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In the current enviornment, the average white collar worker is going to come ahead by going remote and lowering COL than increasing income.
The reason I say this is that according to income percentiles, being over 100K in your late 20s early 30s puts you in the top 10th percentile: https://dqydj.com/income-percentile-by-age-calculator/ It's kinda crazy how few jobs over 100K there really must be. So, a lot of the luxury you see in the US is likely wealth accumulated moreso than newfound income purchases.
For a single earner, 100K is enough to live pretty decent while still maxing HSAs and retirement contributions being financially responsible, but not living luxuriously. Being over 100K, I don't penny pinch, but I don't have a lot of bandwidth for things like a big house, new auto, and expensive toys payments. I could do this if I spent all my income though. 200K is enough to be posh, but it's probably also the inflection point where you're working so much you don't really have the time to enjoy all that income as much.
I saw a headline for an article (didn't read it), but the synopsis said this person made $350k and was living paycheck to paycheck. She was loaded down with mortgage, car payments and college loans.
I don't disagree. I didn't quite feel like I could make pricey impulse purchases until I hit $300k.
Even with a high salary you still need to control spending and save and invest. That will make you well off. It's not what you make it's what you save... To spend like there is no tomorrow you need to have hundreds of millions of dollars and those people end up creating charitable foundations because in the end it's your purpose in life that ends up mattering.
Fascinating to see companies do that. My husband is a full-time remote employee, and his salary would not change if we relocated.
Meta does this. They based my offer off of my zip code.
I think a lot of this kind of depends on where you live. I'd expect a working professional in his/her 30s in NYC to make $150-$200k total comp, so in that instance sure you could say $200k is the new $100k. But I wouldn't be terribly surprised if a working professional in Dallas made $100-$120k in their 30s.
Meta does this. They based my offer off of my zip code.
I think a lot of this kind of depends on where you live. I'd expect a working professional in his/her 30s in NYC to make $150-$200k total comp, so in that instance sure you could say $200k is the new $100k. But I wouldn't be terribly surprised if a working professional in Dallas made $100-$120k in their 30s.
I had read that some companies did this. Didn't realize it included Meta. I think the way my husband's employer compensates those who live in super expensive metros is with a housing subsidy, but we don't live in an area that qualifies for it, and he's been a remote consultant for many years. He used to travel a lot, but now he works from a home office. I gotta tell you, though, I do miss those frequent flier miles!
Meta does this. They based my offer off of my zip code.
I think a lot of this kind of depends on where you live. I'd expect a working professional in his/her 30s in NYC to make $150-$200k total comp, so in that instance sure you could say $200k is the new $100k. But I wouldn't be terribly surprised if a working professional in Dallas made $100-$120k in their 30s.
What I have heard about Meta is that remote employees in lower cost areas can see up to a 15% dock in pay, which could still put you ahead of the person in Menlo Park with take home. Is this incorrect?
What I'm trying to say is $100k used to be considered a great salary, a magic number that most people strive for. Nowadays, with salaries so inflated, $100k isn't difficult to achieve so it feels like $200k is the new $100k target salary that gets you into upper middle class.
Most people can’t and won’t make $200K annually in a salaried position, as opposed to $100K. Regardless of location. Inflation will always happen but that’s doesn’t mean employers are going to increase wages a long with it.
The point is that creating multiples streams of passive income, investing, buying or creating small online businesses, etc. is a sure fire way to get into the upper middle class instead of solely relying on an employers wages.
My post was inspired by this article, where they were discussing young, rich professionals earning $100k or more fleeing CA and NY.
I just don't think $100k places you into the "rich" category unless you are living extremely frugally since living expenses eats away at most of it. TBH, I didn't start feeling comfortable until I was making $300k, also in a high CoL area. I'm over $400k now, and just over the 35 year old age bracket that the article refers to, and still don't feel rich.
And yes, I manage my finances well. I have a ton of disposable income and savings that's just parked in cash accounts because I don't like the current economic climate.
Seeing all of these personal injury lawyers everywhere, I feel like we're all one lawsuit away from losing it all. The more you make or have, the more they'll sue you for if you so much as tap someone on the bumper in the parking lot.
What I have heard about Meta is that remote employees in lower cost areas can see up to a 15% dock in pay, which could still put you ahead of the person in Menlo Park with take home. Is this incorrect?
I know that if you look on levels.fyi for offers for the same role I got the typical comp package was about 40-50% higher in Menlo Park and when I tried to negotiate they said it was the best they could do given my zip code.
I got offered $268k the offers for same role same level at the time in Menlo hovered between $365-$430k. Actually the original offer was $248k, they said If I said I would sign they could likely get me to $268k. I turned it down.
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That will make you well off. It's not what you make it's what you save... To spend like there is no tomorrow you need to have hundreds of millions of dollars and those people end up creating charitable foundations because in the end it's your purpose in life that ends up mattering.
