My wife thinks I’m being ripped off by my boss making a $90k salary as a third year associate at a small firm in a mid-sized city, and that I should be making at least $125k base. I keep trying to convince her that I have a good situation right now working from home only about 5 hours per day and don’t want to rock the boat. Who is right??

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Posting as :
works at
You are currently posting as works at

Think of it this way: you have a part time job that pays $90k a year. There are more important things than money.

likesmart

Sorry about that.....got to thinking how nice it would be to work 25 hours a week and still make 90k. With that setup I could devote 10-20 hours a week to starting a small business or do some gig work that interests me and still have more personal time than I do. If money is really an issue, I'd pursue that over rocking this particular boat.

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As someone who works 12 hours a day for twice your salary, in DC, your salary and workload is a dream come true. Of course salaries will vary depending on the type of practice and the city, but working 5 hours a day for nearly 100k is completely unheard of. You can spend time with her and afford date night at a nice restaurant in a midsized city every week easy. I hope she appreciates that.

I haven’t had a date night with my husband in a year. I work all the fucking time. Money is most definitely not everything, not even close

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That sounds like the dream job and if anything you are getting the better end of that deal. For the positions that are paying 125 you could (and most likely would) be expected to work twice that amount or even 3x. Is your wife an attorney or does she know about the expectations at higher paying jobs? Does she ever want to see you? Do you need the 35k extra you could make in order to trade every waking hour of your life? These are questions that you need to consider

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Depends on what you do, where you are, and if your wife knows anything at all about the legal market. I would agree that seeking a job where you could work more and earn more could be worth a try in 2021

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5 hours a day is amazing. But also curious what field you’re in.

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I used to make $90k in a small city and worked 60-70 hours a week in an unsupportive office. I bailed and make a lot more money now, but I also still work 50-60 hour weeks. Your deal sounds amazing. Take up a hobby or two. Start a side hustle (not law-related bc that probably violates your employer's policies). Just chill more. The world is your oyster!

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Don’t mean to scare you, but speaking from experience, when you’re getting paid decently for not working that much (I’m guessing this is meant to be a full time job?), that is not sustainable and you’re at risk for getting laid off. So it might be in your interest to take a look at and keep an eye on what’s out there.

Have no idea whether you’re getting ripped off, really depends on what’s standard for your local market, size of firm, practice area etc.

Really depends what you guys are looking for as a couple (sounds like she wants more money for your family’s needs which is not crazy). No ones right or wrong, NAH, as they say on Reddit.

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I don’t think we need to jump to the conclusion that OP is at risk of being laid off. There is no indication that his/her current hours are any less than what they have always been at the firm. Instead it could be an alternative work/comp arrangement where the salary is based on the expectation that OP work the 5 hours a day.

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I also work in a small firm, mod city (95k population), started at $65k right out of law school for what's basically a 9 to 5, now almost 4 years on some extra responsibilities but making $105k. So I'm in a similar boat and extremely happy where I'm at.

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Are you billing 5 hours a day or working 5 hours a day? There’s a big difference. If you’re working that much I’ll happily switch with you.

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I make $105K in a mid-size city working 50-70 hour weeks. Your gig sounds pretty awesome to me.

I make about that much, am a 3rd year in a fairly large market (mid-sized firm), and have a billing requirement of 1850. I knew I was fairly underpaid, but yikes—these comments are making me think I need to negotiate.

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