4 ms·

I'm almost 40, never made good money... this makes me sad

lnsru 3y ago
Join the club. I did good money once with tiny startup exit. Salary is just enough to pay for food, mortgage and vacations.
llsf 3y ago
I am almost 50, and my partner (ophthalmologist) always made more than me as developer, and architect. But to be fair, I only worked for small startups in the Bay, and startups that did not make big. Not complaining, but a bit worried for the next decade though. Especially as I am super busy at work, so much that I cannot spend time on programming anymore.
randomdata 3y ago
A case of the keeping up with the Joneses syndrome? Recent figures are not readily available, but as of 10 years ago a yearly income of $32,000 was enough to put you in the global top 1%. Adjusted for inflation, that is around $42,000 today. Interestingly, the median income in the USA is $41,535, so it is likely that half of all Americans are in the top 1%. Although I would think that "good money" would cast a larger net than just the top 1%. Surely at least a 75th percentile income would be considered "good" by most? As such, it is likely that a $20-30,000 income is "good money". If you have not even made that much at some point over the past 25 or so years that you have been of working age, how can you afford to be here?
- PH95VuimJjqBqy 3y ago
  it's a bit disingenuous to compare US citizens to 3rd world countries. yes, it's technically true, but no one with a 3rd world income would ever be able to afford to live in the US, they'd be homeless. its apples and oranges.
  - randomdata 3y ago
    Not at all. The topic is money made. That is independent of expenditures. We could go down the road of retained money (i.e. net income), but then clearly money made is no longer relevant. The guy who made $20,000 and spent $10,000 of it is the one who retained good money, not the guy who made $1,000,000 and spent $999,999.
    - PH95VuimJjqBqy 3y ago
      right, and someone living paycheck to paycheck in NYC is somehow richer than someone living in a LCOL area with more buying power. There's a reason why discussions of salary have to happen around the area the salary is made in.
      - randomdata 3y ago
        Again, the topic is money made. x made is x made. One may need to spend more x to live in a certain location, sure, but that's a completely different topic. One where the money made is not relevant, for reasons already stated. As we are talking about money made, you know we are not talking about that.
        PH95VuimJjqBqy 3y ago
        this is clearly false. 10k USD/year is "good money" for many people in other countries but no one would ever describe that as "good money" for someone living IN the US. and yet, the poster YOU chose to respond to said this: > I'm almost 40, never made good money... this makes me sad
        randomdata 3y ago
        > the poster YOU chose to respond to said this: Yes, as you can clearly see, he added the operative word "made". A word you conveniently left out from your message in your ongoing quest to change the subject. Had you included it like in the original comment, it would completely change your message.

Join the club. I did good money once with tiny startup exit. Salary is just enough to pay for food, mortgage and vacations.

llsf 3y ago

I am almost 50, and my partner (ophthalmologist) always made more than me as developer, and architect. But to be fair, I only worked for small startups in the Bay, and startups that did not make big. Not complaining, but a bit worried for the next decade though. Especially as I am super busy at work, so much that I cannot spend time on programming anymore.

randomdata 3y ago

A case of the keeping up with the Joneses syndrome? Recent figures are not readily available, but as of 10 years ago a yearly income of $32,000 was enough to put you in the global top 1%. Adjusted for inflation, that is around $42,000 today. Interestingly, the median income in the USA is $41,535, so it is likely that half of all Americans are in the top 1%. Although I would think that "good money" would cast a larger net than just the top 1%. Surely at least a 75th percentile income would be considered "good" by most? As such, it is likely that a $20-30,000 income is "good money". If you have not even made that much at some point over the past 25 or so years that you have been of working age, how can you afford to be here?

PH95VuimJjqBqy 3y ago
it's a bit disingenuous to compare US citizens to 3rd world countries. yes, it's technically true, but no one with a 3rd world income would ever be able to afford to live in the US, they'd be homeless. its apples and oranges.
- randomdata 3y ago
  Not at all. The topic is money made. That is independent of expenditures. We could go down the road of retained money (i.e. net income), but then clearly money made is no longer relevant. The guy who made $20,000 and spent $10,000 of it is the one who retained good money, not the guy who made $1,000,000 and spent $999,999.
  - PH95VuimJjqBqy 3y ago
    right, and someone living paycheck to paycheck in NYC is somehow richer than someone living in a LCOL area with more buying power. There's a reason why discussions of salary have to happen around the area the salary is made in.
    - randomdata 3y ago
      Again, the topic is money made. x made is x made. One may need to spend more x to live in a certain location, sure, but that's a completely different topic. One where the money made is not relevant, for reasons already stated. As we are talking about money made, you know we are not talking about that.
      - PH95VuimJjqBqy 3y ago
        this is clearly false. 10k USD/year is "good money" for many people in other countries but no one would ever describe that as "good money" for someone living IN the US. and yet, the poster YOU chose to respond to said this: > I'm almost 40, never made good money... this makes me sad
        randomdata 3y ago
        > the poster YOU chose to respond to said this: Yes, as you can clearly see, he added the operative word "made". A word you conveniently left out from your message in your ongoing quest to change the subject. Had you included it like in the original comment, it would completely change your message.