Friday, October 01, 2010

Good News: Raise, Promotion, Inheritance

A little happy news! I was promoted and got a raise of a little over 6 percent. The percentage seems a bit small for a promotion, but I wasn't going to quibble over it, especially as I've yet to be asked to do anything more in exchange for my more exalted title!
It's funny, I've often felt conflicted about my career ambitions-- on one level, I do want to make more money, do fulfilling work, and feel that my efforts are publicly acknowledged by a prestigious title. But another part of me worries about hitting what I think of as "the responsibility wall." In part, this is an anxiety about exceeding my level of competence, and failing after years of succeeding. But it's also about not wanting to work too hard! I have a life outside my job, and I want to have time for activities I enjoy and not feel like work consumes all my energy. It's an issue I'll continue to mull over, but for the moment, I guess I have the best of all worlds!

It actually feels like a bit of a milestone-- I've reached a level in my career that I wasn't sure I'd ever attain. And although my total compensation including bonus has been over $100k for a few years now, this is the first time my actual salary will rise above $100k-- I'm not sure why this means anything to me, but it does!

One sad thing about my promotion is that I can't help wishing it had happened before Great-aunt Minnie died. She was the first person I would have wanted to tell, because I know how proud of me she would have been. Quite coincidentally, I also just got word via my sister that it looks like my share of the inheritance may be around $15,000, which means Minnie's total estate must have been over $180,000, even though she never owned a home. I'm even more impressed that Minnie managed to have so much money saved at the end of her life, and I feel very lucky to benefit from her wisdom and generosity in this unexpected way.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the promotion and the inheritance!

Years ago when my grandmother died, each grandchild received about $3000, which would have meant that she had saved perhaps $24K. Given that she had never worked after she got married, it meant that she had saved a few dollars here and there out of the housekeeping money over the course of 60+ years. It seemed like an extraordinary achievement.

I put my inheritance towards buying a car, which might seem frivolous, but I took good care of my car, and it got me to and from work for 10 years. I often thought that my grandmother's legacy to me stretched far beyond the $3000, as it helped me to earn many times that amount!

Hooray for the grandmas and great aunt Minnies of the world!

Anonymous said...

Your post has me pondering the idea of an inheritance and wondering if it will be a rarity for future generations? The more I look at our society, our extended lifespan, loss of a frugality, reluctance to save and extending debt past one's working lifetime and government's search for new tax revenues ... the more I think dying in debt is likely scenario. It would be interesting to see a chart (with future projects) that compared past, current and future generation when it comes to having something left for them?

frugal zeitgeist said...

Congratulations on your promotion! I'm really pleased to hear that; it sounds like you've worked hard for a long, long time to earn it. 6% is nothing like raises were for promotions a few years ago (mine came through a year before the economy went belly-up), but it's very decent for this economy.

Your great aunt sounds like she was a lovely lady. Enjoy your inheritance; I am sure she would have wanted you to.

Nick said...

to answer the question of whether or not inheritances will be a thing of the past, I think they will if we keep trusting the government to hold all of our money. There are proper vehicles that make it possible to pass down a legacy to your posterity.

Single Ma said...

Congratulations on all the good news!

Anonymous said...

Congrats. Now you can go out and buy that fancy new car you've always dreamed of:)JK. You should really look into the asset allocation model. Your leaving a lot of money on the table.

Chers,

Loan Calculator said...

Congrats for promotion.we are involve with your little happy news.