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Anyone who's saying you can't live in NYC for under $50k is out of their mind.
Over exaggerating to say the least... For those who say you can't live in NYC under $50k explain why exactly? I'd like to know what these people spend their money on. I know some people have roommates or live with their boyfriend or girlfriend. In those cases then you split a lot of the costs, so what exactly is it that is so expensive that no one can live in NYC making $50k a year?
I think a lot of these people are exaggerating the real costs of living in NYC because MANY New Yorkers earn under 50k a year and they somehow manage to make ends meet.
I mean think about it. If you and your girlfriend both make $40k a year and live together that's $80k combined. You rent a one bedroom for say $1,500 and split the rent which is $750.
Just for the record, I made about $30k at my entry-level finance job over the river in Jersey City... but that was in 2000-01, when you could still take the PATH for $1.50, a monthly Metrocard was something like $67, and people who wanted to live in Manhattan complained that it was impossible to find a room for under $1000 per month.
Inflation really is destroying everyone's quality of life.
As a 13-year veteran employee (same company), I now make closer to $50k. But with prices seemingly having climbed more than two-thirds in the past decade, I probably wouldn't feel any richer if I went back to NYC than I was then.
I'd like to see more of those Manhattan micro-apartments that we keep hearing about. Sure, nobody really wants to live in 250 square feet, but if they rent for about $1000 (half the size of a typical 500-SF apartment, half the rent), they enable you to live on your own with no roommates even in a desirable neighborhood, on an entry-level salary. Apartments at that size and price are standard in Asia and are vastly more popular than living with strangers and enduring all the drama that comes with that.
You’re certainly not the poorest person on the train. Starting salaries vary widely between industries (and individual companies within industries). Ironically, more prestigious companies often pay lower salaries at the entry level. You’re about average for a non-elite career two years out of college. If you were a junior analyst at Goldman you’d make more. If you were a script reader at HBO you’d make less.
Just for the record, I made about $30k at my entry-level finance job over the river in Jersey City... but that was in 2000-01, when you could still take the PATH for $1.50, a monthly Metrocard was something like $67, and people who wanted to live in Manhattan complained that it was impossible to find a room for under $1000 per month.
Inflation really is destroying everyone's quality of life.
As a 13-year veteran employee (same company), I now make closer to $50k. But with prices seemingly having climbed more than two-thirds in the past decade, I probably wouldn't feel any richer if I went back to NYC than I was then.
I'd like to see more of those Manhattan micro-apartments that we keep hearing about. Sure, nobody really wants to live in 250 square feet, but if they rent for about $1000 (half the size of a typical 500-SF apartment, half the rent), they enable you to live on your own with no roommates even in a desirable neighborhood, on an entry-level salary. Apartments at that size and price are standard in Asia and are vastly more popular than living with strangers and enduring all the drama that comes with that.
No offense, but how have you worked in finance for 13 years and only make $50k?
No offense, but how have you worked in finance for 13 years and only make $50k?
I'm on the Operations (back office) side and not in the front office, which is where the real money is made.
I also work for a Japanese company, where salary growth as well as status growth are much flatter than with an American firm. A 29-year-old "VP" would be unthinkable at a Japanese company, where titles don't even begin to be handed out until you're in your mid-40s.
On the other hand, the 21st-century American system of unpaid internships is also unthinkable. Even the rawest 21-year-old recruit who knows nothing about anything is guaranteed an entry-level salary. Which environment would you prefer to work in, one where the 22-year-old newbie and his 35-year-old mentor make $35k and $50k, respectively, or one where the 22-year-old makes ZERO and the 35-year-old gets $85,000? Same total payout, but the Japanese style (which was standard in the US until a generation ago) is much fairer in this case.
(Edit: Burdensome college debt is also nothing like it is in the US. A Japanese copany would hire someone out of college with the presumption that they have no debts.)
I'm on the Operations (back office) side and not in the front office, which is where the real money is made.
I also work for a Japanese company, where salary growth as well as status growth are much flatter than with an American firm. A 29-year-old "VP" would be unthinkable at a Japanese company, where titles don't even begin to be handed out until you're in your mid-40s.
On the other hand, the 21st-century American system of unpaid internships is also unthinkable. Even the rawest 21-year-old recruit who knows nothing about anything is guaranteed an entry-level salary. Which environment would you prefer to work in, one where the 22-year-old newbie and his 35-year-old mentor make $35k and $50k, respectively, or one where the 22-year-old makes ZERO and the 35-year-old gets $85,000? Same total payout, but the Japanese style (which was standard in the US until a generation ago) is much fairer in this case.
(Edit: Burdensome college debt is also nothing like it is in the US. A Japanese copany would hire someone out of college with the presumption that they have no debts.)
Ah yes, I know which company you work for. I would assume though that a US office would hire mostly Americans and have more of an American business culture, though.
Personally I like the system where your efforts pay off more down the line, though I still don't feel they pay off enough.
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