Anyone Here NOT Make $100K (yet)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. An interesting pattern is starting to show. Many of us who are not at $100k by our 30s (or, in my case, finally at $100k at 50) did not have as a primary driver the ability to make lots of money. I admit this was/is me. I wanted to use my skills and be comfortable - food is great! - but I also wanted evenings free (other than the occasional work crisis).

The lawyer friend I mentioned, who made a ton early on (and who left me in the dust)? I knew her since we were 14, and even then she said she wanted to make a lot of money. Different strokes for different folks.

This shouldn't necessarily mean the drive the to make lots of money. A main factor to this "ability" is whether you're working in the right field in the right time as well.

[Anonymous]

I'm 39 and I make $21k a year working full time at my children's school (but with summer off.) I used to make $89k at my previous job in marketing. The hours and vacation time make this worth wile for my family, coupled with the fact that my husband makes a little over 100k so we make it work.

[Anonymous]

I'm 35 and don't make $100k yet. Work at a non-profit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. An interesting pattern is starting to show. Many of us who are not at $100k by our 30s (or, in my case, finally at $100k at 50) did not have as a primary driver the ability to make lots of money. I admit this was/is me. I wanted to use my skills and be comfortable - food is great! - but I also wanted evenings free (other than the occasional work crisis).

The lawyer friend I mentioned, who made a ton early on (and who left me in the dust)? I knew her since we were 14, and even then she said she wanted to make a lot of money. Different strokes for different folks.

This shouldn't necessarily mean the drive the to make lots of money. A main factor to this "ability" is whether you're working in the right field in the right time as well.

But what do you mean by the "right" field? Some fields are notorious for being low-paying - like social work, for example - and people who are driven to earn lots of money would have chosen elsewhere. That's not to say that social work isn't the "right" field for that person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. An interesting pattern is starting to show. Many of us who are not at $100k by our 30s (or, in my case, finally at $100k at 50) did not have as a primary driver the ability to make lots of money. I admit this was/is me. I wanted to use my skills and be comfortable - food is great! - but I also wanted evenings free (other than the occasional work crisis).

The lawyer friend I mentioned, who made a ton early on (and who left me in the dust)? I knew her since we were 14, and even then she said she wanted to make a lot of money. Different strokes for different folks.

This shouldn't necessarily mean the drive the to make lots of money. A main factor to this "ability" is whether you're working in the right field in the right time as well.

But what do you mean by the "right" field? Some fields are notorious for being low-paying - like social work, for example - and people who are driven to earn lots of money would have chosen elsewhere. That's not to say that social work isn't the "right" field for that person.

Of course, people who are driven to make lots of money won't go into traditional low-paying fields. However, people who are not driven to make lots of money/work long hours do not necessarily mean they can't work in fields that pays well.

When I was talking about "right" field, it was more about whether there was a boom in that field in that moment of time--think the dotcom era. I'm an attorney so I'll use fields within the legal practice as an example. Currently, there's an influx of demand for ethics lawyers in this area compared to several years ago; or there was a rise in demand for bankruptcy law several years back. Of course, this is taken away from OP's 100k context, but I hope you get my point.

[Anonymous]

In my early 50's. Moved across country to became first year Fed months ago with a salary under 100K so we could take several vacations a year traveling 1st/business class overseas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. An interesting pattern is starting to show. Many of us who are not at $100k by our 30s (or, in my case, finally at $100k at 50) did not have as a primary driver the ability to make lots of money. I admit this was/is me. I wanted to use my skills and be comfortable - food is great! - but I also wanted evenings free (other than the occasional work crisis).

The lawyer friend I mentioned, who made a ton early on (and who left me in the dust)? I knew her since we were 14, and even then she said she wanted to make a lot of money. Different strokes for different folks.

This shouldn't necessarily mean the drive the to make lots of money. A main factor to this "ability" is whether you're working in the right field in the right time as well.

But what do you mean by the "right" field? Some fields are notorious for being low-paying - like social work, for example - and people who are driven to earn lots of money would have chosen elsewhere. That's not to say that social work isn't the "right" field for that person.

Of course, people who are driven to make lots of money won't go into traditional low-paying fields. However, people who are not driven to make lots of money/work long hours do not necessarily mean they can't work in fields that pays well.

When I was talking about "right" field, it was more about whether there was a boom in that field in that moment of time--think the dotcom era. I'm an attorney so I'll use fields within the legal practice as an example. Currently, there's an influx of demand for ethics lawyers in this area compared to several years ago; or there was a rise in demand for bankruptcy law several years back. Of course, this is taken away from OP's 100k context, but I hope you get my point.

Yes, I do understand the point now. Thanks for the clarification.

[Anonymous]

OP - I posted on the other thread and just made 100k at 49 so we are pretty similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - I posted on the other thread and just made 100k at 49 so we are pretty similar.

Maybe you're one of the friends I referred to in my original post! But seriously, it's nice to know there are a lot of us here. To read DCUM, you'd think everyone is making $300k.

[Anonymous]

DH and I live in DC area and both make about $70K gross. We are in our early 40's/late 30's, and have 2 kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH and I live in DC area and both make about $70K gross. We are in our early 40's/late 30's, and have 2 kids.

Congrats you are normal

DCUM schews high income but the people on here are so bitter its sad

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. An interesting pattern is starting to show. Many of us who are not at $100k by our 30s (or, in my case, finally at $100k at 50) did not have as a primary driver the ability to make lots of money. I admit this was/is me. I wanted to use my skills and be comfortable - food is great! - but I also wanted evenings free (other than the occasional work crisis).

The lawyer friend I mentioned, who made a ton early on (and who left me in the dust)? I knew her since we were 14, and even then she said she wanted to make a lot of money. Different strokes for different folks.

This shouldn't necessarily mean the drive the to make lots of money. A main factor to this "ability" is whether you're working in the right field in the right time as well.

I started making $100K before age 30. Money wasn't my primary driver. If it were, I would have gone into law. I went into engineering.

[Anonymous]

Most people never hit 100k. I know many people with college degrees making far less. And most people couldn't care less. Ask anyone in investment banking about their work/life balance LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most people never hit 100k. I know many people with college degrees making far less. And most people couldn't care less. Ask anyone in investment banking about their work/life balance LOL

+1. A ton of people I knew from college are in investment banking and a few are married to investment bankers. One friend's husband was sleeping in his office for a month straight as he was working 18-19 hours a day, 7 days a week during a crunch. During non-crunch times, he still works well over 12 hours a day. He's gained 50 pounds in the last 10 years due to his lifestyle (all food eaten is terrible fast food type stuff, obviously no time to work out, high stress so he drinks a ton when he has the rare downtime, etc). I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't necessarily feel bad for the guy, he makes serious bank and it's not like he needs to stay in that industry but still, I would never want to work like that.

[Anonymous]

I am 25 and make $50k. I have a BS. Hoping to get to $100k by the time I'm 35...