38 year old making 123k and feeling poor

[Anonymous]

How can I make more $$? I work as a Program Manager.

[Anonymous]

I am 46 and make 150k and feel poor on here. Especially when I read about someone 20 years younger who makes only 20k less. What did I do wrong?

But on other hand everything else is fine and I live comfortably and have a cheap mortgage and plenty of savings and a robust 401k.

If you want to make more money, find a new job and prove yourself. Figure out the next logical direction, is it a manager of program managers? Staying put isn't going to make you richer.

Will also say (and more true at my age) is the higher you go, the more expensive you are and the more at risk you are of ageism pushing you out someday. The advantage of my middling 150k role is that I don't have to take the risks more senior people do and I am also not so expensive.

[Anonymous]

You aren't poor. FFS.

If you want more, you need to make more. Figure out what that looks like given your skillset.

[Anonymous]

Basically, take more risks and find ways to scale the value / impact you have. This could look like --
- Change fields/roles to something more lucrative -- could involve taking steps back before taking steps forward. Could you leverage your program management experience to move into product management at an AI company? You may need to learn new skills and build some side projects to prove yourself. Do you want to go back to school and become a travel nurse in a lucrative subspecialty?
- Start your own business
- Change companies to something earlier stage where you could have more growth opportunities, wear different hats, equity upside
- Take on side hustles like real estate, AI training, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How can I make more $$? I work as a Program Manager.

Invest wisely.

[Anonymous]

Stop working in government, to start.

[Anonymous]

I'm 48 and will never break into six figures. Shut up and go count your riches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm 48 and will never break into six figures. Shut up and go count your riches.

Exactly. And save the max.

[Anonymous]

If you don't have kids or a dependent spouse, you can live well on $138k.

[Anonymous]

Im 35 with 2 kids and make $130k and I feel okay

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How can I make more $$? I work as a Program Manager.

You are overspending is the problem. If you make more, you will just spend more and always be close to bankruptcy.

It's an addiction.

[Anonymous]

I am 52 and make 82k
I don’t have a degree and love my work schedule. You are not poor. Stop comparing yourself to rich people.

[Anonymous]

Made $40k a year only once in 27 years. Most years my earned income was under $30k.
Invested well and retired at 46.
Not sure why you want to work for money instead of having money work for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Made $40k a year only once in 27 years. Most years my earned income was under $30k.
Invested well and retired at 46.
Not sure why you want to work for money instead of having money work for you.

Congrats but that’s not typical investing, that’s winning the lottery

[Anonymous]

You won't. There is a ceiling.

I started my own business and the sky is the limit!