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I'm going to disagree a bit with the others... Sure, salary is dependent upon location, type of industry, etc... But at the end of the day, the OP said he's 41 years old. At that age, I would think your salary would be a bit higher if you've been doing the same type of job for years.
40k is starting salary for a lot of positions these days. At 41, you're no longer starting out. When I hit $40k, I was still in my 20's... without a degree.
My own personal definition of a "respectable" salary would be if a single earner is making above or equal to the medium household income, $52k. If you are making that much, then the average family can have one wage earner and one person stay at home and take care of kids, house, etc. Obviously location matters here, but for most of the US, a family can live on $52k a year pretty comfortably.
I am 26, 2 years out of school, making $58K a year (Accounting) a year and I feel like I am making diddly squat
My girlfriend is 28, no degree, and makes $40k a year as an Admin Assistant for an Architectural Firm in Charlotte, NC, but she has 4-5 years of experience
It isn't how much you make, but where you live, and living within your means
Depends. I make 41k as an admin asst and my boyfriend makes $60k as a construction foreman. In the area we live, this is considered peanuts. However, neither of us have a college degree. I think what constitutes a good salary is very different for different regions of the US.
I know business owner who makes less than that after they pay for everything and everyone else. So yeah, depends on who you ask. Don't beat yourself over it.
Plus a 3K a year bonus. I am 41 and work in sales support for a large company. Married, no kids. I always thought 40K was respectable but I've been told that people are now asking for 50K right out of college at entry level.
without knowing where you live, the denomination of the currency you are paid in, or what your education and experience looks like, or what exactly you mean by "respectable", it becomes impossible to answer the question
Plus a 3K a year bonus. I am 41 and work in sales support for a large company. Married, no kids. I always thought 40K was respectable but I've been told that people are now asking for 50K right out of college at entry level.
If your salary is comparable with your sales support peers, level of experience, success in your field, and area of the country, yes.
It never ends, never stops, never ends, never stops.
If I say my company hires engineers at 50K a year straight out of school, another person logs on here and says that is a joke.
I know somebody who makes fun of their spouse for how much they make and their spouse is ... a doctor. Yes, you heard that right.
If you are happy with what you make versus what you do, then you're good.
For me, I could live on 40K. I would have to get a cheaper place and go out less, contribute less to my 401K (which IMO is a joke anyway, and I'll probably be dead before I use it, but I digress) but essentially I can live the way I'm living now.
I agree. 40k a year if you are just starting your career is decent money at least in the southeastern and Midwest states.
After working a year as a temp at 17 bucks an hour after college I just landed a 50k chemist job where I had to relocate to West Virgina from Georgia.
The OP is in sales so I assume he has the potential to earn commission as well. 40k is decent money if you are fresh out of college and live in the south. Of course people from New York City, Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Seattle or Boston are going to say that isn't good money but if you live in any part of the country it's decent.
Once you build your skills and your performance is good you will get annual raises and you will be marking great money in a couple years.
It depends where you live. In parts of the mid-west it's pretty decent money. You can live for $500 rent and save up to buy a respectable 3 bed home in 10 years. In the NE corridor and large cities, not really no.
Although I lived in NoVA by myself on 42k the 1st year. I had holes in my shoes and by the end of the 1st year I was working OT so I made it through okay. But I could not do that long term and be happy since it's poverty level in this area, even if the government doesn't recognize it as such.
Unlike other folks used to living in major metro areas, I feel that if you can't live by yourself in a modest apartment without holes in your shoes past the age of 28 or so, then it's poverty level.
It depends where you live. In parts of the mid-west it's pretty decent money. You can live for $500 rent and save up to buy a respectable 3 bed home in 10 years. In the NE corridor and large cities, not really no.
Although I lived in NoVA by myself on 42k the 1st year. I had holes in my shoes and by the end of the 1st year I was working OT so I made it through okay. But I could not do that long term and be happy since it's poverty level in this area, even if the government doesn't recognize it as such.
Unlike other folks used to living in major metro areas, I feel that if you can't live by yourself in a modest apartment without holes in your shoes past the age of 28 or so, then it's poverty level.
Northern Virginia is the Washington DC metro area so yes it expensive in that area. I live in Pittsburgh metro now and you can afford to buy a modest house in my current area on 40k. I use to live in metro Atlanta area and the houses there were almost double the price where I am living now.
It defiantly depends on where you live but generally any area in the south and Midwest states outside most of the major metro city areas 40k is decent money.
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