Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 21:04     Subject: I don’t know a single person making 7 figures
Anonymous wrote:If you live in DC or a “nice” suburb (ie SFHs in the $1.5MM+ range), you know plenty. Making a million dollars ain’t what it used to be.

I’m a biglaw partner and most of my neighbors don’t know it. Let alone understand what that means in terms of income (except for the other lawyers). Especially post-2020 since I mostly bum around in jeans and a t shirt and spend a lot more time outside, playing with my kids, running errands.


Or what it means in terms of ethical behavior. Nice to know that you’re proud of defrauding your clients and stealing their money while bumming around in a t-shirt, playing with your kids, and running errands instead of dedicating your time to their important cases. And we wonder why the only good lawyer is a dead one?!?
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 20:56     Subject: I don’t know a single person making 7 figures
My CPA DH does.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 20:55     Subject: I don’t know a single person making 7 figures
Anonymous wrote:Biglaw


Biglaw = Bigliars. Most people in BigLaw aren’t making nearly as much as they anonymously advertise on sites like this. They’re almost always living well beyond their means and operating at the grace of extensive family money.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 16:37     Subject: Re:I don’t know a single person making 7 figures
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A lot of the posts are fake.


Sure, there are a few trolls on here, but they are far outnumbered by genuinely wealthy folks. I’m not in DC but find this board interesting bc it skews heavily UMC/wealthy and is more relevant to me. I’d imagine that a lot of others are of the same mind.

NP
+1
It's nice to have a place with a lot of shared concerns and I don't mean money but kid stuff, covid stuff, pop culture stuff. I think it might be better to say post tax earnings.
Plus, 7 figure can mean low 1m which is a huge difference stepping up incremental millions. A low 7 has little in common with mid or high 7 (like saying 6 figure salary). I read one poster who didn't have substantial savings to match the new hhi and I really identified with that too. Often the posts are labeled trolls but I could have written them too. I don't know what purpose or benefit comes from misrepresenting yourself to strangers.


I feel exactly this way. This site is unique in that high earners post here. It's different from many money discussion groups where the majority are average salary and anyone posting high HHI is immediately crapped on. I like that this group skews high income because I can relate to a lot of the posts. I earn low seven figures. I agree with PP that I feel in a totally different league than someone earning $3M or someone with a net worth of $30M. I have a net worth of just over $4M. I'm newer to this income bracket, so that's probably also why I'm so interested in reading about it and sharing my own experiences, too. It's pretty new and exciting to me. I really appreciate when people here take what I say at face value and offer constructive feedback. Anyway, I wouldn't be so sure that this site is overrun by trolls. It's anonymous, so I think that actually inspires honesty. You're not going to get a lot of honesty IRL about what people are earning, OP. I certainly don't share with anyone IRL my earnings.


Also, I'm nowhere near DC. This site comes up in google searches - it's popped up over the years for me when I've searched about things not just money related, but also things that require money, like nannies, fertility treatments, cosmetic procedures... I'd say the majority of posts on the money board have nothing to do with DC.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 16:36     Subject: I don’t know a single person making 7 figures
Agree on biglaw partners.

The other wealthy people I know are in the tech world, and usually worked at and got stock options company that went public, and then they became multimillionaires. All in the Bay Area.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 16:34     Subject: Re:I don’t know a single person making 7 figures
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A lot of the posts are fake.


Sure, there are a few trolls on here, but they are far outnumbered by genuinely wealthy folks. I’m not in DC but find this board interesting bc it skews heavily UMC/wealthy and is more relevant to me. I’d imagine that a lot of others are of the same mind.

NP
+1
It's nice to have a place with a lot of shared concerns and I don't mean money but kid stuff, covid stuff, pop culture stuff. I think it might be better to say post tax earnings.
Plus, 7 figure can mean low 1m which is a huge difference stepping up incremental millions. A low 7 has little in common with mid or high 7 (like saying 6 figure salary). I read one poster who didn't have substantial savings to match the new hhi and I really identified with that too. Often the posts are labeled trolls but I could have written them too. I don't know what purpose or benefit comes from misrepresenting yourself to strangers.


I feel exactly this way. This site is unique in that high earners post here. It's different from many money discussion groups where the majority are average salary and anyone posting high HHI is immediately crapped on. I like that this group skews high income because I can relate to a lot of the posts. I earn low seven figures. I agree with PP that I feel in a totally different league than someone earning $3M or someone with a net worth of $30M. I have a net worth of just over $4M. I'm newer to this income bracket, so that's probably also why I'm so interested in reading about it and sharing my own experiences, too. It's pretty new and exciting to me. I really appreciate when people here take what I say at face value and offer constructive feedback. Anyway, I wouldn't be so sure that this site is overrun by trolls. It's anonymous, so I think that actually inspires honesty. You're not going to get a lot of honesty IRL about what people are earning, OP. I certainly don't share with anyone IRL my earnings.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 16:32     Subject: I don’t know a single person making 7 figures
Be cognizant of income mobility. Not many young or retired people make a high income, but they may or previously had made that income.

Studies show that 12% of Americans will make a top 1% income for at least one year. That’s 1 in 8, so a 1% high income isn't as unusual or exclusive as it sounds. 1M is rarer but you get the picture.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 16:17     Subject: Re:I don’t know a single person making 7 figures
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A lot of the posts are fake.


Sure, there are a few trolls on here, but they are far outnumbered by genuinely wealthy folks. I’m not in DC but find this board interesting bc it skews heavily UMC/wealthy and is more relevant to me. I’d imagine that a lot of others are of the same mind.

NP
+1
It's nice to have a place with a lot of shared concerns and I don't mean money but kid stuff, covid stuff, pop culture stuff. I think it might be better to say post tax earnings.
Plus, 7 figure can mean low 1m which is a huge difference stepping up incremental millions. A low 7 has little in common with mid or high 7 (like saying 6 figure salary). I read one poster who didn't have substantial savings to match the new hhi and I really identified with that too. Often the posts are labeled trolls but I could have written them too. I don't know what purpose or benefit comes from misrepresenting yourself to strangers.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 16:16     Subject: I don’t know a single person making 7 figures
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I’m a law firm equity partner in DC. Our firm has around 50 equity partners, and over 1/3 of us make over $1M. We are far from the biggest or most profitable firm in DC. And there are so many firms. If you don’t know DC big law, you don’t understand how many well paid partners there are. And yes as PP notes that’s not the only industry people make big money, but it’s a significant factor in DC.


+1. Bingo. People blindly think that tech is where the money is. It is not, it is high paid lawyers who are outstanding at what they do, and have equity in their firm. If you you are a lawyer, but not great at what you do (and therefore you have no equity) you are SOL.

OP, where do you live? In certain communities, inevitably everyone is high paid.


This is a silly comment. How many lawyers are on the list of the 500 richest people in this country? Now, how many tech people are on that list...and how many are in the top 10.

As far as I can tell, only Peter Angeles (former owner of the Baltimore Orioles) makes the list for actually practicing law, and it was as a plaintiff's attorney settling asbestos litigation. Likely, the $2BN of his net worth was mostly his ownership of the Orioles, and not from law.

The other Top 10 highest net worth lawyers all made it from something non-law and again the richest ones are plaintiff's attorneys which is not BigLaw...though I guess Judge Judy is practicing law, but does that count?

I don't fault anyone for making $1-$3MM a year as a lawyer, but I don't know any lawyer that thinks they are remotely in the same league as a P/E partner or Hedge Fund partner or a VC partner or a tech founder that is worth anywhere from 1000x to 1000000x their net worth.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 15:27     Subject: Re:I don’t know a single person making 7 figures
Anonymous wrote:A lot of well paid lawyers on this thread. But reminder: No one on earth makes more money than successful business owners. The super rich don't get that way because someone is paying them a salary. They get rich from owning businesses that become incredibly valuable.


+1

Pretty easy to rake in the big bucks with a semi-successful small business.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 15:20     Subject: I don’t know a single person making 7 figures
OP, keep in mind that people on DCUM post from places other than DC. Lots of money in NY, CA, parts of FL, WY....

Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 15:17     Subject: Re:I don’t know a single person making 7 figures
A lot of well paid lawyers on this thread. But reminder: No one on earth makes more money than successful business owners. The super rich don't get that way because someone is paying them a salary. They get rich from owning businesses that become incredibly valuable.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 15:16     Subject: I don’t know a single person making 7 figures
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I know three. All husbands of my friends. We are stay at home moms. One’s a CEO with an eight figure salary , one is biglaw, one is in science research but not sure what.

Public companies have to publicize their executives salaries so you can get an idea of what they are paid.

If lawyers aren’t in biglaw they are nowhere near 7 figures. More like $150,000.

I worked a part time temp job years ago and one job had a high income, the sales people in high tech. More than the engineers but not 7 figures.



You’re wrong about this. I was a non-big law partner (mid-size firm) making around half a million annually when I transitioned to in-house, where I now clear close to $700K annually. Never been in big law.


Same, I went to a no name law school too.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 15:15     Subject: I don’t know a single person making 7 figures
Anonymous wrote:How do you know what people make? I'm in finance and I earn 7 figures. Pretty sure no one I know, aside from my family, has any idea.


+1. Even if you try to pick someone's brain (which people do, if they think you have money), they aren't going to tell you the truth about what they make, in most cases. People are generally not very bright. The more humble they are, the brighter and more successful, IME. The cocky ones are covering up for some woeful inadequacies.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 15:13     Subject: I don’t know a single person making 7 figures
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Lots of lies around here. I’m a lawyer and I’ve noticed—many times—that posts from people claiming to be lawyers don’t make sense. They say/claim things that no lawyer would say or claim.


There are definitely some dumb lawyers out there.


x1000000 I have been around hoards of lawyers, most of my life, and you can say that again.