Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Okay, I'm Asking!

Lots of great comments on my last post, When Is It Okay to Ask?

A couple of the commenters volunteered to share their own salaries, with a bit of contextual info:

I'm 37 and married. I make $97k as a sofware test engineer. Living in San Francisco bay area.

I am a 26 year old, engaged homeowner. I live in Auckland, New Zealand working as a Research and Development chemist earning $55,000. (I assume that is in NZ dollars-Madame X)
I've written about my salary here before-- I'm in my late 30s, working in publishing in New York City, and my total income this year will be approximately $100,000 including salary and bonus.

So that is 3 of us... now everybody else, bring it on! Feel free to comment anonymously, but let's hear how much you earn and a little bit about who you are, where you live, and how you earn it.

428 comments:

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Anonymous said...

35, Married, live in Houston, Bachelors degree, network engineer makes 85k/yr.

Balance on mortgage = $88k

Wife makes around 30k

We can save about 30% if we focus.

Anonymous said...

The incomes listed here are insane. I'm a 42 year old elementary school teacher with two Master's degrees plus 30 credits more I've obtained over the years through Professional Development that is required to keep my teaching certificate in the state of Michigan (that I have to pay for myself. I've been teaching for 14 years and my salary is $58K. Of course that's not what I bring home because of health insurance, yada, yada, yada. So...really??? I've been on two 3-yr contracts that had pay freezes out of my 14 yrs of teaching and some of you are in your 20s earning over $100K??? There's something very wrong with all of this. Very, very wrong.

Anonymous said...

Live in nyc with my fiance.

Him. 29 works at a bank - $110k base + $80k bonus

Her. 28 works in consulting - $76k base + $4k bonus

Total income: $267k

Savings: $140k

Retirement: $55k

Anonymous said...

Interesting to see all these high paying jobs in 2007 before the recession hit.
I'm a 22 year old single female in Southern Idaho. Have a BA from a liberal arts institution.
Work in media for $31,500/year.
-3,500 in student loans
-$650 for rent and utilities

Anonymous said...

27 y/o Married Male (one daughter, two dogs, and a mortgage) with B.A. in History and Masters of Divinity. Transitioning from Ministry work to the Financial Industry with zero experience at a small Financial firm in the Twin Cities.

Base: 34k + Bonuses

Wife had been making 33k a year in a large local church, but is transitioning to staying at home with our growing family.

Fiscal year-end reviews typically lead to 5-10% raises.

Anonymous said...

I am 30 years old, living alone, in Boston proper. I make 50k as a personal trainer (but pay 6,300/ year for medical benefits). I get 3 weeks of PTO/year. I never work more than 40 hours/week. I work odd hours, but have a flexible schedule. I live in a studio apartment in a nice neighborhood for 1,000/month (a steal!). Saving up slowly for a down payment. I can't really afford a car, but it makes better financial sense to bike or take public transit.

Anonymous said...

Wow... the year is now 2014, and after looking at these over-paid salaries in 2007, I can only imagine how inflated the listed salaries are now. I am from DC, and must confess that I mainly looked at the salaries in the comments from DC workers and similar scale cities on this blog. Seems as though the way to go is to become a software engineer!!

Unfortunately, my skill set lies in creativity rather than book smarts, and am a 26 year old artist. I hold a BA in Interior Design and an MS in (Environmentally) Sustainable Design. These degrees helped me get my first "9 to 5" job out of grad school working as an Executive Assistant at a national non-profit organization. After 3 years, I earn $47K per year, but still feel as though I live beyond my means in this city with ridiculously high rent prices, gas prices, and flourishing "organic" markets (and due to my $53K in college debt).

I am also a freelance vocal artist, but (unfortunately at this point) make only about $1K profit per year doing what I love most - performing.

Anonymous said...

43 no degree making 105k a yr with 25% bonus and take home vehicle. Im blessed. After reading this string its time to work harder thanks to all for grounding me aand showing me just gow lucky i am.

Anonymous said...

I'm 28 years old in Oregon
I'm a Software QA Architect

My base is 105k
15% annual bonus

Anonymous said...

I am 29, Bachelor's degree. Risk Analyst (off Wall St.) - $62k. I own a business which brings me another $25k. In total, I bring in around $85k a year.

Anonymous said...

92K + 3-5%bonus a year with 3% raise every year. I'm single 32 years old working as a Sr. Designer for an oil and gas company in Houston, TX

Anonymous said...

31 year old single female, NYC, sales, $40K base + commission. Last year, pulled in $250K. $2k in credit card spend each month, $2K/month in rent, $0 in loans.
Excellent blog!

Anonymous said...

30 year old married female living in Alberta. I am an inside sales manager for and oil and gas company. Base salary is $75,000/year with bonus up to $15k or more if we exceed sales targets. I invest and save 52% of my income, not including bonus money. No university education. We own a home worth $600k and owe $240. My husband earns $82k annually. No debt besides the mortgage.
Great blog! Very interesting to read about.

Anonymous said...

Im a 42 year old male, Living in British Columbia, Canada.. No formal education but a background in oil and gas. I currently make over $320+k a year as a contract field/plant operator working 2 weeks in/ 2 weeks off rotation. Been making $250+k for the past decade at this. Taxes are roughly 8k-12k a year, accounting is 5k a year.

Anonymous said...

Great Blog, I'm surprised people are still leaving comments :)
I saw this blog first when I was starting out my professional career. I was making 50k per year in my first job seven years back. I was 27 then coming from a PhD program.
I was not happy with what I was making, but your blog brought me a measure of relief knowing I was not alone.
Fast forward seven years, now I make 350k a year as a research scientist, love what I do and could make a lot more if I wanted to be don't really need to go after money, so I am taking it easy and enjoying work and life.

Anonymous said...

27 years old. Chemical engineering degree. San Francisco. $80K bonus 2-10% (so far its been 2%). 401k 6% match. Five weeks PTO. ESPP.

First job after college (22 yrs old) was making $69K/yr in little, super affordable Green Bay Wisconsin. Left that for a $44k job with the federal government in the South (GS7) then made GS9 which put me at about $54k. Left that to join a top IT consulting company which started at 76500. Almost two years later I am now at 80K.

I stumbled upon this blog because it's 144am and I was feeling as if I am behind my peers career and salary wise. My peers being defined as other 27 yr olds with chemical engineering degrees.

Anonymous said...

I make 26k a year , 23 male single ....need a better job

Anonymous said...

just turned 25. 75k Contract work for DOL in DC.

BC said...

Hi Everyone! This is a very insightful and useful blog, thanks for sharing!

24, Male, NYC, Business development, Bachelor's degree, own my own 1 bedroom co-op, work about 10 hours a day M - F

Base: 53,000
Bonus: potential of 5000
Commission: possibly 7500? - just starting out in this position

Possibly 60K for 2015, feels really weak in the NYC metro area.

I feel underpaid, but I will continue to strive for greater.

Anonymous said...

Male, 20 ,TX, Austin.
New car professional.
85K

Anonymous said...

Male, 20, Tx, Austin.
New Car Professional.
85k per year

Anonymous said...

Female. Indianapolis, IN. Project Manager. 90k a year

Anonymous said...

I am 25 years old, male, working in Pittsburgh, PA..I am a General Sales Manager in the Automotive Industry. I'm making $80,000 base salary per year with a bonus of anywhere from $10,000-$15000 per year. Typically earn $92,000 per year. no student loans, recently married and just put 20% down on a $250,000 home in a nice suburb! Worked hard to get where I am, and always continuing to improve and reach my goals!

Anonymous said...

Hi,
I see I'm late to the party, but anyway...
I am in Brisbane Australia.
I am 42 and a teacher ( full time) and earn $75 000.
My husband is 46 and Is in sales and earns $120 000 plus company car with fully paid private use and a phone. He works interstate every second week.
We both pay around 30% in tax.

We have 3 teenage children at home, all in private schools (about 40% of all kids go to private schools in Australia)
costing around $30 000 per annum
Groceries are around $400 per week

We have a mortgage of $250 000 on a $750 000 house- about $1200 per month repayment. That's also a very modest house. House prices in Australia are ridiculous.
Private health costs $380 a month
Owe $11 000 on a $16 000 car
We have around a combined $350 000 in Superannuation (retirement fund), $50 000 in a share portfolio and $60 000 in savings.
No credit card debt.
In all, monthly expenditure excluding the mortgage and car payments is around $7500.

If I compare myself to most of our friends, we are in the middle. We know lots of people earning heaps more and a few earning a bit less.
Always very surprised by how many people are supported by parents financially - lots of help with deposits for houses or help with school fees and holidays. Most of my kid's friends have been bought cars for their 17th birthdays and OS holidays are common.
Any other Aussies here? What's your experiences?

Anonymous said...

Male, 25, Single
IT Engineer in South Bend, Indiana
83k + up to 20% bonus / other

Anonymous said...

25, Male, Married, Tucson, AZ. I work as an associate manager for a growing healthcare IT firm. 55,000 Annually. Not sure about bonus structure. I have some college credit and 9 years of experience in the IT field.

Wife is a supervisor at a small doctor's office and makes 30,000 year with bonus and paid benefits. She has an Associate's Degree and is a certified MA.

We live pretty well due to the cost of living being so low. 2 BR 2 BATH Apartment. Not too bad for now. :D

Anonymous said...

27 year-old female, Chicago, working in ad sales. $25K base with commission + bonus. 2015 (3rd year in career) was $115K, 2014 (2nd year in career) was $76K. My very first job out of college was in account coordination, bringing in only $37.5K So in 5 years have tripled my income, without inflating my lifestyle.

Bought a small sq. ft. condo end-of 2014 that is just 8% of my 2015 income so I'm able to save ~40% (Max pre-tax 403B, Max Pre-Tax Roth, 22% post-tax in roboinvestor). I lived in a $750 studio to save up for the 20% DP - and this 1BR, which is about double the size, is $805 for Mortgage, Taxes, HOA fee and Homeowners Insurance. Eventually this will become an investment property.

Currently have $40K in retirement accounts, $20K in roboinvestment + safety net. 2-year goal from now: $86K in retirement accounts, $68K in roboinvestment + safety net.

Anonymous said...

Male, Atlanta Front-End Web Developer $75,000 with 10% Bonus

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