Your Salary - Do you share or keep it private?

• FatHobbit

  

  thedynasty1998 wrote: Many school districts will pay for part of the tuition to get a masters.

  True, but you still have to get it. I don't consider $24/hour excessive for that amount of education.
• gorocks99

  

  I make $20/hour w/ a master's. Boo 50 hour work week.
• This_DJ_3

  I got a job in a factory making $21/hr (not counting overtime or holiday/sunday pay) fresh out of college doing manual labor. I worked that job for 5 years and recently got a "promotion" to the salary side of the company as an account rep. that promotion included a pay-cut of $18,000 a year. Ofcourse i'll get raises based on my quarterly evaluations, but to start with it was a tremendous pay-cut to work a regular 9-5 schedule desk job as opposed to swing shift factory work.
  
  But i'm not offended if people ask me how much money i make. It does depend on the motive whether or not i believe that person is trying to use it against me in some way, or just curious.
• sleeper

  

  I make big cash stacks in my business. No one really knows my salary, not even the government, but when they see me riding they gotta be like "damn, he got ca$h for days", and you can take that to the bank.
• Firad

  

  sleeper wrote: I make big cash stacks in my business. No one really knows my salary, not even the government, but when they see me riding they gotta be like "damn, he got ca$h for days", and you can take that to the bank.

  Street Pharmacist?
• brutus161

  

  I don't get paid by the hour, but I figured out for a 40 hour work week. I make $33.65 an hour. Not bad for being in the military.
• GoChiefs

  

  ZWICK 4 PREZ wrote: I make 1 dolla.

  And you's a lyin' motha fucka too!
• j_crazy

  

  my motto for work:
  
  "They don't pay me for what I do, they pay me for what I'm capable of."
• GoChiefs

  

  Nope..doesn't matter to me if anyone knows..as a matter of fact..the state is paying me $375 a week to sit at home in my recliner..plus they are paying 10 grand for me to go to a welding school right now 5 hours a day...if/when I get called back to work..i'll be back at $24 an hour. Plus about $20,000 annually from Ebay. Guess you could consider that part of my 'salary'.
• jmog

  Teachers are paid fine for the hours/days they work, anyone who says otherwise can't do the math and doesn't know what other degree'd professionals make out of college.
  
  As an engineer my salary is nice, but since my salary is the same regardless if I work 40 hrs or 60 (usually closer to 60) my actual pay per hour worked isn't much better than teachers.
  
  If you figure my "hourly wage" on 40 hrs vs my actual hours worked I "lose" well over $10/hr.
• Belly35

  

  My salary is like a iceburg Only see so much on the top It better that way
  
  I share my salary with no one (but the wife)
• j_crazy

  

  I will say, I'm 24 and my base salary for this year ('09) was 6 figs. it was BARELY 6 figs, but still... Nice.
• hog hauler

  

  I keep it private
• fan_from_texas

  Talking about salary is a double-edged sword. If you don't talk about it, the market doesn't have much information, and employees tend to get screwed in those situations. It's better for all employees to be open about salary. At the same time, it can create a lot of jealousy and hurt feelings.
  
  My salary is pretty easy to track down online--any number of biglaw websites tally salary information, which is generally lock-step. I don't have any problem talking about money with immediate family (or Mrs. FFT's immediate family), but we don't go beyond there. If someone really cares, they can spend 5 minutes to look up how much I make (or at least the base salary--we're eligible for an up to 30% bonus, depending on a number of factors). But in our group of friends, I don't discuss it, period, as it can only lead to bad things (we're in a situation where we make very good money for people our age, so I don't see much upside to talking about it with other people). People tend to focus on the dollar figure and overlook the massive sacrifices (one day of vacation this year, average 60 hour work week, $150k of debt, very little control over my schedule, extremely intense and high-stress environment, literally always on call, etc.).
• fan_from_texas

  jmog wrote: Teachers are paid fine for the hours/days they work, anyone who says otherwise can't do the math and doesn't know what other degree'd professionals make out of college.

  Exactly. I'm not suggesting that we cut teacher pay, but the whole compensation package compares very favorably to similarly educated, intelligent, and skilled workers in the private sector.
• j_crazy

  

  teachers get paid too little in my opinion. I also think they don't work enough. Meaning, I think school should be longer than 180 days or whatever it is. 1 month off in the summer and 2 weeks for X-mas/ New Years, and the rest of the days keep pretty much the same.
• Sykotyk

  

  fan_from_texas wrote: Talking about salary is a double-edged sword. If you don't talk about it, the market doesn't have much information, and employees tend to get screwed in those situations. It's better for all employees to be open about salary. At the same time, it can create a lot of jealousy and hurt feelings.
  
  My salary is pretty easy to track down online--any number of biglaw websites tally salary information, which is generally lock-step. I don't have any problem talking about money with immediate family (or Mrs. FFT's immediate family), but we don't go beyond there. If someone really cares, they can spend 5 minutes to look up how much I make (or at least the base salary--we're eligible for an up to 30% bonus, depending on a number of factors). But in our group of friends, I don't discuss it, period, as it can only lead to bad things (we're in a situation where we make very good money for people our age, so I don't see much upside to talking about it with other people). People tend to focus on the dollar figure and overlook the massive sacrifices (one day of vacation this year, average 60 hour work week, $150k of debt, very little control over my schedule, extremely intense and high-stress environment, literally always on call, etc.).

  That's why you should calculate your total income over the total time taken out of your life by your job.
  
  $100k for 60hr/wk every week compared to $50k for 2000 hours a year isn't worth the trade off.
  
  I'm so glad I'm neither an hourly or salary employee. Not an employee at all. I work for myself and enjoy it. Take off when I want. Work when I want.
  
  There's tradeoffs for the money, but my goal is to not be working into my 60s, or 50s even if I can.
  
  Sykotyk
• bamagirl

  My significant other knows what I make, and I believe my mother might know. But other than that...it's private.
• GoChiefs

  

  j_crazy wrote: teachers get paid too little in my opinion.

  Step outside my house in Massillon..come look at the brainiacs we have gracing the sidewalks here..for the amount of work the teachers put in..and there results..I say they get paid more than enough.
• jmog

  My salary is easy to "guestimate" if you care to use google. But no, I don't divulge exact figures.
  
  6 years experience, chemical engineer, with a masters...that information alone will get you in the ballpark.
  
  I do agree with FFT, while inside the workplace complete salary divulgence can lead to a bad thing, "anonymous" divulging through the right services is a great thing so workers know what their market value is worth.
  
  If I didn't know my market value there is no way I would have been able to land a job (the one I'm at now) where I make anywhere from 30-55% (depending on yearly bonus) more than I did at my previous job.
• j_crazy

  

  I also think it depends where you work. because my company pays like 85k for chem e's with no masters right out of school.
• jpake1

  

  Someday, I wish that I can be as successful as some of you guys.
• se-alum

  

  FFT wrote: People tend to focus on the dollar figure and overlook the massive sacrifices (one day of vacation this year, average 60 hour work week, $150k of debt, very little control over my schedule, extremely intense and high-stress environment, literally always on call, etc.).

  I've always said that the 2 jobs I would never do for the money are being a Doctor or Lawyer(not that I'm qualified for either). The stress, hours, and sacrifices you have to make for those jobs are only worth it if it is your true passion.
• fan_from_texas

  se-alum wrote: I've always said that the 2 jobs I would never do for the money are being a Doctor or Lawyer(not that I'm qualified for either). The stress, hours, and sacrifices you have to make for those jobs are only worth it if it is your true passion.

  Quick story about quality of life in a law firm:
  

  "Jeremy, a mid-level associate at a large New York law firm (Firm A), thought he had a bad cold. One night while toiling on a brief due in a week, his condition worsened. "I couldn't breathe, and I thought I was going to pass out." He called the partner, notorious for working her teams hard even in the absence of deadlines, and told her he was seriously ill, and that he thought it best to leave. She told him to "tough it out," and stay to finish the brief. Jeremy stayed all night and left the office the next morning. On his way home, he fainted on the train.
  
  Jeremy's wife picked him up and drove him to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with acute pneumonia and dehydration. When he called the firm to tell them what had happened, they sent him a copy of the file and told him to get back to work on the brief upon discharge.
  
  The incident upset Jeremy so much that he found a position at another law firm (which was, at the time, still possible). "I couldn't believe how inhumane they were at Firm A," he recalls bitterly. "They treated me — and all of the associates — like we were disposable. If I had succumbed at my desk, I'm pretty sure they would have kicked my body out of the way and installed someone else to finish that brief."
  
  (link)

  While my employer is more reasonable than that, that sort of mindset is absolutely out there, and several friends report similar experiences. It's a crazy profession.
• JTizzle

  My summer work is on a contract basis, with a weekly salary and get paid for almost every time I have to go back. It has been cut a lot the last few years because the economy. I work for a non-profit org. so money is very tight. I was the highest paid though but only two are on the payroll the CEO and me.
  
  My part time job is some money but it sucks, we are not supposed to discuss our wages with fellow employees.