Would You Work More If It Means Earning More? POLL

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Posted by bride_to_be_2007

I would love to be making that much!! I am a teacher as well, making about $41,500 for my first year. After my masters and years it will go up but it could be a lot better. Currently FH is going for his masters and works in i guess you would say social work making $37,000. We are only making $78,500 combined!! I guess i should get ready for the struggle if 200 isnt cutting it!! we both live at home still so we will be in for a big shock!! Hopefully it will get better bc FH is going for his masters in industrial psychology and ultimately wants to be a business consultant. With that position the salary is often aroun $150,000. But he needs to get some HR experience first. So there is a long road ahead of us but as i keep telling FH we are only 22 & 25...things can only get better, and if we have each other we have all the riches in the world!!

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You will be FINE. I own a 4 bedroom house with a full basement in Sayville. I have 2 little boys and I work full time - so I also have a nanny. I don't drive a fancy car and I don't carry designer handbags - but we have food on the table, no debt and we are able to have a wedding without putting ourselves in a hole. I don't make 200G - in fact our combined income 2 years ago was probably under 100G.

You will be able to do it. You need to live within your means. Budget, DIY and know your limits when it comes to money.

I work for a private not-for-profit. My last raise was July 2004. Our contract expired December 2004, and for ther first time in our 40+ year history we laid off people in March 2005. We finally started bargaining our new contract two months ago, but there is NO chance we will get retro pay of any kind.

ETA: A friend of mine discussed the possibility of me working for him, until he heard about the desire to start a family (he told me that was much more important for the immediate future and we'll revisit the issue a year from now). From our discussion my salary would have tripled, but it meant a 9 hour work day + a commute to the city.

It's sad to know that the average salary in this area is $49K since the price of housing (and everything else) is astronomical.

I was just having this discussion with friends when yet another couple came in to the real estate office looking to purchase an apartment with a mortgage pre-approval of $250K. In many areas of the country $250K would be enough for a nice house but in NYC $250K is barely enough for a one bedroom apartment in an okay neighborhood.

The salaries in the NYC Metro area definitely do not coincide with the cost of living.

I'd love to know what the 6 of you do who make over 110K a year...I may need to change professions

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Posted by dancinmyazoff

I'd love to know what the 6 of you do who make over 110K a year...I may need to change professions

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I would like to know too!! Are there any job openings available? I'm dead serious!

I switched over to investment banking. I make double what I was making before but have to work ~50% more. I don't think it's worth it.

Time is more valuable than money.

I am a CPA and make pretty good money...I've worked hard to get where I am today

If you want to make the big bucks (6 figures) i find these fields will get you there after 5-10 or so years of experience;

consulting
finance
doctors (usually, immediate)
computers

if you're not in those fields then you'll have to have ALOT of experience or be some type of celebrity (sports star, actor, writer, etc).

i'm sure i left out others but those are the ones i know...

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Posted by Bridex100

I switched over to investment banking. I make double what I was making before but have to work ~50% more. I don't think it's worth it.

Time is more valuable than money.

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i agree, i calculate my earning based on what i get per hour.

Hypothetically, If I make 100k a year and am working 60 hours/week vs. making 70k at 37 hours/week, that is:

100k / 52 weeks / 60 hours = $32 / hour.

70k / 52 weeks/ 37 hours = $36 / hour

You can see which one is better. I'll take the 70k anyday, rather than a 100k job where i will have to work my butt off 60 hours a week. Even the bonus may not help.... :)


/L

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Posted by eden

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Posted by Bridex100

I switched over to investment banking. I make double what I was making before but have to work ~50% more. I don't think it's worth it.

Time is more valuable than money.

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i agree, i calculate my earning based on what i get per hour.

Hypothetically, If I make 100k a year and am working 60 hours/week vs. making 70k at 37 hours/week, that is:

100k / 52 weeks / 60 hours = $32 / hour.

70k / 52 weeks/ 37 hours = $36 / hour

You can see which one is better. I'll take the 70k anyday, rather than a 100k job where i will have to work my butt off 60 hours a week. Even the bonus may not help.... :)


/L

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Also, the more money you earn per year, regardless of the number of hours, the more taxes you pay!!! So the $4/hr difference is a bit larger when you look at it that way.

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Posted by Bridex100

Yes, the more money you make, the more the government takes from you. My bonus is taxed at almost 50%. *****!!!

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Mine too, even when I was making less money, it got taxed a lot higher than my income.

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Posted by neener1211

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Posted by dancinmyazoff

I'd love to know what the 6 of you do who make over 110K a year...I may need to change professions

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I would like to know too!! Are there any job openings available? I'm dead serious!

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Not sure about those who responded $110K and up but 'entry level' lawyers in many NYC firms make $125K to start. Some firms pay first year lawyers $145K to start.

It's searchable here - http://www.nalpdirectory.com/dledir_search_advanced.asp

Granted, many first year lawyers have about $60K in student loan debt - more if adding in undergrad loans. Most first year lawyers at mid-sized to large firms have to bill at least 2,000 a year which means spending probably 2500 a year in the office since you can't bill for every moment you are at work (lunch, bathroom breaks, coffee breaks, talking with colleagues about random stuff, etc.)

the professions with pretty much guaranteed 6 figure salaries are:

lawyers
doctors
dentists
investment bankers

Hourly paycheck calculator -
http://www.paycheckcity.com/netpayhratescalc/netpayHRatescalculator.asp

Salaried paycheck calculator -
http://www.paycheckcity.com/netpaycalc/netpaycalculator.asp

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Posted by akaMrsT

Granted, many first year lawyers have about $60K in student loan debt - more if adding in undergrad loans. Most first year lawyers at mid-sized to large firms have to bill at least 2,000 a year which means spending probably 2500 a year in the office since you can't bill for every moment you are at work (lunch, bathroom breaks, coffee breaks, talking with colleagues about random stuff, etc.)

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That's insane! 2500 hours means a minimum of 48 hours! Life of a lawyer isn't so glamourous is it? :(

It's true though, my friend is a paralegal and he works 60-80 hours a week all the time. Poor guy! Good thing for OT though!

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Posted by eden
That's insane! 2500 hours means a minimum of 48 hours! Life of a lawyer isn't so glamourous is it? :(

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It depends on who you ask. I have friends who hate it and friends who love it. One male friend is a low level partner (salaried not profit sharing)making like $350K. I have another friend who worked like 2700 last fiscal year and although she hates it (has to always cancel on events with family and friends) she has not found an out yet.

Most of my friends have moved on to in-house jobs at corporation. It's a salary cut usually but the hours are typically 8 - 6 p.m. with NO weekends and no blackberry leash

I have a Masters degree, but I'm not working in my field. Instead I'm still working at a place I've been at for 7 years, so I've got some seniority here and there's a comfort level that comes with that.

But honestly, I've got to get moving on. I'm making less than 30K and it's just not going to cut it living on LI, and DH and I wanting to have kids.

ETA: I realized I didn't actually answer the question. I'm salaried and have to work at least 40 hours to keep my full-time status to receive benefits, etc. But after taxes and everything is taken out a 40-hour paycheck is nothing so I have to work at least some OT in order to bring home anything decent. Plus OT pay is time and a half. I usually do 2.5 hours a week but 5 OT hours would be better, at one point I was working 50 hour weeks. So not only would I work more if it meant earning more, but I do bc I have to. And we don't have an expensive lifestyle, I could only imagine if we did!!