How much do you really need as a salary? Give me a number and why?

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I guess I’ll be the one to seem greedy and never satisfied.

$300K+. I don’t want to just own an apartment in NYC, but I want a great one. I want my kids in private school. I want private parking everywhere I go. And I don’t want to live modestly.

Born and raised in this city. Grew up in housing projects. I know what it was to buy groceries with food stamps, go to schools with metal detectors, experience one-way 2-hour subway commutes daily, and I want the other extreme now. I was also underpaid as a professional for a long time in a check-to-check existence, and have a lot of making up to do.

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I spent a chunk of time as a freelancer/entrepreneur building my own businesses before joining agencies later in my 20s. Didn’t crack $100K until I was in my 30s; $150K post-35. Granted I’m a bit smarter than I was a decade ago, but I hated the uncertainty.

Climbing the ladder feels like the right approach for me right now. As close as I can get to the c-suite feels like the right goal. Brand side opportunities are coming in at a $10-15K pay cut, so getting to a VP at ~$250K before hitting 40, at least, feels right.

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110k in NYC as a bare minimum. I like my current apartment, and that’s the number that allows me to pay rent, save money, contribute to my 401k, and occasionally treat myself.

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I’m making this now and agree.

I know this will turn into a lot of people saying “I lived in NYC for $50k and was super comfortable, etc.” but around $115k for a single person let’s you have good apartment and you don’t have to think about money on a day to day basis.

Basically all your bases are easily covered and you can start putting money away into savings and still treat yourself.

Once you hit around $150k is probably when you start feeling like you’re making visible progress with building your net worth if you’re smart with your money.

When I was married our income between both our jobs and my successful side business was around $300k (pre tax… that tax bill was rough) and we literally never thought about money. Neither of us were big spenders but not having any money worries was a blessing… and we were able to save around $600k in around 6 years.

Now I make about $115k between my salary and side business. I don’t think much about money on a daily level but I feel a little pressure that I’m not building wealth

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What kinda side business?

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I’m in the U.K. but I’d say around 250k and I’d be content. You only make that as an ECD / CCO though.

That would give me enough to save, invest, raise a family, and allow my partner not to work if she doesn’t want to.

I have family friends who are hedge funders / bankers that clear 1Mil+ a year and past a certain amount your life doesn’t get that different / better, just a few more houses and toys

A family and decent marriage seems to be what makes them tangibly happy. Money deffo helps with that though.

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@Creative1 that’s a good question, I’m not attaching any fulfilment to job titles or accolades in this industry. In all likelihood, from a statistical perspective, I likely won’t become an ECD/CCO.

My ambition is to run my own business, that’s when I’ll feel happy. Irrespective of how successful it is.

I probably have misunderstood the question, but 250k is probably the number where I’d feel comfortable.

I’d say in most places in the US, $125k single and $200k as a family is where things get truly comfortable and $200k single and $300k as a family is where if you make beyond that it’s more about spending the rest on luxuries vs necessities. Now one can make a lot of arguments about how we can get by with far less or how some cities like NYC drain accounts faster, both being valid. This is just my rough estimate.

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Question: shouldn’t you get paid according to the value you bring to the company instead of just what would be the basic standard of living?

It’s a two-way street and you’re the cost of doing business. If business is good (or bad) as a direct result of your efforts, your value should be part of the equation. No?

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Sorry but I need what my value is. Should the question have been how much do you need to to live comfortably or what’s your standard of living then? I don’t base my salary off living conditions but instead how much I bring to the table.

$150* because I’m like a sommelier mated with an orchid grower—finding the best ideas/people and cultivating them to grow business.

*high for region-specific salary pricing

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How much do I need? Probably 100k. How much will it take for me to do this job? 250k

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Are you on 250k now?

We live in Manhattan with a family and our annual cost of living is $120k after tax. So we’d be breaking even each month on a roughly $200-250k ish salary. That’s rent, childcare, food, public school, utilities, subway passes etc.

smart

120k, NYC. I'm making 100k now and feel I'd be more comfortable at that pay level

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125k was the magic number for me in NYC - as others have said it was the point where I didn’t constantly feel worried about money. Would have been a little lower but I spent years contending with credit card debt accumulated from trying to live like I already made that when I was making half as much 🤦🏻‍♂️

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