All you with these high-paying jobs!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Me: $155-160K
Him: $600K last year, but should hit over $700k this year

We both work in finance (me - corporate role at a large financial institution and him - private equity).

What does a person who has a corporate role at a bank or other financial institution do exactly?

Another PP, I oversee investments undertaken by my employer on a daily basis to make sure trading activities are not tipping our legal agreements.

AI could replace you.

No worries, I have 3.5mm

Me too ($4M) but I wouldn’t want to lose my income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2 capped GS-15s in the DC area will make nearly $400,000. They aren’t exactly a rare breed here.

I was coming in to say exactly this.

In my house, one GS15 and one lobbyist.

Yep, I'm a fed (not on the GS scale) married to a public school teacher. Our HHI is $290k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Double biglaw. But remember I am happier to disclose my income on this board than other stats. Like, say, how many hours of screen time a day my kids have. When it’s a “good” number for you, you post it willingly. When it isn’t, you skip the thread.

Exactly this. Much happier to talk about my salary than my weight, for example. People like to bragg, even anonymously. All the people earning $50k don’t post about it here.

The OP didn’t ask us poors to post. Actually I’m not poor (in my mid-50s as a capped GS15 I’m almost up to OP’s standard but never will be) but I’m not exceptional on DCUM. On the plus side, I weigh the same 125 lbs as I did when I got married. So I’ll brag about that instead.

That’s something to brag about for sure.

I do too but I also earn $230K.

A capped GS-15 isn’t far off from that when you consider the pension benefits.

That depends. I work for a non-profit for 250K with an annual bonus of 50K. I also receive a 6% 403b contribution with 100% matching (vs. 5% in the Fed), much better health and dental benefits. I also receive a 1.5% pension for every year of service (vs. 1% in the Fed). In my case, the nonprofit sector is much better than the Fed.

300K for a non-profit exec? Susan G. Come-on!

I am less okay with exorbitant non-profit salaries than corporate; that money usually comes at the expense of the program. Donors beware.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t hit your mark as an analyst at a big bank — I make $160K.

But my husband makes $1.1M. He runs lifecycle marketing/sales for a division of a major edtech company. His comp is about a 50/50 split between salary and stock.

EdTech is such a racket, bilking public school systems.

I mean, same with the entire parasitical health insurance "industry" taking their cut from sick, stressed people, denying coverage whenever possible, making the process as complicated as possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I make $140,000 and DH makes $500,000 (grants management and big law)

My sister makes $500-$700,000 depending on the year and her DH makes $350-$500,000 depending on the year (tech sales - both of them).

What is your sister's educational and technical background, if you don't mind sharing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of these people are lying. Not all, but some. I know a decent number of people making above 200k and most of them are too busy at work to fart around on DCUM at 10am on a Monday. The Big Law and consulting partners especially.

OP, I bet you the average income of people on DCUM is around what you make, or even lower. I'm currently part time in my job because my kids are young and I want to be more available to them, and I make 50k working about 15 hours a week. Our HHI is about 190k. The reason I can hang out on DCUM a lot is because being part time means my job doesn't carry as much responsibility, and of course sometimes I'm not working at all, I'm just killing time before picking the kids up from school, or while waiting for them to finish swim class or whatever. I think my situation is very common among DCUM power users.

My DH, who makes 140k and manages a team of 6 and has quite a bit of stress in his job (though thankfully not long hours and he has decent flexility and great benefits) doesn't have time to hang out on DCUM either. If he has downtime, he uses it for DuoLingo.

Anyway, I would have some skepticism about all the people claiming they are dual Big Law while posting on DCUM right now. If they are telling the truth, they are junior associates with poor time management skills and probably won't go the distance anyway! They'll be on here pouting about how they had to give up their 250k salary when they got counseled out in 5th year and now they are "poor".

I think there are also a lot of biglaw spouses that post here so there's the high income side that's busy at work but the SAHP that has time to post about the high income.

This. DCUM is their "job".

[Anonymous]

OP, I think this forum is self selecting. People who have build their lives around earning high incomes are going to more interested in talking about money.

DH and I are both feds earning about 150k (so 300k HHI). Even in my close-in wealthy neighborhood, I think there are a lot of people in our income bracket but we got here through luck of timing and some family help. So it’s not like this whole region is pulling in big law salaries. But when you see (or read about) people making all this money it can skew your perception. I have to remind myself sometimes that there is a huge disparity of wealth in this region and that even with a low six figure job I am doing quite well.

If you do get married at some point you may very well end up with another person earning six figures which will get your income likely close to 300k+. There’s a reason so many of us are in dual income households. Doubling your HHI and retirement savings can really boost your assets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m OP and I appreciate all the different answers assuming y’all are honest. And I respect the people who honestly disclose the hard work, grind and hustle it took to get there.

However, I just don’t see the numbers adding up. I’ve been a job seeker and I know the job market. I also know the housing market. By definition, only 1% of us can be the top 1%. Where are all the rest of the middle class people like me hiding? In their small outside-the-beltway condos and used Priuses? I just feel like I’m missing something here. The hidden high paying job market.

The people (jobs and salary ranges) you’re talking about aren’t in the 1%. These are people in the 5, 8, 10%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2 capped GS-15s in the DC area will make nearly $400,000. They aren’t exactly a rare breed here.

I was coming in to say exactly this.

In my house, one GS15 and one lobbyist.

Yep, I'm a fed (not on the GS scale) married to a public school teacher. Our HHI is $290k.

+3

Feds make more than you think, OP. You can easily look up Fed salaries online!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m OP and I appreciate all the different answers assuming y’all are honest. And I respect the people who honestly disclose the hard work, grind and hustle it took to get there.

However, I just don’t see the numbers adding up. I’ve been a job seeker and I know the job market. I also know the housing market. By definition, only 1% of us can be the top 1%. Where are all the rest of the middle class people like me hiding? In their small outside-the-beltway condos and used Priuses? I just feel like I’m missing something here. The hidden high paying job market.

The people (jobs and salary ranges) you’re talking about aren’t in the 1%. These are people in the 5, 8, 10%.

+1

200k individual income is top 5%, while 400k HHI is top 3%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Double biglaw. But remember I am happier to disclose my income on this board than other stats. Like, say, how many hours of screen time a day my kids have. When it’s a “good” number for you, you post it willingly. When it isn’t, you skip the thread.

Exactly this. Much happier to talk about my salary than my weight, for example. People like to bragg, even anonymously. All the people earning $50k don’t post about it here.

The OP didn’t ask us poors to post. Actually I’m not poor (in my mid-50s as a capped GS15 I’m almost up to OP’s standard but never will be) but I’m not exceptional on DCUM. On the plus side, I weigh the same 125 lbs as I did when I got married. So I’ll brag about that instead.

That’s something to brag about for sure.

I do too but I also earn $230K.

A capped GS-15 isn’t far off from that when you consider the pension benefits.

That depends. I work for a non-profit for 250K with an annual bonus of 50K. I also receive a 6% 403b contribution with 100% matching (vs. 5% in the Fed), much better health and dental benefits. I also receive a 1.5% pension for every year of service (vs. 1% in the Fed). In my case, the nonprofit sector is much better than the Fed.

300K for a non-profit exec? Susan G. Come-on!

I am less okay with exorbitant non-profit salaries than corporate; that money usually comes at the expense of the program. Donors beware.

You (and people who think like you) are the reason we have so many poorly run nonprofits. A nonprofit, much like many for-profits, needs experience and skill to be successful. A major part of that is paying for that experience and skill. You can't arbitrarily say a $300k salary for a nonprofit executive is too much without looking at their finances. You don't know their budget. $300k for a $2m budget? Yes, that's questionable. $300k for a $10m budget is more reasonable. As a society, we need to get away from the mentality that nonprofits should be lowballing salaries. The best way to make nonprofit programs successful is to put skill and knowledge behind those programs and that requires money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m OP and I appreciate all the different answers assuming y’all are honest. And I respect the people who honestly disclose the hard work, grind and hustle it took to get there.

However, I just don’t see the numbers adding up. I’ve been a job seeker and I know the job market. I also know the housing market. By definition, only 1% of us can be the top 1%. Where are all the rest of the middle class people like me hiding? In their small outside-the-beltway condos and used Priuses? I just feel like I’m missing something here. The hidden high paying job market.

The people (jobs and salary ranges) you’re talking about aren’t in the 1%. These are people in the 5, 8, 10%.

+1

200k individual income is top 5%, while 400k HHI is top 3%.

Nationally, yes. In the DC area $200K is only top 30% (not even top quartile!) and $400K is top 6%. The top 10% is at $330K and top 1% is at $1M.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP. I make 250k. I lead a 50-person department at a Fortune 500 company.

My rich friends make $60k-80k as artists, teachers, or NPR reporters. They are from exceptionally wealthy families who underwrite everything and live far better than I would ever to be able to afford to. It sounds like a cliche but it’s true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP. I make 250k. I lead a 50-person department at a Fortune 500 company.

My rich friends make $60k-80k as artists, teachers, or NPR reporters. They are from exceptionally wealthy families who underwrite everything and live far better than I would ever to be able to afford to. It sounds like a cliche but it’s true.

very true, seen it a lot. And they can have much healthier marriages because they have flexible, low stress jobs but also have the generational wealth to support things like down payments or kids college funds. But those teachers won’t be able to do for their grandkids what their parents did for theirs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Double biglaw. But remember I am happier to disclose my income on this board than other stats. Like, say, how many hours of screen time a day my kids have. When it’s a “good” number for you, you post it willingly. When it isn’t, you skip the thread.

Exactly this. Much happier to talk about my salary than my weight, for example. People like to bragg, even anonymously. All the people earning $50k don’t post about it here.

The OP didn’t ask us poors to post. Actually I’m not poor (in my mid-50s as a capped GS15 I’m almost up to OP’s standard but never will be) but I’m not exceptional on DCUM. On the plus side, I weigh the same 125 lbs as I did when I got married. So I’ll brag about that instead.

That’s something to brag about for sure.

I do too but I also earn $230K.

A capped GS-15 isn’t far off from that when you consider the pension benefits.

That depends. I work for a non-profit for 250K with an annual bonus of 50K. I also receive a 6% 403b contribution with 100% matching (vs. 5% in the Fed), much better health and dental benefits. I also receive a 1.5% pension for every year of service (vs. 1% in the Fed). In my case, the nonprofit sector is much better than the Fed.

300K for a non-profit exec? Susan G. Come-on!

I am less okay with exorbitant non-profit salaries than corporate; that money usually comes at the expense of the program. Donors beware.

You (and people who think like you) are the reason we have so many poorly run nonprofits. A nonprofit, much like many for-profits, needs experience and skill to be successful. A major part of that is paying for that experience and skill. You can't arbitrarily say a $300k salary for a nonprofit executive is too much without looking at their finances. You don't know their budget. $300k for a $2m budget? Yes, that's questionable. $300k for a $10m budget is more reasonable. As a society, we need to get away from the mentality that nonprofits should be lowballing salaries. The best way to make nonprofit programs successful is to put skill and knowledge behind those programs and that requires money.

3% of the budget for one person in the org is not reasonable.

The problem with high pay nonprofit is that it incentivizes not solving whatever problem it claims to solve.

Simple rule: don't take donations from people poorer than you.

Your $300K /yr should be paid by donors earnings $400K+/yr