6 ms·

(In the US) I actually found it weird when I was talking to a loan officer and he asked how much I made. I told him, and he about jumped out of his seat. "PER M

(In the US) I actually found it weird when I was talking to a loan officer and he asked how much I made. I told him, and he about jumped out of his seat. "PER MONTH?! WHAT DO YOU NEED A LOAN FOR?!" I was flabbergasted. I'd never had someone ask me how much I make an expect me to say per month. I don't know how much I make per month. I know per year or per paycheck. If you want per month you'll have to get out the calculator, buddy.

gpvos 9y ago
In the parts of Europe that I know of, if you have a median job, your paycheck is per month. That is why everyone knows that number the best: it's the one you see most often, appearing every month on your bank account.
- vec 9y ago
  A lot of jobs in the US pay biweekly, which comes out to a nice, round 2.166 paychecks per average calendar month. Paperwork here generally either asks for annual income or asks both paycheck and length of pay period.
- kungtotte 9y ago
  Yes, unless you're self-employed and bill people, you pretty much always get paid monthly.
- mrkstu 9y ago
  So its possible to have to wait more than a month for your first paycheck? i.e. start on the 1st and they pay on the 1st weekday of a new month for the past month? I'd hate to be loaning the company money that long every month.
  - geon 9y ago
    In sweden, salaries are traditionally paid the 25:th. An if you get paid per hour, your payment is usually for the previous month, so 56 days late.
    - gpvos 9y ago
      In the Netherlands also the 25th. However, if you get paid per hour, it may also be that you are paid weekly or biweekly, but indeed usually a cycle later.
  - roel_v 9y ago
    In Western Europe there doesn't seem to be a clear 'standard' of when ppl get paid. I know several people who are paid on the 10th each month, for example. (I happen to know this because they negotioted their rent payments to be on the 11th for properties they rent from me). Others are around 22-24; I used to get paid 28-30 in various jobs. There is probably a reason for this clustering, or maybe my sample size is too small and there is no clustering.
  - PeterisP 9y ago
    How often you're paid depends, often it's twice per month, but the agreed amount in the agreement (and everywhere else where you'd discuss it) would be listed as x eur/month.
  - eeZah7Ux 9y ago
    > So its possible to have to wait more than a month for your first paycheck? Yes, it's pretty typical. > I'd hate to be loaning the company money that long every month That doesn't make any sense.
- 13of40 9y ago
  For me, and I suspect this is pretty status quo in the US, the number that shows up in my checking account biweekly is my annual salary divided by 24, minus taxes and automatic deductions for mortgage, 401k, stock purchase, health plan, etc., with the occasional bonus thrown in to mix things up. It's a very arbitrary number and it would be impossible to back-calculate my overall compensation from it.
  - thaumasiotes 9y ago
    > the number that shows up in my checking account biweekly is my annual salary divided by 24 Either you're paid twice a month rather than every other week, or the biweekly number is your annual salary divided by _26_, or, I guess, you're subject to a strict requirement to take two weeks of unpaid vacation every year.
    - 13of40 9y ago
      Good point. In that case I really don't really even understand how my beer money relates back to my salary.
      - creepydata 9y ago
        Um, wow. That's really something you should know and understand because you want to make sure you are getting paid correctly and catch any payroll errors. They are not uncommon, I've caught a couple myself, including an $1,800 mistake. If you're paid biweekly (say, every other Friday) you have 26 pay periods. If you are paid semi monthly (say the first and the fifteenth) then you'll have 24 pay periods.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - NeutronBoy 9y ago
    It shows up in your checking account semi-monthly ;) It's a slight difference, where the end result is a difference of 2 paychecks per year (24 for semi-monthly vs 26 for bi-weekly)
tbirrell 9y ago
Most billing cycles are by month (rent, water, internet, spotify, ect) so budgets tend to be by month. Obviously I don't know /exactly/ what I make per month, but I have a general idea. I expect this would be fairly similar throughout the US (though I have no evidence backing up that assertion).
cholantesh 9y ago
Surely you've seen your paystub? Or the amount your employer deposits into your account every fortnight/month?
- freehunter 9y ago
  Yeah, my paystub is per paycheck. That's why I can say how much I make per paycheck off hand, but I'm going to need to do a little math to figure out how much that is per month.
jcoffland 9y ago
Was this a car loan? They love to throw you off guard so they can sneak something past.

gpvos 9y ago

In the parts of Europe that I know of, if you have a median job, your paycheck is per month. That is why everyone knows that number the best: it's the one you see most often, appearing every month on your bank account.

vec 9y ago
A lot of jobs in the US pay biweekly, which comes out to a nice, round 2.166 paychecks per average calendar month. Paperwork here generally either asks for annual income or asks both paycheck and length of pay period.
kungtotte 9y ago
Yes, unless you're self-employed and bill people, you pretty much always get paid monthly.
mrkstu 9y ago
So its possible to have to wait more than a month for your first paycheck? i.e. start on the 1st and they pay on the 1st weekday of a new month for the past month? I'd hate to be loaning the company money that long every month.
- geon 9y ago
  In sweden, salaries are traditionally paid the 25:th. An if you get paid per hour, your payment is usually for the previous month, so 56 days late.
  - gpvos 9y ago
    In the Netherlands also the 25th. However, if you get paid per hour, it may also be that you are paid weekly or biweekly, but indeed usually a cycle later.
- roel_v 9y ago
  In Western Europe there doesn't seem to be a clear 'standard' of when ppl get paid. I know several people who are paid on the 10th each month, for example. (I happen to know this because they negotioted their rent payments to be on the 11th for properties they rent from me). Others are around 22-24; I used to get paid 28-30 in various jobs. There is probably a reason for this clustering, or maybe my sample size is too small and there is no clustering.
- PeterisP 9y ago
  How often you're paid depends, often it's twice per month, but the agreed amount in the agreement (and everywhere else where you'd discuss it) would be listed as x eur/month.
- eeZah7Ux 9y ago
  > So its possible to have to wait more than a month for your first paycheck? Yes, it's pretty typical. > I'd hate to be loaning the company money that long every month That doesn't make any sense.
13of40 9y ago
For me, and I suspect this is pretty status quo in the US, the number that shows up in my checking account biweekly is my annual salary divided by 24, minus taxes and automatic deductions for mortgage, 401k, stock purchase, health plan, etc., with the occasional bonus thrown in to mix things up. It's a very arbitrary number and it would be impossible to back-calculate my overall compensation from it.
- thaumasiotes 9y ago
  > the number that shows up in my checking account biweekly is my annual salary divided by 24 Either you're paid twice a month rather than every other week, or the biweekly number is your annual salary divided by _26_, or, I guess, you're subject to a strict requirement to take two weeks of unpaid vacation every year.
  - 13of40 9y ago
    Good point. In that case I really don't really even understand how my beer money relates back to my salary.
    - creepydata 9y ago
      Um, wow. That's really something you should know and understand because you want to make sure you are getting paid correctly and catch any payroll errors. They are not uncommon, I've caught a couple myself, including an $1,800 mistake. If you're paid biweekly (say, every other Friday) you have 26 pay periods. If you are paid semi monthly (say the first and the fifteenth) then you'll have 24 pay periods.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- NeutronBoy 9y ago
  It shows up in your checking account semi-monthly ;) It's a slight difference, where the end result is a difference of 2 paychecks per year (24 for semi-monthly vs 26 for bi-weekly)

tbirrell 9y ago

Most billing cycles are by month (rent, water, internet, spotify, ect) so budgets tend to be by month. Obviously I don't know /exactly/ what I make per month, but I have a general idea. I expect this would be fairly similar throughout the US (though I have no evidence backing up that assertion).

cholantesh 9y ago

Surely you've seen your paystub? Or the amount your employer deposits into your account every fortnight/month?

freehunter 9y ago
Yeah, my paystub is per paycheck. That's why I can say how much I make per paycheck off hand, but I'm going to need to do a little math to figure out how much that is per month.

jcoffland 9y ago

Was this a car loan? They love to throw you off guard so they can sneak something past.