How old are you, how much do you make, are you satisfied with your life, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the PPs mostly all lawyers?

Not me, I'm a marketing director. But I only make $150K.

Seriously, you folks are so far out in space that I wonder if you can see how most of humanity lives.

A single GS-15 makes $155,000. Is it any wonder that two full time working career professionals do not see $150K as a huge income?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Are you a lawyer? Will you quit by age 40-45?

Yes and yes, if not sooner.

Good luck! I was in the same boat and quit at 43.

[Anonymous]

How old are you? 28

How much money do YOU make? (This is only your individual income- not your HHI) approx $90k

Do you consider yourself successful? (based on your own definition of successful) Yes, but I'm surrounded by people who've got ten years on me and are therefore more advanced in their careers, so it's easy to feel like I'm behind.

What do you think contributed to your success or your lack thereof? education, intelligence, luck, and loving what I do

Are you satisfied with your life? Yes! DH & I have a happy marriage, a happy child, we're able to contribute to charity and our religious community life and we're making progress in our careers.

Is your level of satisfaction connected to how much money you have? My piece of mind - yes but satisfaction, not necessarily. Having a stable income, even if lower, would be manageable and we could still be happy but suddenly losing a job - being stuck (at least in the short term) with expenses that don't match your new income level - that's stressful. I've been there and we're setting up safeguards to not be in that situation again.

[Anonymous]

32 years old woman
150K

Yes, I do consider myself successful. I got my MBA from a top 3 school, I am happily married, and have the most adorable toddler boy.

I do consider myself to be a self-made woman. I came to this country as a 12 year old immigrant with a single mother in tow. Yes, in tow, because she was busy with her personal life, i.e. looking for a husband and still is. She admits that in our relationship I was always the adult

Right now my biggest worry is getting my son into a good preschool. Sounds superficial, but I strongly feel an opportunity for good education shouldn't be wasted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Are you a lawyer? Will you quit by age 40-45?

Yes and yes, if not sooner.

Good luck! I was in the same boat and quit at 43.

Did you have children while working?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How old are you? 28

How much money do YOU make? (This is only your individual income- not your HHI) approx $90k

Do you consider yourself successful? (based on your own definition of successful) Yes, but I'm surrounded by people who've got ten years on me and are therefore more advanced in their careers, so it's easy to feel like I'm behind.

What do you think contributed to your success or your lack thereof? education, intelligence, luck, and loving what I do

Are you satisfied with your life? Yes! DH & I have a happy marriage, a happy child, we're able to contribute to charity and our religious community life and we're making progress in our careers.

Is your level of satisfaction connected to how much money you have? My piece of mind - yes but satisfaction, not necessarily. Having a stable income, even if lower, would be manageable and we could still be happy but suddenly losing a job - being stuck (at least in the short term) with expenses that don't match your new income level - that's stressful. I've been there and we're setting up safeguards to not be in that situation again.

Accountant?

[Anonymous]

How old are you? 24
How much money do YOU make? (This is only your individual income- not your HHI) $45K
Do you consider yourself successful? (based on your own definition of successful) Not yet, but I have every confidence that I will be.
What do you think contributed to your success or your lack thereof? (example- an ivy education, good parents, etc? ) I am where I am today because of my incredibly difficult upbringing, and although it was awful it instilled a strong drive to succeed, and a mastery of some things far beyond many my age
Are you satisfied with your life? Yes very much so. I have a job that I love, and a wonderful husband and child. It makes me so happy to have broken the cycle of abuse, and that my child is surrounded by love and will grow up in a better environment.
Is your level of satisfaction connected to how much money you have? Not really. We're still pretty broke, and we make it work.

[Anonymous]

How old are you? 46

How much money do YOU make? (This is only your individual income- not your HHI) $275k

Do you consider yourself successful? (based on your own definition of successful) yes in the person life but careerwise, not really, just had a little more luck than some

What do you think contributed to your success or your lack thereof? (example- an ivy education, good parents, etc? ) awesome parents for the personal life and great timing to meet husband; mommy tracking to some extent held back career but also a lot of good bosses and some impectable timing gave me advantage.

Are you satisfied with your life? Yes, mostly.

Is your level of satisfaction connected to how much money you have? Not really but happy to have less stress with money in the bank.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Are you a lawyer? Will you quit by age 40-45?

Yes and yes, if not sooner.

Good luck! I was in the same boat and quit at 43.

Did you have children while working?

yep. Two. When I was 34 and 36.

[Anonymous]

How old are you? 34
How much money do YOU make? (This is only your individual income- not your HHI) $225k
Do you consider yourself successful? (based on your own definition of successful) From a financial standpoint, no. I should be making much more at this point in my career. I just haven't gotten a career break yet. From an outsider's perspective, I'm reasonably successful.
What do you think contributed to your success or your lack thereof? (example- an ivy education, good parents, etc? ) I had a good upbringing - both parents were physicians, private schools all my life, close family.
Are you satisfied with your life? No. I'm single and it would be great to share my life with someone, but I've been more focused on my career.
Is your level of satisfaction connected to how much money you have? No, but it's a sign of success in my line of work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Are you a lawyer? Will you quit by age 40-45?

Yes and yes, if not sooner.

Good luck! I was in the same boat and quit at 43.

PP here. Did you suffer from one more year syndrome? What was your metric for determining you had enough?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How old are you? 29

How much money do YOU make? (This is only your individual income- not your HHI) 58K

Do you consider yourself successful? (based on your own definition of successful) Yes and no. Professionally? Eh. Not really. I make enough to support my family. But I never had huge professional ambition to begin with. I'm not waiting tables or working retail, but I'm not in charge of anyone or saving the world.
Personally? Yes, I am successful. I've had some rough times, but survived and am now (mostly) thriving. I provide a happy, stable home for my child and we lack for nothing. I'm a good person, raising a good, kind kid and I like myself and my life. That may sound corny, but ultimately, I'm proud of myself and what I've accomplished so far, even if it's not impressive by DC standards or something I can put on a resume.

What do you think contributed to your success or your lack thereof? (example- an ivy education, good parents, etc? ) An abusive marriage in my mid-20s, very supportive parents, a wonderful therapist, and sheer dumb luck that both my child and I are healthy. The first decimated my financial situation but motivated me to get my shit together and keep it together, the rest helped get back and stay on my feet.

Are you satisfied with your life? Yes. I wish I could work part-time or enjoyed my job more, but overall, I am satisfied

Is your level of satisfaction connected to how much money you have? Sort of. I was definitely a lot more stressed when I needed government assistance and had to make choices like "pay for gas to get to work or the electric bill" each week. I'm glad I no longer have to make those kinds of choices. I do wish I made more so that I could save more (and quiet that nagging financial stress that is constantly humming in the background). We may not have all we want, but we do have what we need and I'm on the right path financially. I can always make more money if I have to. Not $400K, but I could downsize our life or pick up a side job if needed. We're in a good place right now and I know it will continue to get better.

Good for you for getting out of an abusive marriage. Hope things continue to improve.

[Anonymous]

How old are you? 33

How much money do YOU make? (This is only your individual income- not your HHI) $250k

Do you consider yourself successful? (based on your own definition of successful) Sure. I've done a lot but have so much more to do.

What do you think contributed to your success or your lack thereof? (example- an ivy education, good parents, etc? ) Ivy Degrees, good parents, hard work, lots of luck.

Are you satisfied with your life? More or less

Is your level of satisfaction connected to how much money you have? Yep - let's me buy nice things, no on nice trips and have fun without much thought over day to day stuff.

[Anonymous]

35. $180. I don't feel particularly successful (just lucky) but am happy with my job and life.

[Anonymous]

50 years old, make $150K working part-time (~25-30 hours/week). DH makes $100K.

I don't measure success in economic terms. I do feel successful because we have about the best work-life balance imaginable and lots of family time. I work part-time and mostly from home, and see my kids and DH a lot. DH works a mile from our house and sometimes comes home to have lunch with me. We each have about 6 weeks of vacation a year, so take some nice trips as a family and occasionally take a day off together to see a movie. We are both well-respected at work and are happy with our professional lives.

Life is good here.