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One thing I always find funny, is that everyone wants to have a big 401k, pension, retirement fund, etc. Everyone has a set number in mind for the amount they want to have before they retire.
Let's just say this is 1 million dollars. So in order to get there you would have to save throughout your life roughly 1mil to retire right? No, of course not. not with a 401k or other fund. You might only have to contribute 500k throughout your career in order to reach that 1mil mark. So now you're expecting YOUR money to be doubled basically. How does this happen? Through the whole entire arm of the investment/mutual fund/private equity/etc (we'll just say IB) industry.
These folks are working (maybe not directly, but in a round about way) to make YOU money. But they are always the ones that are scrutinized about their pay. Yeah they do make a ton of money, but look at what they do for such a monetary based society we live in.
I really think that the next time any of you say that wall street needs to go away and blah blah blah, you should really take a look at your retirement fund. Without them the only way of building your wealth is depositing all your money in a savings account.
I know I'll receive a lot of flak for this, but not everyone looks at the big picture.
I agree. I`ve said it before on here and I`ll say it again. We are all greedy. We just like to complain about other people`s greed when they make more than we do. We are paid,not by the importance of our job, but how easily we can be replaced. If there are thousands of people who can take your place, then you probably won`t be paid as well.
I agree. I`ve said it before on here and I`ll say it again. We are all greedy. We just like to complain about other people`s greed when they make more than we do. We are paid,not by the importance of our job, but how easily we can be replaced. If there are thousands of people who can take your place, then you probably won`t be paid as well.
exactly. And it's even true when it comes to IB due to the fact that so many people are trying to get into the investment space these days. (myself included, but I actually find that industry stimulating and not just in it for the easy money) It's extremely hard to get into one of the bigger firms because they only want the top talent. There is an over abundance of recent grads trying to break in even after salaries are dropping. Pretty soon the entry level salary won't be something to be going crazy over and maybe then everyone will stop hating the IB industry.
Also one thing that most people don't factor in as well, is that hourly, a lot of the investment bankers don't make such exorbitant amounts of money. Sure they might make 1mil a year, but at 80-100 hours a week, that's two to two and half times as much work as most people put in. There was a break down of of the typical investment banker salary with all the hours put in and it was kind of funny to see how little hourly they make.
I agree. I`ve said it before on here and I`ll say it again. We are all greedy. We just like to complain about other people`s greed when they make more than we do. We are paid,not by the importance of our job, but how easily we can be replaced. If there are thousands of people who can take your place, then you probably won`t be paid as well.
I concur. Which is why I am trying to get out of Finance and work a job where I will actually make a difference.
Teachers making 15k-18k a year? Um, no! Try like 35k to start and it goes up from there. Plus all that time off like someone else said, definitely overpaid. Concur with firemen being overpaid. City cops and EMTs, underpaid. Highway Patrolmen, hugely overpaid (what do they honestly do that sheriffs and city cops couldn't handle?) Tenured college professors, overpaid. Part time college profs are underpaid. Congress underpaid, federal judges overpaid. Every single water department person in the country is overpaid by their entire salary and my job is of course underpaid.
The reason jobs tend to be on the "overpaid" list is there is some limiting factor that keeps the supply of employees low relative to the demand. These can be artificial restraints like a trade association that strictly limits the number of people that can do the job or less artificial restraints like the job being very difficult.
There's a reason someone like LeBron James (or Tom Brady or Lionel Messi) makes so much--he's essentially one of a handful of people in the world that has his level of skill in a field in which millions of people are willing to pay for him to participate. We whine about how much they make, but collectively we shell out enough for them to get paid. The same is true of most other jobs on this list--we certainly whine when have to fork over $500 to get our pet feeling better, but enough people still do it that veterinarians can earn a good living.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Garfunkle524
My opinion is that there are two classes of professionals. There are those that create real value and those that manipulate perceived value. Production workers, engineers, service professionals, etc. all create real value by designing/producing things, and performing valuable services. The manipulators are people like businessmen, marketers, stock traders etc. These people simply manufacture imaginary value so that the business can profit off of it.
Nearly all value creators are underpaid for their contributions and nearly all value manipulators are overpaid. That's my two cents.
Except through fraud or deceit, you can't manufacture artificial value. Businesses and marketers try to maximize the value that a particular product has by getting in front of the people who value it the most. Understanding and recognizing current market inefficiencies is an important function and not a waste or imaginary. Certainly there is far too much fraud and deceit, but you shouldn't lump the good businesses, who simply buy something from someone willing to sell it and sell to someone else willing to buy it, with those who don't play by the rules.
Teachers making 15k-18k a year? Um, no! Try like 35k to start and it goes up from there. Plus all that time off like someone else said, definitely overpaid. Concur with firemen being overpaid. City cops and EMTs, underpaid. Highway Patrolmen, hugely overpaid (what do they honestly do that sheriffs and city cops couldn't handle?) Tenured college professors, overpaid. Part time college profs are underpaid. Congress underpaid, federal judges overpaid. Every single water department person in the country is overpaid by their entire salary and my job is of course underpaid.
Recent news is the Chicago Teachers Union got a new contract with greater than cost of living raises. I think the average is over $70K and there is also tenure. If you have seniority you won't get laid off. But wait - that only applies to unionized teachers. The District also employs a lot of charter school teachers who get paid much less and can be dumped at the drop of a hat.
I don't know a single commercial pilot that makes more than 50k a year. Not one. I do know a few private pilots that make around 80k, but that's a pretty cush job. As for everything being 'automated' that's a bunch of bull, and the fact is that if you make a mistake (one that doesn't hurt anyone, like filling out paperwork incorrectly) you can lose your license and your livelihood and possibly go to prison.
I get sick of people thinking pilots have it so easy, it's a much more difficult job than most people think.
I live near an airport and know quite a few commercial pilots and they do make 6 figures..and that's at the beginning of their career. Now flight attendants, they make way too much money for what they do. No formal education necessary(6 week training course) and only work two days a week. I have several family members and friends that are flight attendants. I would take that job in a heartbeat if offered to me.
Also one thing that most people don't factor in as well, is that hourly, a lot of the investment bankers don't make such exorbitant amounts of money. Sure they might make 1mil a year, but at 80-100 hours a week, that's two to two and half times as much work as most people put in. There was a break down of of the typical investment banker salary with all the hours put in and it was kind of funny to see how little hourly they make.
I don't believe it ---- do you have a source for that?
The head of a typical public company made $9.6 million in 2011, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.
And many CEOs make much more --- 2011 compensation for the CEOs of: : Wells Fargo $17.9 million---- Ford $29.5 million---- Verizon $23 million----Exxon $25 million.
In my opinion under-paid: janitors and cleaners, fast-food workers, child-care workers.
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