What's your hourly wage? (tips, owner, $40k, moving)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Salaried, but if you compute the hours strictly based on xxxxx dollars per year, divided by 52 weeks, divided by 40 hours, it comes out to $36.05 per hour (75K/year).
Of course, I usually work more than 40 hours a week, but I also have good benefits such as a lot of paid time off, telecommuting privileges, and good health insurance as well as the usual profit sharing and I will be getting a promotion soon that will probably come out to another 10-15K per year, raising my salary to somewhere around 90K. When I was an independent consultant, I made $60/hr, but that work wasn't always consistent and I had to pay all taxes.
When I was a contractor for temp agencies (temp jobs usually lasting anywhere from a month to a year), my rate was $45-50/hr.
And, as others have said, for those of you that don't believe our salaries. Most of us who make these rates are anywhere from 45-50 years old and up. There are a few really young people on here that are the exception, and my hat's off to them. But, as you work through life you gain a lot of skills, accumulate education, and along with that comes temperate judgment, people skills, and a host of other things that justify the higher rates.
You know, fo those disbelieving of folks making over $40 an hour, consider this. I started my first full-time "career job" six months after college graduation (a BA in English) in 1984. That was let's see...25 years ago.
Larger salaries might make more sense if viewed in terms of salary history over decades. All of the jobs below were in the same field--writing/editing/corporate communications. I do not have an advanced degree, just the modest little liberal arts BA I started with:
My first job paid $14K per year. (1984, very bad job market for grads)
Next job paid $14.5K (1986)
Next job paid $16K (1987)
Next job was a temp editorial job paying $9/hr, or about $18K (1990)
Next permanent job paid $25K (1991)
Next job was a big jump to $31K (1992)
I stayed there for 6 years and after a series of promotions and merit raises made it up to $60K (1992-1998)
Left there and started my own freelance writing business and yearly earnings were anywhere from $35K-75K (1998-2004)
Back into fulltime employment and back down to $50K (2004)
Laid off and unemployed for 8 months (2007)
Current job: started at $78K, now at 81K after merit raise (2008)
New job will be $81K plus post adjustment (overseas) of 74% (2010)
Zentropa your job path and salaries over the years (even the time periods) almost exactly matches mine. Good post.
Why would you think that isn't possible. Thirty bucks an hour is chump change. I'm one of the chumps stuck with it.
I have one of my weekly checks sitting in front of me. It's a straight 40 hour check. Pay rate is $30.42 an hour. Gross is $1,216.80 per week.
These are my weekly deductions.
Federal tax----$74.76
FICA-OASDI---$70.55
FICA-HI---$16.50
Ohio state tax---$38.55
Pennsylvania unemployment tax--$0.73
Pennsylvania OPT---$1.00
Vision care---$2.53
accidental death/ dismemberment---$0.88
Medical family coverage---$72.92
Dental----$2.63
Union dues---$31.25 (bi-weekly)
Bring home pay---$905.50 during weeks with union dues taken out
I'm due a $1.50 an hour raise in January, but medical will go up more than what the raise covers. Sometimes we get some overtime, and performance bonuses, but I don't count on them.
Luckily, I live in one of the cheapest areas in the entire Country. My check goes pretty far around here. Now comes the kick in the teeth. This is pretty much the same hourly wage I was making in 1995 in the same position with the same airline. The only difference is back then we had free medical & dental, and there were enough empty seats that we could actually take advantage of the free flying.
I forgot to say that I am a Federally licensed aircraft mechanic.
Airframe & Power? I'm not one, but have been around enough to know that you people are like auto mechanics on steroids and can make anything work. High, HIGH level of skills and you work with tolerances down to the micro-micrometers. All of the air frame and power mechanics that I know also have very high IQs and usually have a hobby such as building rocket-fueled race cars from scratch that have engines so clean you could literally eat off of them..
If your kid shows some aptitude in math, actuarial work is still a pretty good field. It's fairly tough and the job market right now isn't the best but it certainly pays well.
$33.65 an hour, just hit 30, just started at my new job (was also unemployed for a decent span of time). My husband posted on this thread, younger than me, and is well into six figures in his 20s. We're lucky that we left the big city and relocated for better pay in a LCOL area.
However, our combined student loan bills are probably around.... $1100 per month. There's always a tradeoff.
I know; right? But I do believe some of them especially when benefits are added to the mix, and it should be. This is one of the reasons our economy is tanked and wages in many regards need to be re-adjusted or things are going to get worse for all of us. But that means adjusting a lot of other things too...I'm not looking forward to the next 5-10 years.
The economy would not be better off if everyone only made 20 an hour! Work hard, do a good job, and better yourself along the way and the rest comes easy.
Like I was told by one of the best people I ever worked for:
"some people get paid for what they do, and some people get paid for what they know"
Airframe & Power? I'm not one, but have been around enough to know that you people are like auto mechanics on steroids and can make anything work. High, HIGH level of skills and you work with tolerances down to the micro-micrometers. All of the air frame and power mechanics that I know also have very high IQs and usually have a hobby such as building rocket-fueled race cars from scratch that have engines so clean you could literally eat off of them..
I work with 7 A&P mechanics and what you said is sooo true. Unfortunately, if you get a bunch of knowledgable A&P mechanics in a room (or hangar) together and they're bored all kinds of interesting and destructive stuff can and will happen
Someone asked people to mention their career - I'm an on-site massage therapist. Graduated right as the market tanked in my area and 2/5 major employers in my area closed. So I charge a rate that makes my instructors cringe: $40/hr within city limits. National average according to the trade magazines and my alma mater is between $65-$90/hr. My eventual goal is $65/contact hour with a client goal of 20 clients/contact hours per week between parties, corporate work, and single-client massages and body treatments.
Blessedly my husband is a veteran with a living stipend while he's in college so I'm able to charge what our local market will bear right now, work with the limited amount of clients able to pay that much and not hurt our financial situation. I'm also looking to go to work at a franchise massage botique a half hour away for a heart-sickening $15/hr for their corporate insurance and to expand my skills.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
) together and they're bored all kinds of interesting and destructive stuff can and will happen 
