Is $79,500 a good salary for a 23 year old?

[Skoidat69]

I made $66k for working 6 months on a ship in 2007 and enjoyed life. I made $235k for 6 months on a oil rig off Angola in 2014 and hated life/medical issues. I've realized that money isn't everything. I'm soo much happier working with a great team with job stability/security but considerably less money than my peak 7 years ago. Save for retirement, a house and fun shit... enjoy life

[Kolyan2k]

95k is what my buddy takes home as a senior software engineer in Boston, working in a field for probably over 20 years now

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by Kolyan2k

95k is what my buddy takes home as a senior software engineer in Boston, working in a field for probably over 20 years now

You're buddy is getting screwed.

[Run Silent]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

You're buddy is getting screwed.

^This.

Our previous neighbors just moved to Boston (Quincy) and he took a job as a senior software engineer at Amazon. He has about 8 years experience and is making about $180K.

[Mein11]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

You're buddy is getting screwed.

A lot of us are getting screwed. Our NDT level 3 technician is making $70k. The guy he replaced that retired was making $130k. He's doing the same duties, but gets paid half. It's pretty fucked if you think about it, especially because the dude came back from retirement and works second shift now.

I know it's different with IT these days, but I've noticed manufacturing plants that have the older crowd retiring, the new people "being promoted" are only being paid fractions. Only way to get paid more is change companies it seems. I'm about at that point myself.

[qba335i]

It's not what you make - it's what you keep.

I have friends with 300-500k annual income and no savings (taxes and expensive lifestyle) and friends with 100k income that actually have some some money saved/invested.

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by Run Silent

^This.

Our previous neighbors just moved to Boston (Quincy) and he took a job as a senior software engineer at Amazon. He has about 8 years experience and is making about $180K.

Indeed. The last Sr. Software engineer I hired was 10 years ago and he came in right at $100k. That was 20 miles outside of Boston in NH where comp was ~20% lower.

[c1pher]

Originally Posted by qba335i

It's not what you make - it's what you keep.

I have friends with 300-500k annual income and no savings (taxes and expensive lifestyle) and friends with 100k income that actually have some some money saved/invested.

In my culture, you keep what you kill.

[c1pher]

Originally Posted by Run Silent

^This.

Our previous neighbors just moved to Boston (Quincy) and he took a job as a senior software engineer at Amazon. He has about 8 years experience and is making about $180K.

It also depends where you work (region, size of company, your span of control etc). I can find companies that only want to pay 1/3 what I currently make to do my job. Unfortunately, they will find someone who will take the position.

[TheWatchGuy]

Originally Posted by Mein11

A lot of us are getting screwed. Our NDT level 3 technician is making $70k. The guy he replaced that retired was making $130k. He's doing the same duties, but gets paid half. It's pretty fucked if you think about it, especially because the dude came back from retirement and works second shift now.

I know it's different with IT these days, but I've noticed manufacturing plants that have the older crowd retiring, the new people "being promoted" are only being paid fractions. Only way to get paid more is change companies it seems. I'm about at that point myself.

Thats true for most professions.

Rarely do internal promotions come with significant raises

[e90335e36m3]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

I'm not bragging. I just don't know how to feel about the $59k take home. can't do much with that.

can't buy a decent car without a loan or anything.

You're a bit out of touch with reality. $59K take home, if you're still living at home, you can do quite a bit with. The median gross income for a single earner in Illinois is $53K, according to: https://www.justice.gov/ust/eo/bapcp...come_table.htm
You're talking about $59K net. With that kind of money, you should easily be able to afford yourself a pretty decent lifestyle, even in Chicago.
Hopefully, you're saving / investing a portion of that income.

I would exclude what's currently happening in the labor market from your analysis, that's not sustainable long term and will stabilize at some point in the near to mid future.

TLDR: Yes, your salary at 23 is very good.

[Mein11]

Originally Posted by TheWatchGuy

Thats true for most professions.

Rarely do internal promotions come with significant raises

For sure, but it seems so counter-intuitive. I'll be going on 10 years with this company, through those years I understand all the inner workings as well as navigating the relationship with the plants that contract us. It would be very difficult to find a full fledged replacement for me, so having to state I'm going to change jobs to be offered a substantial raise is ridiculous. If the money is there when we want to quit, why isn't it offered before? It would only help retain quality employees, which is a huge issue right now.

[Germanauto]

I always err on the side of education but realize it's not for everyone. Car sales is something hundreds of thousands of people do, but it's a boom & bust industry. Who knows the long-term sustainability of a career in sales.

Tech, Engineering, Medicine, etc. are most sustainable careers in the long-run.

[TheWatchGuy]

Originally Posted by Mein11

For sure, but it seems so counter-intuitive. I'll be going on 10 years with this company, through those years I understand all the inner workings as well as navigating the relationship with the plants that contract us. It would be very difficult to find a full fledged replacement for me, so having to state I'm going to change jobs to be offered a substantial raise is ridiculous. If the money is there when we want to quit, why isn't it offered before? It would only help retain quality employees, which is a huge issue right now.

it is, and its something managers dont always realize; that it is cheaper in the long run to pay more to an established employee than hiring a new guy. There is also the case of the employee not realizing they can and should negotiate that raise. A lot of times, they see a pay bump and dont realize there is more they are leaving on the table. I know i fell victim to that early in my career.

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by Kolyan2k

95k is what my buddy takes home as a senior software engineer in Boston, working in a field for probably over 20 years now

Your buddy should look for greener pastures. My brother who dicked his way through college is making $150k base at Amazon. He's not even in the software side. Of course it took a couple years of mediocre salaries at small companies to get there, but he made it.

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by Mein11

For sure, but it seems so counter-intuitive. I'll be going on 10 years with this company, through those years I understand all the inner workings as well as navigating the relationship with the plants that contract us. It would be very difficult to find a full fledged replacement for me, so having to state I'm going to change jobs to be offered a substantial raise is ridiculous. If the money is there when we want to quit, why isn't it offered before? It would only help retain quality employees, which is a huge issue right now.

Welcome to corporate America. It always has and always will be that way. Sure, there's the odd outlier company or manager within a company that realizes paying to retain talent is important. But the vast majority don't realize or don't care. We are all replaceable. Your only leverage is the threat of leaving.

[dscabra]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

Welcome to corporate America. It always has and always will be that way. Sure, there's the odd outlier company or manager within a company that realizes paying to retain talent is important. But the vast majority don't realize or don't care. We are all replaceable. Your only leverage is the threat of leaving.

I have many years in the workforce and understand how this this thought process has continued to prevail. I am now a senior manager and will tell you that I don't subscribe to it. I do everything I can to help my team grow and check the boxes required to get raises and promotions and then I fight for them when the haggling starts each evaluation cycle. My people are very productive and my team is very successful as a result.

[virtualbong]

Originally Posted by flybigjet

When I got commissioned in the AF, my father (who likes to dabble with no-load Mutual's as a hobby) told me that if I gave him money every month to invest, he'd make me a millionaire. I did, and he kept his word-- several times over. As others have said-- SAVE, SAVE, SAVE. You never know what's coming at you in the future, and having an emergency fund is a HUGE thing for peace of mind...
R.

Can I give money to your dad as well so that I can be a millionaire too? Pretty please????

[upstatedoc]

Originally Posted by virtualbong

Can I give money to your dad as well so that I can be a millionaire too? Pretty please????

yeah, who do I write the check out to?

[Tommy-G]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

I got an associates degree from My community College this year.

The GM at My job makes around $164k/year

I want to move out to Texas but that won't be until I don't save enough

-I know many a GM making $300k+
-I was curious what part of the country to try to assess cost of living.

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by e90335e36m3

You're a bit out of touch with reality. $59K take home, if you're still living at home, you can do quite a bit with. The median gross income for a single earner in Illinois is $53K, according to: https://www.justice.gov/ust/eo/bapcp...come_table.htm
You're talking about $59K net. With that kind of money, you should easily be able to afford yourself a pretty decent lifestyle, even in Chicago.
Hopefully, you're saving / investing a portion of that income.

I would exclude what's currently happening in the labor market from your analysis, that's not sustainable long term and will stabilize at some point in the near to mid future.

TLDR: Yes, your salary at 23 is very good.

Idk I think I might have been over stressing yesterday. I came in to work today and the dealership had no electricity.

Apparently we had a big storm last night ( I must've slept through it ). Knocked all the power out from the city the dealership I work for is located.

Electricity came back at 11 am. We open at 9 am. I got the first customer of the day at 11:30 Am. Sold the car at 12:30 pm

I love what I do but sometimes things I read about car sales makes me not so confident.

I'm not the #1 salesmen of the month yet. But, I'm always second or third.

I was on vacation for a week. I had only sold 1.5 cars (split a deal with another sales guy) before I left. I got back July 14th. I have 12 cars now. I'm 7 cars behind the salesmen of the month. 2nd place overall.

In the end, it really doesn't matter how many cars you sell. The higher the gross, the more money you make.

I can sell 15 cars and make $6k in a month. Or I can sell 10 cars and make $10k in a month. All depends on the gross

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by dscabra

I have many years in the workforce and understand how this this thought process has continued to prevail. I am now a senior manager and will tell you that I don't subscribe to it. I do everything I can to help my team grow and check the boxes required to get raises and promotions and then I fight for them when the haggling starts each evaluation cycle. My people are very productive and my team is very successful as a result.

Good on you, you sound like an excellent manager and advocate for your team. They are lucky to have you.

Curious how you deal with comp for the "lifers" in your team. You know, the folks who have been there 20, 25, years. They do an excellent job, but lets face it every role has a maximum comp beyond which it makes no sense to pay regardless of knowledge and tenure. In the field I'm in, engineering, I see that frequently with young and bright engineers who eventually top out and have to make a choice: Stay technical or go into management. The fact is, no one is going to pay an ME $500k a year, no matter how good they are or how well they know the business. At some point they top out. And at some point it makes more sense to just let them leave and bring in a new employee who commands a lower salary.

At some point you may rise up to an executive level with SG&A responsibility. Thats the point where you really start to see that every role has, unfortunately, compensation limits no matter how great the employee is.