What is a good paying job?

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The careers thread brought this question to mind. That, and the fact that my brother in law says I "demand" a better salary in my own job. I'm actually rather comfortable with what I earn, so I'm not pushing for more. More would be better, sure, and as I'm somewhat indispensable at my company (or at least, considered to be such), I probably could get more. But I make enough to pay my bills, save a little, and have some nice extras. It's not an extravagent lifestyle, but I'm not looking for that.

So what the heck does it mean when someone says they want a good paying job? Feel free to answer in an abstract way, like I did, or with dollar figures. I'm sure that what is considered a good paying job differs based on your stage of life, where you live, etc, but there are no restrictions in this thread. Just answer as you feel appropriate.

 

it depends totlaly where you are, and how far you are willing to commute. Simple as.

Like, for me, I live in a small town and am not willing to commute. I'm your typical Little Englander and do not like the big cities. I earn just under £25k per year, which I guess is around $45k USD. It doesn't sound a lot, and I'm sure most people here are on a lot more, but for where I am it's pretty good, and it pays the bills. Put it this way, I would not want to be out of work in this area at the moment...

 

That's one of the vaguest questions ever asked on these boards. I don't even know how to begin to answer it. It's a bit like asking, what's a reasonable height?

 

If you say so. On the other hand, me and BA seemed to manage just fine. /shrug

And vague isn't necessarily a bad thing. As I mention in my original post, I didn't want to apply any artificial restrictions on how people answer. Some folks have enough of an opinion on the matter and perhaps creativity to run with a vague starting point. Others need more direction, I guess. If you're in the latter group, I suppose this thread isn't for you. No worries mate.

 

If you've got enough money for food and shelter for your family without getting into debt, then it's a better paying job than 90% of the people in the world have.

 

Absolutely true. If any such individuals frequent these boards, and want to share their perspective, I'd welcome that. It would probably be good for some of us to be exposed to their perspectives on the subject. In so-called "developed" countries where your average person has their basic needs met, it's easy to lose sight of what it really means to have it tough. The USA is probably as bad as it gets in the regard. Most of us hardly realize that anything exists beyond our borders. Many of us think that the ultimate in suffering is losing your home and having to move into a much smaller apartment. At least you have a roof over your head.

I wasn't necessarily considering those living in abject poverty when I started this thread... mostly just curious what the usual posters had to say, but adding that element to the dialogue could be interesting and eye opening. There's no master plan with this thread. Anyone who wants to weigh in, can.

 

Can depend on living costs. Which for that reason after I complete university Kev is kidnapping me to the North He's earning £18k at the moment so it's stretched a little thin but we should be getting more next academic year from my Student Loan. When we were in the midlands he was on £16.5 and we had more savings!

After I've graduated (Assuming I do) then optimistically breaking into the industry as an entry level designer I should be making around the 17k mark with Kevs income on top of that.

He still dreams that I'll make squillions and he can retire though

 

I dunno, let's say 5 figures a week? I'd be reasonably happy with that. It's what most premier league footballers are earning, innit?

I reckon as long as you have surplus/savings and are debt free, you're doing pretty much better than most. Never hurts to have more income though

 

My job pays somewhere around 1100 Euro per month (1500 USD) after taxes, which is probably around the top 10% in Sofia. It pays the bills, the rent, and the student loan and allows me to enjoy a pretty decent standard, but I can't actually save anything for a master's degree or something like that. To clarify regarding my situation: I share a rented flat, don't have a car, don't smoke and don't have a significant other to support.

For the Bulgarian standard, this is still very good; only a few professions can consider earning more and I think I earn about as much as my parents combined. Still, compared to nearly any European country, the standards here are quite low - I'd say expenses for living in Sofia would probably be comparable to those in a medium-sized German or English city. This site suggests that it is a relatively cheap city to live compared to other major locations, but the keyword would be "relatively."

I'd say that here you could enjoy a pretty good standard with 1k+ Euro, although it would depend on just where you live. Most people make ends meet with a fraction of that (500 USD after taxes is generally considered a decent monthly wage for Sofia or the seaside, good elsewhere), but the standard would be markedly lower than what most people from Western Europe or the US would be used to.

 

We've gone from being comfortable to wondering where our next mortgage payment was and then to VERY comfortable.

When Rob and I first moved in together, it was a rented house, we had no kids and no debt. A couple of thousand left from his divorce and a combined income of about 30k a year. We had enough money for treats (holidays, nights out etc). However, we decided to buy a place when I got pregnant and ended up into trouble.
We started off fine but then I ended up on the sick because of related issues and then went onto maternity pay. At that point we got mega stuck. By the time we had paid the monthly bills we had about £70 left for the month. It meant a lot of sleepless nights and we very nearly had to move back into my mums house.
However, after a couple of months (and just before we lost the house) Rob got an offer to get bought out of his trust fund. It was a lump sum and our mortgage paid. We invested in property so we earn approx 20k a year and, as we have no mortgage, are now more than comfortable.

It's odd, we earn less than we did 5 years ago but are in a much better position financially now.

 

As an accountant, I earn more than the average income in New Zealand, but I do have to support a wife and two kids with it, so I probably have less 'disposable' income than I did 15 years ago.

 

According to kiplinger.com I'm in the top 10% of earners for the the United States (I find this a tad shocking, actually). That would seem to be impressive, but when you consider that I am the sole income for my wife and 3 boys, I have a hefty mortgage and plenty of other bills, there's not an awful lot of disposable income for me either (at least, not as much as you might expect). I happen to live in one of the most expensive areas in the world, where home prices range anywhere from $300k - $600k and can go up steadily from there (you should have seen the prices before the housing bubble popped - enough to make you ill).

If I were single, I'm sure I could live like a high roller if I wanted to, but alas, I'm just another shlep!

 

I do not find it that shocking. Acutally as a the sole provider for a wife and 3 children, I'd expect you to be well above the mean. I do not recall seeing figures for the 2010 tax year yet, but as of 2009, the average household salary in the US was approximately $54K. Note that figure is for the entire HOUSEHOLD, in many cases where you have two people working. It's not the average salary per person. So if you are the sole provider for five people (counting yourself), and you have a mortgage, yeah, I'd say you'd need to be well above average to do it.

I speculate that with the cost of living being much higher on the coasts than in the middle of the US, that most people living on the coasts make in excess of the average.

As for the original topic of the thread, I agree with Harbs - it totally depends on where you are in life. You need enough money to pay for all the stuff you need (and what your family needs where applicable), save a bit, and have a little left over for enjoyment.

 

I love it when people have this kind of "eye opening" moment. Always remember, when everyone is talking about taxing the rich, they now mean you.

 

That's a great point! Maybe Marceror should be compelled to purchase SPS accounts for every member on the BoMb. It would be great for the site, great for the members, and no big squeeze on Marceror since he has lots of extra money. It's a win-win-win all around.

 

Depends on how many hookers you want per day.

 

And the quality thereof. Um... and in case my wife happens to see this, not that I would know.

 

I guess that from that perspective, sure, you can say I’m rich, and probably that’s true for a good percentage of the users on these boards, I’d guess. Compare most of us to someone living in a shack in Kenya who has no food to feed their children with, and all of the sudden most of us seem to be in pretty good shape.

That said, I’m certainly not “wealthy” from the perspective that money definitely is an object for me. In my area I guess I would be considered somewhere on the upper side of middle-class. My house is on a hill, with a bit of a view, but I have only to look up to see that there are bigger, more elaborate homes up higher than mine. I guess that’s what you call perspective, and it helps to keep me humble. I’ve been fortunate enough to work in companies where the advancement opportunities have been good, and as I’ve worked like a dog over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to be rewarded for my efforts. I really can’t complain. Life is good. That’s why, in reference to my initial post, I don’t feel the need to push for a higher salary, even though it’s very likely I could get it.

I wish I could do a round of SPS accounts for everyone. Maybe if my current company’s stocks take off in a few years I’ll be able to do something like that.

On the other hand, if we use Splunge's benchmark of "hookers per day" I'm sad to say that I'm poor as dirt! Again, perspective.

 

No, really they don't, and you know it. That's nothing more than propaganda. Generally, it is the top 5 percent, not the top 10 percent. However here is a graph which demonstrates the gap between those who are really "rich" the top [ 5 percent]and the rest, keeping in mind that "rich" is a relative term to many people. Income in regards to asset/debt ratio can be a better marker regarding how rich someone actually feels in his/her day-to-day life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:United_States_Income_Distribution_1947-2007.svg

So you think the rich should be exempt from paying taxes? Why?

 

And the tax increase isn't even on the top 5% - it's on the top 2%. So even the people on that top line aren't going to see their taxes go up. It's people who are actually higher than the top line - in other words, the scale of the graph isn't big enough to display their incomes.

EDIT: And it looks like I was a little off on my estimates of average household income. According to that graph it looks like the 50th percentile would be around $60K, not the $54 that I thought it was.