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Redditors earning $100k+ a year, what are your secrets to your success?

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Re: Redditors earning $100k+ a year, what are your secrets to your success?

#111

Post by AJ007 »

teuobk wrote: post #59

The secret -- the difficulty -- isn't one of having a $100k+ income so much as it is not spending it all. Live like you have a $60k salary, and not only will you still be able to afford a comfortable lifestyle, but you'll also be able to put away tons of cash. As for actually finding those jobs? If you're willing to do consulting/contracting, ask your friends who are doing consulting/contracting for large companies.…

In the US not if your paying taxes :) Make $100k, pay at least $20k to the fed, then whatever else to state, make your bare minimum contribution to your retirement, and you don't have tons of cash left over. Makes $200k and live on $60k, and your going to do alright.

People who live paycheck to paycheck and/or borrow money for personal consumption drive up the cost of living. If your trying to be modest but not live someone in welfare it become instantly evident of how much you need to make. Personally I think you should target to spend about 30% of your income. So, make $100k, live on 30, make $1m live on $300k.

Re: Redditors earning $100k+ a year, what are your secrets to your success?

#112

Post by cheez »

jamesshamenski wrote: post #77
redthrowaway wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vancouver here. 100k is really only enough for a very middle class life.

Totally disagree. I've lived in Van for 15 years and it's hilariously more affordable than LA or NY (where I am now). The Mercer 2010 survey put Van at #75 in the world which was surprisingly one spot ahead of Toronto. Sidenote: the job market of Vancouver is much slower and lower paying than what's happening state side.

"I lived in Vancouver for 15 years."

Translates to:

"I bought a place 10 years before the epic bubble of bubbles."

Vancouver real estate is INSANITY.

Re: Redditors earning $100k+ a year, what are your secrets to your success?

#113

Post by cheez »

JabavuAdams wrote: post #70
acangiano wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sadly, 100K isn't that much these days if you have a family and you live in an expensive city like Toronto or New York.

Toronto is nowhere near as expensive as New York. In Toronto, you can get a decent detached house in a downtown blue-collar neighbourhood or (a nicer one in the 'burbs) for under 500k. You can get a beautiful home in an elite neighbourhood for 750k.

I live in Toronto and I would love to buy a place in downtown Toronto for sub-500K.

The house I live in now is "valued" at $500K and is nowhere special, but it's awesome.

Re: Redditors earning $100k+ a year, what are your secrets to your success?

#114

Post by joshhart »

spoiledtechie wrote: post #91
bretpiatt wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, comparison of San Francisco in $100k to San Antonio, TX where I'm at now... Comparable salary in San Antonio, TX $58,363 If you move from San Francisco, CA to San Antonio, TX.... Groceries will cost: 24%less Housing will cost: 66%less Utilities will cost: 13%less Transportation will cost: 11%less Healthcare will cost: 15%less

Your also missing something though. The amount put away into a 401K is much higher in SF then in San Ant. TX. I would much rather work on San Fran for a few years, make a ton for my 401k then move some where cheap and rural in my 30s. San Fran people also have more cash for trips compared to Antonio. Overall, The higher salary is better in the long term.

I'm doing this now, but the higher tax bracket (not to mention the California taxes in general) make it not nearly as nice an option as it could be.

Re: Redditors earning $100k+ a year, what are your secrets to your success?

#115

Post by cheez »

Tyrant505 wrote: post #8
cheez wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you keep failing startups??? What does it mean to fail?

Well, I still don't know what 100k feels like.. :)

How did you fund yourself for so long? One of my friends who is a consultant doing nothing special makes $100K in 6 months. If you really want to see $100K, just be a consultant for a while.

Re: Redditors earning $100k+ a year, what are your secrets to your success?

#116

Post by biot »

cheez wrote: post #112
jamesshamenski wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally disagree. I've lived in Van for 15 years and it's hilariously more affordable than LA or NY (where I am now). The Mercer 2010 survey put Van at #75 in the world which was surprisingly one spot ahead of Toronto. Sidenote: the job market of Vancouver is much slower and lower paying than what's happening state side.

"I lived in Vancouver for 15 years." Translates to: "I bought a place 10 years before the epic bubble of bubbles." Vancouver real estate is INSANITY.

You mean spending $700K for a house a half notch above a fixer-upper isn't sane? :)

Re: Redditors earning $100k+ a year, what are your secrets to your success?

#117

Post by cookiecaper »

DannoHung wrote: post #104
nandemo wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here you are: http://www.indeed.com/salary?q1=%22senior+software+engineer%... http://www.indeed.com/salary?q1=%22senior+system+administrat... http://www.indeed.com/salary?q1=dba&l1=san+francisco%2C+...

Things shift significantly when you start looking outside the 10 most populous cities in America. I'd even bet that if you exclude SF/The Valley, Seattle, and New York, you'll find a pretty decent cliff.

Agreed. As a software engineer around here (Utah), $100k-$120k is a senior position. Just look at the job listings or Glassdoor ranges from companies in the area if you don't believe me. In fact, most senior positions start around $70k-$75k, so if you make $100k-$120k you're doing better than many of your peers. In Kansas City or other midwestern localities, the salaries are even less.

Re: Redditors earning $100k+ a year, what are your secrets to your success?

#118

Post by kooshball »

Joakal wrote: post #27
smanek wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny how quickly you get used to the mindset that it's a good decision to trade money for time. If I value my marginal time at $50/hr, and unconsciously always choose to pay to save time, the mindset becomes ingrained and is hard to reverse. Little things that you quickly grow accustomed to like taxis, dry cleaners, restaurants (plus a few big things like a mortgage or high rent from living alone in a decent ap…

Warren Buffet is one of the top 10 richest people in the world and he's pretty frugal.

I think frugal here is relative. He doesn't care about status symbols and living a super extravagant life with huge mansions and yachts that other billionaires do. But I'm sure he has a lot of expenses that most middle class would not have.

If his car breaks down, do you really think he'll take it to the shop himself and start taking a bus to work?

Re: Redditors earning $100k+ a year, what are your secrets to your success?

#119

Post by kooshball »

jamesaguilar wrote: post #97
defen wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It depends where you live. In San Francisco or New York, 100K isn't going to go very far. In Houston or a rural area, it will. According to a cost of living adjustment calculator I found online, 100K in Houston is equivalent to 186K in San Francisco. http://swz.salary.com/costoflivingwizard/layoutscripts/coll_...

Isn't going to go very far is such an interesting statement. When I was making 100k a year in SF, I felt plenty wealthy. I guess if you have really expensive tastes 100k won't seem like much, but it's more than enough to be happy and do everything you could reasonably need to do.

did you buy a house? did you plan to? the main increase in cost of living compared to other parts of the country is the rent or down payment + mortgage.
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