The Disclose your Salary Thread

ThePrettyDamned

I don't mind disclosing mine because NHS salary is public anyway - just look at the bandings on the website and you'll know it all. I've actually never had much of a problem with it, but I understand if salaries are negotiated. For example, a friend of mine got an interview for a job and got it, negotiating a wage of 28k per year (not bad at all). Another new starter said he managed to push for 30k per year and now my mate feels like he undersold himself. Silly, really, he's not got much in expenses but he values money above all else in this world and, as such, will always strive towards happiness while never quite achieving it.

jonnyburgo

As my job entails working with humans to improve their lives I don't earn very much, tis the way of the world

thomasross20

Not enough given the complexity, stress and sometimes mental hours of the job. 

I'm relatively young but pushing for principal - if it weren't for the fact somebody in my office might be wide-eyed (or not) and it wouldn't create a sh!tstorm, I'd post.

Started work in 2007/8 and somebody recently joked I doubled my starting salary to get to where I am now, which may or may not be true. Engineering starting salaries £20-35k. Senior-principal roles here pay £40-70k (tops, I'd say). Bonus a couple grand a year if we get it. Pension close to 10% and other usual benefits. Saved a shed load due to personal choices (living at home for years). 

Could get a lot more in USA. Got offered between 70k & 80k Euros in Munich a few years back. Wont ever get banking or IT or oil & gas salaries. Mate of mine is on about the same salary in Aberdeen but when he's out of office (even just in Newcastle) he gets £5k a month AFTER tax - crikey! He's paid off his mortgage age 31.

Engineering salaries start relatively high and plateau quickly. I'd do something else for same-ish money, probably. Keeping up with technology is a pain at times.

fields5069

I'm on 50k working as a senior network designer for a mobile operator. To be honest I'm not really satisfied with that, but that's mostly the fault of the cost of living. I should be very comfortable, but I'm not by any stretch. I should probably add that there's about 20% annual bonus on top of that, plus company car. the bonus just seems to pay off the overdraft, and leave a float which dwindles down to zero in about 3 months.

thomasross20

@paulmapp8306 that's pretty good going!
Same for that IT guy - wow!

There are threads like this on other forums - mse and the like. 
It's surprising just how little a lot of people earn. And how big a few do!
American forums mentioning this... are really eye-opening - they get paid a lot more in general. A LOT more. 
But work a lot more, too....

octatonic

thomasross20 said:

@paulmapp8306 that's pretty good going!
Same for that IT guy - wow!

There are threads like this on other forums - mse and the like. 
It's surprising just how little a lot of people earn. And how big a few do!
American forums mentioning this... are really eye-opening - they get paid a lot more in general. A LOT more. 
But work a lot more, too....

Having lived in the US twice now we thought we'd have much more disposable income than we did in the UK but it didn't quite work out that way.
Most things have to have tax paid on top of the price listed.
Basic services are sometimes quite expensive- IIRC back in 2006 we were paying something like 50% of our combined income in rent and bills.
High earners in the US then have to pay property taxes, which in places like New Jersey are extortionate something like 2.2%.
So on a $500k house (not much in NJ) you'd be paying circa $11k a year just in property tax.

When all was said and done we ended up in basically the same situation in terms of disposable income as we did in the UK.

quarky

Oh forgot about my bonus. About £13k, but once tax is taken out, it doesn't do much more than pay for my yearly train ticket, so I don't really much of it!

US salaries can be high. There seems to be a much bigger spread there, so a lot of people on a lot of money, and a lot of very little. And of course they have to pay for health coverage.

octatonic

quarky said:

Oh forgot about my bonus. About £13k, but once tax is taken out, it doesn't do much more than pay for my yearly train ticket, so I don't really much of it!

US salaries can be high. There seems to be a much bigger spread there, so a lot of people on a lot of money, and a lot of very little. And of course they have to pay for health coverage.

... and you effectively pay twice.
Something we didn't realise about the US is health care costs so much but you still have a co pay.
So firstly you pay money to an insurance company.
Then when you need to use the policy you pay the deductible, which in the case of my asthma medication was about $50 an inhaler.
This was on top of my medical insurance which was something like $150 a month.

I pay £8.40 for my prescriptions here, though of course taxes are higher.
God forbid if I ever became properly ill in the US.

thomasross20

Think my counterparts get about 150k on the east side. Have a friend in San Fran on a bit more but he says he was better off in Munich, and now works longer. Better lifestyle, though, apparently.

That's interesting to hear, @octatonic! Edinburgh is actually pretty good. I wouldn't move south for an extra £10-20k as cost of living here is much cheaper, even if the weather does suck.

Not all about money though - I'm sure I could push 60-65k by moving but I like where I work (though it's getting more corporate).

Emp_Fab

dindude said:

Ha, didn't know which way this thread would go, thought it would be shot down in an instant TBH. Fair play to those who are just happy to talk about it. Don't quite get why it being on a public forum is controversial to others. Do get why it's a matter of personal taste as whether to declare it or not, hence why I'm not going to!..




So, you start a thread asking for people to disclose their salaries and yet you feel OK then declaring that you refuse to do so yourself ??

Wow..    and not in a good way.

jellyroll

I would disclose if it were in the interests of contributing to a meaningful discussion but this isn't really one of those. I'm also mindful of the fact that many members are low paid or unemployed and would like to be sensitive to that.

Cabicular

Having said that the guy I bought a house from had a last declared salary of over 2 million!

Chuffola

I think, if there is any value in this thread, you'd need to know the ages of the various participants.  I'd *expect* the older ones to have higher salaries but that might not be the case.

But, overall, I can't see any positive outcomes from a thread like this.  

not_the_dj

http://www.abelandcole.co.uk/media/446_2890_z.jpg

thomasross20

Considering what some other folk talk about, I don't this thread is particularly harsh!

dindude

Emp_Fab said:

dindude said:

Ha, didn't know which way this thread would go, thought it would be shot down in an instant TBH. Fair play to those who are just happy to talk about it. Don't quite get why it being on a public forum is controversial to others. Do get why it's a matter of personal taste as whether to declare it or not, hence why I'm not going to!..




So, you start a thread asking for people to disclose their salaries and yet you feel OK then declaring that you refuse to do so yourself ??

Wow..    and not in a good way.

Yes, I feel very comfortable with this. I honestly thought it would be seen for what it is, a bit of light hearted jibe at the fact that no one talks about it, and sure enough the first page of responses pretty much nail what I was expecting back.

I'm not that precious about it though so I'll PM you my salary if you really want to know.

quarky

I don't know what people will get from the thread either. Ultimately a lot of people spend more when they earn more, so they are no better off in many ways than people on a smaller salary. There are two sides to financial happiness and what you bring in is only one. You also need to manage what you spend. So being frugal at the supermarket, cutting down on meals out, not having expensive holidays, all those count for just as much. There are plenty of people who earn a lot of money but can't save it. They spend it on expensive toys/junk, which have no real value long term.

So you can quite easily have a family income of £40k, and be better off than someone on £100k, even if they have the flash house and the flash car. Especially if you can start planning when you are younger and use compound interest over the long term.

Snap

dindude said:

Don't quite get why it being on a public forum is controversial to others. Do get why it's a matter of personal taste as whether to declare it or not, hence why I'm not going to!

IMO its a private matter, as is your naked body. I wouldn't publish reveals of either in the public domain.

Further, for me, what someone earns isn't important, so I have no desire to know.

Say, for example, someone on here revealed themselves to be significantly wealthy, It could be thrown back at them in the future during an exchange of views in a separate topic, no doubt on several occasions - "well you would say that, you're minted".

Maybe, maybe not.

In an online community, IMO, salaries just aren;t relevant. One of the many things that is great about an online forum is that everyone is levelled because there are no other pieces of info on which to judge someone other than how they interact on the board. IN that regard, it makes a welcome relief from daily politics and carry on. This is another reason why I don't think its a topic for me, the discussion of salaries.

Emp_Fab

It's not about ME knowing,  it's about your reluctance to disclose yourself! Ignoring the obvious hypocrisy for a moment,  you state that you are interested in the reasons behind people's reluctance (as am I)  yet then exhibit that same reluctance and don't explain  WHY  you feel that way.

Emp_Fab

Also,  if you were really interested in the psychology of people's reluctance,  why not start a thread asking why people feel reluctant instead of one specifically asking what their salary is?