It's funny how $60k seemed like SO much money when I was 22, but now that I make more than that, it actually doesn't seem like that much when you take away 401(k), health insurance, life insurance, STD, savings, etc.
% of pay you take home has been the biggest shock to me re: adulthood and finances. After 401k, taxes, and health insurance, SO brings home 51% of his base pay. His bonus is taxed even higher.
I think I'm in the minority in that I didn't expect to make nearly as much money in insurance as I did. I went into this while I was still in high school, as an after school/summer job. I was extremely fortunate to have the right people help me along the way. I made about double what I ever expected during my early 20s, with no college degree or any formal training.
Now, I'm 1 student teaching semester away from being able to look for jobs that pay less than I made when I was 21. But, it is my passion and I will be so much happier.
I thought I'd be making more. I had no clue how little teachers (small, private school) make. I also thought I'd marry someone who would be making a decent salary, but I married a teacher, so...yeah. But we have enough.
I'm a teacher and I married a teacher too! We are certainly not destitute and we do fine, but it would be great if we could make a bit more. I'm sure most people think that though.
Yeah, we live juuuust about paycheck to paycheck in a LCOL area in a small apartment and no kids. We're actually considering moving into the city (Houston) next year if I can make a job switch. We'll see. We figure now, before we have kids, is the time for me to explore my options. Houston is supposed to have a pretty decent job market, so we'll see.
I probably expected to be making about what I'm making now, but I didn't think it would take an MBA to get here. I started out in Non-Profit and loved it, but it did set me back financially. Now that I have some MBA loans, I'd like to make about 30% more in the next several years.
In late high school/early college I think I expected to make around $80K when I graduated college. This is when programmers made bank and I planned on being a programmer.
The by the time I was a senior in college I was thinking more like $40's or $50s. What I got was $31 K in MCOL. 9 years and a masters degree out I'm in the low 6-figures so it worked out, just slower than I'd have hoped.
My mom made 30k, so growing up that is what I thought I would/should make.
Senior year of college I calculated that I couldn't accept a job with a salary under 40k or I wouldn't be able to meet all my debt payments and still afford to buy a house (which I wanted)
Now, I make double that (as a base pay at least) and would really like to cut back to being a SAHM. DH and my combined income when we first married was less than he makes now. We had more debt and were quite comfortable. I am trying to figure out how we did that.
ETA: Freshman year of college I was making $11/hour as the director of a daycare. I thought I was rich (and nearly didn't go to college because I thought I was raking it in)
I was under the impression that a realistic salary with my MS degree was 55-65k to start. I started at 45k and currently make about 50k. Cross your fingers my raise next week is larger than the $1500 it has been the other years I've worked here.
I do know some of my peers got higher salaries, but I work for a non profit and found this job/company during the recession so what happened to my peers graduating a year before me wasn't necessarily possible for me.
Mine is higher than what I expected. I majored in social work in undergrad and grad, so like a PP also had low salary drilled into me. Then ended up in a fed position very tangentially related to my schooling, which pays better than had I gone into nonprofit (I was macro so program admin was my original plan).
I came out of college making a great deal less than I anticipated. I didn't really have a good idea of what I would make, I just based my thinking on what friends/family said. They had no idea wtf they were talking about.
I don't make much but I'm above average so I guess that's good.
I think I am justly compensated considering that I can work from home, make my own schedule and take the summer off if I want to. I still make roughly the same as I did in my first job out of college with far less aggravation.
I don't remember having a specific dollar figure in mind before I went to college, but I do remember feeling like the first salary offered to me upon graduation was good.
Post by ladybrettashley on Aug 16, 2012 13:32:38 GMT -5
When I was in college I heard about a friend of my fiance (now DH) who graduated and got a job making $50k. That seemed so huge to me. I think I was expecting around $35k for myself. I ended up starting at more than double that, but of course I had to go to grad school and rack up more SL debt to do it.
I don't think I realized back then how much money it actually takes to live on. I pretty much have the lifestyle I pictured myself having, but it takes a lot more money to have that lifestyle than I ever imagined it would (if that makes sense).
I never expected to make a ton but I probably never would have thought that 13yrs (granted only 4 of those yrs working) & a graduate degree (from a top 10 program) later, I'd only make $2/hour more. I probably wouldn't have bothered going to Grad school--Lol.
I really don't remember what I thought I would be making. I was an engineering major so by the end of college I think I had a good idea of what my starting salary would be, and I got about what I thought. I had hoped to stay in the midwest, and that didn't happen though..
Post by sillygoosegirl on Aug 16, 2012 18:10:05 GMT -5
In high school, my expectations were based on the average starting salaries published by the schools I was thinking of attending. By my senior year of college, that number had been increased by half, based on what older classmates in related majors were getting offered. I actually started somewhere about halfway between, I think largely due to moving to a lower COL area at graduation. Now, 8 years later, I make almost tripple what I made right out of college... Though I no longer get benefits since I became a consultant. I did not anticipate so much income growth over time.
Engineering salaries seemed predictable so I probably made what I thought. I was surprised how low H's non engineering salary was when we were first together.
I don't think I realized back then how much money it actually takes to live on. I pretty much have the lifestyle I pictured myself having, but it takes a lot more money to have that lifestyle than I ever imagined it would (if that makes sense).
Exactly this - I always thought 6 figures meant millionaire, luxury vacations and pretty much whatever I wanted. DH and I, while comfortable, still have to budget like my parents did. Money just doesn't go as far as I thought it would when I was younger.
I thought I'd make about triple what I make now. I would probably be close to that if I had not left PR and chosen the less than lucrative field of public librarianship, lol.
I think I'm making a little bit more than I had thought I would make when I was in high school. In a couple of years, I'll be making more than I ever imagined but it doesn't seem like that much now. LOL
i remember thinking that making $40k at 30 would be exceptional (i did pick a low paying salary, after all). when my job bumps from 32 to 40 hr/wk in a few months i'll be just a couple thousand shy. and i'm only 25 so i'm feeling pretty good about this!
I have no idea...my parents never talked about money with me, so I don't even know how much they made. When I was pre-med, I obviously thought I would make more than I do as a professor. But when I was in grad school, I never thought I would make as much straight out as I do now.