How old were you when you started making a lot of money?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I only work part time (60k) but DH hit 250k at age 32 and that's when I first felt we were making a lot combined.

what did he do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I only work part time (60k) but DH hit 250k at age 32 and that's when I first felt we were making a lot combined.

what did he do?

He's a lobbyist. But I should add that we were making 77k combined when we got married in our early 20s. Things can improve very quickly. Some of it depends on how much of a work life balance you want. He loves his job but it comes at a cost of personal and family time. Some people would rather make less and have more time. Money isn't everything!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I only work part time (60k) but DH hit 250k at age 32 and that's when I first felt we were making a lot combined.

what did he do?

He's a lobbyist. But I should add that we were making 77k combined when we got married in our early 20s. Things can improve very quickly. Some of it depends on how much of a work life balance you want. He loves his job but it comes at a cost of personal and family time. Some people would rather make less and have more time. Money isn't everything!

Yup, how much is your free time worth? I am 35, and this weekend, I got offered $180K which would have been a $30K than more current salary. But work-life balance with my DS toddler is paramount. It felt good to get the offer but not the right time in my life.

[Anonymous]

I was 26 the first yr I made over 100k. I'm 34 and bring in btwn 200-250k. In sales. DH makes 170k, he is 37, software engineer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mid 30's, and our combined earned income is around $200k. So very solid, but not spectacular. However, we've managed to compile an investment portfolio of around $1.5M. We get bigger "raises" from that then we're ever likely to see from our salaries.

This is a capitalist economy. If you want to make a lot of money, you need to iown capital.

how? how did you do this? a portfolio of 1.5M at you age and income is awesome. do you own multiple properties? a business? buy and sell?

We got married at 23, and we were making about $140k at the time. So our income started out strong and hasn't gone up much (although I work P/T now). People often talk about how engineers "top out" relatively early, and there's some truth to that if you're not willing or don't have the personality to push your way into management. But what most people don't recognize is that you can take advantage of that early income, if you're disciplined, turn it into income-generating investments, and you likewise reach a point early on that earning a lot more just doesn't matter. You have to capitalize on the advantages you have. Just like the PP about the lobbyist couple who were making $77k and now $250k+, that's great, too, but from a totally different perspective. We're at the point where we can make up that difference in capital gains and not work nearly as hard, and we get much better tax treatment doing so.

[Anonymous]

All I know is money flowed like water when Clinton was president. People were just throwing at me (30 yrs old), I could not find enough ways to spend it.

[Anonymous]

22, $32k
25, $60k
28, $135k
29, $30k (quit to start business)
34, $80k
36, $200k
40, $450k
44, $700k

[Anonymous]

Here is my (and DH's) income by age:

Age 22-24: my income was ~$40k
Age 25: DH and I got married. He was in grad school. I still made ~$40ish.
Age 26-29: I went to law school. DH worked while in grad school and made ~$40k. I racked up student loan debt.
Age 30: I was out of law school but DH was laid off for 6 months. HHI ~$60k
Now we are 33, we both have jobs, and our HHI is ~$140k. Hoping to move up steadily over the next decade, but doubt there will be huge jumps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First big year was 28 when I made 165K without a college degree.

You are not the norm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great, now we've started the humblebrag parade...

+1

Give me a break.

[Anonymous]

I'll let you know when it happens.

34. Salary is $105K.

I remember when I was 24 and thinking that $100K was the end goal. Now that I have kids, mortgage, lifestyle aspirations (not needs, wishes) ... I laugh at my 24 year old self thinking I would be "set" if I hit this number.

Now I think I need $300K before I'll feel like I'm able to save what I want for retirement AND live a little in the meanwhile AND pay for college for my little darlings AND ...

I can live off of very little. We could get by as a family HHI on $75K if we had to. Or less.

This is all based on wants, not needs.

[Anonymous]

30-49: 44000 (school teacher)
50: 15 mil, (meth cook)
51: 80 mil (meth kingpin)
52: 0 -- killed in a shootout with the neo-Nazies, but I rescued Jesse....

[Anonymous]

I made $150 when I was 25, broke $225k at 29. Quit that miserable ducking job the second I could. No. Not a lawyer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First big year was 28 when I made 165K without a college degree.

You are not the norm.

I don't believe the question asked what the norm was.

[Anonymous]

I've never made a lot of money. I graduate Cum Laude from Carnegie Mellon with an engineering degree. Despite working for a number of good consulting firms in the Washington area over the past few decades, I've never cracked $100k.

My friends would probably tell you that I am a swell guy and work hard but never figured out how to make good money, which is some kind of achievement considering how much money flows around here.

I would tell you that working hard for something you believe in is its own reward. The world will not necessarily give you a "lot of money" for doing that. I know folks who work herculean hours in tough circumstances for the homeless and lost; they get paid peanuts or nothing at all.

If you want a lot of money, focus on that. Actually study who makes the kind of money you want doing the things that you can do. Talk to them and make the jump. Get the certification, complete the degree, find the investor, start that business.