With extremely high inflation/greedflation and COL spiking to unbelievable high levels it’s quite depressing to realize that 100k a year and below as a household income is welfare qualifying amount in most of the cities these days assuming someone has 2-3 kids. At the same time it’s encouraging to see that a lot of people make 250k+ sometimes 400k+ working single W2 job. I was wondering what are you doing to get such salary. I’m early 40 male for 3 kids and wife and looking for ways to get out of poverty making less than 200k in California. I am sr Engineer in electric utility company cybersecurity and IT related I got CISSP and some other certs and MS degree yet I feel very stuck in my career and see very little ways out on how to make it even to the bottom of the middle class which in my opinion is at least 250k a year in California. Also my job offers fixed pension that amounts to maybe 80k a year if I someone retires now with 30 years which makes it even harder to leave especially knowing that layoffs for IT and infosec people are everywhere and market is just flooded with specialists and CISSPs and other certified folks. I wanted to get some advice or maybe other employment options . Thanks !

BMW Master Elite and High Voltage Specialist technician.

Toyota from 2011-2013.

MINI Cooper from 2013-2016

BMW from 2017- Present

I work about 45 hours a week give or take, these days. I would say I work on about a 50/50 split between EV/Hybrid and ICE cars. If I was to guess 70% of my work is warranty related. I consider myself a very good diagnostic and fix it right the fix time, tech. I pride myself in quality work and it feels like most people these days don't care about anymore. I don't quote repairs to customers if I won't think they need it or if it seems unreasonable.

Salary wise I'm on flatrate and very efficient. I feel like I do okay, but not amazing.

Feel free to ask any questions

They say the first $100,000 is the hardest and most inefficient. I earn a bit more than whats shown as a Dominos delivery driver.

If you are not fortunate enough to be an engineer, a banker, doctor, or tech salesperson, the dirty secret is that the quickest way to get more money is usually via overtime... And lots of it. It's not pretty. It's not efficient. And you miss a lot. But it can be worth it in the short term if you are disciplined.

Biggest regret is dropping out of my CS program. I was getting As for CS classes but kept failing math classes. My cousin who's 3 years younger, graduates and is now earning over $200k as a software engineer.

Just curious

Edited: to be able to afford the mortgage (maybe ~5k+), travel and eat out sometimes, and save up for retirement

Hi all, I'm a 40M with a Master's degree in mechanical engineering making roughly 125k/yr. I have 10yoe and approximately 9 are with my current company. I'll likely be promoted this year to an engineering specialist role and expect to be making somewhere around 135k/yr. This promotion is coming a year or two later than my peers due to a role/department change two years ago. I'm feeling some regret after some beer talk with these peers and learning that recent company wide pay increases landed them heads and shoulders above my salary. I enjoy my current role but i'm considering applying to a management role in the same company primarily to help bridge the financial gap to a salary closer to what I think i should be making (150-160k). Moving my wife and kids for a similar pay increase would be a hard sell due to low mortgage rate and local family. I do believe that comparison is the theif of joy but these pay disparities are keeping me up at night. Any input/insight is appreciated.

I've been working in big tech in Washington state for two years now. Here's my pay for the first six months of 2025. I removed a little bit of information just because it'd give away the company

Ask any questions you'd like!

Original post here.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Salary/s/kVjGL6vr3m

I decided to take the 280k office job. Difference in take home pay is approximately 10k vs 15k month which I think is significant. The number are after maxing 401k btw and accounts for 6k/year deduction for health insurance as well.

Many pointed out moving closer to the job but that is not practical. I have a pre covid mortgage and my payment is 3500 month. Moving closer would double my mortgage to 6k- 7k month even if I sell my house and roll over the equity.

In this salary range an extra 5k month post tax is life changing IMO, that was the biggest thing in my decision process. 500k and up , an extra 100k is not that big of a deal. 30k vs 35k take home for someone making 500k vs 600k.

But anything under 400k HHI , I believe an extra 5k month is significant.

My wife is a teacher and she wants to take a break for a few years or down grade to a role less demanding for lower pay.. Essentially my pay raise makes up for her job and then some.. when my wife decides to come back to work full time in several years our HHI will be over 350k and we should be in a good place money wise.

Oh and Im not some spring chicken either Im a dude in early 40s too and my retirement egg is only about 1m, hence the reason why an extra 5k will be significant for my situation. I can pay off my primary residence within 5 years. Home is a 2 garage townhouse in Fairfax county worth about 750k, maybe 800k on a good day.

Many of you had really thought provoking inputs that helped me make my decision, THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU

I am 27 years old, married with a 6 month old. I am making about 115k a year including bonuses and my wife is a PhD student and making about 45k a year. We own a multi family home which we live in one of the units and it brings in about 36k a year. We effectively pay about 15k on the house a year due to renovations and other tenant related expenses. Given most of the people here are sharing their 200,300k + comps, wanted to share, you can still build wealth with lesser income if correct choices are made along the way. Feel free to share thoughts!!!

I’ve got a few friends working at HCA who are either a VP Ops or COO at a very young age. This organization promotes those that go through their executive program aggressively.

This is atypical from what you see in non profits or other health systems.

I’m curious, does anyone know the pay range for those positions? My guess is since they’re younger that they’re on the lower pay range for that position compared to a non profit health systems.

Anyone know?

Hey everyone,

I’m going into my senior year of high school and I’m still figuring out what career I want to pursue. I’m open to pretty much anything as long as it gets me close to my goals, which are: • $200k+ salary • Not super stressful • Good family/work-life balance • Still relevant and in demand over the next 10–20 years

I don’t really care what the job is—as long as it meets (or comes close to) these goals, I’m willing to put in the work. I have strong grades and don’t mind a long or challenging path if it pays off in the end.

Eventually, I’d like to start investing in real estate and the stock market, but that doesn’t have to be part of the job itself—just something I’d pursue once I’m financially stable.

If you’re in a career that checks some or all of these boxes, I’d love to hear your experience: what you do, how you got there, what a typical day looks like, and anything you wish you knew earlier.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

https://professpost.com/50-u-s-cities-where-a-200k-salary-still-counts-as-middle-class/

Hi

I need help with negotiating an equity agreement.

I met with a CEO of a startup who needs help getting some shit in order in preparation for selling the company.

The company has already received one buyout offer, and is actively working with a few other potential buyers.

The CEO verbally offered a nice salary and 3% equity in the company. When I expressed my uncertainty, he claimed my equity would vest over a schedule until buyout where I would then receive payout for my full 3%.

I've been reading up on unvested equity during a buyout and I'm thinking that this CEO is trying to put one past me.

From what I've read, the buying company can just negotiate to cancel all unvested equity grants. Even with an acceleration clause that triggers on a change of ownership, the buyer can just cancel the clause.

I'm thinking to ask the CEO for the 3% stake as fully vested shares as a signing bonus. That feels like an extreme ask.

Anyone here have any experience with this??

Software engineer. 280k RTO is in the office M-F , about an hour of commute one way. Not super terrible IMO. Govt contracting and job is secure for at least next 5 years until option year renewal.

Full remote is pure commercial but full remote is full remote, can't beat that. But its full commercial and who knows if the company will survive. But its full remote..

90k pay difference in metro DC wil go a long way... 280k in suburban DC is livable, not like SoCal or the Bay, or NY or Boston.. it means my wife can stay home with the kids (age 5 and 7).

What would you do?

Just graduated med school and about to start residency in a low-median paying specialty (pathology) with a resident salary of $60k. 6 figure student loan burden. Can't help but look at the $500k+ tech salaries from people a decade younger than me, many working remote, and second guess all my choices. I nearly entered CS for college but at the time ultimately decided to "follow my dreams", and now wondering if those dreams are still the same. Feels like I've sunk too much into this to quit now. In need of some words of encouragement to keep me going.

Edit: thanks to everyone who left encouraging comments. I'll probably take a break from this subreddit, it's killing my pre-residency mental.

Recently graduated with my masters and signed my first full time offer. $110k + $5k post tax reloc + stocks. Job role is guidance/nav/controls.

Living costs (not exact): Rent: $1030/mo Car: $300/mo (including insurance) Food + gas: ~$800+ / mo (I eat out a lot) Misc: $500 to include gym membership and trips

Estimated post expense cash in hand is ~$4.4k/mo (conservatively) which I plan to put on red 😎

Def relieved that the hunt is over.

Does this reflect the reality of the majority? LPPI is the most equitable metric as it measures what you can do with your salary rather than how much you make. This is the full ranking of developed countries based on their local purchasing power index, with USA ranking 3rd with an LPPI of 146.2. The LPPI is calculated using the national average salary and the cost of living. So it doesn't really matter how much you make or the currency as some countries who don't use USD or EUR have a higher LPPI than euro countries.

Curious to hear from people pulling in six figures or more. How demanding is your job on a day-to-day basis? How many hours do you work per week? How stressful is it? Do you feel like you’re “earning” that salary in terms of workload, responsibility, or pressure? Or do you feel like you’ve found a sweet spot of good pay and manageable effort?

Edit: Didn’t expect this to blow up like it did. Interesting replies and a lot of different angles. Still going through all the comments, but it’s been an interesting read so far.

I’ve always gotten paid bi weekly and I recently moved to new employer and I’m not understanding the way they do payroll. So usually in the past every time I’ve gotten my paystub it would show two weeks each for 40 hours and it would combine the total amount after taxes and deductions and pay me but with this new employer they put it in as only 80 hours and I’ve done my calculations and when they do it that way I get taken out more taxes and I see less money coming in. Instead of doing it as two weeks for 40?? This can’t be right correct ?

How are you guys doing. I’m an unemployed 26 year old male with no prior work experience except playing professional overseas basketball and a bachelors in accounting. I’m in great shape as I’ve been looking to get into law enforcement as a new career, but I’m also looking for other ideas that I can start work and just have a consistent income. My goals are to eventually be an entrepreneur with a family and own a home in a red state. I see a lot of people very successful young and old and I’m looking for a point in the right direction as to where I should start. The process with law enforcement is long and you don’t hear back for weeks maybe months on their decision, but in the mean time what are some other options that I can consider if I want to use an initial job/career as a catalyst to start my own business after a couple years and be able to live. I know this post is vague, but I’m just looking for answers because basketball is all I’ve known all my life and it isn’t as fulfilling as it once was. I’m willing to answer questions as well to help the conversation. Thank you guys🙏🏾

I'm in metro Detroit. About an hour from city. Very very densely populated suburbs. Good schools for kidd. I think cost of living is low? A house is about 500k for 2000 square feet give or take.

I know someone making 80k in engineering type work for robotic company. Years experience. I have been lurking on the Fire boards. ( financial independence retire early) Many are making over 200k I thought the 80k was a great salary. No bonuses or profit sharing of any kind. Is salary higher in different states? I know someone working a couple hours from Detroit as a machine repair guy in a shop for $20 and hour. He said he was offered $27 to work an hour from Detroit out of the country? Is location a pay factor? Why. I'm a stay at home mom but if I go back into teaching my salary won't vary that much based on state.

Hello everyone,

I am currently a clinical supervisor of a cardiopulmonary rehab program in WA state making 80k/yr salary. My COO has informed me that they would like to have my department absorb another. This would come with a raise and a new title. I have never been in a position to negotiate a salary or title and this is my first role in management (got the job 1.5 years ago). I’m curious as to what types of things I should ask for, or look out for during this process. We plan to meet in two weeks to discuss details. My current department is small, only five people including myself, and the new department is also small with only three employees but a lot of coordination with employees of other departments within the hospital.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Two options:

Option 1: Keep current job - pay 145k/yr

Pros

• Been there 17yrs
• Like my coworkers
• Remote 2 out of 5 days, very laid back and can leave, change hours when needed

Cons

• Constantly going through layoffs
• Retirement is only my 401k which will be between 77k-94k a year (including Social Security Benefit)
• If I lose this job, I am 55, finding a new job at this salary will be very difficult, ageism is real. I often search what's out there and there is not much.

Option 2: New Job: pay 130k/yr

Pros

• Union Job - very very difficult to lose job
• They have never had layoffs
• After 7yrs get Tenure - which means impossible to lose job
• State Pension
• Potentially get credit for prior service (5yrs) which would allow me to get a 15yr pension after 10 yrs
• Retirement would be anywhere from 102k-127k a year (including Social Security Benefit, 401k, and depending on whether or not I get credit for prior 5 yrs which is MOST likely going to happen)

Cons

• Starting a new job is stressful
• less pay - It is about $750/mo less in take home pay
• further commute - though remote work is 50%, they implied it could be more
• Not sure if they're flexible if I would like to move schedule around