What do you do, how much do you make, and how'd you get there?

[Anonymous]

1) financial regulator lawyer
2) over $275k
3) T14 law school, high GPA, clerkship, firm, finreg

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. Big law partner
2. 6.4 in 2023
3. Law school, clerkship, then a tremendous amount of hard work. I now manage a large team. But I work harder than everyone on my team. 2023 was more than 3500 hours.

Here we see the concept of value-billing in action; that is, charging the client as much as you think they'll pay.

It is not plausible you worked 70 hours a week, every single week; 10 hours a day every single day, seven days a week, 30 days a month. Bullshit.

It's totally believable you billed that amount, and if your clients paid the firm, good on you, you deserve your cut. Not a criticism.

Clients should wise up, though.

To be clear, I did not say I billed clients 3500 hours. My 2023 was about 2300 billable hours. 1200 hours were spent on everything else that makes my practice run, as well as firm management, etc. And in terms of working, on average, 70 hours per week... well, I don't know what to tell you. Yes, I worked 70 hours a week on average. My usual routine is 40 to 45 hours Mon to Weds; 18 to 22 hours Thurs/Friday; and 5 to 10 hours on the weekend. Varies based on workload and what is going on.

Serious question. Why do you work so much when it’s likely you already have plenty of money?

I’m assuming you really enjoy the work?

[Anonymous]

Special Education Teacher.
85k.
Corporate job for about almost 15 years and went back to school when my kids were little to have a more family friendly job. I miss the corporate job but this suits our current needs better and I do find it rewarding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clearly the DCUM middle class making $400k+ are shy to reveal their path to success. Thanks to the 1M lawyer

1) NASA engineer
2) $190k
3) excelled in high school, elite engineering degree and masters, hooked up with a NASA mission I believed in and thought would make world better place. Regret not following the money into tech or defense, mommy tracked last decade and reluctant to take a risk because of DH more demanding and better paying job which disrupt our working parent juggle mid air.

1) NASA scientist
2) $190k
3) excelled in high school, elite science degree and top Ph.D., joined NASA to do great things and love it, but took 15 years post-Ph.D. to get to a GS15 and there’s no promotion from here.

So jealous, you are so happy, how do you afford to live here, and wonder if you should have detoured to make a nest egg when your classmates probably went to become quants, and then pivot to start their own space company at 40 after earning millions? My peers basically all did this and I was the dope being idealistic and not selling out to do “science”. Share you wisdom for contentment!

[Anonymous]

1. State government attorney
2. $123k
3. Law school, then law adjacent jobs with the state legislature for a few years which were really fulfilling but low paid, then transitioned to civil service and got steady pay increases though I mommy tracked myself for a few years and have just been promoted to a supervisory level after ten years

[Anonymous]

Big law of counsel, on the mommy track in biglaw terms (1300 billable hours)

$700K in 2023. Very good at what I do. Have my own clients. No desire to be a partner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. Big law partner
2. 6.4 in 2023
3. Law school, clerkship, then a tremendous amount of hard work. I now manage a large team. But I work harder than everyone on my team. 2023 was more than 3500 hours.

Here we see the concept of value-billing in action; that is, charging the client as much as you think they'll pay.

It is not plausible you worked 70 hours a week, every single week; 10 hours a day every single day, seven days a week, 30 days a month. Bullshit.

It's totally believable you billed that amount, and if your clients paid the firm, good on you, you deserve your cut. Not a criticism.

Clients should wise up, though.

To be clear, I did not say I billed clients 3500 hours. My 2023 was about 2300 billable hours. 1200 hours were spent on everything else that makes my practice run, as well as firm management, etc. And in terms of working, on average, 70 hours per week... well, I don't know what to tell you. Yes, I worked 70 hours a week on average. My usual routine is 40 to 45 hours Mon to Weds; 18 to 22 hours Thurs/Friday; and 5 to 10 hours on the weekend. Varies based on workload and what is going on.

Serious question. Why do you work so much when it’s likely you already have plenty of money?

I’m assuming you really enjoy the work?

1. I've only reached the comp level where I am relatively recently, so I still have some work getting to exactly where I'd like for long term financial security. But yes, I've done well.

2. The work is intellectually stimulating.

3. Apologies to be immodest, but I'm really good at what I do. I sucked at sports when I was younger. I don't have any hobbies where I'm especially talented. This is one thing at which I can perform well, and I enjoy that greatly.

4. I'm a workaholic. It was ingrained in me to succeed when I was a child, and I have likely deep-seated fears of failure, which drive me to work insanely hard.

5. I have a large team that depends on me to bring in work to keep things moving. They have great jobs, and I am driven to keep things going so that the team can continue to have high-paying jobs. I am trying to develop successors so, down the road, I can turn the practice over to my current deputies. But that is several years in the making.

[Anonymous]

1) journalist
2) $90K
3) Worked full time till having kids, then freelanced part time for 19 years—never more than about 25 hours/week and never earned more than $32K that way. (Spouse is a GS-15 and primary breadwinner.). Two years ago I returned to full-time work for a single employer at $88K. Still freelance on the side a tiny bit but the warnings from that are negligible.

[Anonymous]

Surprised by how low these salaries are. I’m in a bubble!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. Big law partner
2. 6.4 in 2023
3. Law school, clerkship, then a tremendous amount of hard work. I now manage a large team. But I work harder than everyone on my team. 2023 was more than 3500 hours.

Here we see the concept of value-billing in action; that is, charging the client as much as you think they'll pay.

It is not plausible you worked 70 hours a week, every single week; 10 hours a day every single day, seven days a week, 30 days a month. Bullshit.

It's totally believable you billed that amount, and if your clients paid the firm, good on you, you deserve your cut. Not a criticism.

Clients should wise up, though.

To be clear, I did not say I billed clients 3500 hours. My 2023 was about 2300 billable hours. 1200 hours were spent on everything else that makes my practice run, as well as firm management, etc. And in terms of working, on average, 70 hours per week... well, I don't know what to tell you. Yes, I worked 70 hours a week on average. My usual routine is 40 to 45 hours Mon to Weds; 18 to 22 hours Thurs/Friday; and 5 to 10 hours on the weekend. Varies based on workload and what is going on.

Serious question. Why do you work so much when it’s likely you already have plenty of money?

I’m assuming you really enjoy the work?

1. I've only reached the comp level where I am relatively recently, so I still have some work getting to exactly where I'd like for long term financial security. But yes, I've done well.

2. The work is intellectually stimulating.

3. Apologies to be immodest, but I'm really good at what I do. I sucked at sports when I was younger. I don't have any hobbies where I'm especially talented. This is one thing at which I can perform well, and I enjoy that greatly.

4. I'm a workaholic. It was ingrained in me to succeed when I was a child, and I have likely deep-seated fears of failure, which drive me to work insanely hard.

5. I have a large team that depends on me to bring in work to keep things moving. They have great jobs, and I am driven to keep things going so that the team can continue to have high-paying jobs. I am trying to develop successors so, down the road, I can turn the practice over to my current deputies. But that is several years in the making.

How much have you saved to date? Net worth? Are you male or female?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. Big law partner
2. 6.4 in 2023
3. Law school, clerkship, then a tremendous amount of hard work. I now manage a large team. But I work harder than everyone on my team. 2023 was more than 3500 hours.

Dayum. There are only 2040 hours annually in a typical 40 hour work week. So you pull 60-70 workweeks regularly?

[Anonymous]

1. VP HR
2. 400k
3. T25 undergrad. Got Master’s along the way. Worked my ass off. Took global roles. Helped by mentors and bosses who advocated for me. Working my way down now that I’m approaching 55 and need just a few more years to coast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. VP HR
2. 400k
3. T25 undergrad. Got Master’s along the way. Worked my ass off. Took global roles. Helped by mentors and bosses who advocated for me. Working my way down now that I’m approaching 55 and need just a few more years to coast.

A lot of success is finding the right mentors. I literally have never had one and never had anyone help me land a job (always cold resume into the ether. And the results are as lackluster as that suggests. How do people find mentors? I wish I could still find one now but I’ve aged out

[Anonymous]

1. IT, subject matter expert, law enforcement
2. $175K, with great work life balance, 30 hours/week of actual work, lots of flexibility for family and kids
3. College degree, happen to be in the right place at the right time and great coworkers who worked as a team to help us all move up with lots of visibility.

[Anonymous]

1. Nothing, I’m retired but do a lot of non profit work.
2. Over $1 million from passive income, not including investment gains.
3. MBA, worked my butt off, bet on myself and generated great returns.