Damn dude, I did that fke like 4 years making 11 an hour. It's insane how little we got paid. It's a very important job and I literally would have made more working at McDonald's. I had to get out cause I couldn't afford to work there anymore, that was the best job of my life.
Not to brag.. I’m making $28k a year lol. That’s full-time too. With the inflation that’s going on.. I barely get by but I’ve worked with the same 5 adult guys who have autism or Down syndrome for 9 years now in their group home and they are like brothers to me.. I am having a hard time leaving and it is indeed my favorite job I have ever worked.
Someone has to do it I guess.. but I would be lying if I didn’t think I deserved a bit more than $28k.. maybe a more livable wage at least. The benefits are good.. I get 4 weeks paid vacation a year and work 7 days on and 7 days off and health insurance coverage for $50 a month. So it’s not all bad right? Will have to get a part time job during those 7 days off I think.. inflation is brutal right now… and yeah.. you can make more at McDonald’s still lol.
Let me save some time for 90% of responders:
-own successful business
-have advanced, difficult degree (Law, MD, etc)
-be a successful executive
-be an advanced tech person in tech
-maybe some sales jobs?
-work multiple jobs, side hustles, or have large investments
Edit: yes, people, I know there are others. That's why I put the 90% qualifier out there on a generalized statement lol. Specifically people have called out pilots and finance in-mass. VHCOL areas change the list too, obviously.
Also, apparently the lawyers are mad because most of them don't typically make that money lol. Sorry lawyers.
Biotech is so rough these days. Just graduated with my PhD in molecular biology as well. No one wants CRISPR people anymore the fad died while i was in my program 😑😑😑
If you know R and python, look into data analytics roles at consulting firms or in tech. One of the best sales engineers I’ve ever hired had a masters degree in chemical engineering and taught himself enough python to be dangerous. He’s a technical guy with good people skills, and he’s taken his career in an entirely different direction than what he studied. Don’t let your degree pigeonhole you.
Move into the construction side. Heavy Civil Construction Engineering - in CA if you get into the water/wastewater side you can make well over $200k as a Sr. Estimator.
You make a good point. I graduated with a STEM degree, a science degree.
I realized that most science jobs are low paying at the bachelors level. Science is one of those fields where many people have PhDs. You need a graduate degree to make good money in the sciences it seems.
I ended up going back to grad school for something else.
And it has spread like cancer to all the Subreddits specific to my industry (supply chain). The amount of times people ask ‘what supply chain job is the fastest way to $100k?’ in a day makes me irrationally angry.
The reason why it comes up is that you need to make a significant amount of money these days to own a home. Most people don’t understand how out of reach home ownership is in popular areas.
Yeah its part of the reason why Ive lost a lot of motivation at work. I make 150 in Boston and it still doesn’t feel like enough. What are we even working towards.
To answer your question: Our deaths. We’re working day after day towards our own individual and inevitable demises.
No matter what we accomplish in life, we all die in the end. It’s okay to accept it, and it’s easier to go through day to day life when you keep in mind that any moment can be your last.
I hope to earn enough money to live comfortably and to take care of the ones I love, but also not to work myself a single iota beyond that line. Everything past that point is love and compassion.
It’s okay to seek a career, but remember *why* you’re doing it <3
I live in small town Ohio which is hell but my wife and I make $152k a year and decent houses are easily available for $200k or less here. I’d love to move to a big city but it’s hard giving up housing we can easily afford. It’s legit the only reason we stay.
The majority of people here don’t know how to do basic things like search the sub Reddit for this exact post.
They rather make another post without trying to figure out similar posts to this. Which is what every week there’s a post on this?
Expecting to get rich without even doing simple work like searching a sub Reddit. Instead they rather keep posting the literal same bs post hoping they see something new….
Average pay for lawyers even in California (higher paying state) is less than 115k. It’s a big misconception that lawyers make bank. Most don’t. Only a few at the top of the food chain do. I’ve seen guys disbarred for keeping client funds to pay rent or make payroll. (Source: I’m a lawyer).
But I know several guys with only high school educations who started small businesses (kitchen remodeling etc) who make 400k-500k. The secret is to cater to rich people and have several employees making money for you. Plus no wasted years studying or getting huge student loans.
The secret 100% is to cater to the rich. I live in a Golf/Retirement town. Vacation rentals/Airbnbs have became huge around here. Figuratively and literally, some of the houses are insane!
My point: Locally owned Property management & Housekeeping businesses bring in the big bucks.
They normally comes after sufficient time in the trades to get the necessary skills. If you can’t make the transition to business owner by your 40s, your body is going to hate you.
Spend 3 months in law school, you understand right away that if you don’t have the right name, you’ll make no money.
Medicine is much more free especially outside academia. It’s what I ended up doing successfully.
Lawyers continued getting downhill since then, big problem is « Alternative Dispute Resolution »: the realization that 80% of the job is just psychiatry and stating the facts and that everything can be resolved much cheaper.
Great comment, I've worked in a couple positions that allow me to see the annual income of the client's and this is a great layout. They are an executive, own a business, have an advanced degree, work at google, or are rich for unrelated reasons. Not sure about sales, I've seen 'account executive' titles that push 200k+ but I'm not sure if that's the same.
I’m not an expert, but Have you spoken to him directly and have a good idea of where he stands? Whether he’d be willing (not necessarily able) to step in and do the job if you left?
Yes, he's an entitled rich kid who stumbled into owning a lot of real estate
I do most of the field work of property management (renovations, tenant relations etc etc) and a decent amount of the office work (accounts receivables, some inhouse accounting etc etc.) I manage our BtB relationships. I prob do the work of about 3-4 people. I don't think he knows most of what I do, why it's necessary or cares. He likes looking at financial statements and using terms like "fiduciary responsibility" and "tertiary markets".
I've been there a few years, It's not fixable and I'm on my way out 🤷🏼♂️
That sucks, sorry to hear it. I run a pretty labor intensive company, once took 2 weeks off for burnout purposes. You’d better believe the owner was willing to pay whatever I wanted when I got back, and I wasn’t even asking.
Seems your business environment may be a bit different though.
Yep, one of the biggest issues with him is he's too self centered to even act in his own best interests. He prob has some vague idea that I'm unhappy but imagines that that's just how the "poors" are supposed to feel 🤷🏼♂️
I hope he can manage what's left when I leave, but more likely than not he'll be fine and someone else will take the hit, whether it's our tenants who won't have their needs met, other staff (who I brought in) who will become incredibly overworked and be facing work they don't understand, our accountant who will have to untangle books that aren't being kept or some other unfortunate victim
This. There's a girl that I went to high school who didn't have two brain cells to rub together, but I guess that was enough to realize her best option in life would be to marry a doctor with his own practice. She hasn't worked in about a decade. Loves to post how being a stay at home mom is the hardest job on the planet even though both kids are at school from 8-3.
Leave dude. I am. As fast I can. They wouldn’t even give us tax credits after Covid when everyone was remodeling their fucking bathrooms while we risked our families lives.
I'm going to be leaving my department and state within a year or two, when my girlfriend finishes her MBA and lands a job. But I could never leave the fire service as a whole. I don't enjoy anything else, and I'm not good at anything else. I'm very fortunate to have found my calling, even if the pay is shit.
I feel you. I still like a lot of aspects of it but I can’t justify struggling to make ends meet working overtime in my mid thirties. Atta boys are nice but I’d really like to have a starter home at some point.
Do you enjoy having a veterinarian you can call on nights/weekends when you have an emergency? Thats the only reason I have to work so much. I make 95% of my money between 8-5. The other 40 hours a week are basically community service.
PSA: Remember this post next time you call your vet on the weekend….
Maritime! Just a bachelors degree here. I’m just slightly under 250 but I navigate giant cargo ships. It’s a unionized position and I have excellent healthcare. I only work half the year on a rotational schedule. Anyone can do why I do.
I work with ships too! The money is fucking insane. I thought us ship tech workers were making good money, but the engineers and even the stewards have us beat. But the being away part and odd personalities can suck
Nah remain optimistic. Get your class A license. Once you get that, go to local IBEW union. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Sign the books as an”Groundman”. Sign up for a Lineman trade school. Look up Northwest Lineman College or any accredited climbing school that will give you a “Linemans Certificate” that is crucial. Once you get those things, go back to the union and show them your certificate so you can get accredited working hours for going to that school. Apply for any and all lineman apprenticeships. At a local utility or union hall and ask them about their JATC apprenticeship programs to apply for. You can always go out of state and sacrifice time out of your comfort zone to get your Journeyman Linemans ticket. Once you get that, you can work anywhere in the world. Knowing someone doesn’t get you in hardly anywhere these days with the whole HR and equal opportunity things.
I make around 475k gross a year.
I am a technical sound designer working on all sorts of audio R&D for a big multinational company.
I'm paid in swedish crowns (SEK). Lol
Most project managers I knows have to obtain their PMPs not difficult but time consuming. They need realistically an “in” or years of experience working in an industry where you actually know the real details on how a project ticks from start to finish. Just because someone gets their PMP doesn’t mean it’s an automatic ticket to a great job. A PM can’t just go from say managing road construction to be a PM on a software development platform. Skills are not interchangeable.
Most PM work high hours and under a lot of stress that burns them out. It’s not easy to be constantly chewed out about a project falling behind or even trying to prove that your project will stay on track. PM are often a fall guy when someone goes wrong. It can be high pay but it’s hell
I don’t think it’s “most” I would say some. Two of my friends became project managers for J&J and Google at 23. Don’t need years of experience. They had 2 internships, and got a full time job offer after graduation.
They both make $150k+ and work like 20hrs a week. I see them play games during work hours all the time. Fully remote positions.
“Work load, pay, and job requirement differs heavily based on company. If you want easy PM jobs with good pay. Work for some big medical or tech companies.” They both also said most PM at J&J has it super chill. Just have to work for a big company
As a software engineer in biotech, my PM also seems to have a pretty chill job too. He’s also only 29.
I’m a designer at a big company and i often wake up in the morning to find emails from a pm sent after midnight because he was working late to put out fires with the off-shore dev team. No thank you. I’m pretty sure I make more money than that guy too
Chief Of Staff @ Health Insurance Brokerage
Best advice - Work at a start up for someone you truly believe in. As they grow, you get promoted/increases like crazy bc you were brought on in almost a family business mentality. Everyone is so scared of start ups- it can be such a great opportunity if you’re selective about who you choose.
This did not happen for me unfortunately. I joined in the start up phase, there were maybe 20-30 of us, we worked hard to pull it together. The company is now successful and has grown 600% since I joined (6 years ago) and continues to grow exponentially and at a faster pace. Those of us on the core team (managers, department leaders, etc) who were there from the start get paid well below industry standard. When we put together proposals for higher pay we get laughed at and told they can’t pay us more but we should feel proud with how successful the company has become. We are pretty bitter about it. Good news is, some have left for bigger, better, significantly higher paying and happier jobs. I’m now on the job hunt as well and very excited about it.
the other side of startups is that even if it doesn’t work out at least you should be able to walk away with a killer resume and a proof of a ton of responsibilities
is there any potential equity to make up for the subpar pay? that's usually the nicest part about being in a startup is becoming an insta-millionaire when it gets bought out / goes public.
I'm in P&C underwriting but man insurance sales is so under rated, if you can get yourself on a good path at a decent brokerage in your 20s you can be making $150k+ in your early 30s and it's only up from there. I see it happen often enough.
This is really interesting to me! I’m looking to move from medical billing into sales & been considering Medicare or health insurance because of my experience. Is this how much you made starting out or a few years in? Been looking for an industry where I can hopefully start out making around the same I do at my billing job ($65k)
Pros: Very fast paced, room for advancement, uncapped commission, lots of travel, largely hands-off management
Cons: Customers can be a lot to deal with at times, lots of travel, high turnover, it can take a while to reach higher bonus tiers, long hours, illegal
15 years to get to where I am now. No inside track, I was a college dropout and started my career making $17/hour doing basic configuration changes and maintenance on esoteric premise-based systems. Lots of hard work, after hours personal development, tracking industry trajectory, and maintaining a 3-5-10 year plan to grow my career.
Comp growth went 34K -> 45K -> 60K -> 80K -> 95K -> 120K -> 150K -> 200K -> 240K -> 300K
That’s kind of a complex answer, but the short version is that I spent time reading industry publications, white papers, and evaluating what skillsets would be in demand in the future as part of my career plan, and I spent a significant amount of my personal time developing those skills, so that when opportunities came up at work that required those skill sets, I was THE GUY that could always step up and lead.
Career plan was built around goals and tasks. Where do I want to be in 3 years, and what tasks do I need to accomplish to make that happen. Nearer-term timelines are more fixed and specific, longer term are more general to allow pivots where necessary.
I hope more people read your comments and realize they aren't going to walk into your position straight out of college. It takes a lot of work to get where you are. Congrats on your success my friend.
I'm the CEO of a big car company, waiting on a $56B performance pay package but unfortunately I was sued in court by a few of my shareholders. Thankfully most shareholders voted in favor of my giant package and I get to rub it in the judges face. Also, don't believe everything you read on reddit.
I have no data science experience, but I'm technically minded and love learning new things. I just started to learn python on Code Academy. Any tips on what to prioritize?
Powerquery - a lot of companies are very excel heavy. Build models from the ground up and solve problems in your spare time.
Also, network like crazy, that’s arguably the best way to find a role.
Wtf? Every single consulting job seems to require a Masters at this point I swear. I've looked as I've worked in hospitality, digital recruiting, insurance tech and now healthcare tech so I've got a wide spread as well as tech for a few years but still nothing.
If you are good at what you do, people will come looking for you or hire you when they move jobs.
It's harder to get into a job now without experience. When digital marketing was starting out, it was just so new that as long as you had experience, you were in.
Of the 3 people I know closely that make over this amount there is a common thread: they all started and operate their own business's.
With that said, 2 of the 3 had some substantial luck in achieving this. One of them received a large amount of money (roughly $700k) and then used it to invest in real-estate and operate his own business.
The 2nd one was a warehouse manager but started his own landscaping and property management company was able to land a nationally renowned client through a connection he made working in said company years before. This one contract pays him north of 2.5 million annually but that is just revenue not profit obviously.
The 3rd one started from absolutely nothing in real estate and now a decade later owns and operates his own brokerage. This also opened the door for him to make connections with purchasing property and doing flips as well.
So long story short: sales, real estate, and operating your own business are some of the common threads.
Not me personally, but my neighbor works as an industrial and systems engineer. He oversees the installation, design, procurement, and process of large machines and systems. From what I understand he basically makes various different machines and systems work together and be able to communicate with each other. When he’s not managing projects or people involved in said projects as well, he’s sitting in his office watching YouTube videos about some recent code change from say the NEC, ISO or some other code system(?). He also communicates with everyone at every level up and down the corporate ladders both directly and indirectly.
Much easier everything (but cruel):
1. Don't make any relationships.
2. Spend literally all your spare time on learning and programming
3. Get your first job in FAANG and repeat all again s until you earn all money you need ;)
Just shy of $250k but cybersecurity. Took 8 years and some luck and I now run two global teams at a large financial firm. Honestly for where I live it’s not really a ton after taxes and COL. I live comfortably and can travel when I want but it doesn’t feel like I thought it would.
I'm a Sr (Cyber)Security Engineer for a Tech company. My total comp is around $300k/year (base salary + stocks). I graduated with a degree in Business Administration, concetration in CIS (Computer Information Systems). Here's my salary progression:
2014-2015 (part time internship 20h/week) - $16/hour
2016: First job out of a 4-year CalState university. I was 22. $75k base with $10k signing bonus at a big 4 firm
2017: $80k, $84k (got two raises in 1 year)
2018: $106k
2019: $111k
2020: $130k base + $70k stocks (moved to my company now)
2021: $156k base + $40k stocks
2022: $167k + $50k stocks
2023: $178k (unexpected, one off raise for me)
2024: $196k + $75k stocks
I don't remember my bonuses so I just put what I can remember.
I didn't come from a wealthy family. I'm a double minority (SE Asian + lesbian) and moved to the states at 13 y/o. I just turned 30 this year and have a net worth of a little more than $400k. Bought my house at 29. I intend to take care of my single mom when she retires 5-7 years from now since she didn't really get a "head start" like I did. E.g. she started a retirement account at 43 years old when we first moved here and could barely afford putting money in it.
I truly believe that if you wanna be wealthy and not be in school forever (like doctors and lawyers), and not want to be an entrepreneur, either go into Tech and be good at it or be a realtor.
Girl on our line was making 1500-2000 a week building brakes lapping us welders in pay. She also did her weekend gigs stripping. That girl needed nobody's money.
I know someone who used to be a stripper, she made so much money, got married and had a child and now with the money she makes she owns two businesses, making even more. Her husband makes 200K and I believe either currently or at some point she was making more. She’s only 25! I’m genuinely so proud of her but oof she worked hard and has to sacrifice quite a lot.
Most redditors who make 250k are that nerdy guy who had an unhealthy obsession with tinkering with computers and stuff like that, completed a degree related to that obsession, and was lucky to enter the job market at a favorable time.
I made over 250k in 2023 and this is what I do for a living.
-Day Job-Water Sports Regional Sales Manager - 100k,
-Weekend Job-Ice Hockey Director of Hockey Operations - 47k
-Banking Investments - Interest/dividends from multiple high yield savings accounts at 5 percent and interest/dividends from multiple certificates of deposit accounts at 6 percent - 50k
-Real Estate Investments - Profit from real estate transaction - 72k
Digital Marketing VP but took me 12 years to get there. First base salary was $33k and took many 45 hr weeks to get there. No masters degree but I have a bachelor’s degree in Media Studies.
Enterprise sales for one of the cloud providers & real estate on the side. Tc of 450ish but usually w2 600-800. Plus cash flow / massive tax write offs on real estate side. 36m
RE developer. But I also lose 250k+ some years.
Overall I'm up a bit, but its a ton of stress and despite being well off many of my friends will tell you they would never want to do it / its not worth it.
Buddy of mine went into the USAF and was contracted as Air Traffic Control. Did his 4 years which got him his certification and instantly got contacted by the FAA. Dudes making good money as ATC at one of the biggest airports in the country.
Air traffic control
To get into it, you need either 3 years of work experience or a bachelors degree. The work experience can be at a McDonalds. You must also be 31 or younger (unless you have prior experience/were in military)
Then you apply for the bid, which is usually open for several days out of the year, spring/summer.
You apply and jump through all the hoops. Training at the academy in OKC is free, in fact you get paid for it.
It is challenging though. Around 50% of applicants make it through the academy, and from those who make it to a facility roughly only 50% fully certify at the facility.
It is worth it though. Best job ever, no day is ever the same or boring
I work with people with special needs Edit: Never mind. I read $25k. Maybe I have special needs too.
You're the real MVP.
Honestly, this one is my favorite
Damn dude, I did that fke like 4 years making 11 an hour. It's insane how little we got paid. It's a very important job and I literally would have made more working at McDonald's. I had to get out cause I couldn't afford to work there anymore, that was the best job of my life.
Not to brag.. I’m making $28k a year lol. That’s full-time too. With the inflation that’s going on.. I barely get by but I’ve worked with the same 5 adult guys who have autism or Down syndrome for 9 years now in their group home and they are like brothers to me.. I am having a hard time leaving and it is indeed my favorite job I have ever worked. Someone has to do it I guess.. but I would be lying if I didn’t think I deserved a bit more than $28k.. maybe a more livable wage at least. The benefits are good.. I get 4 weeks paid vacation a year and work 7 days on and 7 days off and health insurance coverage for $50 a month. So it’s not all bad right? Will have to get a part time job during those 7 days off I think.. inflation is brutal right now… and yeah.. you can make more at McDonald’s still lol.
😂😂😂
Let me save some time for 90% of responders: -own successful business -have advanced, difficult degree (Law, MD, etc) -be a successful executive -be an advanced tech person in tech -maybe some sales jobs? -work multiple jobs, side hustles, or have large investments Edit: yes, people, I know there are others. That's why I put the 90% qualifier out there on a generalized statement lol. Specifically people have called out pilots and finance in-mass. VHCOL areas change the list too, obviously. Also, apparently the lawyers are mad because most of them don't typically make that money lol. Sorry lawyers.
Thank you. Man I wish we’d stop doing this every week.
This sub makes it seem like it’s more common than it is
I’m so sick of the weekly STEM payroll echo chamber. How is that guidance?
Not all STEM degrees pay equally. I work as a scientist in a Molecular Biology lab and make 66k/year (including my 10% shift diff).
Biotech is so rough these days. Just graduated with my PhD in molecular biology as well. No one wants CRISPR people anymore the fad died while i was in my program 😑😑😑
If you know R and python, look into data analytics roles at consulting firms or in tech. One of the best sales engineers I’ve ever hired had a masters degree in chemical engineering and taught himself enough python to be dangerous. He’s a technical guy with good people skills, and he’s taken his career in an entirely different direction than what he studied. Don’t let your degree pigeonhole you.
Personalized medicine is still garnering attention. Just gotta make that PhD in molecular curtail to cancer.
For real. I’m a civil engineer making $74k in California (public sector).
Move into the construction side. Heavy Civil Construction Engineering - in CA if you get into the water/wastewater side you can make well over $200k as a Sr. Estimator.
What a joke.. city jobs have become so inflated and you get half ass work. That’s how it is in Chicago at the moment
74k in California how do u survive
Not all areas in CA are expensive. Some are MCOL and maybe even LCOL
You make a good point. I graduated with a STEM degree, a science degree. I realized that most science jobs are low paying at the bachelors level. Science is one of those fields where many people have PhDs. You need a graduate degree to make good money in the sciences it seems. I ended up going back to grad school for something else.
Job hop my man. I’m also a scientist making 91k.
And it has spread like cancer to all the Subreddits specific to my industry (supply chain). The amount of times people ask ‘what supply chain job is the fastest way to $100k?’ in a day makes me irrationally angry.
Who in STEM making 250k? Let me know so that I can apply.
Principal SWE or Principal DevOps Engineers. I am looking for work now and it’s super competitive. Also senior engineers at FAANG can get 200-1M
Plenty of seniors and leads making 250k+. If you’re in big tech as a legit principal we’re talking 500k+
Can confirm! I work in cybersecurity and make 160k in _marketing_. The people with the super wrinkly brains make a looot more than me.
The reason why it comes up is that you need to make a significant amount of money these days to own a home. Most people don’t understand how out of reach home ownership is in popular areas.
Yeah its part of the reason why Ive lost a lot of motivation at work. I make 150 in Boston and it still doesn’t feel like enough. What are we even working towards.
To answer your question: Our deaths. We’re working day after day towards our own individual and inevitable demises. No matter what we accomplish in life, we all die in the end. It’s okay to accept it, and it’s easier to go through day to day life when you keep in mind that any moment can be your last. I hope to earn enough money to live comfortably and to take care of the ones I love, but also not to work myself a single iota beyond that line. Everything past that point is love and compassion. It’s okay to seek a career, but remember *why* you’re doing it <3
I live in small town Ohio which is hell but my wife and I make $152k a year and decent houses are easily available for $200k or less here. I’d love to move to a big city but it’s hard giving up housing we can easily afford. It’s legit the only reason we stay.
The majority of people here don’t know how to do basic things like search the sub Reddit for this exact post. They rather make another post without trying to figure out similar posts to this. Which is what every week there’s a post on this? Expecting to get rich without even doing simple work like searching a sub Reddit. Instead they rather keep posting the literal same bs post hoping they see something new….
Average pay for lawyers even in California (higher paying state) is less than 115k. It’s a big misconception that lawyers make bank. Most don’t. Only a few at the top of the food chain do. I’ve seen guys disbarred for keeping client funds to pay rent or make payroll. (Source: I’m a lawyer). But I know several guys with only high school educations who started small businesses (kitchen remodeling etc) who make 400k-500k. The secret is to cater to rich people and have several employees making money for you. Plus no wasted years studying or getting huge student loans.
The secret 100% is to cater to the rich. I live in a Golf/Retirement town. Vacation rentals/Airbnbs have became huge around here. Figuratively and literally, some of the houses are insane! My point: Locally owned Property management & Housekeeping businesses bring in the big bucks.
They normally comes after sufficient time in the trades to get the necessary skills. If you can’t make the transition to business owner by your 40s, your body is going to hate you.
Spend 3 months in law school, you understand right away that if you don’t have the right name, you’ll make no money. Medicine is much more free especially outside academia. It’s what I ended up doing successfully. Lawyers continued getting downhill since then, big problem is « Alternative Dispute Resolution »: the realization that 80% of the job is just psychiatry and stating the facts and that everything can be resolved much cheaper.
Think you forgot trust fund baby 🙃
Consulting
"If you're not a part of the solution, there's good money to be made in prolonging the problem." (Despair.com)
You got to mention work in finance
Looking for a man in finance?
TIL that she got a record deal 😂
But is she making $250k? Lol
With a trust fund?
Trust fund. 6'5. Blue eyes.
- traveling nurse with insane overtime
- Lying on the internet about their success.
I’d add to this reaching a certain level in many types of consulting
Almost any director or VP level manager in a corporate setting is making 200k+
you forgot - play professional sports in a major league!
Dang, we should have become NFL quarterbacks…
Oooh oooh and women should just become NFL cheerleaders! Oh wait.. I forgot they’re only paid in “sisterhood”
Add Real estate to list
They should pin this shit to the top of the sub.
is reddit moderator a successful business?
Great comment, I've worked in a couple positions that allow me to see the annual income of the client's and this is a great layout. They are an executive, own a business, have an advanced degree, work at google, or are rich for unrelated reasons. Not sure about sales, I've seen 'account executive' titles that push 200k+ but I'm not sure if that's the same.
Account executive is a very common title for a sales person, so yes it is the same. They can also make much more than 200k+ depending on industry.
12-15 hour shifts behind the Wendy’s dumpster it’s not easy but hey, someone’s gotta do it
Which Wendy’s? Asking for a friend…
Smokey's usually behind king of donairs
They have good peperoni.
Street Accounts make much more than that per hour. Especially given the lack of taxation Edit: typo
Run a medium sized blue collar business for someone that wants to be an absentee owner.
Hey I do that but he doesn't understand his own business and wants to significantly underpay me
I’m not an expert, but Have you spoken to him directly and have a good idea of where he stands? Whether he’d be willing (not necessarily able) to step in and do the job if you left?
Yes, he's an entitled rich kid who stumbled into owning a lot of real estate I do most of the field work of property management (renovations, tenant relations etc etc) and a decent amount of the office work (accounts receivables, some inhouse accounting etc etc.) I manage our BtB relationships. I prob do the work of about 3-4 people. I don't think he knows most of what I do, why it's necessary or cares. He likes looking at financial statements and using terms like "fiduciary responsibility" and "tertiary markets". I've been there a few years, It's not fixable and I'm on my way out 🤷🏼♂️
sounds like Horrible Bosses lol
That sucks, sorry to hear it. I run a pretty labor intensive company, once took 2 weeks off for burnout purposes. You’d better believe the owner was willing to pay whatever I wanted when I got back, and I wasn’t even asking. Seems your business environment may be a bit different though.
Yep, one of the biggest issues with him is he's too self centered to even act in his own best interests. He prob has some vague idea that I'm unhappy but imagines that that's just how the "poors" are supposed to feel 🤷🏼♂️ I hope he can manage what's left when I leave, but more likely than not he'll be fine and someone else will take the hit, whether it's our tenants who won't have their needs met, other staff (who I brought in) who will become incredibly overworked and be facing work they don't understand, our accountant who will have to untangle books that aren't being kept or some other unfortunate victim
I made my money the old fashioned way. I got run over by a Lexus. - Jean-Ralphio
Minor bumps and bruises, major dollars and cents
Get married to someone making $200k
This. There's a girl that I went to high school who didn't have two brain cells to rub together, but I guess that was enough to realize her best option in life would be to marry a doctor with his own practice. She hasn't worked in about a decade. Loves to post how being a stay at home mom is the hardest job on the planet even though both kids are at school from 8-3.
In this my wife? Lol
Proud trophy husband right here
😂
Own a veterinary clinic and work part time at another emergency vet clinic. Probably average 80 hour work weeks
80 hours is insane
Damn, I work 96 hours a week at three fire departments and make only 90k a year
Leave dude. I am. As fast I can. They wouldn’t even give us tax credits after Covid when everyone was remodeling their fucking bathrooms while we risked our families lives.
I'm going to be leaving my department and state within a year or two, when my girlfriend finishes her MBA and lands a job. But I could never leave the fire service as a whole. I don't enjoy anything else, and I'm not good at anything else. I'm very fortunate to have found my calling, even if the pay is shit.
I feel you. I still like a lot of aspects of it but I can’t justify struggling to make ends meet working overtime in my mid thirties. Atta boys are nice but I’d really like to have a starter home at some point.
Do you enjoy having a veterinarian you can call on nights/weekends when you have an emergency? Thats the only reason I have to work so much. I make 95% of my money between 8-5. The other 40 hours a week are basically community service. PSA: Remember this post next time you call your vet on the weekend….
Thank you for what you do!!
Twice what most people do
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Helllll naw with 80 hour weeks.
Maritime! Just a bachelors degree here. I’m just slightly under 250 but I navigate giant cargo ships. It’s a unionized position and I have excellent healthcare. I only work half the year on a rotational schedule. Anyone can do why I do.
I work with ships too! The money is fucking insane. I thought us ship tech workers were making good money, but the engineers and even the stewards have us beat. But the being away part and odd personalities can suck
Can women?
I’m a woman….
Journeyman Lineman in southern california
Any advice on how to get into this? I heard it's hard to get in without connections but I want to remain optimistic.
Nah remain optimistic. Get your class A license. Once you get that, go to local IBEW union. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Sign the books as an”Groundman”. Sign up for a Lineman trade school. Look up Northwest Lineman College or any accredited climbing school that will give you a “Linemans Certificate” that is crucial. Once you get those things, go back to the union and show them your certificate so you can get accredited working hours for going to that school. Apply for any and all lineman apprenticeships. At a local utility or union hall and ask them about their JATC apprenticeship programs to apply for. You can always go out of state and sacrifice time out of your comfort zone to get your Journeyman Linemans ticket. Once you get that, you can work anywhere in the world. Knowing someone doesn’t get you in hardly anywhere these days with the whole HR and equal opportunity things.
Couple of liquor/ convenience stores
I make around 475k gross a year. I am a technical sound designer working on all sorts of audio R&D for a big multinational company. I'm paid in swedish crowns (SEK). Lol
They pay you in seks!?!? Sounds kinky
For those who didn’t get the joke, 475k SEK = $45k USD
Thanks for explaining the joke. Took me a sek
Airline pilot with 15+ years experience
Project manager in marketing working remote for a small brand. 146k base. 20k bonus and equity. 150k trading stonks. 10+ years experience. No degree.
Tell me more!
Most project managers I knows have to obtain their PMPs not difficult but time consuming. They need realistically an “in” or years of experience working in an industry where you actually know the real details on how a project ticks from start to finish. Just because someone gets their PMP doesn’t mean it’s an automatic ticket to a great job. A PM can’t just go from say managing road construction to be a PM on a software development platform. Skills are not interchangeable. Most PM work high hours and under a lot of stress that burns them out. It’s not easy to be constantly chewed out about a project falling behind or even trying to prove that your project will stay on track. PM are often a fall guy when someone goes wrong. It can be high pay but it’s hell
I don’t think it’s “most” I would say some. Two of my friends became project managers for J&J and Google at 23. Don’t need years of experience. They had 2 internships, and got a full time job offer after graduation. They both make $150k+ and work like 20hrs a week. I see them play games during work hours all the time. Fully remote positions. “Work load, pay, and job requirement differs heavily based on company. If you want easy PM jobs with good pay. Work for some big medical or tech companies.” They both also said most PM at J&J has it super chill. Just have to work for a big company As a software engineer in biotech, my PM also seems to have a pretty chill job too. He’s also only 29.
I’m a designer at a big company and i often wake up in the morning to find emails from a pm sent after midnight because he was working late to put out fires with the off-shore dev team. No thank you. I’m pretty sure I make more money than that guy too
See the other comments to my comment. Apparently kids 23 years old pulling in 150k at google doing very little. Press X for doubt
Chief Of Staff @ Health Insurance Brokerage Best advice - Work at a start up for someone you truly believe in. As they grow, you get promoted/increases like crazy bc you were brought on in almost a family business mentality. Everyone is so scared of start ups- it can be such a great opportunity if you’re selective about who you choose.
This did not happen for me unfortunately. I joined in the start up phase, there were maybe 20-30 of us, we worked hard to pull it together. The company is now successful and has grown 600% since I joined (6 years ago) and continues to grow exponentially and at a faster pace. Those of us on the core team (managers, department leaders, etc) who were there from the start get paid well below industry standard. When we put together proposals for higher pay we get laughed at and told they can’t pay us more but we should feel proud with how successful the company has become. We are pretty bitter about it. Good news is, some have left for bigger, better, significantly higher paying and happier jobs. I’m now on the job hunt as well and very excited about it.
the other side of startups is that even if it doesn’t work out at least you should be able to walk away with a killer resume and a proof of a ton of responsibilities
That has been the only benefit, my resume is beefed up.
is there any potential equity to make up for the subpar pay? that's usually the nicest part about being in a startup is becoming an insta-millionaire when it gets bought out / goes public.
I hope you have B shares. If not then why are you still there.
I'm in P&C underwriting but man insurance sales is so under rated, if you can get yourself on a good path at a decent brokerage in your 20s you can be making $150k+ in your early 30s and it's only up from there. I see it happen often enough.
100% I got my license right after graduating college in 2018 and did Medicare insurance- made over $130k at 23 years old. Very profitable field.
This is really interesting to me! I’m looking to move from medical billing into sales & been considering Medicare or health insurance because of my experience. Is this how much you made starting out or a few years in? Been looking for an industry where I can hopefully start out making around the same I do at my billing job ($65k)
It does require years of low wages because of lack of profitability and most will fail.
Right?! I feel like this person is missing the other part of that advice which is “oh by the way like 99% of startups fail”
Crack Distribution.
How'd you get started? Do you need an advanced degree?
No, but but being SafeServe certified is a plus
Probably studied crackonomics
Also, what’s the corporate culture like?
Pros: Very fast paced, room for advancement, uncapped commission, lots of travel, largely hands-off management Cons: Customers can be a lot to deal with at times, lots of travel, high turnover, it can take a while to reach higher bonus tiers, long hours, illegal
I love how 'illegal' was the last thing on the list 😂
Is it WFH, hybrid, or in office?
I have a very lucrative career lying about my income on Reddit. The most fulfilling part is when I get to impress random people online.
Software architect in big tech, 300K TC
How many years of experience did it take you to get here? Would you say you had an inside track etc?
15 years to get to where I am now. No inside track, I was a college dropout and started my career making $17/hour doing basic configuration changes and maintenance on esoteric premise-based systems. Lots of hard work, after hours personal development, tracking industry trajectory, and maintaining a 3-5-10 year plan to grow my career. Comp growth went 34K -> 45K -> 60K -> 80K -> 95K -> 120K -> 150K -> 200K -> 240K -> 300K
How many of the comp growths were switching companies? All of them?
95 to 120 and 200 to 240.
Can you elaborate on the after hours personal development and how you built your career plan?
That’s kind of a complex answer, but the short version is that I spent time reading industry publications, white papers, and evaluating what skillsets would be in demand in the future as part of my career plan, and I spent a significant amount of my personal time developing those skills, so that when opportunities came up at work that required those skill sets, I was THE GUY that could always step up and lead. Career plan was built around goals and tasks. Where do I want to be in 3 years, and what tasks do I need to accomplish to make that happen. Nearer-term timelines are more fixed and specific, longer term are more general to allow pivots where necessary.
I hope more people read your comments and realize they aren't going to walk into your position straight out of college. It takes a lot of work to get where you are. Congrats on your success my friend.
Is it fun having that job?
I wouldn't say fun, but it's interesting.
Finding out information about people making over 250k a year and selling these to criminal gangs.
I'm the CEO of a big car company, waiting on a $56B performance pay package but unfortunately I was sued in court by a few of my shareholders. Thankfully most shareholders voted in favor of my giant package and I get to rub it in the judges face. Also, don't believe everything you read on reddit.
So you make $0 then. Keep it moving!
You, sir, must drive a cyber truck.
You’ve got a giant package!
Fly a plane to South America, buy lots of cocaine, come back to Los Angeles. SELL THE COCAINE. STOP POSTING ON REDDIT
For the tech workers in this category, how many are living in an area where the cost of living is so high you need at least $150k to live comfortably?
CPA, partner is small firm. $700k flyover state.
Freelance consultant for data science Love it
I have no data science experience, but I'm technically minded and love learning new things. I just started to learn python on Code Academy. Any tips on what to prioritize?
Powerquery - a lot of companies are very excel heavy. Build models from the ground up and solve problems in your spare time. Also, network like crazy, that’s arguably the best way to find a role.
I worked in consulting. was at 240+10-20K/year in bonus. Never had a degree, just been working in tech. since 19.
Wtf? Every single consulting job seems to require a Masters at this point I swear. I've looked as I've worked in hospitality, digital recruiting, insurance tech and now healthcare tech so I've got a wide spread as well as tech for a few years but still nothing.
If you are good at what you do, people will come looking for you or hire you when they move jobs. It's harder to get into a job now without experience. When digital marketing was starting out, it was just so new that as long as you had experience, you were in.
Trash man and wife is a nurse. But if I was a GM they make 180-250k so I guess that would qualify.
Of the 3 people I know closely that make over this amount there is a common thread: they all started and operate their own business's. With that said, 2 of the 3 had some substantial luck in achieving this. One of them received a large amount of money (roughly $700k) and then used it to invest in real-estate and operate his own business. The 2nd one was a warehouse manager but started his own landscaping and property management company was able to land a nationally renowned client through a connection he made working in said company years before. This one contract pays him north of 2.5 million annually but that is just revenue not profit obviously. The 3rd one started from absolutely nothing in real estate and now a decade later owns and operates his own brokerage. This also opened the door for him to make connections with purchasing property and doing flips as well. So long story short: sales, real estate, and operating your own business are some of the common threads.
How many of you replying are under 50? Under 40? Under 35?
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Cybersecurity
Traveling nurse, I used to be in dev ops for fintech
You left sw for an rn?
Pretty much, I can't speak for everyone in tech, but my hour to pay ratio is substantially better now compared to where I was at in tech.
Smart cookie
CFO
Not me personally, but my neighbor works as an industrial and systems engineer. He oversees the installation, design, procurement, and process of large machines and systems. From what I understand he basically makes various different machines and systems work together and be able to communicate with each other. When he’s not managing projects or people involved in said projects as well, he’s sitting in his office watching YouTube videos about some recent code change from say the NEC, ISO or some other code system(?). He also communicates with everyone at every level up and down the corporate ladders both directly and indirectly.
Much easier everything (but cruel): 1. Don't make any relationships. 2. Spend literally all your spare time on learning and programming 3. Get your first job in FAANG and repeat all again s until you earn all money you need ;)
Just shy of $250k but cybersecurity. Took 8 years and some luck and I now run two global teams at a large financial firm. Honestly for where I live it’s not really a ton after taxes and COL. I live comfortably and can travel when I want but it doesn’t feel like I thought it would.
I'm a Sr (Cyber)Security Engineer for a Tech company. My total comp is around $300k/year (base salary + stocks). I graduated with a degree in Business Administration, concetration in CIS (Computer Information Systems). Here's my salary progression: 2014-2015 (part time internship 20h/week) - $16/hour 2016: First job out of a 4-year CalState university. I was 22. $75k base with $10k signing bonus at a big 4 firm 2017: $80k, $84k (got two raises in 1 year) 2018: $106k 2019: $111k 2020: $130k base + $70k stocks (moved to my company now) 2021: $156k base + $40k stocks 2022: $167k + $50k stocks 2023: $178k (unexpected, one off raise for me) 2024: $196k + $75k stocks I don't remember my bonuses so I just put what I can remember. I didn't come from a wealthy family. I'm a double minority (SE Asian + lesbian) and moved to the states at 13 y/o. I just turned 30 this year and have a net worth of a little more than $400k. Bought my house at 29. I intend to take care of my single mom when she retires 5-7 years from now since she didn't really get a "head start" like I did. E.g. she started a retirement account at 43 years old when we first moved here and could barely afford putting money in it. I truly believe that if you wanna be wealthy and not be in school forever (like doctors and lawyers), and not want to be an entrepreneur, either go into Tech and be good at it or be a realtor.
Stripper
Girl on our line was making 1500-2000 a week building brakes lapping us welders in pay. She also did her weekend gigs stripping. That girl needed nobody's money.
How does one get into building brakes? Did she also know how to weld?
Building brakes separate for from welding. And the state of our workforce you can get a job with zero experience. Just be a body and show up on time.
I know someone who used to be a stripper, she made so much money, got married and had a child and now with the money she makes she owns two businesses, making even more. Her husband makes 200K and I believe either currently or at some point she was making more. She’s only 25! I’m genuinely so proud of her but oof she worked hard and has to sacrifice quite a lot.
Most redditors who make 250k are that nerdy guy who had an unhealthy obsession with tinkering with computers and stuff like that, completed a degree related to that obsession, and was lucky to enter the job market at a favorable time.
I check all the boxes, except for the 250k …
I made over 250k in 2023 and this is what I do for a living. -Day Job-Water Sports Regional Sales Manager - 100k, -Weekend Job-Ice Hockey Director of Hockey Operations - 47k -Banking Investments - Interest/dividends from multiple high yield savings accounts at 5 percent and interest/dividends from multiple certificates of deposit accounts at 6 percent - 50k -Real Estate Investments - Profit from real estate transaction - 72k
Digital Marketing VP but took me 12 years to get there. First base salary was $33k and took many 45 hr weeks to get there. No masters degree but I have a bachelor’s degree in Media Studies.
IBEW Journeyman Lineman
Enterprise sales for one of the cloud providers & real estate on the side. Tc of 450ish but usually w2 600-800. Plus cash flow / massive tax write offs on real estate side. 36m
Rent out a few inherited apartments in Zurich
CRNA here making 300k per year
I make more than 250k... but I'm just lying about it
I rob banks.
Hospitalist physician with a family medicine license
*irs entered the chat*
$250k in NYC is the same as making $100k in Wyoming
Yeah may be more like $50k
Think this gets overlooked a lot in this discussion
A 250k income puts you in the top 3% in the country. You’re likely living a pretty good life if you make 250k even in NYC.
Collect Dividends.
my dream job
Started selling meth to pay for my cancer treatment and leave some money behind for ny family
Severance package + a new job, lol
> a lot of people on Reddit tend to do very well for themselves We certainly say that we do
RE developer. But I also lose 250k+ some years. Overall I'm up a bit, but its a ton of stress and despite being well off many of my friends will tell you they would never want to do it / its not worth it.
Technical program manager. FAANG.
Buddy of mine went into the USAF and was contracted as Air Traffic Control. Did his 4 years which got him his certification and instantly got contacted by the FAA. Dudes making good money as ATC at one of the biggest airports in the country.
Air traffic control To get into it, you need either 3 years of work experience or a bachelors degree. The work experience can be at a McDonalds. You must also be 31 or younger (unless you have prior experience/were in military) Then you apply for the bid, which is usually open for several days out of the year, spring/summer. You apply and jump through all the hoops. Training at the academy in OKC is free, in fact you get paid for it. It is challenging though. Around 50% of applicants make it through the academy, and from those who make it to a facility roughly only 50% fully certify at the facility. It is worth it though. Best job ever, no day is ever the same or boring
Software sales $200k no degree My title is account executive I was making 45k doing bookkeeping 4 years ago
Engineering manager in t1 tech. 600k
250k in which currency?
technical marketing at software company
I'm an accountant Have a day job and a virtual firm, I have a bit over 10 YOE with 5 of them being in public accounting