$100k+/yr Salary Poll

Turgon suggested this poll, so here it is...

We're talking USD BASE salary, not including bonuses or other compensation.

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Alif_Sadida_Ekin

Heny '06 wrote: »

BTW I have a friend who makes just at 100k, when you factor in taxes he is taking home about 2600 every 2weeks. Taxes takes all the fun away ugh I money

He pays $38,000 in taxes a year? That seems a bit much. I make 70k and I bring home just a smidgen less then that after taxes ,and I still get money back during tax return time. Granted, we don't have state income tax here, but still...

Essendon

Yeah we pay hell of a lot of tax in Australia too. Someone making 80k a year will pay $14,850 in income tax alone. You might get a couple thousand back at tax return time, but we still pay a lot of tax, possibly the most in the industralised world. :-/

headshot

tha_dub wrote: »

I make just under 100k a year but its in Canadian so that means I qualify

lol...strong loonie eh..

what's your title and years of experience bro? curious cause I'm from canadia too.. currently taking a diploma program in networking/systems.

NightShade03

Alif_Sadida_Ekin wrote: »

He pays $38,000 in taxes a year? That seems a bit much. I make 70k and I bring home just a smidgen less then that after taxes ,and I still get money back during tax return time. Granted, we don't have state income tax here, but still...

That's not too far off....

In NY if you make $100k a year, here is the breakdown assuming bi-weekly pay checks:

Gross Pay: $3846.15
NY State Tax: $230.73
Federal Tax: $808.81
Social Security: $161.54
Medicare: $55.77
SDI: $1.20

Net Pay: $2588.10

$2588.10 * 26 pay checks a year = $67,290.60

You lose $32,709.40 in taxes a year.

Source: New York Salary Paycheck Calculator | Payroll Calculator | Paycheck City

On another note if you make $67,290.60 after taxes - $2000 a month in rent for NY (or $24,000 a year)...you are really only seeing $43,290.60 which isn't horrible...but it also isn't close to the $100k. Location is everything.....

CodeBlox

Essendon wrote: »

Yeah we pay hell of a lot of tax in Australia too. Someone making 80k a year will pay $14,850 in income tax alone. You might get a couple thousand back at tax return time, but we still pay a lot of tax, possibly the most in the industralised world. :-/

It's a shame how people work for their money, with the government(and state) having a say so in how much of it to tax. People work for their dollar! I guess they need some way to generate money, by taxing the hell out of the citizens...

Alif_Sadida_Ekin

NightShade03 wrote: »

That's not too far off....

In NY if you make $100k a year, here is the breakdown assuming bi-weekly pay checks:

Gross Pay: $3846.15
NY State Tax: $230.73
Federal Tax: $808.81
Social Security: $161.54
Medicare: $55.77
SDI: $1.20
Net Pay: $2588.10

$2588.10 * 26 pay checks a year = $67,290.60

You lose $32,709.40 in taxes a year.

Source: New York Salary Paycheck Calculator | Payroll Calculator | Paycheck City

On another note if you make $67,290.60 after taxes - $2000 a month in rent for NY (or $24,000 a year)...you are really only seeing $43,290.60 which isn't horrible...but it also isn't close to the $100k. Location is everything.....

Good grief, I have a new found realization. I'm glad I live in Florida...

grauwulf

CodeBlox wrote: »

It's a shame how people work for their money, with the government(and state) having a say so in how much of it to tax. People work for their dollar! I guess they need some way to generate money, by taxing the hell out of the citizens...

I've crossed over the magical line and yes I pay what seems like an awful lot in taxes. Of course it would be nice to have that money back in my accounts. On the other hand I like roads, and having a fire department, and libraries, and a general sense of security about the quality of my food, electricity is nice, and so are parks, public schools could be better but on the whole they aren't too bad. Knowing that if the poo hits the fan we've got the very best military on the planet is pretty kick a$$. It's pretty nifty that if I find myself out of work there is a public job service and backup options like unemployment. A good portion of tax money is spent on health care for the poor, but I'm OK with that because (a) I used to live in my car so I know what it feels like to not have the money to fix an abscessed tooth and (b) helping somebody with an infection not only helps them, but also slows the 'spread' of disease. A few weeks ago there was something odd going on at the house next door, so I called the police station. Would you believe that 3 cop cars came out to make sure that everything was OK? I didn't have to write them a check or anything, just said 'thank you'.

What is even better is that when you look at the tax rates of the most industrialized nations the US is one of the LOWEST TAX RATES. Wow, talk about bang for your buck?! ( 12 Countries With The Highest & Lowest Tax Rates | Business Pundit ) Biggest economy & one of the lowest marginal tax rates seems like a pretty good deal overall.

As a nation the USA's citizens ask for an awful lot, and we get an very good deal of it. Could it be better, yes. Could it be worse, yes. There is obviously a great deal of wasteful spending, but just imagine if that money were to get funneled to better ends like education & public service. On the other hand, the USA has this big horrible debt problem. Do you wonder if that's because the citizens demand so much and only want to pay in so little? How curious.....

Anyway

Yes location is a major concern, but that's not to say those high paying jobs aren't out there. I crossed the line as a software engineer in S.C. with no degree and about 8 years of experience and I quit after 1 year, almost exactly, because the job was so terrible that it actually made my life worse. It seems like many of these big money jobs take almost as much as they give, which seems fair in it's own way.

My advice; don't look at the dollar signs, look at your quality of life.

instant000

cyberguypr wrote: »

I'm the only one who had to Google "DMV area"?

No, I had to google it also.

Xcluziv

NightShade03 wrote: »

That's not too far off....

In NY if you make $100k a year, here is the breakdown assuming bi-weekly pay checks:

Gross Pay: $3846.15
NY State Tax: $230.73
Federal Tax: $808.81
Social Security: $161.54
Medicare: $55.77
SDI: $1.20
Net Pay: $2588.10

$2588.10 * 26 pay checks a year = $67,290.60

You lose $32,709.40 in taxes a year.

Source: New York Salary Paycheck Calculator | Payroll Calculator | Paycheck City

On another note if you make $67,290.60 after taxes - $2000 a month in rent for NY (or $24,000 a year)...you are really only seeing $43,290.60 which isn't horrible...but it also isn't close to the $100k. Location is everything.....

WOW....and this is why you have a business to re-coop most of those tax expenses. Almost everything I right off on my taxes

Turgon

Xcluziv wrote: »

WOW....and this is why you have a business to re-coop most of those tax expenses. Almost everything I right off on my taxes

You pay a lot of tax in the UK once you earn over a certain amount. Once you earn over 72K in US dollars expect to pay 40% of your salary in income tax.

NightShade03

I totally understand paying more in taxes as you make a higher salary. When you make more money you need to help pay for more shares of things with your taxes (school, government programs, etc.). What I don't think is right is that higher wage earners don't get anything in return for carrying everyone else. As you make money ad lose more in taxes you should be able to re-coupe something or get some kind of discount on something.

I think there is a stat that shows the the top 10% of wage earners in the US pay for most of the taxes/programs/expenses of everyone in the US.

tpatt100

I was making just under that but now I'm making nothing. I was hired for a new contract that starts in July but that's only if they get the contract lol. Supposed to hear something next week for the University position I interviewed for that payed in the 90's. Now a days 100k for me was just some personal goal but now I just want a non contract position with good benefits

tha_dub

headshot wrote: »

lol...strong loonie eh..

what's your title and years of experience bro? curious cause I'm from canadia too.. currently taking a diploma program in networking/systems.

My title depends who you ask. When the company send out bills they bill my time as," Advanced communications technician". But my business card just says network technician.

I've got 12 years on the job experience.

Also taxes here in Canada are pretty well the same as Australia. We do have socialized medicare though.

SonofRage

My base is $90,600 so I'm close. With bonus and oncall pay I'm well over $100k. I somehow thought I'd feel rich when I started to earn this much, but I guess that's just life in NYC. Expensive!

instant000

tha_dub wrote: »

Also taxes here in Canada are pretty well the same as Australia. We do have socialized medicare though.

Offtopic, but related:

Do you feel that you get your money's worth for your medical care?

instant000

SonofRage wrote: »

oncall pay

oncall pay? Wow, I've been getting ripped off all these years ...

NightShade03

instant000 wrote: »

oncall pay? Wow, I've been getting ripped off all these years ...

Yeah join the club

7 days a week for 6 weeks isn't my idea of *fun* and most certainly wasn't what I signed up for....

LordQarlyn

Aldur wrote: »

So very very true. This is one of the reasons I refuse to live/work in California. It's just plain ridiculous to put my current salary in one of those salary calculators and see what I'd need to make to break even...

With that being said vendors do have other jobs that don't require you to live in a high cost of living area. I have many friends who are Resident Engineers who live in Denver, Kansas City, Phoenix, and many other non-California level cost of living areas. These are non-management IT jobs and they all make well over 100k. Also, most of these people have much less then 10 yrs experience.

Best part is there is about 20-30 Resident Engineer openings that I know about that they just can't fill. It's hard to find people with Juniper skills.

HAHA yeah Phoenix is reasonable again thanks the housing crash. Las Vegas isn't too bad cost of living, but with unemployment 15%, IT jobs have lots of competition.

NightShade03 wrote: »

I totally understand paying more in taxes as you make a higher salary. When you make more money you need to help pay for more shares of things with your taxes (school, government programs, etc.). What I don't think is right is that higher wage earners don't get anything in return for carrying everyone else. As you make money ad lose more in taxes you should be able to re-coupe something or get some kind of discount on something.

I think there is a stat that shows the the top 10% of wage earners in the US pay for most of the taxes/programs/expenses of everyone in the US.

haha I have never seen a pay raise where the increase in my taxes exceeded the increase of my pay. Time for you to get a new tax lawyer

kiki162

DMV...sounds more like Delmarva Pennisula (DE/MD/VA) to me. LOL

Normally if you are from the area, it's the DC Metro area.

kiki162

It's all relative to where you are and how much you make. I'm about $35K off from joining that club. Only bad part is I have to drive 75 minutes to my job 1 way every day, plus tolls, monthly parking fees, cost of gas...wear and tear on the car. Again...it's all relative.

I've already doubled my salary in about 10 years time. If I can get to 90K by the time I hit 40, then I'll feel really accomplished...plus my husband will be happy too!

RobertKaucher

NightShade03 wrote: »

I totally understand paying more in taxes as you make a higher salary. When you make more money you need to help pay for more shares of things with your taxes (school, government programs, etc.). What I don't think is right is that higher wage earners don't get anything in return for carrying everyone else. As you make money ad lose more in taxes you should be able to re-coupe something or get some kind of discount on something.

I think there is a stat that shows the the top 10% of wage earners in the US pay for most of the taxes/programs/expenses of everyone in the US.

I believe what you get is called political power and influence - even if only at a local level within your community.

Xcluziv

NightShade03 wrote: »

I totally understand paying more in taxes as you make a higher salary. When you make more money you need to help pay for more shares of things with your taxes (school, government programs, etc.). What I don't think is right is that higher wage earners don't get anything in return for carrying everyone else. As you make money ad lose more in taxes you should be able to re-coupe something or get some kind of discount on something.

I think there is a stat that shows the the top 10% of wage earners in the US pay for most of the taxes/programs/expenses of everyone in the US.

+1 This is true....in addition to paying for taxes/programs/expenses you are also generating money for Welfare of families who are less fortunate...but my only problem with that is you have people working week after week, and years after years of their life working....while other individuals have no job and have X# of kids and receive money from the government that is not used for their family

....that really grinds my gears

LordQarlyn

Xcluziv wrote: »

+1 This is true....in addition to paying for taxes/programs/expenses you are also generating money for Welfare of families who are less fortunate...but my only problem with that is you have people working week after week, and years after years of their life working....while other individuals have no job and have X# of kids and receive money from the government that is not used for their family....that really grinds my gears

Notice how he said 'wage earners" lol....quite true!

When you own your own company, you don't pay yourself a wage and you can get out of paying more and more taxes.

I incorporated for a consulting business I'm starting totally unrelated to IT, I was astounded what I could write off - legally! Took about $10K off my taxes, and I don't think I still deducted everything I could have.

thetrillionaire

My base is above that but I also have a Poly working in the Government Intelligence sector as a network admin.

wagnerism

As others have said, that threshold is relative. I lived in San Diego until 2004 moving to the DMV area (hee - new acronym) - two places with a relatively high cost of living. The move was good. It was like jumping from the fire into the frying pan.

I hit that threshold before I turned 30 in 2001 with my first job after the dotcom bust - just after I got the CCIE certification. I thankfully and completely dodged the dotcom bust by paying my dues with a job that had horrendous travel and required a gov't clearance. The travel had a lot of transit time and downtime where I kept packing on the certifications. Since I was voluntarily lumping the travel, I got thrown at many projects where I had no business working based on experience alone.

My advice to those aspiring for that pay threshold (or any higher pay for that matter) is to never stop learning. Always be improving. Overpay your dues gladly and often - even if you're "making the big bucks". Technology moves fast and people that plateau are eventually marginalized. It helps a lot to be genuinely interested in the technology and eager to expand your scope. Don't study just to get the right multiple-choice answer to the certification question. Get all nerdy and learn to confidently read a packet capture. Learn related fields and be someone whose work never gets shot down by security.

Another change to make that seems to pay better is to move from an operations position to an engineering position. Move from a tier1/tier2 job that only has reactive tasking to a tier3+ proactive job. When you do get the reactive tasking, it will be tier3 problems that are complex and interesting.

I'm pushing 40 and am pursuing an AS in IT degree using community college credits that are older than my classmates. I have achieved much in certifications, gov't clearances, and experience - but have always lacked a degree. I'm going for the JNCIE in a few weeks and am back in classes this fall.

powerfool

I voted yes to being in the club, but I am a couple hundred shy. However, I pay 50% less in healthcare expenses than I did at my last job, so that is about $6k extra in my pocket which would put me far over that line relative to my take home pay.

I think that once you hit this mark, it is abundantly clear that the US is a socialist country... no speculation necessary. There was a story I read in a financial magazine a couple of years ago while I was at a doctors appt with my wife. In the article there was a single-mother that had just been laid off from a VP of Marketing position making $120k/year. She was able to find a job making $60k/year and she found that her lifestyle was actually better because not only was she able to afford everything just the same, due to tax credits and government programs that were available to her (like a mortgage modification), but her $60k/year job was much less demanding of her time and energy.

While I am glad that this woman was able to support her lifestyle, it really shows how backwards things are. Once you start making over $100k, there are certain pain points that crop up in the tax code, regardless of whether you are married filing jointly or single. For instance, you start losing the ability to write off student loan interest. You also start to lose your dependent child tax credits.

This really creates an economic problem because now it is more profitable to reduce your expenses, since reducing your expenses by $1 means you keep $1, whereas earning another $1 means you only keep $0.50-$0.70, depending on your state of residency... and that doesn't even count what other benefits you lose by earning another $1... so that number keeps approaching $0.00. Why work harder?

There are only a few things keeping me working hard and that is because they are tied to my base salary: 1) life insurance... it is a multiple of my base salary as I purchase it through my employer, and 2) retirement savings... my employers contributions are a percentage of my base salary. My employer provides substantial retirement contributions, so this may not even be worthwhile to others because many no longer do. Other than that, I aspire to the Francisco D'Anconia philosophy on earning passage to heaven.... hard work.

EDIT: For your thinking pleasure, have a look at Francisco's speech on money.

EdTheLad

I clear 200k+ as a contractor

PsychoFin

Oh joy. I had to Google DMV too

the tax brackets are so evil here.. 41.95%, 42%, 52%... I earn about 80k+ but the taxes still hurt..

wagnerism

PsychoFin wrote: »

Oh joy. I had to Google DMV too the tax brackets are so evil here.. 41.95%, 42%, 52%... I earn about 80k+ but the taxes still hurt..

You must be in either the D or M of the DMV. Relatively speaking, VA has lower taxes. ANYTHING is better than CA's rates. People might still feel VA tax rates are horrid, but they're the best I've seen after many years in CA.

When I view my gross pay and look at expenses, the various income taxes are my biggest expense. I pay more in taxes than housing even if I consider property taxes to be a housing expense. When it comes to making the most out of my paycheck, the best I can do is to invest the maximum allowed into my 401k, spousal IRA, and college funds - and I STILL pay more in taxes than housing. I'm glad that I have the budget room to invest that way - I only increased my living standards by a mere fraction of income growth.

If you want to see those that have it the worst - go to a cost-of-living calculator and compare your location with Sunnyvale or Mountain View CA. Insane.

ITdude

wagnerism wrote: »

compare your location with Sunnyvale or Mountain View CA. Insane.

Pleassssse, don't remind me!