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For a white-collar professional, $50K/ year should NOT be the ceiling. Teaching is a respectable profession that has a salary which is entirely too low for many states. I feel any teacher should make AT LEAST $45K/ year and my state of Arizona has one of the lowest teaching scales in the nation which is why I'd never send my own kids to a public school here...ever. When I was in high school, my dream was actually to become a History teacher; I loved history, respected history, had a passion for learning and teaching history...but my dad abolished that dream quite quickly telling me I could never make a living wage teaching. This was back in the mid 90's and even back then, he said I would be destitute and live in poverty if I pursued my dream of teaching and pushed me into either going into law or the engineering field. As they say, the rest is history.
You have to be very shrewd if you want to teach, and make enough to pay your bills, realize your dreams, etc. If you have the deck stacked against you financially (student loans, a relative or family to care for, debts of any kind, cars that need to be replaced, etc.) you really have to do your research and play your cards right. I got good advice to go into teaching, but, no one advised me of the research that I needed to do to have my needs met. Salaries in my four-state region for the work I do, range from $34K on the low side to $60K on the high side with my level of experience.
But to get into the area where the pay is in the $60s, you have to be positioned and prepared. If any of my professors or mentors had taught me to do my due diligence about locations and school systems, I would be in a much better situation financially than I am now, and I probably would not have ever considered leaving the profession. I have that knowledge now, but it took quite a while to get to this point. My first teaching job was in a low-pay area, and although it was a great school, my balance sheet hasn't recovered. Also, because I felt so financially strained there as well as stressed, I almost left teaching for a higher-paying industry and took some serious steps in pursuing that. Then the economy sunk, and teaching looks good again, especially since those areas with the $60K salaries have maintained their salary schedules.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SpeedyAZ
The idea that the average American household makes $57K/ year is...scary. Every parent wants the best for their children, wants them to succeed, wants to give them every advantage they possibly can on that income. Historically speaking, the best indicator of a young person's income is the income of their parents. If your parents make gobs of money, chances are you'll make gobs of money. If your parents struggle to survive, chances are you'll follow suit. We talk about the rich getting richer and poor getting poorer in this nation and it's true...but it's directly correlated to the income distribution throughout society. Donald Trump's children will NEVER know what "want" is and they'll be successful because their father is successful. Joe Schmo will provide his children with everything he can on a middle-class salary but it's highly unlikely his children will ever rise to the prominence of a billionaire tycoon's children.
You have to be very shrewd if you want to teach, and make enough to pay your bills, realize your dreams, etc. If you have the deck stacked against you financially (student loans, a relative or family to care for, debts of any kind, cars that need to be replaced, etc.) you really have to do your research and play your cards right. I got good advice to go into teaching, but, no one advised me of the research that I needed to do to have my needs met. Salaries in my four-state region for the work I do, range from $34K on the low side to $60K on the high side with my level of experience.
I think it's great that young people want to go to school for education...but at the same time, I wonder how they plan on making a decent living. You graduate college at age 23 or 24, have $20K or $30K in student loan debt, have to rent an apartment, pay car/health insurance, food costs, other essentials, etc; and this all assumes you can even FIND a job.
I AM a firm believer in the saying "Do what you love, the money will follow" but in some professions, the money simply ISN'T THERE. Make $2000/ month and take half immediately away for student loans and apartment rent and have to live on $1000 with rising food costs, insurance costs, fuel, bills, etc.
I also follow the old saying "Money isn't everything" but it sure as hell helps to have it.
When I graduated out of college years ago , my first salary was $50k and I was living in DC, single, no kids and I was fine. I was living in the city in a decent size studio, did not have a car. My rent was $1200 and I did not have any utilities besides cable+internet+cellphone bill. My other expenses were transportation+food. I did not have any debt. I think I could have saved half of my monthly paycheck every month if I wanted to, so yeah it is enough depending on how you live/spend your money
I am struggling so much with what to do for grad school because so many careers are low paying even at the masters level. I have a bachelors in social work. Im very passionate about helping people. I have been in several DIRECTOR level positions and made less than 50k per year. I have decided to become more specialized in behavioral analysis where the national average is about 55-60k, which is insane to me for a masters level professional. Is this even worth doing? If not what should I be going into?
I agree with paiste13 about living on 50k I am doing now as middle age adult. When I was making 35 to 36k a year prior to getting my master's degree. I lived just fine. Paid off my car kept the bills paid including the mortgage for the home oh and bought a home as well while making the 35 to 36k but this was during the bush administration and prior to the great recession. Back then 35 to 36k was worth more than it is today especially after the great recession. I am still driving the same old car I bought in 2004 while making the 35 to 35k salary. I am making a little over 50k a year next year 2018 I will be in the market for a new vehicle it is all doable. It takes time patience and budgeting.
Six years ago, I graduated from college and took a job that paid 38K. I was single, had no debt, etc.. I lived a pretty comfortable life in Denver. If you can't live a good life on 40 to 50 K, you're an idiot in a non-SF or non-NYC city
Last edited by tonym9428; 05-09-2017 at 06:04 AM..
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