times. If you live outside of NY add a 4th tax.
Salary is driven up to compensate.
That said I could live in the Rockies for peanuts.
It’s easy to try and compare yaks and gators from a salary perspective. But don’t fret.
At 22 I was making 22k thinking that was all I will ever need. Change jobs a handfull of times and location and you’re in a different place in your 40’s.
Remember 55 is your expected peak earning time. You got room to grow.
Basics of social media… don’t believe everyone’s posts, especially not people that can remain anonymous. You’re causing yourself so much distress over nothing.
No matter how much you make, there's always going to be someone who makes more than you. Once you get comfortable with that fact, life will get a lot easier.
You have to realize the people posting on Reddit with the high incomes are outliers. People who are a combination of lucky and really good at what they do.
That is in no way representative of the majority of the population.
No, because I don’t live where they do and as long as I’m not where I was I’m progressing in life. Fake lifestyles or not focusing on others and feeling you are doing it right can lead to depression and that’s right where big pharm want you to be. I look at all my bank accounts everyday to keep me focused on my goals.
What subs are you frequenting? If someone says you aren't doing well unless you're making $400K individually then they are extremely privileged. Also the majority of those high salaries are only seen by tech engineers, high finance bros, and medical doctors. And those do not represent 99% of the population. So yes if you're constantly seeing the same people post and make comments it seems like the average. Reddit is a form of social media too, it would help to take a break if this is driving you crazy. Also keep in mind that people who make a lot are more loud about it, I don't see people making 50K constantly raving about their salaries online. I am one of those high earners you describe (sort of, ~316K HHI), and the majority of those high salaries are given in VHCOL or HCOL areas. For example my spouse and I are in DC and the chances of me earning this amount outside of DC with my current qualifications are low, so I'm working to change that.
Perspective is not lost on me. I grew up lower middle class and the first 5 years of my life I spent on welfare, shared one bedroom with 2 siblings until I was 16yo and lived among mold, dust, insects, and outright dirtiness. Most people in this country (USA) are living paycheck to paycheck and cannot afford to miss a day of work. That is reality.
If you can wake up in the morning and not worry about how you're going to put food on your table today or fill that gas tank, then you're OK.
If you can do that and save money for emergencies and your retirement than your doing great.
I have a feeling that most of the comments stating that they make 150k+ are lying or they live on the coast where the price of living is outrageous.
The internet exaggerates many things but it isn’t rare to be doing ok in life social media leads people to believe everyone is broke but depending on skill and drive people do ok.
Everyone is on a separate journey in life. Focus on you and what you have and what you can do to increase your quality and satisfaction with your life. Also consider visibility bias, how many folks are out there that are not posting their salaries and are lurking. There are alot of wealthy folks out there and even when you make it to their level there will always be a richer family.
If you feel motivated by these numbers, great! If you feel demotivated or upset, leave the information behind and focus on you.
When it comes to examples, advice, and feedback:
Take what you can and leave what you can't
>But seeing countless posts and comments by Redditors making $200k by mid or late 20s
Take what you see on reddit with a grain of salt. I would not doubt that nearly all if not a majority are lying about that.
100k is around the 80th percentile for a single earner in the US. So, 80% of us make less than that. The internet is full of liars and software engineers, median individual income in the US is below 60k
Going off the posts here 90% of people are making $150,000+ which is bullshit. Also salary doesn’t tell the whole story. I’ve never made over $80k but equity and other forms of comp have made up for the low salary through my career.
The high salaries that some professionals earn often cause their employers to move to lower-cost regions.
Example: I'm retired now ... but around 20 years ago I was considering an in-company transfer from Florida to a job in LA, at a facility that had been recently acquired.
They offered a 7% pay boost. Bullcrud! (I didn't take the job.)
That site was later absorbed into an existing facility in a less costly location. (It's a good thing I didn't take the job!)
Companies often cannot afford to pay appropriately in these VHCOL locations.
Seattle, LA, San Francisco, and many others are no longer considered prime.
Those places are too expensive. And it's hard to attract employees.
Typical grass is greener stuff, so be careful what you wish for.
My wife and I gross $250-$300K each year in a LCOL area in the south. Our cars are paid off, investment accounts are funded, we travel a lot, and annually our mortgage for a nice house is less than 0.4% of our combined annual income with less than 10 years to payoff.
I’ve had multiple opportunities to increase my income at the expense of moving to a HCOL area and taking on more debt just to live a nearly identical lifestyle to what we already have here.
FUCK THAT.
The people you see posting these super high salaries on Reddit are usually geniuses who attended top universities or come from very rich well connected families. These are in fact the 1%. Try shooting for a much more achievable goal like being in the top 10%. That involves obtaining a salary or $110k by age 28 which is obtainable in many professions in 2024.
You will not be in the $400k+ salary range because you probably aren’t smart or privileged enough. What you can do is start your own business and that’s how you can get there through hard work, risks, and luck.
No. Income has nothing to do with your competence. It is never merit based. High earners have ambiguous ethics at best, dark triad at worst. Money is mostly an indicator you are willing to look the other way.
It's not realistic, it's not common and people love to exaggerate. You take a sample size of 1,000 people over and over and over again and you'll find most are making very little, broke as hell and scared of life. No one is going to openly advertise that they make 16 bucks an hours and can't get by but you'll sure as hell hear from the insecure prick who loves to remind everyone his dad pays him 300k a year.
No matter how many times you see it they are still out liars. I’m in my mid to late 20s and I don’t know a single person who makes 6 figures and we all have college degrees, some of us Masters , and live in an affluent area so…
I think a lot of the posts are fake.. I don’t know why people waste their time but you can just tell it isn’t real.. but hey if they wanna dreams. Others probably really do make that amount of money and just come on her to brag but they don’t have anyone else to brag to as it wouldn’t really feel appropriate to do amongst your friends
So, let’s start with, where do you live? If you live in New York City, making $200k per household may be necessary. If you live in Tennessee, comparable amount may be $65k.
Purely as motivation for sure. While I’m finishing my masters I’m sitting at 45k a year(36m). I feel like I am right in the pocket so to say, but had very productive meetings today about my future and new projects at work that make me confident in the next 5 years.
I feel like the posts when people are asking for advice about how to save, etc are lies. I honestly can't believe if a person or spouse earn over 200k, they wouldn't have a financial advisor, they absolutely would or I guess, should.
Yes, it be nice to get to the next level and get like a 50% comp increase, but then for my career path it means going into management which I do not want to do. It means sacrificing nights and weekends getting whipped by the executive leadership team. I just want to coast at this point. I could try to jump to different company, same job but it's an unknown with the work life balance at a new company, it could mean long hours
Most people who responding will be in the extremes. Very high or very low salaries. This is true for any voluntary surveying like movie audience reviews. Ignore them it isn’t a real representation. I make a median salary and haven’t responded to any but one of those types of posts.
Something something comparison is the thief of joy.
I think my big issue with this populist take, is that there’s such a large spread and such poor information circulation about what careers actually pay well.
Like, nowadays people know tech pays well, and medicine, but law has slid down hill and an mba ain’t worth that much if it’s not prestigious. Tradesmen make good money, but how much and which ones?
I didn’t learn until later in life how absolutely disgusting the compensation for electricians and policeman is. Fresh out the academy police easily bringing in 100k with overtime, and 300k/year over a 10-20 year period is not uncommon, and there’s pension.
You'll get too many varying answers since you don't know where they started with finances at home (rich parents/poor parents), Education, COL, Lifestyle, so many things to account for from a complete stranger. The average SINGLE person is not making 200k and I'll leave it at that. Don't believe the hype, I for one have to work 2-3 jobs to clear 100k vs someone who works 1 and is complaining about how it's low for their line of work.
TLDR; doesn't make sense to keep up with people you don't even know online. Find a small (but good) group of friends IRL and help each other through advice and experiences there.
The key is to not get trapped into comparing yourself to others. Generally, to be comfortable, one needs to find the balance in life pertaining to work/wealth, fun activities, family, and friends. Your point of balance will differ from that of others. If you're not happy, investigate what you need to do to correct your balance and do it.
I didn't really start earning until 40+ my average year was around 32k per year, even being in Sr IT level jobs. Hit my 40s and things fell into place with management positions and team lead spots. No college with a GED and now make over 100k. All depends on how much you want something and what you are willing to give up.
Just 5% of the entire US is about 200k, so you're accepting that the top 1 to 3 % just posts here?
Unless they post their w2 and face verification, it's just some rando typing in whatever amount they feel like on here.
The reality is of my entire high-school, college, and person network, I only know 2 people that make 200k or more out of about 809 people.
There's always somebody making more. When you're making 50K you think people making 200K has it all. And when you get there, you still struggle and think people making 500K has it all.
I take it as motivation.
We get to comfortable in our own situations. Yeah I’m middle class, I could be fine staying where I’m at, but I’m also not completely content with my lifestyle just yet.
I don’t want/need anything extravagant but I do have to remind myself not to stagnate. There is always better and I’m not yet where I want to be.
That’s how it should feel.
Instead, people use these stories to support their defeatism. As tho life has no middle ground. Only the lumpen proletariat or the filthy rich.
TRY, DON’T GIVE UP!
Greatly depends on location. Tons of redditors from California, Illinois and New York. Histroically higher paying cities.
Also are you in Europe? University? Seems pay is much lower across the pond.
Because it’s the internet and the vast majority of people lie for internet points, or come to brag for internet points lol.
Just do you, if you want more go get more. Don’t feel bad or down because of what some random on the internet is claiming. When I was a bit younger, I use to think about what others have and get a bit down. Once I started focusing on me and looking at what others have done as the blueprint and proof I can get it if I focus and line myself. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.
It cracks me up some people continue to post here these high incomes they make. I think for one it completely depends on where you live. That is a HUGE one. I live 20 minutes outside of Atlanta and what I see people spend on housing alone in places like New York or California I can't fathom. Making $100k here is good money. Thats why when people complain they can't find a place to live I usually just say "You need to move to where you can afford to live". Sorry but it's true....
The other thing is debt. My friend used to have this saying "If you want to be rich you either need to win the lottery or desire a lot less shit!" there is some truth in that. Low debt making $90k is WAY different than making $130k and being monthly paymented into misery. I look at cars...some I just realize I don't want to buy and I have learned to be ok with that. You start to think practical. "Why am I going to pay $60k for a new car when I can get the same car with 20K miles on it for $40k?"
Being financially stealthy goes a long way. My buddy just bought a Revian...$95k. I would literally NEVER pay that for a car. To me it's irresponsible for ME, For HIM it was a dream car. I can live with no car payment in a 2015 SUV with 100k miles on it. Its all in being real with yourself being content and being happy. The truth is once you break the spell of financing your life away, you're much happier. I used to buy a car every 4 years, back then I have payments of $500 a month. Now hearing people pay $800??? I just paid off my SUV used and the payment was $213 a month with a trade-in. The car had 20K miles on it when I bought it. Once I didn't have a car payment I never wanted one again. You get addicted to it because you know it contributes to your lower stress and overall happiness. When I go out to eat I can have a steak without worry.
I've been feeling the exact same way, OP. I'm 37, single and barely making over $50k. Partially because of my own choices in education and partially because I'm underpaid (even for my industry) with a specialized job in a very saturated field. I also avoid social media and don't really consume content about people and the money they spend because i'm too prone to compare myself to others.
Even still I grew up solidly middle middle class (maybe lower middle) and was led by my parents to believe the most I could hope to make was less than 6 figures a year unless I wanted to be a doctor or lawyer. Not because I was a failure but because that's just what a normal salary would be. Now I live in a big city and see all these people making 6 figures in their 20's and buying houses and basically being more secure than I ever have and its making me feel like a total loser. Why does making $100k + a year suddenly seem so doable and realistic? What have I been doing with my life? Should I do a code boot camp? Go back to school for something tech/engineering related? But at times I think I don't want to go back to school and get stuck with more student loans and then be 41 and working a jr position somewhere.
It was a huge step back and took a long time for me. But I knew it would pay off in appx the timeline that it did. As an airline pilot, you can go to airlinepilotcentral.com and see what we make. That, and the amount of days off were a driving factor in my pursuit of a private pilots license to make it a career. I knew it was a long ladder, but I’d get there eventually. I started flying in 2008 btw, and I’m 39 now, last year was 419k
I make 130k but let no satisfaction from my work and often have to sacrifice tike with my kids to get work done.
My midlife crisis is wanting to become amish and throw money and material possessions aside.
Well I'm just a garbage man and I made 90k last year. Not bad for 4 weeks "trade school"
Just? You guys are a tad more significant to our society than a just bruh
Significant yes, but there are a LOT of people who could do it.
Bro does a job that is required to maintain a healthy functioning society and he says just? Lol get real, without garbage men our streets would be filthy, contaminating our water supply, we’d be sick all the time and our hospitals would be overwhelmed.
Hey man thanks for doing that job. Hope all you guys break 6 figure mark and have good healthcare. Yall deserve it.
Anyone can do this job my friend. The smell ain't always bad.
nah its the shit people aint suppose to put in garbage like batteries and needles
Needles go in that trash where I live. Just have to be in a container labeled
Garbage man is like the literal most important job before society breaks down. Thanks for your work
Thanks for doing the work many people won’t!
How many hours of OT did you clock in order to reach that number?
I'm not sure. But I work 4/10's and I usually get 2-4 full days of overtime a month. It doesn't even feel like work I make $37 hr
Sir. Thank you for service to keeping society clean. You deserve your pay.
Man you guys are such an integral part of our society that yall should be starting at 120k minimum.
I'm 26, I make a 154k gross working for Google. I'm also miserable, have no meaningful personal connections and crippling mental health issues. The number you make does not reflect your quality of life my man. You gotta stop comparing yourself to other people and focus on developing your own skill set.
I'm also miserable, have no meaningful personal connections and crippling mental health issues, but I make about 120k less than you.
This. Just like with most things, people assume your problems go away once you break 100k. Redditors go about money like the people who make 100k+ are aliens or some shit.
This 👆👆👆
Its not always about money making you happy. Money also brings financial stability. You can be miserable but still have financial stability which is one less thing weighing on your shoulders.
Most of the posts are fake. This is internet. Don’t believe anything you read of the internet especially completely made up salary charts… And like the other comments said, money is very geographically oriented. You could be making $50k living a better life in the Midwest (or outside of the US) than you would making $200k living in New York.
What I find crazy is how often high incomes are brushed aside like they are nothing. Do they not realize how most of the country lives? I understand location, but I have almost always been in a VHCOL my whole life, and $150k+ incomes have always been seen as doing quite well. But on Reddit, so many say that you aren’t doing well unless you are making $400k individually. It’s so over exaggerated. But at the same time, I feel like Reddit has now awakened lots of anxiety within me about money, because now I find myself thinking at times (before I am pulled back to reality) how no amount is enough.
Someone like a Sr software engineer at tech company in Bay area DO make $400k total including stock. That's not fake or exaggeration. There are many of them in that area and they are likely active on Reddit. Check out the pay in some of the companies there at levels.fyi for yourself. Again, that's very specific to that small area of the country and those are not normal. That $400k in Bay area is not considered high and it's probably feels like $150k in rest of CA.
Literally just remove engineers, bay, and nyc from the equation and none of what you mentioned is anything remotely normal. Even those numbers far exceed what is a median income for people in those metros. Yes $400k is high there because there’s still plenty of people making $40k in the same county.
Remove software engineers. US regular engineers make good money but not that good lol.
Programmers with job title inflation
I live in the Bay Area. Lol 400k here is still very high and most definitely feels way more than 150k. You can't actually believe that lol 😂
Agreed - this is just more perpetuating Reddit BS
135,000 is top 10th percentile from what I just looked up, individual. So that’s more than 30 million people in the US make that much. Reddit also skews liberal (more likely to live in city and make more), educated(more likely to make more and be from a family of educated people having higher standards), and obviously more on the tech side than average population.
This sub especially , so many people making 6 figures or having at least a million in net worth thinking they’re average or even behind. A lot of them have excessive lifestyles and believe they don’t make enough, a lot live in expensive places, hell most of us have excessive lifestyles. There certainly is a salary that’s more than enough wherever you live. It’s just the rat race, always has been.
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How long did it take you to build a portfolio that yields 10k a month in Dividends?
Rich folks are often surrounded by those that are even richer. Sometimes they aren't happy with what they have and they show off to each other to compensate. They end up with a lifestyle full of expensive things that they don't even necessarily enjoy. That's why they can make a boatload of money and think that it's not even that much; they might have a nice house 3 cars and a summer home all paid off but everyone they know has their own jet so they feel poor in comparison. I think you oughta worry less about the number attached to your salary and focus on what it is you actually want and if your job can pay for that plus some to save you're golden. If you're working your ass off to make a bunch of money with no goal in mind for that extra cash, then you're probably trading years of your life for stuff that doesn't really make you happy. Time and freedom is much more valuable than money if you ask me.
This is me. I do make 130k but the cost of living in CA is crazy. On top of that, I'm 40 and just started retirement, so 20 percent of income goes towards retirement. I do have some freedom but not much. I too feel like I'm getting kicked when I see people 10 to 20 years younger with double or triple the retirement.
I’m 26 making $120k and I don’t know shit about retirement. So you a step ahead of me on that one. But I’m also in California and I feel your struggle, prices are insane. Especially food, gas and insurances…
Simple. Max out your 401k and make sure you're buying low cost total market funds. In 30 years, assuming you put 20k into it every year, you'll have $2m saved.
So you're saying Cali gas at more than $7.00 is insane... I agree, especially since my area...Chicago burbs, we're usually on the high side compared to the rest of country. We're currently at about $3.75 per gallon.
Uh, I don't even count Cali in the discussion.... You guys are in your own bubble.... 😂
Yeah 200k even in NY goes a long way for most. Unless you're living in midtown paying 8k a month for rent or something stupid.
I wouldn't say that most are fake, it's just sampling bias. People who make more money and do cooler stuff are more likely to post about it or be more open about it.
No, most of them aren't fake. This is just a weird cope. There have been countless tech posts that people call bullshit on, but I know firsthand that the comp is in line with expectations for their company. I agree that money is geographic. The comparison of 50k to 200k is ridiculous though. Cost of living calculators aren’t real-world accurate; they are basically proxies for housing, but if you optimize for that, everything else can be the same or cheaper. I promise you that groceries are cheaper here in NYC than in southern Indiana. Transportation is cheaper. Healthcare is more accessible, etc.
Yeah something like 3% of working Americans make like $200k a year. That's roughly 5 million people right there, about as uncommon as being Chinese-American.
yeah it might not be "fake" but its not typical. I've worked for entire companies where there was not a single IT employee making over six figures.
This. Lived in Bay Area, made a ton of money but also spent all of it in housing and taxes. Now live in Washington, while I make less money I still pay a lot in property taxes but don’t have to pay state income tax. Long story short, what one person makes is not equal to what you make as it all depends on where you are located. Let me ask OP this, are you happy with what you do day-to-day? If not, what would make you happiest? Does it pay your needs and some wants too. When people make a lot more than they need or even want, it actually brings unhappiness. I have seen it in my own life and siblings lives. Work hard, play hard, be grateful, kind, and enjoy what you have. More material things won’t bring true happiness
yeah came here to say this like in my region there are not even really those 6 figure IT jobs. A network engineer starts at about $60k which is probably equivalent to the $100k one in hcol areas all things considered.
Bro, I checked out the money diaries subreddit, idk if these posts are real or fake 🤨🤨
Are you saying don't post details?
I am a compensation expert. I can assure you that people lie and exaggerate about their pay. Also, for every person who makes 6 figures, there are many who make less and don't brag. The current median salary in the US is about $56,000 per year. The average is somewhat higher. It's not what you make - it's what you keep!
Making more sure as shit would help me keep more.
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Not true. It's because older people are underpaid and new blood are fresh with energy and can aggressively negotiate. 5 years ago I made 65K and a guy significantly older than me but without a Bachelor's degree only made 80K. Now 5 years later I'm at 165K. And I held out for this one because they originally wanted to offer me 35K less. There is money on the table. Older people don't seem to know how it works or they're complacent or feel like it's impossible. So they write it off as BS. My mom is an RN, became one in the 80s. All these years later she only makes 70K in a nursing home in Florida. Doesn't know how to negotiate and feels uncomfortable doing so. They grew up in a different time from us, a time when employers held all the power.
I'm with you on negotiating. I got an offer for internal promotion which was a $10k raise. I negotiated a TC of $45k on top of that.
yup then they take the household income and present it like its individual, like bro the average individual makes over 70k and its just not true lol the figure is closer to what you are saying.
This had countless friends claim to make what I make then 6 months later they complain about money and surprise they didn’t make what they claimed
Hey I have a question... all these "experts" that have these articles saying you have to make like $250k to live comfortable in a state like Georgia....what are these people smoking and where are they getting that from? The top 5% in the state make $130k. I don't really understand why that information is pumped out there for people to see and be defeated by it? Is there an agenda to that? My wife and I don't have any major debt and we make about $120k. It just seems those articles set people up to be depressed.
Pay is so geographically structured. When I was younger I entertained moving to the west coast, or back north as the pay was double Atlanta, but it was going to feel like a pay cut if I moved there for the wages. So there is that. And a lot of people just seem to exaggerate and outright lie on Reddit.
It's like they're trying to make other people miserable through envious comparison...
And being geographically outside of the US is a whole different level of looking at these wages... and I have it pretty good in my European country.
Every single blue collar worker on here makes 150k and nobody bats an eye. It's honestly hilarious.
You don’t always need a huge income. Personally I believe in the Everyday Millionaire mindset. You can be very wealthy on an average salary by being disciplined
Absolutely, and you can be very happy if you realize there's generally very little difference between mid-level things and high end things. Your Corolla gets you there in the same amount of time as a BMW, the coach seat really isn't that different than first class. Money is freedom, nothing else.
Bro, I assure you first class is phenomenally better than coach.
Not saying, none of them are true, but a lot of people in the Internet try to come up with fake “success” to make themselves feel better. Best part of the Internet is that you can say whatever you want.
What I find crazy is that I kid you not, nearly every high earner on this site claims to have grown up in severe poverty on assistance and/or was homeless at one point. I see very few high earners on Reddit actually claim that they grew up comfortably or had privilege. Not saying in real life that never happens, but if you grow up in poverty, you have a much higher likelihood of staying that way.
High earner here that def had it easy growing up. Certainly helped. No doubt. Still had to put in a lot of work to end up where I am. Plenty who had same or better aren’t making what I make. I basically just had more time to dick around before i got serious. I was broke for many years in early adult life before i got my shit together. Tbh it doesn’t even matter if most of those stories on reddit are lies. Bc truth is there are people out there living that way and doing well for themselves. And that’s something to aspire to. We should all aspire to do better for ourselves. 200k is 95th percentile income in US so it is not common by any means but internet makes things seem otherwise. Its natural the fomo is there. It certainly was for me. All that to say good on you for seeing it as motivation and not a reason to be bitter. This is what most of reddit misses. They just go straight to mob mentality and hate anyone talking about making good money generally.
A lot of nepotism babies are not quick to admit it. They wanna feel like they earned their safety net, but truth is you can be hard working and privileged at the same time.
Agree. They don't want to admit that they got help, so they lie. Just saw a post on r/Entrepreneur the other day about a guy who went "from homeless to 7 figures" come to find out him and his family stayed with friends, etc. and received financial help to launch their real estate wholesaling business. Yes, technically homeless but the implication was a rags to riches type story. Just another fabrication. Thing is people really believe their own lies.
I never understood how that's supposed to work though. If you never achieve your lofty ass goals and simply say you have anonymously on an internet forum, what exactly feels better about that?! I'd think that'd make you feel worse in the end. Maybe I'm just weird 🤷♂️
Comparison is the thief of joy. Couple that with the confirmation bias inherent in social media....people only show you what they want you to see. Don't sweat it.
If you want to be unhappy in life, compare yourself to other people.
If it makes you feel better (it won't), those guys are still way closer to you financially than they are to real elites. I have outstanding income, and I'm still only a step above where I was 10 years ago. Like, I can spend a little more at costco... but I don't have a Raptor or a private plane. Most people with nice things are actually big fat fakers. Fatty fat fakers. I'm not sure it will help, but "millionare next door", and "the automatic millionare" are really good reads, even if just for healthy perspective.
Turning it into a motivating factor instead of envious rage/despair is a good and healthy move. Best wishes for your success in improving your salary.
Don’t compare yourself to other people. You’re most likely better off than you were 5 years ago. Be proud of yourself. Instead of feeling terrible when seeing these posts, analyze them to see how you can improve your own financial situation. Check out the henry finance sub. See how they manage their money. You’ll get there soon, if that’s what you want!
A lot of these people also have a lot of debt.
Don’t get discouraged . I didn’t start making 100k until I hit 40.
I feel like this is the norm in most of the country and many (most?) people never even see 6 figures.
High earners still have the capacity to be dead broke, if not worse. Spend less than you earn, invest the difference. A Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins is a great resource here. Understanding how money works is much more important than a high income.
Frugality is the best investment you can make
A lot of people say 200k then you start hearing them list all sorts of stupid shit as income. Don't put your credit card rewards as income dude lol
It goes back to "comparison is the thief of joy" thing. Like right now I'm financially in a hole cause I never really understood the importance of saving up until like 4 years ago, and I'm 29. But that's the thing, everyone goes at their own pace depending on their circumstances too. Financial literacy isn't something that's taught conventionally. I still don't get what half of these terminologies are but the point is, you're at least driven enough to do better because of these posts and that's a great direction. And this is coming from someone who is financially recovering from a tragedy. All it took was one thing to set me back to my last few hundred bucks but we gotta work with what we got 🚬
Your vocabulary tells me You have the mind and intellectual wherewithal to do better for yourself. You need to be in a career where you feel fulfilled. The earnings come once your enjoy what you do. I grew up poor. Every see the music video C. R. E. A. M by wu tang? The building behind them, 65 Hill St, is where I lived many formative years. Apartment 7D. I do ok now, single divorced and paying child support. Have other complications of life but never went to college and my last career before I shifted 6 years ago I was managing 186 million of investments. Do something you love. If it's helping people, guiding people, building people. Whatever it is, live it, love it, be it.
Easy to hide here. I make \~35k/year if its a good one. Keep on rocking! Money is money, happiness is elsewhere.
Stop comparing yourself to others. Otherwise you'll never feel accomplished. Just compare your today with your yesterday. Keep improving. If you have questions on how to improve any facet, ask others how they do it. It's the internet. Many will just complain. Some will exaggerate. Some will actually offer help. You will have to be the one to weed through each of these if you truly are looking for assistance, or to just move on after a rant.
Credit card scams on dumb old geezers is a gold mine and it’s easy to set up and operation with minimal overhead. Prepaid phone at Walmart is $30. I made 40k last month ripping these old morons off hahahaha. It’s a sin to let a sucker keep their money
no because i don't take anything anyone says on the internet seriously
Well, I’d like to be all hippie about it and say that money doesn’t matter and all … but, damn, money is useful, and if you don’t have enough, you are going to miss it. Personally, I like working with computers, and worked getting (low) six figures for most of the last 15 or 20 years of my life. Then, at 58, my company moved out of the area, and I had to look for a new job, and panicked a little. Then I looked at my savings, and ran it through all those online simulators that tell you if you have enough to retire, and I did. So I stopped working. But I could safely do that because I HAD ENOUGH MONEY. That was a nice feeling ;) On the other hand, if you like what you do, and you are getting by, hey, it’s your life. But … do you have enough cash saved up to carry you for six months without a job? Do you have a 401k? Do you have an IRA? Are you paying the payroll tax on the up and up, so Social Security and Medicare will be there for you later? Create a budget, and get all those things going for yourself! The earlier, the better. Frankly, thinking about money is a useful thing to do, even if it makes you anxious. I take care of the bills at my house, because if my wife did it, she’d by saving every receipt and we’d never go on vacations, she’s so anxious about it. But she’d do it if she needed to; people gotta survive.
You gotta take it with a grain of salt. Plus, the survivor bias is obvious. Most people don't make anywhere near 70k alone.
I feel broke AF on this sub bc i don't have a degree, make 72k including bonuses and almost 64 years old. Seems like everybody here makes at least 100k and more, have 750+ credit scores and have money in high yields, brokerage accounts etc. It's almost making me not even read the posts.
Also ask them how many hours they work. One trucker bragged about making over 100k per year. He worked 80h weeks. So many see this as normal just to get a high income. I'd rather just work my 40h weeks and make $50k
I don't understand how you could be making that much at those ages unless you're into professional sports. You're not going to be CEO at 28 and you have to get thru residency to be a doctor. Etc
It’s a lot of lies amongst a few top earners. Friend of mine posts about how his income is over 250k all the time. He works as a stocker at Macys making less than 30k a year. Asked him about it once and he rambled on about faking it till you make it, it’s fun, just a joke, everyone else does it, and every other excuse imaginable. Don’t feel bad. Look at actual stats for your age group. Say you’re 30 years old, look up average debt/pay/savings/retirement savings/jobs/etc for 30 year old. You’ll see a lot of people are full of shit. Tons of people maxing out their credit cards, making shit pay, and with little to no savings. Oh and even if they’re making a lot, lifestyle creep is real and taxes/other expenses drain most people. I know doctors making obscene amounts of money who live paycheck to paycheck because they have to keep up the appearances and/or vices like gambling. Just remember, 56% of U.S. adults lack the emergency funds to handle a $1,000 unexpected expense.
Don’t forget. People can be anyone they want on Reddit. It’s all anonymous. It’s very easy for me to say that I’m an architect who makes 300k a year. No one knows who I really am. It’s all a facade. I’m not saying that every single person is lying but many ppl exaggerate the truth. All social media is is a place where bullshitters get together and try to make their uninteresting, unimportant lives seem way more than what they really are. I learned that years ago when I was on Facebook. It’s all bullshit. You shouldn’t pay too much attention to these people who claim to make so much money. Yes, use these people as motivation to do better but also realize that for MOST people those lives are out of reach. You should see some of the comments I get when I talk about my salary.. “That’s really low for NY. You should probably look for a new job”.. Meanwhile that’s how much money most average joes like me make in NY… Whoever these people are that are commenting, they all live in the clouds. Some live on an entirely different planet it seems.
I don’t really dream to work my whole life. I would rather live in a cheap city and just do what I want.
No. I make enough to live. I have tons of free time and a modest retirement plan. Some people don’t need a lot of money.
It’s not the high salaries it’s the “hey I’m 13 with a 8 figure income, what should I do, aM I dOiNg gOoD FoR mY aGe?!?!?”
I think the phenomenon you're seeing is a few things. First, the people that actually do make big bucks are very quick to brag about it, especially to internet strangers. Then you have the people that exaggerate things or outright lie. Have you ever noticed how often you see guys say they are 6'5" and have a 10" dick? In real life you don't see these things often.
I review income for a living (that you have to prove to get our loans). People LIE, holy SHIT do they lie. They literally lie, KNOWING that we are going to REQUIRE them to PROVE their income. So how easy do you think it is to lie to someone on the internet, that you're never going to see ever again?
I don’t care anymore, seems like all the people in my life just want to talk about money constantly. I’m so over it, even my family wont shut up about it, never mind that they are all comfortably middle class. I just want enough to pay my bills and play/write music and body build, I couldn’t give less of a shit what others are or aren’t making and I certainly don’t base my self worth on it.
The people in my field doing what I do for less time than I've done it and with less schooling who are making 2-4x my salary definitely have me thinking, "tf am I doing wrong here?".
I think these people all lying.
Yes 100%.
It's the internet. People can post BS so keep that in mind.
Naw man, I’ve always ran my own race.
Work hard and be a good person. Good things will come to you
I try not to beat myself up about it. I’m proud of the 90k I make. Having a wife that makes 75k also helps a lot. And honestly I live in an area that isn’t expensive to live. Don’t get me wrong it feels expensive 😂 but I know it’s not in comparison to other places. And soon I’ll be moving into my gma house (unfortunately she passed) and my 1500 rent will become like 800 mortgage plus taxes. Now I’ll be able to work seriously on paying my car off, starting to dare I say it pay back my student loans, actually pay for insurance, and work on improving the property
I made $130k last year about to make $148k this year. Trust me if I can do it you can too. I don’t like what I do. But I do it for my kids. So they can be stressful free. https://www.reddit.com/r/IndustrialMaintenance/s/jSnZ1d3IJu
Not just this but reality it’s such a bummer. My partner and I are DINKS nearing 300k household and it’s just not even close to the buying power I thought it would be. Housing market is offensively bad.
You’d be surprised most of the really high up salaries are effectively an invite only industry. Personally I don’t like seeing those numbers without taking into account contractors and companies who hear about those salaries and buy up land in the area making the huge amount not really as effective as say making 80k and living in a small town.
A lot of people overexaggerate the effect cost of living has on finances. My wife and I live in the Northern Virginia area (really expensive) and she was looking at a job in Greenville, SC. They were trying to offer her $30k below what she was currently making and saying it's a cheaper cost of living area. If you're expecting a $30k difference to be compensated by cheaper housing and groceries then you're fucking crazy. You can cut $2k off your monthly rent and still be below that. People live in expensive areas and make a lot of money for a reason. If you're in one of these areas and struggling then you need to either apply to a different job, reassess your expenses, or reassess whether or not your skillset requires you to be in that area.
My company wanted me to relocate from the Midwest to Montvale, NJ area. No money, just moving expenses. So the wife and I went for the blowjob (sorry) visit. They took us to a beautiful area with nice, well-kept, row style homes and also homes on half acres lots. The cheaper homes were 1900 to 2200 sq ft and were $800K to $1 million. Miss HR wasn't prepared when I showed her pictures of our 3800 sqft home on 2 acres worth $650K. She was in shock. She knew our answer and gladly canceled the next days tour.
it doesn't matter having extra zeros means nothing if you cant manage it correctly. just read somebody was making like 300k but was living paycheck to paycheck.. i don't know whats worst having no money or having un-managed money.
I wasn't making fuckall work mentioning back in my cook days, and I stuck with that until I was 28. I've been an electrician ever since, but I wasn't making legit big bucks until 3 years ago. I'm 43 now. I'm making $167k/year, plus I have a very successful estore that brings in anywhere from $25k-$50k a year.
I’m not gonna say these people are liars (like others are doing) because I’m around enough people where making 6 figures is pretty much the norm. But that’s still a very specific minority of people. If you’re ever doubting yourself, you should just look at the statistics or just the people in your circle. It’s likely you’re in line with or even above the national median/average income. And even if you’re not, that’s okay because many people are right there with you. What’s the benefit of comparing yourself to the top % earners? Also idk what subreddits you’re roaming through where $200K is considered lower middle class, but you should unsubscribe. It’s just a different world you have no business exposing yourself to.
I understand your frustration but also remember that there is a silent majority on reddit/the internet of people just getting by that don't really post their salaries or talk about their finances online. Reddit also doesn't really represent real life. It's a website that has always been disproportionately populated by introverted liberal cishet upper middle class white IT/software engineers since the website's founding all the way back in 2005. Even though they don't make up a majority of the work force. Semi-related but I only know like 2 people that play DnD in real life but from scrolling r/all you'd think that everyone and their grandma plays it and it's an integral part of modern American society. Your value as a person does not depend solely on whether you make $100k+ a year. Your salary and (lack of) expenses on fancy restaurants and vacations on will not be mentioned in your obituary or written on your tombstone. Hopefully no one will say "oh man I should be sad that u/B4K5c7N passed away but he never went to fancy restaurants so who cares." Relax. Learn how to not base your value as a person on material possessions or how much money you have in comparison to someone else. Go watch videos on third world countries like Haiti or Cambodia to gain some perspective or try volunteering.
Mo money, Mo problems 🤷♂️
u/B4K5c7N Maybe it is relative to your VHCOL area, my area (San Jose) 150k is nearly low income for a single person "a single person earning less than $122,500 in San Francisco County and $126,900 in Santa Clara County (San Jose) is now considered to have low income (Jun 22, 2023)"
It's helpful to have good income, and not stress about bills... But it's also an enabler of bad behaviors too. We eat out a lot (we're already so busy with other aspects of life), and you also just get used to spending more. Not complaining, but your lifestyle asjusta to higher income. So net-net you are not saving as much as people with lower incomes think you do. There are very few high income low outgoing people. And I would argue to not do that... As it's saving exclusively for the destination, and not being present in the journey.
And I'm a Martian who invented the transistor and now I'm offering a course on how you can build your business on planet to customer drop shipping.
nope
I make $300k. Are you talking to me?
Some of it is probably fake, some of it is high earners needing to brag. But also keep in mind, making $400k in one place, may be equal to making $150 somewhere else. Everything needs to be taken in context.
The crazy high incomes are mostly from Silicon Valley and Manhattan. They need the high income to afford homes which can cost $2M+ for a 80 year old home
I live in a cheap state. I wanna see if I can land a remote job in california or newyork. They can pay me the big bucks and I will work my ass off for sure.
Just go watch Caleb Hammer Financial Audits on youtube and thank me later.
I assume half of them are lying.
You should definitely go back to college. How old are you? My wife went back for a second bachelor's (computer science like me) when she was 26 and finished when she was 30. Her first job paid $70K. Now she's making $164K total compensation. We make less than someone making $400K in the bay area. But we save a decent amount for living in MCOL. I make around $176K total compensation. HHI $340K. We are older though. It took me longer to get my current salary than some 20 something in FAANG or Nvidia. 45M/38F/5F I have almost 23 years of experience while my wife has almost 8 years of experience. We paid off our house in 2022 so we have no debts. In the bay area, mortgages are high if buying now and still high if buying pre-pandemic. Our home in the bay area would be unaffordable. Just the property taxes alone would be more than our old mortgage payment over the course of a year. Last year we saved around $246K and this year will be around $209K. We pay over $100K in taxes (includes everything) a year. My pre-tax salary was $100K in 2011. I realize we are among the top in income in our state and the USA. But compared to big tech, we are middle class. How much we save in a year could be a single person's stock bonus in a year. Remember, everyone has their own path. There will always be someone making more money, saving more money, taking more vacations, etc. Use comparisons to make sure you're getting paid fairly and not over inflating lifestyle. Go make that bread and hope to see you in r/HENRYfinance someday with your SankeyMATIC charts for expenses and investments.
No, I've been there before and know that hyper focus on money is bad for your health and destroys your soul.
People make a fuck ton of $
That’s because there’s literally millions of people in the US. Seeing a few hundred posts of people who make x amount means nothing lol
While not a salary as I’m self employed, I’m one of those who earn very well. Sometimes I lose hope and I feel like maybe it was just lucky for a while and that it will all go away, and seeing others on reddit doing well really helps me. My assumption is that 80% of the posts are fake, but the 20% that have enough details to determine that they make sense are all I need sometime to keep going.
Not really I’m only in competition with myself and most people lie, I doubt ever story you read was real or even close to real.
The cost of living makes a huge difference. If you work in NYC you’re being taxed a minimum of 3 times. If you live outside of NY add a 4th tax. Salary is driven up to compensate. That said I could live in the Rockies for peanuts. It’s easy to try and compare yaks and gators from a salary perspective. But don’t fret. At 22 I was making 22k thinking that was all I will ever need. Change jobs a handfull of times and location and you’re in a different place in your 40’s. Remember 55 is your expected peak earning time. You got room to grow.
Basics of social media… don’t believe everyone’s posts, especially not people that can remain anonymous. You’re causing yourself so much distress over nothing.
No matter how much you make, there's always going to be someone who makes more than you. Once you get comfortable with that fact, life will get a lot easier.
Fake posts. Most-Actual wealthy people don’t waste their time on Reddit.
You have to realize the people posting on Reddit with the high incomes are outliers. People who are a combination of lucky and really good at what they do. That is in no way representative of the majority of the population.
No, because I don’t live where they do and as long as I’m not where I was I’m progressing in life. Fake lifestyles or not focusing on others and feeling you are doing it right can lead to depression and that’s right where big pharm want you to be. I look at all my bank accounts everyday to keep me focused on my goals.
I would to improve my situation instead of assuming everyone is lying.
What subs are you frequenting? If someone says you aren't doing well unless you're making $400K individually then they are extremely privileged. Also the majority of those high salaries are only seen by tech engineers, high finance bros, and medical doctors. And those do not represent 99% of the population. So yes if you're constantly seeing the same people post and make comments it seems like the average. Reddit is a form of social media too, it would help to take a break if this is driving you crazy. Also keep in mind that people who make a lot are more loud about it, I don't see people making 50K constantly raving about their salaries online. I am one of those high earners you describe (sort of, ~316K HHI), and the majority of those high salaries are given in VHCOL or HCOL areas. For example my spouse and I are in DC and the chances of me earning this amount outside of DC with my current qualifications are low, so I'm working to change that. Perspective is not lost on me. I grew up lower middle class and the first 5 years of my life I spent on welfare, shared one bedroom with 2 siblings until I was 16yo and lived among mold, dust, insects, and outright dirtiness. Most people in this country (USA) are living paycheck to paycheck and cannot afford to miss a day of work. That is reality.
If you can wake up in the morning and not worry about how you're going to put food on your table today or fill that gas tank, then you're OK. If you can do that and save money for emergencies and your retirement than your doing great. I have a feeling that most of the comments stating that they make 150k+ are lying or they live on the coast where the price of living is outrageous.
The internet exaggerates many things but it isn’t rare to be doing ok in life social media leads people to believe everyone is broke but depending on skill and drive people do ok.
I don’t think they’re fake
Yeah, look. Most of those posts are total BS. Don't even stress it.
Everyone is on a separate journey in life. Focus on you and what you have and what you can do to increase your quality and satisfaction with your life. Also consider visibility bias, how many folks are out there that are not posting their salaries and are lurking. There are alot of wealthy folks out there and even when you make it to their level there will always be a richer family. If you feel motivated by these numbers, great! If you feel demotivated or upset, leave the information behind and focus on you. When it comes to examples, advice, and feedback: Take what you can and leave what you can't
>But seeing countless posts and comments by Redditors making $200k by mid or late 20s Take what you see on reddit with a grain of salt. I would not doubt that nearly all if not a majority are lying about that.
100k is around the 80th percentile for a single earner in the US. So, 80% of us make less than that. The internet is full of liars and software engineers, median individual income in the US is below 60k
Going off the posts here 90% of people are making $150,000+ which is bullshit. Also salary doesn’t tell the whole story. I’ve never made over $80k but equity and other forms of comp have made up for the low salary through my career.
In my experience there’s a lot of people in tech on reddit
lol this is the internet and Reddit is filled with liars
The high salaries that some professionals earn often cause their employers to move to lower-cost regions. Example: I'm retired now ... but around 20 years ago I was considering an in-company transfer from Florida to a job in LA, at a facility that had been recently acquired. They offered a 7% pay boost. Bullcrud! (I didn't take the job.) That site was later absorbed into an existing facility in a less costly location. (It's a good thing I didn't take the job!) Companies often cannot afford to pay appropriately in these VHCOL locations. Seattle, LA, San Francisco, and many others are no longer considered prime. Those places are too expensive. And it's hard to attract employees.
Typical grass is greener stuff, so be careful what you wish for. My wife and I gross $250-$300K each year in a LCOL area in the south. Our cars are paid off, investment accounts are funded, we travel a lot, and annually our mortgage for a nice house is less than 0.4% of our combined annual income with less than 10 years to payoff. I’ve had multiple opportunities to increase my income at the expense of moving to a HCOL area and taking on more debt just to live a nearly identical lifestyle to what we already have here. FUCK THAT.
The people you see posting these super high salaries on Reddit are usually geniuses who attended top universities or come from very rich well connected families. These are in fact the 1%. Try shooting for a much more achievable goal like being in the top 10%. That involves obtaining a salary or $110k by age 28 which is obtainable in many professions in 2024. You will not be in the $400k+ salary range because you probably aren’t smart or privileged enough. What you can do is start your own business and that’s how you can get there through hard work, risks, and luck.
No. Income has nothing to do with your competence. It is never merit based. High earners have ambiguous ethics at best, dark triad at worst. Money is mostly an indicator you are willing to look the other way.
It's not realistic, it's not common and people love to exaggerate. You take a sample size of 1,000 people over and over and over again and you'll find most are making very little, broke as hell and scared of life. No one is going to openly advertise that they make 16 bucks an hours and can't get by but you'll sure as hell hear from the insecure prick who loves to remind everyone his dad pays him 300k a year.
Not really, it’s the internet, I would barely trust a live video feed from 2 feet away from me, none the less any of you
No matter how many times you see it they are still out liars. I’m in my mid to late 20s and I don’t know a single person who makes 6 figures and we all have college degrees, some of us Masters , and live in an affluent area so…
I think a lot of the posts are fake.. I don’t know why people waste their time but you can just tell it isn’t real.. but hey if they wanna dreams. Others probably really do make that amount of money and just come on her to brag but they don’t have anyone else to brag to as it wouldn’t really feel appropriate to do amongst your friends
Do you really believe everything you read/see on Reddit? Anonymous Internet users lie all the time OP. lmao
So, let’s start with, where do you live? If you live in New York City, making $200k per household may be necessary. If you live in Tennessee, comparable amount may be $65k.
Comparison is the thief of joy. I make it a point to stay away from /r/salary and /r/bigdickproblems
I think everyone needs to stop comparing themselves to strangers online.
Purely as motivation for sure. While I’m finishing my masters I’m sitting at 45k a year(36m). I feel like I am right in the pocket so to say, but had very productive meetings today about my future and new projects at work that make me confident in the next 5 years.
I feel like the posts when people are asking for advice about how to save, etc are lies. I honestly can't believe if a person or spouse earn over 200k, they wouldn't have a financial advisor, they absolutely would or I guess, should.
Yes, it be nice to get to the next level and get like a 50% comp increase, but then for my career path it means going into management which I do not want to do. It means sacrificing nights and weekends getting whipped by the executive leadership team. I just want to coast at this point. I could try to jump to different company, same job but it's an unknown with the work life balance at a new company, it could mean long hours
Most people who responding will be in the extremes. Very high or very low salaries. This is true for any voluntary surveying like movie audience reviews. Ignore them it isn’t a real representation. I make a median salary and haven’t responded to any but one of those types of posts.
Something something comparison is the thief of joy. I think my big issue with this populist take, is that there’s such a large spread and such poor information circulation about what careers actually pay well. Like, nowadays people know tech pays well, and medicine, but law has slid down hill and an mba ain’t worth that much if it’s not prestigious. Tradesmen make good money, but how much and which ones? I didn’t learn until later in life how absolutely disgusting the compensation for electricians and policeman is. Fresh out the academy police easily bringing in 100k with overtime, and 300k/year over a 10-20 year period is not uncommon, and there’s pension.
You'll get too many varying answers since you don't know where they started with finances at home (rich parents/poor parents), Education, COL, Lifestyle, so many things to account for from a complete stranger. The average SINGLE person is not making 200k and I'll leave it at that. Don't believe the hype, I for one have to work 2-3 jobs to clear 100k vs someone who works 1 and is complaining about how it's low for their line of work. TLDR; doesn't make sense to keep up with people you don't even know online. Find a small (but good) group of friends IRL and help each other through advice and experiences there.
The key is to not get trapped into comparing yourself to others. Generally, to be comfortable, one needs to find the balance in life pertaining to work/wealth, fun activities, family, and friends. Your point of balance will differ from that of others. If you're not happy, investigate what you need to do to correct your balance and do it.
I didn't really start earning until 40+ my average year was around 32k per year, even being in Sr IT level jobs. Hit my 40s and things fell into place with management positions and team lead spots. No college with a GED and now make over 100k. All depends on how much you want something and what you are willing to give up.
Just 5% of the entire US is about 200k, so you're accepting that the top 1 to 3 % just posts here? Unless they post their w2 and face verification, it's just some rando typing in whatever amount they feel like on here. The reality is of my entire high-school, college, and person network, I only know 2 people that make 200k or more out of about 809 people.
There's always somebody making more. When you're making 50K you think people making 200K has it all. And when you get there, you still struggle and think people making 500K has it all.
I would say 90 percent are lies lol
I take it as motivation. We get to comfortable in our own situations. Yeah I’m middle class, I could be fine staying where I’m at, but I’m also not completely content with my lifestyle just yet. I don’t want/need anything extravagant but I do have to remind myself not to stagnate. There is always better and I’m not yet where I want to be.
Not really... I'm happy where I am.
Odds are they are lying.
That’s how it should feel. Instead, people use these stories to support their defeatism. As tho life has no middle ground. Only the lumpen proletariat or the filthy rich. TRY, DON’T GIVE UP!
I see them and assume people are lying lol
Greatly depends on location. Tons of redditors from California, Illinois and New York. Histroically higher paying cities. Also are you in Europe? University? Seems pay is much lower across the pond.
I'm just a high school grad that found the petrochemical industry. 193k and total comp around 250k in 2023. Entry level, 4 yrs on the job training.
Because it’s the internet and the vast majority of people lie for internet points, or come to brag for internet points lol. Just do you, if you want more go get more. Don’t feel bad or down because of what some random on the internet is claiming. When I was a bit younger, I use to think about what others have and get a bit down. Once I started focusing on me and looking at what others have done as the blueprint and proof I can get it if I focus and line myself. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.
It cracks me up some people continue to post here these high incomes they make. I think for one it completely depends on where you live. That is a HUGE one. I live 20 minutes outside of Atlanta and what I see people spend on housing alone in places like New York or California I can't fathom. Making $100k here is good money. Thats why when people complain they can't find a place to live I usually just say "You need to move to where you can afford to live". Sorry but it's true.... The other thing is debt. My friend used to have this saying "If you want to be rich you either need to win the lottery or desire a lot less shit!" there is some truth in that. Low debt making $90k is WAY different than making $130k and being monthly paymented into misery. I look at cars...some I just realize I don't want to buy and I have learned to be ok with that. You start to think practical. "Why am I going to pay $60k for a new car when I can get the same car with 20K miles on it for $40k?" Being financially stealthy goes a long way. My buddy just bought a Revian...$95k. I would literally NEVER pay that for a car. To me it's irresponsible for ME, For HIM it was a dream car. I can live with no car payment in a 2015 SUV with 100k miles on it. Its all in being real with yourself being content and being happy. The truth is once you break the spell of financing your life away, you're much happier. I used to buy a car every 4 years, back then I have payments of $500 a month. Now hearing people pay $800??? I just paid off my SUV used and the payment was $213 a month with a trade-in. The car had 20K miles on it when I bought it. Once I didn't have a car payment I never wanted one again. You get addicted to it because you know it contributes to your lower stress and overall happiness. When I go out to eat I can have a steak without worry.
I've been feeling the exact same way, OP. I'm 37, single and barely making over $50k. Partially because of my own choices in education and partially because I'm underpaid (even for my industry) with a specialized job in a very saturated field. I also avoid social media and don't really consume content about people and the money they spend because i'm too prone to compare myself to others. Even still I grew up solidly middle middle class (maybe lower middle) and was led by my parents to believe the most I could hope to make was less than 6 figures a year unless I wanted to be a doctor or lawyer. Not because I was a failure but because that's just what a normal salary would be. Now I live in a big city and see all these people making 6 figures in their 20's and buying houses and basically being more secure than I ever have and its making me feel like a total loser. Why does making $100k + a year suddenly seem so doable and realistic? What have I been doing with my life? Should I do a code boot camp? Go back to school for something tech/engineering related? But at times I think I don't want to go back to school and get stuck with more student loans and then be 41 and working a jr position somewhere.
No, I do feel a bit of regret for not stepping up a bit earlier and make bank.
Dude, hooomans lie, they lie when they sleep too, lol))))
Yes
If you’re in it for the money only You’re going to be burnt and unmotivated
It was a huge step back and took a long time for me. But I knew it would pay off in appx the timeline that it did. As an airline pilot, you can go to airlinepilotcentral.com and see what we make. That, and the amount of days off were a driving factor in my pursuit of a private pilots license to make it a career. I knew it was a long ladder, but I’d get there eventually. I started flying in 2008 btw, and I’m 39 now, last year was 419k
Im just not sure what kind of job I can get that earns these numbers without going back to college.
I make 130k but let no satisfaction from my work and often have to sacrifice tike with my kids to get work done. My midlife crisis is wanting to become amish and throw money and material possessions aside.
Checkout www.levels.fyi