[Peter]

Just curious from some other threads discussing how to save money ...

[RAILhead]

More than I deserve.

[Cold Warrior]

Ouch - a public poll.

[Doofy]

Salaries? Royalties, residuals, dividends and net profits are where it's at.

[mrtew]

I make under $225,000. WAY under! (such a loose and inaccurate phrasing you chose for the answers.)

[faragbre967]

Mine's pretty low, but I'm a full time student living at home. Makes it a lot easier to spread out money when you don't really have bills to pay.

[turtle777]

Under $225K applies to probably 99.9% here

-t

[Mrjinglesusa]

If you are going to a poll like this, at least do it right:

A) Under $10,000
B) $10,000 to $24,999
C) $25,000 to $49,999
D) $50,000 to $74,999
E) $75,000 to $99,999
F) $100,00 to $149,999
G) $150,000 to $199,999
H) Over $200,000

[gradient]

.... and don't make it public. No vote coming from me, even though my salary is exactly what I think it should be.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior 

Ouch - a public poll.

All polls should be public.

IMHO™

[gradient]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

All polls should be public.

IMHO™

I disagree. Anonymity is important, especially if you want honest answers. People will often play with the truth loosely (or lie outright) if they know (or think) that others will judge them based on their answer to a question.

[Dakar the Fourth]

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior 

Ouch - a public poll.

Ironically, the one time I'd support a private one.

[turtle777]

I guess it's well established now that this poll failed on many levels

-t

[Peter]

Originally Posted by Mrjinglesusa 

If you are going to a poll like this, at least do it right:

A) Under $10,000
B) $10,000 to $24,999
C) $25,000 to $49,999
D) $50,000 to $74,999
E) $75,000 to $99,999
F) $100,00 to $149,999
G) $150,000 to $199,999
H) Over $200,000

why? is MacNN really THAT stupid? seriously?

[Peter]

why does it matter if people know what you earn. I've never got the taboo with it either.

[smacintush]

Originally Posted by Peter 

why does it matter if people know what you earn. I've never got the taboo with it either.

Ditto.

[MacinTommy]

I put under 20k.. I'm a part time bank teller and a full-time student. I'd say its pretty good for a part time job. On the other hand I do see over 225k almost every day. It's too bad that it isn't mine to take home at night.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

I make just over 18k a year, working 3-3.5 months in the summer.

It's definitely one area where being a student sucks ass. If all goes well I should be able to make a little more than that in a few years. I'll need to, in order to pay back exorbitant student loans.

greg

[Oisín]

Define salary. Before taxes? After taxes? Average salary? Salary of last year?

Like Greg, I’m a student, so I my job is temp-based, with no regular hours (I arrange my schedule with the staffing department every three months). Therefore, I don’t have a regular income, either: I’m paid entirely by the hour.

Last year I made about DKK 280,000 (about US$ 58,000) before taxes, though, so I put ‘Under $60K’ in the poll. I just got off a nice public holiday eight-hour shift, which should make me about DKK 3,200 (US$ 660), which is nice.

I don’t see the whole stigma about salaries, either.

[ghporter]

My current "salary" is my military retirement-technically "deferred compensation". In about a year, I'll finish school, get licensed, and start making roughly twice that amount in my profession, with the retirement pay still there.

Also, I replied with my personal pay. My wife is an experienced neonatal critical care nurse, so she makes some respectable money too.

[mrtew]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

I don’t see the whole stigma about salaries, either.

When you work for a large company you are ordered to keep your salary secret. It seems ridiculous at first but soon you realize it's a good idea. If everyone started comparing salarys nobody would ever be happy with theirs in relation to everyone else's and the problems and complaining would never end. Once you treat it as something you NEVER talk about for a few years you can't imagine it any other way and the thought of revealing it publicly is practically taboo. The one I don't get is people that won't tell you how much they paid for their house. Why would anyone keep that secret?

[Oisín]

When you work for a large company you are ordered to keep your salary secret.

Not over here you’re not. At least I’ve never experienced it, and I used to work (though also just on a temp basis) for Nordea, which is the biggest (I think) bank in Scandinavia.

Where I work, it’s completely normal and natural for people to talk about their paycheques and salaries with each other. Moreover, you’re not likely to bump into someone on a thread like this who knows you or recognises where you work and will go and make a fuss about what you answer on a poll here …

[RAILhead]

Originally Posted by mrtew 

When you work for a large company you are ordered to keep your salary secret. It seems ridiculous at first but soon you realize it's a good idea. If everyone started comparing salarys nobody would ever be happy with theirs in relation to everyone else's and the problems and complaining would never end. Once you treat it as something you NEVER talk about for a few years you can't imagine it any other way and the thought of revealing it publicly is practically taboo. The one I don't get is people that won't tell you how much they paid for their house. Why would anyone keep that secret?

+1 for no it's not. Where do you live, Cuba?

[Laminar]

At my current internship, I'm getting paid $11/hr with furnished housing provided, but of course this is just a temp job. Average starting salary for my profession is around $50K, and I'll be more than happy to make that. My dad's starting salary teaching elementary school in 1975 was around $7000. It took him 16 years to hit the $30K mark, and that was when he got his masters and became a part-time principal at two small schools. Fortunately since then we moved and he's doing better than that.

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by mrtew 

When you work for a large company you are ordered to keep your salary secret.

Maybe if you're the CEO.

[larrinski]

The thread topic asks "how to save money?" Your salary has no real bearing on whether you save money or not. Obviously if you live below the poverty line, then this will not be the case...The best way to save money is to not spend all of your net income. Doing a detailed budget and finding where you waste your spending money. If you can pay yourself first as if it is a bill you need to pay, that mentality helps. Put away 10% of your net income to start, and see if you can survive on the remainder and not use your credit. Split away half of that into some retirement fund, and the other half for real financial emergencies. Once the habit is in place, you can slowly increase it yearly by small amounts.

[SpaceMonkey]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

Maybe if you're the CEO.

Publicly-traded companies, at least, are required by SEC regulations to disclose the compensation of their top five executives.

[imitchellg5]

Yes, true. It just seems like CEOs of failing companies try to horde as much money as possible without letting people know (ahem, Delta Air Lines, Ford Motor Company).

[mrtew]

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey 

Publicly-traded companies, at least, are required by SEC regulations to disclose the compensation of their top five executives.

Yeah, I was going to say... the CEO is about the only person at the company who's salary I do know. I work for one of the largest American corporations.... General Motors, and we are never allowed to talk about how much we make, especially with eachother.

[imitchellg5]

Because the big heads get all the money, probably. American motor companies should pay their employees a ton. The product could be a ton better (although the new Malibu is darn near a work of art). If I was to take a cross country trip tonight and I had to choose a car under $30k to do it in, it'd be in a Malibu.

[Oisín]

The thread topic asks "how to save money?"

No, it says the thread was inspired by other threads about saving money.

[cjrivera]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

My wife is an experienced neonatal critical care nurse, so she makes some respectable money too.

Yeah, but in that line of work, probably deserves every penny.

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by cjrivera 

Yeah, but in that line of work, probably deserves every penny.

True. I hate the idea of people working on your body being under-paid and hating their job

[cjrivera]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

True. I hate the idea of people working on your body being under-paid and hating their job

NICU nurses (and other NICU staff) deal with a lot of stress and emotion every day. Their patients are preemie babies born as early as 23 weeks gestational age, who can weigh less than a pound at birth. You deal with not only trying to care for a patient who can fit in the palm of your hand, but also dealing with parents who were obviously not expecting a baby this early and have to also take care of the emotional support of the parents and the rest of the family. You try not to get too attached, but it is very difficult and the emotional rollercoaster happens every day you go to work.

[Rumor]

I don't have a salary. Currently I am a student and make between $22 - 28 an hour.

[Shaddim]

My salary is <$60k, but it's only a portion of my personal income, and now that we're all working, the household income is almost enough to make me raise my eyebrows.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Blow?

[zerostar]

Originally Posted by mrtew 

The one I don't get is people that won't tell you how much they paid for their house. Why would anyone keep that secret?

If you know their first & last name you can usually get the exact amount they paid online for their house these days, I believe almost every state has a website for that these days too, and the info is free.

I posted my salary + income that is paid to me monthly (for a case I won) my salary is public and online last time I checked.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by cjrivera 

NICU nurses (and other NICU staff) deal with a lot of stress and emotion every day. Their patients are preemie babies born as early as 23 weeks gestational age, who can weigh less than a pound at birth. You deal with not only trying to care for a patient who can fit in the palm of your hand, but also dealing with parents who were obviously not expecting a baby this early and have to also take care of the emotional support of the parents and the rest of the family. You try not to get too attached, but it is very difficult and the emotional rollercoaster happens every day you go to work.

I should point out that my wife is at the top of her salary ladder in her NICU position right now, that she absolutely LOVES her work and her coworkers, and that she can't imagine a better place to work, let alone a better kind of work. She is not "overpaid" by any means, but she's making "good money" indeed. Thanks for the very well worded explanation, cj; I get too emotional in dealing with this setting too-and I'm considering specializing in NICU once I have some field experience as an OT.

On the "salary secrecy" issue, it is true that a lot of companies require workers to keep their salaries confidential. It makes it easier to low-ball new employees if the existing ones can't tell them that they are being offered substantially less money than existing workers. There are often restrictions on discussing actual job qualifications too; if a new prospect is better qualified than his boss and knows it, that could put the boss on the defensive. Not an actually good boss, mind you, but bosses in general...

[Oisín]

On the "salary secrecy" issue, it is true that a lot of companies require workers to keep their salaries confidential. It makes it easier to low-ball new employees if the existing ones can't tell them that they are being offered substantially less money than existing workers. There are often restrictions on discussing actual job qualifications too; if a new prospect is better qualified than his boss and knows it, that could put the boss on the defensive. Not an actually good boss, mind you, but bosses in general...

And that is exactly why it’s such a bullshit policy to have.

[ajprice]

I'm a millionaire, in rupees.

[osiris]

About 4 thousand shells and one elephant carcass per year.

I never like discussing salaries, especially during tax season.

[paul w]

When I was looking for a full time job, salary was one of many factors. I'm reasonably happy inasmuch as I have a nice working enviroment, my own office and pretty much total autonomy over the work I do. The hours aren't bad. We're only 6 and everyone seems to mesh well. Do I love my actual job? Not really, but after freelancing for years and years I like the life that my job allows me to have.

And I still supplement mine with freelance work.

[MacosNerd]

Because its a public poll, I'm not voting.

My salary seems is adequate to meet my needs but I wouldn't pass up a big raise

[Shaddim]

Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton 

Blow?

No thanks, had one this morning. That's very considerate, though.

[Doofy]

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by mrtew 

The one I don't get is people that won't tell you how much they paid for their house. Why would anyone keep that secret?

Easy answer to that: When you tell folks what your house is worth and it's above the average, folks get jealous. No kidding, answering the question "so how much did you pay for it?" more often than not turns into "look at him bragging about his house!". Better not to mention it at all.

[Peter]

how much did you pay for Doofy Island?

[Doofy]

Lots. In cash.

[Peter]

jealous.
Trying to get a place in Cambridge...
£150k+