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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?

#42

$100k isn't successful, it's the bare minimum as a professional. If you're an engineer, all that's required to earn that much is show up on time and be good at your job. The cold, hard truth is if you don't earn at least that much, you either suck at your job or suck at negotiating. Your bosses and many of your peers earn twice as much as that. Edit: IF you work in the corporate world. Clearly if you're a lifestyle-b…

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_...

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

#43

$100k isn't successful, it's the bare minimum as a professional. If you're an engineer, all that's required to earn that much is show up on time and be good at your job. The cold, hard truth is if you don't earn at least that much, you either suck at your job or suck at negotiating. Your bosses and many of your peers earn twice as much as that. Edit: IF you work in the corporate world. Clearly if you're a lifestyle-b…

Maybe true for the people you hang out with. In the rest of the world, there's plenty of people who prefer doing meaningful or engaging work over earning the highest possible salary.

$100k isn't anywhere near the highest salary possible. What in the world are you talking about?

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

#44

$100k isn't successful, it's the bare minimum as a professional. If you're an engineer, all that's required to earn that much is show up on time and be good at your job. The cold, hard truth is if you don't earn at least that much, you either suck at your job or suck at negotiating. Your bosses and many of your peers earn twice as much as that. Edit: IF you work in the corporate world. Clearly if you're a lifestyle-b…

Just want to chime in real quick re:

all that's required to earn that much is show up on time and be good at your job.

I liked the "all thats required" bit, because as it were, I am fully employed remotely, and while I don't make $100k, I seriously wake up at noon, code at 3am when I damned well feel like it, and overwhelmingly love managing myself. (oh yeah, zero commute).

So I guess you'd be right, "all you have to do is show up", ehhhh I'd much rather not show up!

I'd imagine a lot of people's idea of success involves a whole lot of Freedom so I'd hesitate to be so overly critical of people not making your "baseline" figure of $100k and then assuming it has to be because they suck.

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

#45
post #33

Earnings are important, I'm sure -- but don't mistake them for wealth. I've known people with ludicrous earnings who still lived pay check to pay check. In fact, I suspect it's all too common. Here's an eye opener: You're a mid-level employee at a medium-sized company and you realize you're as wealthy as your spend-thrift CEO who is making >10x as much as you are.

I think spend-thrift means tight with your money, or parsimonious if you prefer.

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

#46

From someone who's been failing startups since 2000, I can't imagine what I would do with that much money... It's really baffling..

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.

Yeah, of course. On the other hand, you can live quite comfortably in Berlin for US$20k gross salary. Rent and price of groceries are huge factors in what your income actually means.

Define specific quality of life factors, instead of talking about a number.

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

#47
post #44

$100k isn't successful, it's the bare minimum as a professional. If you're an engineer, all that's required to earn that much is show up on time and be good at your job. The cold, hard truth is if you don't earn at least that much, you either suck at your job or suck at negotiating. Your bosses and many of your peers earn twice as much as that. Edit: IF you work in the corporate world. Clearly if you're a lifestyle-b…

Just want to chime in real quick re: all that's required to earn that much is show up on time and be good at your job. I liked the "all thats required" bit, because as it were, I am fully employed remotely, and while I don't make $100k, I seriously wake up at noon, code at 3am when I damned well feel like it, and overwhelmingly love managing myself. (oh yeah, zero commute). So I guess you'd be right, "all you have to…

Clearly it's subjective. Working a schedule that fits your preferences has a huge value associated with it. Others prefer cash, and lots of it.

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

#48
post #33

Earnings are important, I'm sure -- but don't mistake them for wealth. I've known people with ludicrous earnings who still lived pay check to pay check. In fact, I suspect it's all too common. Here's an eye opener: You're a mid-level employee at a medium-sized company and you realize you're as wealthy as your spend-thrift CEO who is making >10x as much as you are.

I think spend-thrift means tight with your money, or parsimonious if you prefer.

To be thrifty, is to be careful with your money. Oddly though, a spendthrift is the opposite. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/spendthrift

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

#49
post #22
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$100K baseline? That sounds like you're talking about entry-level, which can't be right regardless of where you live. I believe that the mean annual income for a software developer in the USA is about USD 75k. I found one estimate as high as 90k. In non-coastal areas (even big cities in the Midwest, Texas, etc.), entry level positions requiring a 4-year CS degree are commonly 45k-60k.

Career baseline, not entry-level. Making 100k these days with 5-7 years of experience is not all that unusual.

Depending where actually. Most companies will adjust based on the cost of living. So 100k in NY might be on the entry level but in Kansas it is a top salary.
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