Salary – The Burning Platform

Guest Post by Catey Hill

They’ve been called spoiled and entitled, but millennials may not be in nearly the advantaged position many think.

Millennials may be the first generation ever to have lower lifetime earnings than their predecessors, which is “in contrast to the taken-for-granted promise that each generation will do better than the last,” according to a report released this week by the U.K.-based think tank Resolution Foundation.

Indeed, the typical millennial in the U.K., which the think tank defines as aged 15 to 35, earned about 8,000 pounds (the equivalent of around $10,600) less during their 20s than did those in Generation X.

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And this data isn’t the first to show that the millennial generation may be worse off than their predecessors, at least in some ways. In the U.S., more millennials than older generations graduate with student loan debt, and they tend to have more of it.

Continue reading “5 charts that prove millennials are worse off than you are”

Somehow I stumbled on this article yesterday from WSJ. It’s from 2010, so adjusting for inflation I guess today it would be about $100k per year.

The most I ever made in one year … and one year ONLY … was $155,000. The previous year, I swear to god, I made $40k. Once again being totally honest, I felt no difference whatsoever with happiness between the two years …. although I certainly felt a lot less pressure in the better year.

One of the happiest years I can recall was my first year as a computer programmer at northAmerican van Lines. I had my OWN office cubicle, a desk, a fancy schmancy computer terminal, and an electric stapler. It was the first time I had my name engraved on a shiny piece of blue plastic. And my boss introduced me to my users, the Fuel & Permits Department as “Mr. Stucky, your new programmer.” That was in 1980, and my salary (for working 60 hours a week) was $19,000 … NOT a lot of money even in ’79, but I was happy as a pig in shit.

With the Big Moolah I was making at NAVL, I was able to get rid of my 1975 Capri (which I could barely fit in), and bought a super low miles green with black roof 1971 Catalina Brougham. A fuckin’ enormous car, and I was happy as shit simply cuz my head didn’t hit the roof and my knees no longer banged against the dashboard! This one …

It’s never, ever been about money, for me. In fact, the more I made, the unhappier I became, because I made the fatal mistake of always buying more shit; a bigger or nicer house (7 or 8 times), fancier cars, and toys (motorcycle, electronics, etc etc). That only ultimately led to misery, actually. I hope you young people here don’t fall for that trap.

Sooooo …. what salary/income would raise you to a Happy Happy Joy Joy state of mind?

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