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How much do you make a year?

How much do you make a year?

  • less than $25,000

    Votes: 13 26.0%
  • 25,000 - $40,000

    Votes: 5 10.0%
  • $40,000-$55,000

    Votes: 7 14.0%
  • $55,000 - $65,000

    Votes: 3 6.0%
  • $65,000 - $75,000

    Votes: 4 8.0%
  • $75,000 - $85,000

    Votes: 4 8.0%
  • $85,000 - $95,000

    Votes: 4 8.0%
  • $95,000 - $105,000

    Votes: 3 6.0%
  • $105,000 - $125,000

    Votes: 1 2.0%
  • more than $125,000

    Votes: 6 12.0%

  • Total voters
    50

reefedjib

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I wish I could correlate the income with the level of education, but their aren't enough poll answers for that. Perhaps there is a way to make a double poll, with two questions, and the answers correlated.

For the time being, post your education level (high school, undergrad degree, advanced degree) and your minimum salary ($35,000, $50,000, $75,000, $100,000+) and your job (Accounting, Software, Professor, Business, Doctor)

Anyway, I am curious what people make. It is a private poll.
 
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Associate's Degree
Less than $25,000 a year
General Laborer
 
Master's Degree in Computer Science
over $100,000/year
16 years experience
Software Engineer
 
Come on folks, answer the poll! Bump.
 
I wish I could correlate the income with the level of education, but their aren't enough poll answers for that. Perhaps there is a way to make a double poll, with two questions, and the answers correlated.

For the time being, post your education level (high school, undergrad degree, advanced degree) and your minimum salary ($35,000, $50,000, $75,000, $100,000+) and your job (Accounting, Software, Professor, Business, Doctor)

Anyway, I am curious what people make. It is a private poll.


Well, I make twelve dollars an hour, and work 40 hours a week.
So... (gets out calculator)... I make $24960 per year, before taxes.
I suppose I could round up and say I make 25,000 before taxes.
It should be noted that I actually work more like 50 hours a week, because I go in early, stay late, work though breaks, etc. But I still only get paid for 40 hours a week.
And it's not like they force me to work extra; I just do it because I'm really devoted to my job and want to make sure things run smoothly.

My husband makes more than I do. He works 50 hours a week and actually gets paid for his overtime. He makes 15 dollars an hour, but when he works overtime he gets time-and-a-half. So, like... $22.50 per hour.

I have a GED, he doesn't.
He has a criminal record; I don't.
He's male, though.
He works in an all-male environment, as a skilled craftsman.
I work in one of the helping professions, which mostly employ women, and which simply don't pay as much.

It doesn't really matter; we both love our jobs, and they're stable. That's the important thing.
 
It doesn't really matter; we both love our jobs, and they're stable. That's the important thing.

It really is, on both counts. In looking at the more practical of the two criteria, a stable job in this job market is worth gold. I have heard stories of 100s of people showing up for a single job.

Perhaps it is a little different in my profession, and I am lucky for it, and this leads into your second criteria. I recently went on a 2 month job search. I had multiple offers for jobs that provided the same environment as my old job, just with more pay. I turned them down. They were the same large project, doing bug fixing, heavy process, management in my face kind of bull**** jobs I hate. I was looking for the right kind of job and, though money was important, job satisfaction was more so.

The reason money was important was that I used to make X. I switched technologies from Smalltalk to Java and had to settle and make X - 20%. I have managed, in 2 years, with this new job, to get back to X + 10%.

Job satisfaction is everything. You couldn't pay me 2X to do something I hated. I did it for awhile, but that attitude grew on me. I have to do what is right for me and my temperament. This turns out to mean a small company (less than 10 people) doing technical work (no business workflow bull**** - we do satellite comms) for new projects (new development - no maintenance) with smart capable people. After two months of looking, I found it! I am so happy with my decision!

Do what you love, if you can.
 
Honours degree in Political Science
Earn less than $10,000 a year
Walking guide, waiter

10 years ago I was earning $200,000 as a TV executive. Decided that money and stress =/= happiness; living somewhere beautiful, doing something you love and having time to smell the roses does.
 
Honours degree in Political Science
Earn less than $10,000 a year
Walking guide, waiter

10 years ago I was earning $200,000 as a TV executive. Decided that money and stress =/= happiness; living somewhere beautiful, doing something you love and having time to smell the roses does.

Geeesh.......:shock:

I would stashed a majority of my pay then retired early.
 
Geeesh.......:shock:

I would stashed a majority of my pay then retired early.

Kind of what I did. I just didn't earn the big bucks for long enough to mean I don't have to bring some money in now. That's a good thing, I think. I know a few people who have retired (very) early having banked a lot and they aren't really the happiest people I know. For me, working is important but over-working for the sake of greater spending power is self-defeating.

(Sorry to be misleading, just checked back and calculated on the basis of exchange rates at the time and I was earning $185,000.)
 
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Kind of what I did. I just didn't earn the big bucks for long enough to mean I don't have to bring some money in now. That's a good thing, I think. I know a few people who have retired (very) early having banked a lot and they aren't really the happiest people I know. For me, working is important but over-working for the sake of greater spending power is self-defeating.

I agree but retirement for me, is doing what I want in relative comfort.

When I retire I'm considering being a farmer or fisherman.:)

Edit add: $185k is still ridiculously awesome.
 
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Kind of what I did. I just didn't earn the big bucks for long enough to mean I don't have to bring some money in now. That's a good thing, I think. I know a few people who have retired (very) early having banked a lot and they aren't really the happiest people I know. For me, working is important but over-working for the sake of greater spending power is self-defeating.

If I were making over 100k, I would probably be saving as much as I could for the purpose of retiring and living modestly. However, I would probably not stop working because I do enjoy having a job. Not sure what I would do though.
 
I agree but retirement for me, is doing what I want in relative comfort.

When I retire I'm considering being a farmer or fisherman.:)

My advice, for what it's worth, is don't wait around for the gold watch, dreaming of what your life could be like in the future. Do it while you still have the dreams and the energy. Farming and fishing are not the jobs to begin as an old man.
 
My advice, for what it's worth, is don't wait around for the gold watch, dreaming of what your life could be like in the future. Do it while you still have the dreams and the energy. Farming and fishing are not the jobs to begin as an old man.

I agree and believe me I'm not waiting but I have kids to take care of, so they have to be financed first and foremost.
 
Education level: Bachelor's Degree
Salary: ~50k/year
Job: Automotive Engineer
Experience: Just over 3 years.
 
I agree and believe me I'm not waiting but I have kids to take care of, so they have to be financed first and foremost.

Completely fair enough. I was lucky (in one respect) being single and therefore not having to consider the impact of my decision on anyone but myself. I'm aware that many, if not most, people have responsibilities that limit their freedom of action.
 
Completely fair enough. I was lucky (in one respect) being single and therefore not having to consider the impact of my decision on anyone but myself. I'm aware that many, if not most, people have responsibilities that limit their freedom of action.

It's all good, just blows me away so see people earning that much.
Not that I'm envious but more curious about what was done with it.

For me now, I'm trying to make my early retirement a reality, just have to do it with a smaller amount at the start.
 
It's all good, just blows me away so see people earning that much.
Not that I'm envious but more curious about what was done with it.

For me now, I'm trying to make my early retirement a reality, just have to do it with a smaller amount at the start.

I used to make over a hundred k a year in adult entertainment.
I didn't find that I could do much with it, actually.
Since it was all under-the-table and in cash, I couldn't put it in a bank, I couldn't make any major purchases with it like a house, car, or trailer.
We just blew through it all, almost as fast as we got it.
We rode cabs everywhere (I didn't know how to drive at the time, and my husband didn't have a license), we ate out constantly, we bought whatever little things caught our eye, we spoiled my kids silly, we lived in apartments down on campus where the rents are outrageously high. We partied quite a bit. We supported non-working friends, and simply gave a lot of money away. We were young and uneducated, and didn't know what the hell we were doing.

We actually have more savings, more stability, and more things, now.
It's true what they say about money- easy come, easy go.
If you didn't really work for it, chances are you will not know how to make it work for you.
 
I used to make over a hundred k a year in adult entertainment.
I didn't find that I could do much with it, actually.
Since it was all under-the-table and in cash, I couldn't put it in a bank, I couldn't make any major purchases with it like a house, car, or trailer.
We just blew through it all, almost as fast as we got it.
We rode cabs everywhere (I didn't know how to drive at the time, and my husband didn't have a license), we ate out constantly, we bought whatever little things caught our eye, we spoiled my kids silly, we lived in apartments down on campus where the rents are outrageously high. We partied quite a bit. We supported non-working friends, and simply gave a lot of money away. We were young and uneducated, and didn't know what the hell we were doing.

We actually have more savings, more stability, and more things, now.
It's true what they say about money- easy come, easy go.
If you didn't really work for it, chances are you will not know how to make it work for you.

I can understand that, my grandfather raised me to save and invest for 2 things.

Make my life easier in stressful situations and to ensure I can retire in comfort.
Now I've had my term of stupid with money about 3 or 4 years ago but even then I was pretty frugal and have rebounded from that situation.

I still study the best money practices nearly daily, it's kinda like a hobby for me.
I'm really good with money and have very few material wants.
 
BS in Electrical Engineering and BS in Mathematics
$72,000.00 last year
Manager of an HVAC contracting company and part-time musician.
 
I still study the best money practices nearly daily, it's kinda like a hobby for me.
I'm really good with money and have very few material wants.


Me, too. Now.
It took me awhile to get to that point, though.
I've always been a hard worker, no matter what I was doing.
That's one thing. I've never had any problem working back to back double shifts, working ten hours straight without a break, whatever.
I have a lot of energy, and I don't sleep much.
And I feel that whatever you're doing, time will pass faster and you'll feel better if you throw yourself into it and work as hard as you can at it. That includes menial labor like dishwashing and cooking for minimum wage (I've also done my share of that, both before and after my stint in AE).

As I've gotten older, I've come to see that these qualities- being reliable, energetic, hardworking, and motivated, rarely missing work- are worth a lot to employers, because not all or even most employees possess them.
If you get a foot in the door and have a chance to prove yourself to employers, you can go far in just about any field with nothing but a lot of energy and a willingness to learn.

I guess in this economy, though, getting a foot in the door is the main problem, for a lot of people.
 
Over $50,000.
 
Me, too. Now.
It took me awhile to get to that point, though.
I've always been a hard worker, no matter what I was doing.
That's one thing. I've never had any problem working back to back double shifts, working ten hours straight without a break, whatever.
I have a lot of energy, and I don't sleep much.
And I feel that whatever you're doing, time will pass faster and you'll feel better if you throw yourself into it and work as hard as you can at it. That includes menial labor like dishwashing and cooking for minimum wage (I've also done my share of that, both before and after my stint in AE).

It does work like that for sure, although some variation makes it easier/better.
Working ten hours, doing the exact same thing for the whole ten hours really blows, it's dull.
The trade off is not a lot of responsibility.

As I've gotten older, I've come to see that these qualities- being reliable, hardworking, and motivated, rarely missing work- are worth a lot to employers, because not all or even most employees possess them.
If you get a foot in the door and have a chance to prove yourself to employers, you can go far in just about any field with nothing but a lot of energy and a willingness to learn.

Definitely true.
I learned that a long while back, although I don't take it to the extreme anymore.
If I'm sick, I'll take a day off but that isn't often.

I guess in this economy, though, getting a foot in the door is the main problem, for a lot of people.

That is the problem, funny enough I just talked to a guy (literally like 10 minutes ago while I was smoking) who I used to work with.
He's been job hunting for about 6 months, since he got laid off from a welding company.
 
Retired after 30 years (age 53). (current retire income 55K-65K). made about 15=20K more a year when working.
BS- forest management
MS- wildland fire science.

Was debt free about 10 years before retirement.
Since I worked in wildland fire, during the summer fire season overtime could be substantial.
 
I'm still in school, so currently I have a high school diploma with some college. I plan to graduate in 2012 with a bachelors in molecular biology. From there I plan on attending medical school or pharmacy school.

Right now I work as a brand new pharmacy tech making $7.50 an hour. Once I get certified I will make around $11 an hour. Right now I work around 20 hours a week (part time with school). 20 hours a week working around 52 weeks a year gives me almost $8,000 a year (this is all assuming I don't become certified this year).
 
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