how old were you when you hit your first $100,000 year?

insecure wrote:

You may be right...didnt mean to come across like a dick. However, I have a fair amount of friends in the i-banking industry, and they are all miserable, and have very little life outside work (although they do make a ton of money). I guess its a matter of personal priorities. Apologies to the original poster if you in fact love your job.

usually that is the case. thats why you either accumulate lucra in highschool-college when most living expenses are near free. then trade stocks, commodities, bonds, property, heck even amazon.com and ebay.com are good.

or, if you screwed around like most people, you go get in I-Bankin job for a few years, save as much as you can live like a rat for 2-3 years, then quit and trade stocks, commodities, bonds, property, and heck, even Amazon and Ebay.

if you want to live free that is. Or, if you think you'll be a fast runner, just run your butt off and get a contract.

no reason to ever be miserable for longer than 2-3 years. If you are, you have some serious SERIOUS questions to ask yourself, like first off:

Why are you even alive in the first place-

How stupid are you if you allow yourself to be used-

How could you let crap like that happen to you in the first place-

once you realize you're stupid and not worth anything, you have several options available to you:

kill yourself.

be smart.

its pretty simple fellas. Its not rocket science.

20 here in SOCAL

A hundred thousand a year! It's the new Five Thousand per annum!

I make over a 100k a year working part time, at home, and take exotic vacations all the time. All I did was get Carleton Sheets no money down real estate program!!!!

Actually I really do buy and sell houses and first made a little over 100k when I was 40. I was in the restaurant business and made around 50k in my 20's and 30's.

I work about 50-60 hours a week for 9 months but do virtually nothing during the winter months when I can take a couple vacations to the warmer climates. I consider myself to be doing great for the area I am in and feel fortunate to be able to do something I love.

To the original poster, are you really only making 85k this year? I know it must be only your first or second year working at Chase, but I worked at JP Morgan for my first 3 years out of college and made more than 100k each year. I didn't look at Chase, I was mainly looking at JP, Goldman, and Bear Sterns, but are Chase salaries really not that competitive? Could you perhaps be underestimating your bonus? I'm only asking this because I always thought I was making less than many of colleagues in the industry, and while I know Chase is hardly one of the most prestigious ibanks, I thought you would be pulling in more than 85k. What gives? Also, if you plan on retiring at 40, you must plan on only living well to 45.

I'm 25, almost 2 yrs out of college and I make 100k. I work at a hedge fund and the hours aren't bad, about 45-50 hrs a week after I proved myself. I run 80+ mpw no problem.

Original poster- you make 85 salary and want to break 100k in 3 years? Shouldn't your bonus be enough to blast past it this year? Do they stiff you on the bonus?

What does everyone in the financial game think of Ameriprise Financial? They spun off from American Express and have had a good increase in their stock. Just curious because my nephew works for them in minnesota.

a rich POS wrote:

I'm 23 making $85K plus bonuses, goal is $100K within three years

31 y.o.

Age 22

PrOnstar.

100k a week.

18

before they caught me and put me in jail

I'm calling BS on the first poster, but to play along...I've never made more than $47K in one year in my life.

pretty sure jpmorgan and chase are the same place now...

FormerlyJP wrote:

To the original poster, are you really only making 85k this year? I know it must be only your first or second year working at Chase, but I worked at JP Morgan for my first 3 years out of college and made more than 100k each year. I didn't look at Chase, I was mainly looking at JP, Goldman, and Bear Sterns, but are Chase salaries really not that competitive?

To everyone on this thread: I have a question.

Is 100K considered a normal salary? Why is it that everyone one this board seems to be making that much money in their 20s?

I'm in college, studying my ass off in engineering at a top school. I'm told that I will make 50-60K straight away after graduation. I'd consider that to do be quite a bit of money. Why does some slick cat at JP Morgan make 100K when engineers (who have more knowledge than the average Chase bank suit) make 50K doing work that is far more valuable to society? It really doesn't make sense to me.

I'm serious here, could someone with a better grasp of salaries let me know what the deal is.

Thanks. I'm not a troll.

thats the way of the world my friend, and you will make much more than that after a few years of working. Rock out that Public Engineers certification (depending on your field) and you'll be a fat cat too.

I myself will never make more than 100k a year. I'll be sure to come on letsrun if I ever do, as I'll also come on and gripe if my current salary leaves me feeling worthless and insignificant....

Those slick cats at JP Morgan get paid so much because of the industry. Simply put, the fees for most financial services is astronomical...so the higher-ups at JP Morgan can pay their kids $100K+ and still laugh all the way to the bank.

Most engineering jobs will put you somewhere in industry (not consulting or financial services)...and generally speaking industry jobs dont pay as much. Also, most likely you will work a fraction of the hours. Do the math and $100K plus on 100 hours is comparable to $50K on 50 hours a week.

Lefty wrote:

Why does some slick cat at JP Morgan make 100K when engineers (who have more knowledge than the average Chase bank suit) make 50K doing work that is far more valuable to society? It really doesn't make sense to me.

Why do you think that engineers have more knowledge? They are both specialized fields with specific skill sets.

What makes you think engineers contribute more to society? Where would engineering projects be without financial markets?

money =/= value

Lefty wrote:

To everyone on this thread: I have a question.

Is 100K considered a normal salary? Why is it that everyone one this board seems to be making that much money in their 20s?

I'm in college, studying my ass off in engineering at a top school. I'm told that I will make 50-60K straight away after graduation. I'd consider that to do be quite a bit of money. Why does some slick cat at JP Morgan make 100K when engineers (who have more knowledge than the average Chase bank suit) make 50K doing work that is far more valuable to society? It really doesn't make sense to me.

I'm serious here, could someone with a better grasp of salaries let me know what the deal is.

Thanks. I'm not a troll.

I'll take a crack at your question. I graduated from a top engineering school in 2001. Out of school I started in the mid 40's, now roughly 6 years out I could approach 100K as a Civil PE after bonuses (I won't quite make it, but should beat 90K).

The three biggest drivers determining my salary in order of importance were:

1) Location

2) Industry

3) Performance

Why is #1 location, because if you work in New York City, San Francisco, or LA, starting salaries out of college will be 50% or more higher than most places in the country. This sounds good, but you have to consider that it is 106% more expensive to live in San Francisco, 104% more expensive to live in NYC, and 101% more expensive to live in LA than it is to live in the average place in the US.

#2 is industry, because the same education, credentials, and skills bring drastically different salaries in different industries. For instance, average salaries in SF, excluding bonuses, are around 80K for Environmental Engineers, but only around 60K for Structural Engineers even though it takes more education and certification to be a Structural Engineer. Never mind some of the software engineer positions with Google, Ebay, etc... which can pay 120K plus to start (but are nearly impossible to get).

#3 is performance because, the sad truth is life is not a meritocracy. Most companies have a very narrow range of base salary they will pay for certain positions. The hard truth is getting A's in school will only get you maybe a grand more in salary than getting B's. Similarly, killing it on the job will only get you promoted marginally quicker than doing an acceptable job and being nice to your supervisor. Bonuses are the one area where your performance can really make a difference, but you would have to be in a very good company to get a bonus more than 10% of your salary.

So to answer your question as to why I-banker types with less skill and intelligence than your average PE make 3 times as much, its basically industry and location. Almost all finacial jobs are in NYC or SF, and the industry makes boatloads of money so it pays well.

Not all is lost though. Engineer pays pretty dam good and the quality of life is way higher than finance if you find a field you like and a good company. Working hours are generally limited to 45hrs per week at the most (and the extra 5 are generally because the work is interesting and you want to be there) and you will be surrounded with smart, low drama, low ego type people.

Good luck with your career.

Note: Not proof read for spelling or grammar.

Haven't hit it yet, but will PR this year (~$70k?) and will hope to hit six figures in 2007. If I work for most of the year (I took ~10 weeks off this year, and was working half-time for another month), I should get it pretty easily. I'm mid-50's now, and just as happy with my income as if I were in my right mind.

Oh, yeah: when I was a coach, I didn't make *five* figures until I was 33, and I never made more than $30k in a year (20+ years of college coaching). I now make more in a typical week (billing 55-60 hours) than I ever made in a month of coaching.