how much money should someone be making by age 35?

[Mai72]

IMO, comparining yourself to other people is a sure fire way to fail in life.

People have different goals and they have different life plans. I met a millionaire who got started in his late 20s. Became a millionaire at 39. It just depends on many factors.

 

[Mai72]

At 34 I started thinking more about net worth than salary. I think its also easier to deal with depending on the neighborhood you live in. Make $80k and live in a neighborhood where most people make $50k and you will probably feel good about where you are in life. It can be harder to feel that way about where you are in life if you make that and live in an area where everyone makes $120k.

Big fish in small pond mentality.

I can feel good about my finances until I met people who were making real bank. Then, I was like "Ok, I suk." lol.

 

[Exterous]

I'm 35 and pre-tax

Is that like pre-op? And just out of curiosity what is your employer's match?

 

[Tweak155]

I'm 35 and pre-tax, I make $79, 860. I also have a 401(k) that I'm contributing 6% to.

I think for my profession and area I'm making about average, probably a bit less. Software developer, ~11 years experience, metro Detroit.

I'm also in Detroit metro and software dev... age 34 and I'm in six figure range. Not only that, my sister is an HR manager and previously did compensation analysis strictly... well she did a compensation analysis for me last month. She said I was probably a little below where I should be.

It sounds like you're getting hosed man... are all 11 years at the same company or something?? I only stay here because the work/life balance is awesome and the benefits are very good... I'm not going to lose much sweat over the difference she told me... but if it was over $20k I'd be looking for sure.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I'm also in Detroit metro and software dev... age 34 and I'm in six figure range. Not only that, my sister is an HR manager and previously did compensation analysis strictly... well she did a compensation analysis for me last month. She said I was probably a little below where I should be.

It sounds like you're getting hosed man... are all 11 years at the same company or something?? I only stay here because the work/life balance is awesome and the benefits are very good... I'm not going to lose much sweat over the difference she told me... but if it was over $20k I'd be looking for sure.

...Software developer is a very broad title...

Are you maintaining a current software? On a project to build new ones?

Do you code in X language or Y language? If you know COBOL you can get an easy 6-figures anywhere... because no one fucking knows it anymore heh.

It's not as simple as saying "I code therefore, $x salary is minimum you should be paid".

 

[clamum]

Is that like pre-op? And just out of curiosity what is your employer's match?

LOL. Ah employer matches up to 6%. I think. I could stand to contribute a bit more actually, just haven't gotten around to doing so.

I'm also in Detroit metro and software dev... age 34 and I'm in six figure range. Not only that, my sister is an HR manager and previously did compensation analysis strictly... well she did a compensation analysis for me last month. She said I was probably a little below where I should be.

It sounds like you're getting hosed man... are all 11 years at the same company or something?? I only stay here because the work/life balance is awesome and the benefits are very good... I'm not going to lose much sweat over the difference she told me... but if it was over $20k I'd be looking for sure.

I know I could make more elsewhere but honestly I make plenty right now (single, no kids, too) and I'm not money-obsessed so that's part of the reason I haven't moved on. I also like my co-workers a lot, more than I like what I do here, so that counts for a lot. Plus I'm comfortable and when I get comfortable with something I don't like it changed.

According to Glassdoor (fairly reputable site, I think) my "market value" is only $71,844 anyway so I'm actually making 11% more than that. Also according to that site, for this immediate area the range is $64k-$93k for "application developer." There's probably a totally different range for "software engineer" even though all those terms on gonna be pretty similar in job functions. And that's just from the salaries that particular site has collected.

I plan on moving on pretty soon I guess, within a year or something. I'm not in any particular hurry I guess.

 

[purbeast0]

...Software developer is a very broad title...

Are you maintaining a current software? On a project to build new ones?

Do you code in X language or Y language? If you know COBOL you can get an easy 6-figures anywhere... because no one fucking knows it anymore heh.

It's not as simple as saying "I code therefore, $x salary is minimum you should be paid".

That's not really true at all. A software developer developers software regardless if it's maintaining current software, building a new one, refactoring, etc. It can be in the backend, front end, full stack, etc. It's all just developing software in the end.

And yes, there is a general range that you should be at in your location with X amount of experience in the industry. Sure some technologies will pay more (blockchain is the hotness right now as is cyber security) but generally speaking you can find a general range.

I agree with Tweak - $80k for 11 years in the industry, regardless of where you live, is low.

 

[purbeast0]

According to Glassdoor (fairly reputable site, I think) my "market value" is only $71,844 anyway so I'm actually making 11% more than that. Also according to that site, for this immediate area the range is $64k-$93k for "application developer." There's probably a totally different range for "software engineer" even though all those terms on gonna be pretty similar in job functions. And that's just from the salaries that particular site has collected..

I wouldn't use that as the be all end all, those are just estimates from people who have entered salary data. The estimate it has for me in the DC area is like $45k less than I'm making.

 

[chitwood]

I still look at my bank account but it's not to worry about whether I can survive or buy groceries. It's more along the lines of paying off the credit card balance and then being like 'okay we have a lot of extra cash time to plan that next vacation' and then I get into that mode.

100% exactly.

(like the 20th time I've agreed with purbeast on this forum)

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I still look at my bank account but it's not to worry about whether I can survive or buy groceries. It's more along the lines of paying off the credit card balance and then being like 'okay we have a lot of extra cash time to plan that next vacation' and then I get into that mode.

Sounds like a different form of "money burning a hole in your pocket" to me.

Excess cash? Alright lets plan the trip!

I have plenty of excess cash, but we go on vacations whenever we want... typically when we feel like it such as stressed out from work, anniversary, holidays, etc...

We're pretty frugal even on trips though. Whether we stay in a Marriott for $110/night or a Ritz Carlton for $350 doesn't really matter to us.

 

[BurnItDwn]

You should be making about10K more than whatever you make now. Work harder!

 

[purbeast0]

Sounds like a different form of "money burning a hole in your pocket" to me.

Excess cash? Alright lets plan the trip!

I have plenty of excess cash, but we go on vacations whenever we want... typically when we feel like it such as stressed out from work, anniversary, holidays, etc...

We're pretty frugal even on trips though. Whether we stay in a Marriott for $110/night or a Ritz Carlton for $350 doesn't really matter to us.

We go on vacations basically whenever we want too, which is kind of my point. It's nice to have that disposable income once you hit a threshold of not living paycheck to paycheck and having extra disposable income.

And we're not frugal when we go on vacations. We eat out fine dining most nights and do basically whatever we want on vacation.

What's the point of having money if you're not going to use it?

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

We go on vacations basically whenever we want too, which is kind of my point. It's nice to have that disposable income once you hit a threshold of not living paycheck to paycheck and having extra disposable income.

And we're not frugal when we go on vacations. We eat out fine dining most nights and do basically whatever we want on vacation.

What's the point of having money if you're not going to use it?

Ehhh, I guess I see more important priorities for me. We're living life VERY frugally right now in a lower-middle class neighborhood of blue-collar workers for the most part. House is mostly paid off at this point as well. You've probably already experienced the priorities I'm talking about though.

So I guess we are frugal because in the next 5 years or so I'm planning to:
1) Buy a new house in an upper neighborhood - hopefully finer quality, I've learned my lesson from shit builders. Nice starter home though - and good for learning. Part of the reason is also for a good school district.
2) Pouring cash right now into everything I can... maxing out - 401k, ROTH IRA, HSA, and some leftovers for a 529.
3) New cars (used, I should say) are around the corner shortly. The inevitable SUV for storing all the family junk.

I'm guessing you already have #1. I'm hoping to give less fucks about spending money when I have that as well.

 

[purbeast0]

Ehhh, I guess I see more important priorities for me. We're living life VERY frugally right now in a lower-middle class neighborhood of blue-collar workers for the most part. House is mostly paid off at this point as well. You've probably already experienced the priorities I'm talking about though.

So I guess we are frugal because in the next 5 years or so I'm planning to:
1) Buy a new house in an upper neighborhood - hopefully finer quality, I've learned my lesson from shit builders. Nice starter home though - and good for learning.
2) Pouring cash right now into everything I can... maxing out - 401k, ROTH IRA, HSA, and some leftovers for a 529.
3) New cars (used, I should say) are around the corner shortly. The inevitable SUV for storing all the family junk.

I'm guessing you already have #1. I'm hoping to give less fucks about spending money when I have that as well.

I already have #1 and we've made too much money for a few years now to be able to contribute to a Roth IRA.

I'm actually looking into buying a rental property with a friend who has owned one for 10+ years now so that I can put some extra cash to work.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I already have #1 and we've made too much money for a few years now to be able to contribute to a Roth IRA.

I'm actually looking into buying a rental property with a friend who has owned one for 10+ years now so that I can put some extra cash to work.

Backdoor Roth good sir, there is no income limit 😉

 

[purbeast0]

Backdoor Roth good sir, there is no income limit 😉

Wow had no clue about that, thanks. Will look into it.

 

[Red Squirrel]

By ATOT standards you should be in the upper 100k range, like 190k. 😛 Not sure what the norm is.

Me personally I make close to 80k total including OT/shift differentials etc. So around 40k take home. I forget what my base is, like 75k or so. IMO I consider this really good as most jobs here are minimum wage or close to minimum wage unless you work in a mine or are a doctor or lawyer etc. I'm 32, but I reached my salary cap years ago so I'll be doing the same at 35 as well. Our department actually makes the most money out of the company because we work slightly more hours and also get shift differentials and work stats and get more OT, so anywhere I move to I would actually make less, unless I went management which I would not want to do at all. There is one pay class higher that I could be making (all but 2 coworkers have it) and we keep fighting to get that pay class back, but union won't budge on it. They phased it out years go so the class I'm at now is highest. So 3 of us make less than everyone else in the department. It's still good money so can't really complain.

 

[brianmanahan]

Wow had no clue about that, thanks. Will look into it.

also google "mega backdoor roth ira", if your 401k allows it you can put like ~35$k into your roth ira per year

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

also google "mega backdoor roth ira", if your 401k allows it you can put like ~35$k into your roth ira per year

Been with 3 employers thus far and have never seen it, so I figure it has to be pretty rare....

 

[njdevilsfan87]

At 31, I'm more about the free time than making more money. I'm only getting older, which is just going to make enjoying the outdoors, traveling, and etc all the more difficult. More money won't make me any younger. Once the kids comes, I may even be a stay-at-home dad for the first year, and just work on my own projects in my spare time. I'd rather delay early retirement for a few years and enjoy my journey to it, than to feel burned out, exhausted, and just old at 45-50.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

At 31, I'm more about the free time than making more money. I'm only getting older, which is just going to make enjoying the outdoors, traveling, and etc all the more difficult. More money won't make me any younger. Once the kids comes, I may even be a stay-at-home dad for the first year, and just work on my own projects in my spare time. I'd rather delay early retirement for a few years and enjoy my journey to it, than to feel burned out, exhausted, and just old at 45-50.

Eh if you want to be stay at home dad, do it when they are at least 2-3.

Before that age, your fun with consist of
1) Feeding baby
2) Changing baby
3) Putting baby to nap.
4) Cleaning up from steps 1-3 and preparing for the next 1-3.

*rinse and repeat every 3 hours*

 

[purbeast0]

At 31, I'm more about the free time than making more money. I'm only getting older, which is just going to make enjoying the outdoors, traveling, and etc all the more difficult. More money won't make me any younger. Once the kids comes, I may even be a stay-at-home dad for the first year, and just work on my own projects in my spare time. I'd rather delay early retirement for a few years and enjoy my journey to it, than to feel burned out, exhausted, and just old at 45-50.

I'm pretty lucky in that I work less hours now at 36 than I did when I was new to my career. All together though I've never worked more than 40 hours a week other than maybe twice, and I never plan on being in a position where I'd work more than that. I do agree that free time is very important, and I'm also lucky in the sense that I can basically make my own schedule. I leave by 2pm every day so every day seems so much longer than when I worked 9-5 before, especially in the winter time when I leave work and still have plenty of sun. When we have our second kid one day, and my wife stays home full time, I am thinking of going 10 hour days 4x a week and having a 3 day weekend every week.

 

[brianmanahan]

Been with 3 employers thus far and have never seen it, so I figure it has to be pretty rare....

weird, my last 3 have had it. i think i heard something like %40 of employers offer it.

 

[brianmanahan]

By ATOT standards you should be in the upper 100k range, like 190k. 😛 Not sure what the norm is.

dang it, i better step it up

(or move to SF or seattle... i've thought about that 1000 times)

 

[njdevilsfan87]

Eh if you want to be stay at home dad, do it when they are at least 2-3.

Before that age, your fun with consist of
1) Feeding baby
2) Changing baby
3) Putting baby to nap.
4) Cleaning up from steps 1-3 and preparing for the next 1-3.

*rinse and repeat every 3 hours*

I see my older brother going through it right now, and I know how much work it really is. There's just no off button 24/7. Seeing that, I know wife and I should not keep working full time when it's our turn. So either we'll both cut back our hours, or I'll cut back significantly. This is because she runs her own business, so being out of work is going to be much harder on her/us later on, since it's very reputation based. Me as a data scientist, can just work on my own data related projects and get back into the workforce without problem later on. Taking unique approaches to stock market prediction with neural nets (neural nets nothing new, but how you go about setting them up or formatting the data that goes in), or reinforcement learning AI game bots... sound like fun projects that wold get me back into even higher paying positions going back. 🙂

As far as the answer to the question goes: $150-$160K at 35 assuming I stay on the path I am on now, in the greater LA area. It doesn't pay as high as the Bay area, but it's slightly cheaper to live here.