Historically, “making six figures” has been to income earners what “becoming a millionaire” has been for those tracking their net worths — a lofty goal achieved by only a select few. And while neither a six-figure earner nor a millionaire can bask in the luxury they could a couple decades ago, there’s no doubt that earning over $100,000 a year still puts you in a select group.
In fact, the U.S. Census Bureau says that only 5.63% of individual income earners and only 17.8% of households had incomes of $100,000 or more in 2006. So despite the drop in purchasing power from the days of old, if you earn $100k or more each year, you’re still in an elite group.
How can you get into the six-figure club? There are many roads to this golden path (lottery, inheritance, take over a family business, etc.), but many, if not all, of these are out of your control. As such, I’m going to focus on what I consider to be the method that will give the most people the greatest chance of earning $100k or more — by developing a career and growing it over time. Specifically, I’m going to tell you how I got to six figures in seven years and how you can use these principles to do the same.
Words of Warning
You’re probably skeptical. I’m okay with that at this point. Read on with an open mind and I think you’ll be pleased. And while I can assure you that the tips below are proven and repeatable, I must admit that they’re also challenging. Therefore I’d like to make the following perfectly clear before I get started:
These suggestions are difficult to follow. They require tough choices, time commitments, sacrifice, discipline and a bunch of other traits that most people don’t want to bother with. If they did, many more workers would make six figures. That’s their choice, of course, but these same people should then not complain that the steps won’t work (or are too hard or whatever.) This piece is not titled “Five EASY Steps to Six Figures in Seven Years” for a reason — they are not easy.
There are exceptions to these principles. Probably many exceptions. Just as with any personal finance advice, people’s situations, skills, opportunities, personalities, likes, dislikes, and so on are different. What works for one person may or may not work for another. (As J.D. often says, “Do what works for you.”)
I’m cheating a bit. Just to be completely honest, the seven years noted in the title are post-college (in my case post grad school.) One could argue that those years of schooling should count towards earning six figures. If you’d like to count them, go ahead. But “Five Steps to Six Figures in Thirteen Years” just doesn’t have the same ring to it as the current title.
These tips will work. They worked for me. This is exactly what I did to earn six figures in seven years. In addition, I’ve had many friends and colleagues do the same, so I know it’s repeatable — if you follow the steps.
I’ll end this preamble by saying I’m not trying to brag (though I realize some of this may sound like it), just offer you a first-hand experience of what worked for me. In fact, if you want to see how much humble pie I’ve had to eat during my career, read my series detailing all the jobs I’ve ever held. In it, you’ll see that my road was not smooth or without its own challenges. But even with those obstacles I’ve been able to live out the principles that follow and lead to a six-figure income. I hope you can do the same.
That said, here are my five steps to six figures in seven years.
Step One: Get a High-Earning Degree From a Good School
It’s a fact of life that certain college degrees result in a higher earning potential. So graduating in one of these fields gives you a built-in jump on the pack as you try to reach six figures quickly. If you want to be a teacher, that’s fine; it’s a great and noble profession. But it’s likely you won’t be able to make six figures quickly (if ever). If you focus on the top few degrees (and the professions associated with them), you’ll get a big headstart towards reaching your goal.
Note that I suggest you go to a “good” school. In my opinion, you do not need to go to a top-notch college to make this work. I recommend going to the least expensive school that gets you the degree you need and the initial job you want. Once you do this, the school you attended makes very little difference in your career or earning potential.
I went to a top 25 business school (not top 10 or even top 20), but I left with only $5,000 in debt and the job I desired from my targeted employer. Before I decided to go to my school, I knew the employer I wanted to work for recruited there. You should know the same. Just like a résumé’s main purpose is to get you an interview, graduating from college’s primary purpose is to get you that first job and often a “good” school can do the job just as well as a “top” college.
Step Two: Work for a Name-Brand Employer at Your First Job.
No matter the field, there are certain companies that have an aura of respect around them — companies that are known to be good trainers and that are admired by people in your field, around the country, and, if good enough, the world. Some of these include: Google, Apple, Disney, Nike, Procter and Gamble, the Mayo Clinic, Pixar, McKinsey, and so on.
There are two main reasons you want to work for a top-notch company:
They generally pay well (though maybe not the best), and you certainly want to have as high of a starting salary as possible, and
Working for these companies gives your résumé an added boost since they are “known” to develop excellent workers. As such, they are companies that other companies recruit from, offering you more (and better) job opportunities in the future. Almost twenty years after I worked at one of these great companies I have colleagues, recruiters, and employers (when I’m interviewing) regularly say something like, “Wow, you worked there” or “You have some great experience” simply because I worked for a name-brand company two decades ago.
How can you get employed by one of these companies? Simple: go to a school where the company recruits (review Step One again). Beyond that, network with alumni, school administrators, and anyone else associated with your target company (or companies) to give yourself the best advantage of getting hired. I happened to know an undergraduate student that went to my target company during my second year of grad school. I kept in touch with him and he was instrumental in getting me hired (and we eventually became roommates).
Step Three: Perform
There’s no way getting around it — if you want to be on the earnings fast-track, you need to be on the high-end of the performance scale. What does this mean exactly? It means you need to find out what your employer expects of someone in your position and give them much more than that. If your expectation is to save the company $50,000, work to save it $100,000. If you need to grow sales 7%, work to grow them 12%. If your goal is to get five new customers ordering your product, work to get eight. If you over-deliver versus your expectations and so consistently and with a variety of different projects, you will be a high-level performer and receive a commensurate level of financial rewards.
In addition, you can really super-charge your performance (and thus your pay) if you work on any of the following:
Problem projects (turning them from problems to advantages for the company)
Important, high-profile assignments that get you noticed by those higher up in the organization, and
Big businesses that are vital to the company’s success.
Of course, these opportunities are a double-edged sword — they can propel your career if you succeed, but they can also devastate it if you crash-and-burn.
Finally, having a good, pleasant attitude is at least a tie-breaker (some say it’s more) that will help you advance in your career. Everyone likes performers with good attitudes more than performers with poor attitudes, so be positive — it might just pay off for you (literally).
Step Four: Manage Your Career Aggressively
Big pay bumps, even for high fliers, don’t usually come with the frequency or size that they should. After all, many employers are quite happy giving you the least they can even if you’re slam-dunking projects left and right. That’s why you need to:
Regularly ask for raises (FYI, if you’re doing Step Three, asking for and getting a raise becomes a whole lot easier).
Ask for promotions when available (these usually include a decent salary bump).
Network regularly with people both inside and outside the company. Some of these interactions will help you discover opportunities for advancement.
Consider moving companies. This can be a good strategy since many of the biggest increases in both pay and responsibility can be found with a company shift — especially if you’re moving from one of the companies listed in Step Two.
The main point I want to emphasize here is you can’t allow your career to be on auto-pilot. If you do, you’ll get auto-pilot raises and auto-pilot opportunities, and you’ll severely limit your chances for making the big bucks. But if you work at it, you can get regular, meaningful salary increases — something that’s even more important than starting with a high starting salary.
J.D.’s note: This seems like a good place to add a brief interjection. As you move from job-to-job, remember the importance of knowing how to negotiate your salary. One of the best ways to earn more is to ask for it.
Step Five: Have Some Luck
I hate that this is on the list, but I have to be honest: Luck is a factor in the success of your career. The reason I hate it is that it’s the one tip you can influence the least (if at all). Sure, you can try to make your own luck by putting yourself in the right situations, accepting the right jobs, selecting the best employers and so on, but ultimately, much of life and the results of work are out of your hands.
All I can suggest here is to look at all the pros and cons of a job change, promotion, business situation, etc. and consider them carefully — trying to maximize the number of events where luck is in your favor and minimizing the ones where you get bad luck. Also learn to ride good luck as long as you can and cut your losses as quickly as possible when bad luck shows up.
Conclusion
That’s it. Those are the five steps I used to grow my income to six figures in seven years, and they’re the same tips that have helped me maintain my income growth past that point. I can’t guarantee that they’ll get you to six figures in seven years, but I can say that if you apply them to your career, I’m pretty confident that your income will grow much faster than it would have if you had not applied them.
Some of you may be thinking “That’s great advice — I wish I had it 20 years ago.” In other words, you’re past the point where a few of these steps work, so what can you do now to increase your income? My suggestion is to get into the process above at the earliest possible step.
For example, if you think it’s worth it and you have the time and money, consider going back to school (step one) to get a new/better degree. If this isn’t a possibility or not very practical, start networking your way into a name-brand company (step two). And if this isn’t feasible, everyone can at least start with step three no matter where they are in their career.
The later you jump into the process, the less impact it’s likely to have on the goal of reaching six figures. However, applying even just the latter steps (especially three and four) will allow you to grow your income far more than it would if simply left to drift on its own.
John Nardini is the founder of Free Money Finance and ESI Money. John is an early-50s retiree who achieved financial independence, shares what's worked for him, and details how others can implement those ideas in their own lives.
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There are 145 comments to "Five steps to six figures in seven years".
nickel says15 October 2009 at 05:28
Hmmm. I was looking for six steps to make seven figures in eight years, but I guess this will have to do. Regarding #5, I think you’re underselling the importance of making your own luck. What many attribute to “luck” is being in the right place at the right time, and you *do* have a reasonable amount of control over that.
Great tips. I think the first tip may turn people off because it goes against the “do what you love” mantra that I see so much. I broke the six figure mark two years into my career, but I specifically chose a high earning major rather than one that interested me. And yes, it’s possible to be successful in a field you don’t care for. I don’t expect my job to be the be all and end all of my life satisfaction. Instead, I use my job to fund my passions (and a possible second career in the arts). Different strokes and all.
Hello Cara. Two years is very impressive–top 1% I would assume. May I ask what your major was?
I’ve been working for 5 years as an engineer via computer science, and my pay has increased thus far by $10k (now @ $60k), and is below average according to salary comparison sites. It does bother me.
Certainly you can “make your own luck” by trying to make smart choices, but often it’s a very random process.
For instance, you make a “good” career decision/move and a year later the company is sold and priorities are shifted. Or you take a job to work for a leading “expert” in your industry. Six months later, his wife takes a job across the country and he’s moving with her. Or the economy tanks and hits your industry especially hard. Or the economy tanks and your industry benefits.
You can see how random many of these things are. The changes can be for better or worse, but they are (for the most part) out of your control — and mostly unforseeable.
I like those ideas. The problem with #1 is that a lot of people don’t know their intended career before college. Often it takes internships or classes to figure out what one would like to do.
I think a lot of step 5 involves networking and meeting people. The luck part will come when the people you meet refer you to good jobs.
As a side note to being positive, learn to resist the urge to say “There’s no way to do that!” You may think you are being a realist, but the people who approach unsolvable problems by saying “Let’s see what we can do about this” come across much better to superiors, even if ultimately the project fails as you predicted.
Look at it this way: If the project succeeds, and you said it couldn’t be done, you look bad for not recognizing the solution. If the project fails, and you said it couldn’t be done, then people suspect that you are secretly happy to be proven right, so it tarnishes your image. But if the project fails, and you were trying everything you could to help salvage it, people will remember that you were putting in effort to try to make things work. And if the project succeeds despite the odds, you get a lot of glory for making the impossible possible.
RE: Step one–I tried going for the high-earning degree, and I was miserable for the first two years of college. So miserable that, despite being a type-A overachiever, the thought of quitting school briefly crossed my mind. When I changed my major, I was suddenly excited to go to class, though I knew I wouldn’t make a ton of money out of school with that degree.
I think if you can compartmentalize your life, you can be happy in a highly-paid career that isn’t your passion, but it seems it’s not something I can do. And I’m okay with that, and if I never make six figures, I’m okay with that, too. I have to be excited by something to be good at it.
I am so glad that this post was in my rss feed this morning.
I have a question:
I have moved rather bumpy through steps 1-3, it really hasn’t been easy at all. I have been struggling lately with WHEN to switch companies (are there any signals besides higher wage)? Also when is a good time to as for a raise (signals?)?
I am at a great company and preforming well – I can tell my co-workers think I am going to leave any day because of the innovation and performance I bring.
I think part of it might be that I can network well, but I just don’t know where I should be networking. I also have degrees in both technology and finance — I don’t know which avenue is best to pursue… I am really confused right now… I guess I need to focus my attention — I just don’t know where……
For a while, making six-figures was something I wanted to do. Now, I’m not so sure. I’m pretty confident I could do it in my life, I’m just not sure that the cost is worth it… The time & energy expended could be better put towards my hobby and developing that into something productive, so I’ve only ever planned on using my degree part-time. (Eventually, perhaps not at all.) Though full-time at first, to gain experience and pay off those nasty student loans…
I think if you can compartmentalize your life, you can be happy in a highly-paid career that isn’t your passion, but it seems it’s not something I can do. And I’m okay with that, and if I never make six figures, I’m okay with that, too. I have to be excited by something to be good at it.
Yes. I think not enough is said about things like personality, natural aptitude, etc. I am introverted and have low energy. I will never be successful if I use the definition of success as making a lot of money in business or something. If I change the definnition of success to mean being happy and learning to make the most of my life despite any limitations I was born with, then yes, I am successful.
I read on a blog once that in order to be successful people should “be extraverted.” You can’t change how your brain is wired, sorry. It’s not a matter of just learning social skills. I have plenty of social skills. I can “perform” for a while, but then I’m drained. I can’t keep it up. Telling people to just make themselves be extraverted shows a complete misunderstanding and lack of knowledge about personality type.
I always value FMF’s career advice, the stuff he posts is spot-on in my experience and this is an epic and valuable post! Two points not mentioned (I think, maybe I missed them) – living in a big, expensive city will raise your “base” salary on which future raises will be based; and you can sub the name-brand school for a very in-demand specialty – nobody in the US knows the Irish college I went to, but you can be sure they respect the course content of the degree I got, which very few N.American universities offer.
Most of us are going to be at work 40-50 hrs a week for X years anyway, may as well maximize what you earn while you’re at it by using tactics like these and by “managing” your career carefully. It really does create options for you.
Glad to see something not recommending starting your own business as the only way to wealth.
Whether you’re working on your own business or working on a career, I’ve always said both take effort and planning to move forward and advance. It’s just more obvious and typically immediate for folks working at their own business that if they slack they lose.
Also hard work alone is not enough in either case. You have to have a vision for what you want in the future if you want to increase your income in your business or career. If you’re answer to the question “where do you see yourself in five years?” is “I don’t know.”, then you need to put some thought into it. Even if you love what you’re doing and decide you want to be doing basically the same thing in five years, at least give it some thought and plan on how to keep motivated doing it.
“These suggestions are difficult to follow. They require tough choices, time commitments, sacrifice, discipline and a bunch of other traits that most people don’t want to bother with.”
How about considering your life values and priorities first, before even contemplating which tough choices, time commitments, etc. are worth it to you?
My brother has followed the above career path to a T; he’s now in his mid-forties making well into the six figures as you describe. His various positions have required almost constant travel and time away from his family. I see the results in the negative behavior of his children and hope the price they ALL paid for his career & income level is worth it to them.
My DH and I decided early on that we value hands-on parenting and time spent with our children. Following that path requires its own tough choices, time commitments, and sacrifice. We don’t have a six-figure income right now, but we have a healthy net worth, which is more important to us.
I think anyone contemplating a career path on the basis of its high earning potential would also benefit from considering how that high income career (and the lifestyle associated with it) would align with their life values.
Hmm… I’m the poster girl for what not to do at work: (1) I don’t dress for the job I want…probably because I don’t know what job I want; (2) I don’t have a career plan; (3) I don’t suck up network; (4) I don’t have a filter between brain and mouth; and (5) I actively avoid the bigwigs because of 4.
Yet, I make six figures (and without ever having to negotiate my salary or my raises) because I have this wacky idea performance is what counts. Sure, I’ve been doing 60-100 hour work weeks since May, but I have a reputation for always meeting a deadline and being on budget. And whatever is thrown at me, from pulling together quarterly reports to managing IT projects to implementing a new process, I’ll do it.
Of course, the downside of being a performer is your current boss doesn’t want you to leave his department. I keep telling him as long as my raises are higher than the company AND industry averages, I’ll stick around.
Great tips–pretty much what I did. I set a goal for myself in 1998 to double my salary in 5 years, and I quadrupled it in that time. What worked for me were your tips to align yourself with a highly respected company, perform, manage career aggressively, and make your own luck. Most important of those was Perform.
In my “real life” as a wife and mother, my kids were so surprised to see me climb into that 5.63% because I’m far from a shark, and what they took away from my experience was “nice guys don’t have to finish last. Being nice can also pay off.”
#1 rule for advancing your life: Attitude is Everything
You all know how I feel about the importance of finding meaningful work. I think that focusing on money at the exclusion of other factors is generally a road to unhappiness. All the same, I think this is a great post.
FMF’s advice is not applicable to everyone. And I can see how some might interpret it as accepting (and joining) the rat race. All the same, I think many, many people can profit from his advice in this article. It’s possible to follow these steps and to be happy with a meaningful career. In fact, I’d argue that merging these two paths is the Holy Grail of employment.
What are the signs of a “good school”? How do you find out which companies recruit from which schools?
Also, would a company be interested in recruiting a 30-something? I assume they want employees they can mold which is why they recruit from colleges. They’re younger and more malleable.
@ Retirement Savior (#6) – As someone who changed majors five times in university, it’s not necessary to have your career planned out from the moment you take your first step. Essentially, a university degree proves you have the ability to learn. I programmed for Microsoft without a computer degree. I marketed for HP and Agilent Technologies without a marketing degree. I’m currently in a financial planning role, even though I’m not an accountant.
I prefer to go against the grain. This is the traditional route that most people think it the only way to life. I want to do something different and exciting!
1. If you don’t absolutely hate what you’re doing, the company, etc., then there probably aren’t going to be any clear signs when you should leave a particular company. I guess you could consider falling below the average payscale for your position (or whatever level you want to be above average) or lack of professional growth to be signs it’s time to move on, but those are often harder to pinpoint and can be moving targets.
2. It’s a good time to ask for a raise when you’ve been over-performing your job requirements for some time and have many quantifiable accomplishments you can point to. If you’re really knocking the ball out of the park (which I get from your comments, maybe I’m simply reading into them though), the fact that you’re valuable and worth more should be a no-brainer to your boss as well.
3. As for the tech versus finance option — that’s something you’ll need to decide. And obviously you’ll want to sort it out before you make any major career moves.
What are the signs of a “good school”? How do you find out which companies recruit from which schools?
A good school is a 4 year accredited University. They will have a career center that helps graduates find jobs and you can ask them for statistics on where graduates end up. If they are good, they will be proud of those statistics and gladly share them with you.
Also, would a company be interested in recruiting a 30-something? I assume they want employees they can mold which is why they recruit from colleges. They’re younger and more malleable.
Yes, of course they would hire a 30-something! First of all, 30 is still considered young in the corporate world. Second, good large companies have anti-discrimination policies anyway.
Agreed that this is an incredible post that works very well for “Type 1” personalities: Rule bound, rigid, and boring as heck.
My route to six figures was a bit more entrepreneurial, and (@ Marcy) I am an introvert (as are many entrepreneurs, so don’t lose heart.)
There are many paths to the goal, but the question you need to ask is:
*Is it worth it* (to me – to live this lifestyle in order to make this kind of salary).
One bit of advice that has helped me reach my income goals went something like this:
“Try to find employment with compensation that is *results oriented*”.
For me, that led to a commission structure, and project oriented compensation rather than a salary.
The point is: “Different strokes for different folks”.
I loved this post, and I am certain that if you want to be an accountant, or in some corporate capacity, this will work for you.
Just realize, that if you dance to the beat of your own drum, you are going to have to write the music too. There may not be a ‘script’ for you to follow.
B Smith || Education 2.0 says15 October 2009 at 07:36
FMF – Good post. I pretty much agree with what you said, and I’m living proof that doing it will take you from near poverty to a six figure income in just a few years. For me it wasn’t a charted path, I just continuously worked to improve myself, listened to self help tapes during my commute, and worked to make myself a little better every day.
I’d like to add to a couple of your points: -Education: Any quality school will do. Seriously, few employers care what college you went to, as long as you have an accredited degree. After your first job, they care more about your experience and your education (or lack of) is a screening tool used by HR to eliminate candidates. -Luck: You make your own luck. Luck is nothing more than preparation meeting opportunity. If you are looking for opportunity you will find it in any event. If you are looking for life to kick you, that is what you will find as well.
Also, consider what is truly important to you. It sounds great to make six figures, but it isn’t worth sacrificing the rest of your life to get it. I know this well. I used to take jobs based on how well they moved my career (and income) forward. It was only when I found myself in a job where I spent all my time on the road that I realized that it was not right for me.
I define a “good school” as one that gets you the initial job you want at the company you want and also has at least some sort of name recognition (either nationally, locally if you’re committed to an area, or in an industry) so it benefits you well past the first job.
As far as how to find out what companies recruit at what schools, simply ask the admissions department of a school you’re considering what companies recruited at the school last year, what sort of positions they were looking for, what job titles and at what companies were students hired, what the average (or estimated) starting salaries were, what percent of graduates had a job at graduation, and on and on. They should either have this info available or be able to track it down for you.
As far as a company recruiting a 30-something, I don’t think there’s much problem with that (as long as you’re closer to 30 than 40.) It’s true that some companies want younger recruits that they can then mold and as such some will probably not want to talk to you. But, there are plenty that will — especially if you’re going for an advanced degree like an MBA. In addition, be aware that some companies might be wary so in your interviews be sure to stress your “willingness to try new things”, “desire to learn and improve yourself”, and “flexibility in managing all aspects of your work.”
@Marcy
I’m sorry you’ve been told that being an extrovert is the only way to make it in your career. You’re right that that shows lack of understanding of how people are different and that there’s no one size fits all solution to life.
That being said being an extrovert is more about how you get energized than about how many people you interact with on a daily basis. As an introvert myself, being around people and talking to people on the phone all day drains me. (Fortunately, that’s not my only job requirement.) I need time by myself to recharge for the next day/task.
My youth leader growing up shared with me one of the most profound concepts about being an introvert. He is himself, though you wouldn’t think so when you first met him, particularly as a youth leader. He always seemed energetic, fun to be around, and willing to listen. We were talking about personality for one reason or another and he said that he was an introvert. I didn’t believe him until he explained it’s not about how popular you are or how much energy you have or how many friends you have, it’s about how you charge yourself. If being around people gets you charged up, you’re an extrovert. If you need to be by yourself to recharge, you’re an introvert. It has nothing to do with how many people you know.
So social skills are just that, skills anyone can learn. For my job and the job description I think I’d like to move onto, I have to interact, manage, and lead people. That part is both exciting and scary to me. I like talking to people and getting them to help me accomplish a mutual goal. I just have to remember to find time to recharge when I need it.
@FMF – great article. I’m not sure if I’m going to go after a six figure salary or not (I know that’s a big step in the not direction) but this is a good road map for being a successful employee either way.
I’ll be honest, phrases like “much of life and the results of work are out of your hands” rub me in absolutely the wrong direction. Talk to any truly successful person (and by successful, I mean a person who does the work they love, makes the money they want, and lives 100% according to their beliefs and priorities), and you will see that luck and chance had absolutely NOTHING to do with their success.
It has a lot more to do with being smart, being conscious, thinking positive, knowing your strengths, seeing the possibilities, knowing your priorities, and being proactive.
A lot of these tips sound like a one-way ticket to a really bland, get-paid-to-walk-around-with-coffee career as a Cube Farm Overseer. Of course, if you’re sort of bland and uncreative yourself, it might work for you.
I would add getting a well placed internship to that list. It’s a combination of schooling/training and networking. The company I am with now doesn’t recruit from the school I went to, but they do have departments that selectively pick from specific schools and programs that align with the research they do and I got the ‘in’ in that way.
I don’t love what I do, but I don’t hate it either. And while I agree that one’s motivation shouldn’t only be money, I also think people who loftily state that you should ‘do what you love’ don’t have it right either. Life is a balance. My plan is to continue doing what I’m doing for a bit longer, but I’m socking away the money I make now so I am not tied to this job if I ever DO become miserable. I think that is where a lot of people in high paying jobs make a mistake. Most people don’t hate their jobs from the get go, they grow to hate it due to increasing demands, management changes, or simply burning out.
just make sure that you don’t get screwed by the overall economy and go back to earning 1/2 the 6 figures you were earning.. it’s happened to allot of us out here.. doing the things mentioned above make only a marginal difference when the overall tide goes down.. it may keep your boat afloat, but not in the rich seas you’d become accustomed to.. remember most of those “name brand employers” that were mentioned in the article jetizened countless thousands, if not 10’s of 1000’s, of employees this past year.
#3 can also cause early burn-out. If you’re just doing it for the money, you will burn out. If you’re not just doing it for the money, you don’t need this tip. Otherwise, you get to the point where you realize that no amount of money is going to buy your time with your family and friends, time for yourself, or your youth back.
You can keep your six figures, I prefer just financial stability, health insurance, a comfortable life, a smallish house, a short commute, and lots of extra time with my family and to pursue various other interests and activities.
I’m quite shocked at the people stating “great post”. 99% of this article is common sense, but out of reach for 99% of the populace. This would be a “great post” for perhaps a middle schooler that was just starting to get interested in a career, but even then, unattainable for the vast majority.
I’ve pretty much been following this Path and it’s working pretty well. If you count the 1 year Master’s program then I’m just starting year 4 and 80% of the way to 6 figures. I graduated from a Ivy League school with a Master’s degree, worked for a big name company starting at 65k. The company I worked for had a big recruiting presence at my school and my hiring manager told me that the reputation of the school had a big impact on his decision. I had really good results and got a 4k raise in 6 months. Moved jobs to a smaller, but still big name company for 10k more and in a lower cost of living state. My housing costs each year are 6k less now than they were at my old job (I miss Wegmans). Unfortunately this last year is really starting to kill my momentum.
Not sure how this post was much of a revelation… you could as easily have said, “become a doctor!” or “practice law for a large company!” or even, “Record hit album!” Or, you can look up average salaries in different positions and find one whose average at 5 years is >$100K, get the job and there you have it. In other words, it doesn’t take much specialty knowledge to tell someone to get a degree and work hard.
I think this post would have been more interesting if you’d listed the major skill sets the population is likely to have, and defined a career path that matches each one. How to make six figures as an artist, a musician, a retailer, a scientist, an.. ummm… English major.
These are great actionable steps, but as pointed out in the article, are far from easy. I would argue building your own business is a much easier way to accomplish a 100K per year income.
I think the same general rules apply, tweaked a bit:
1. Your school is not important to prospective customers. Experience is what matters.
2. You don’t need to work for a well-known employer, only do business with them. This is much easier to do.
3. Performing will get you ahead in any area. Probably the most important factor for raising your income if you’re self-employed
4. Manage your goals aggressively
5. Have some luck.
1. Be in the right place at the right time. (Luck.)
2. Know the right people, and be friendly with them. (This is called sucking up. Do it the right way, and management will like you. Do it the wrong way, and management will despise you.)
3. Don’t be afraid to tell people when they are wrong, especially management. They will respect you for having a spine. (Once again, do it the right way…the wrong way will get you labeled a trouble-maker)
4. Appear competent. (Notice I didn’t say be competent. Perception > reality, especially in corporations.)
5. Notice I’ve given conditional statements to 2,3 and 4 above…I can’t tell you *how* to do these things…either you’ve learned them through your interpersonal working relationships over the past 20, 30, 40 or 50 years, or you haven’t.
6. Be a problem solver, not a problem creator. (There are two types of employees, period. Make sure you know which one you are. You’d be surprised how many bad employees think they are good employees. This is coming from someone with extensive management experience.)
OR, you can ignore all the above, and become a complete sociopath in the corporate arena. Backstab, belittle, undermine, flatter, lie, scheme, circumvent, lie some more… in other words, do whatever it takes. Soon, you will be an executive.
You might read the Statement above and think it is meant as humor. It isn’t.
Good article! I agree with all your points. I don’t see why so many people have bees in their bonnets about “joining the rat race”.
Many people complain they don’t have enough money, but don’t put in the hard work that is needed to get it. Those same individuals envy those who make $100K+, and think it’s easy.
@#33 lol funny… but the point is that everything FMF suggests is achievable with hard work. Even the “luck” he suggests is conditional on the previous steps…
I’m cheating a bit. Just to be completely honest, the seven years noted in the title are post-college (in my case post grad school.) One could argue that those years of schooling should count towards earning six figures. If you’d like to count them, go ahead. But “Five Steps to Six Figures in Thirteen Years” just doesn’t have the same ring to it as the current title.
And just a bit later your first step is…
Step one: Get a high-earning degree from a good school
I think you’re cheating a lot. In one breath you say you’re only talking about after college and in the next you’re tacking 4 or more years on to the program. I might have believed it if you had said 10 years since 1 year of a 4 year degree is blown on non-degree related “general education” stuff. I took 7 years just to get through my BS and MS and after nearly 15 years (at one employer admittedly) I’m just now getting within “arms reach” of the 6 figure mark – I figure about 5 more years and I’ll just cross that line. Of course, by then I expect to be completely debt free and well into JD’s “third stage”.
I like the idea of making your own luck. I earned a promotion less than a year into my first job by making my own luck. Yes, it was lucky that the person before me left. But the position was going to remain vacant until I took on one of the projects and then asked for the job. Yes, I got lucky, but I also created my own luck by putting myself in a position where I was capable of doing the new job and then asking for it.
Can someone remind me of the name of this blog? That’s right, it’s Get Rich Slowly, and that’s why I follow it regularly. If you want to get rich quickly at a job and kill yourself at work for a few years, then read the blogs by Tim Ferriss or by Ramit Sethi.
1. You don’t have to take a job in a field you hate just to make six figures. Sure, some fields/degrees have built-in advantages, but if your likes don’t suit one of these, then go your own path. You can still earn a decent salary (and maybe six figures) — you’re just taking a different path (as some have suggested.) That said, it may be harder to do (for instance, I’m guessing the average musician earns less than the average engineer), but for most people it’s much better to earn $80k doing what you love than making $100k in a field you dispise.
As JD said, for some (many?) personal preferences and high-earning professions intersect. I am blessed to be in a field that I both enjoy and is one where I can earn a good salary.
2. Some seem to equate “perform” to “work like a slave.” I grant that many people get ahead by putting in 60+ hours a week, but this is not necessary in all cases and is certainly not needed over the life of a career (for instance, you may work more hours when you’re younger and then be able to scale back as your experience grows.)
3. There is an aspect of “making your own luck”, but there’s also a facet of luck that can’t be planned for, controlled or predicted. The people that get ahead IMO are those that come out better than before despite the (sometimes poor) circumstances that are thrown at them.
I disagree with working for a big name institution. I was offered positions at both a big name company and a little indie place. I would not have been paid more at the indie place, and worse, I would have been trapped into one small focus area.
By going with the indie company, my real talent (the ability to walk into a complete mess, figure it out, and go) showed how valuable I am. Because of that, I’ve been cross trained on far more positions than I ordinarily would have at a big name place.
If I do eventually move to a bigger company, I can command a higher salary based on my incredibly varied skill set.
OR, you can ignore all the above, and become a complete sociopath in the corporate arena. Backstab, belittle, undermine, flatter, lie, scheme, circumvent, lie some more… in other words, do whatever it takes. Soon, you will be an executive.
Oh, God. The first time I witnessed this, I was shocked (I was so naive back then). I couldn’t figure out how this person looked at herself in the mirror every morning. After a few months of her abuse, I left the department despite vehement protests from three levels of senior management and she got demoted.
RMS: That’s exactly what I was thinking! Usually I don’t comment on the posts like this (that I don’t like or don’t apply to me) but you voiced my thoughts so precisely I just had to tell you that. 🙂
@FMF (comment #44) … My DH is living proof of both #1 and #3. His salaried occupation as a pilot involves VERY different working conditions than the types of high-earning, desk-bound occupations found in corporate finance, management, engineering, IT, etc. Until recently, aviation also carried good potential for a six-figure career, depending on the type of aircraft you flew, the company you worked for, and your seniority within the company.
The combination of economic downturn and the events of 9/11 saw many of those lucrative aviation opportunities vanish within months. Economic downturns are to be expected, but terrorist attacks of that magnitude?
The readers have been heard! Well, some of them, anyhow. Mike sent a question by e-mail. He has a high-paying career and is not happy. I’ll post a follow-up “ask the readers” on Saturday morning to address his situation and to deal with some of your concerns. Sound good?
The only thing you can do is maximize your chance of success, but there is no such thing as a 100% guarantee in life. No matter how great your chances of success are, there is still a chance at failure.
Just because you received the opportunity, does not mean you were the most qualified. You could have a contact, you were willing to take a lower salary, you have specialized knowledge, or you were in the right place at the right time.
Right place at the right time… sound a lot like market timing to me. *cough* luck *cough*
To end this, I’m not saying it’s all luck, but remember to appreciate your circumstances, and there are always those who are/were not as fortunate as you. I’ve known people who had to drop out of high school to work minimum wage jobs, just to put food on the dinner table.
@Hokojoma
1. Write that book.
2. Publish that book.
3. Sell that book and profit.
4. Plastic surgery.
5. Show proof that it works in revised book.
6. Profit more.
I haven’t read through all the comments yet because I have to, you know, do some work – but wanted to thank FMF and JD and say YES this does work. My DH did exactly these five things and he did reach 6 figs in 7 yrs as a personal trainer and physical therapist assistant – a career he loves:
1. Get a degree – a B.A. in Biology from CSU-Northridge, which combined with experience let him take the state P.T.A. licensing exam.
2. Work for a name-brand employer: in the Rehab department at UCLA
3. Perform – as an assistant for physical therapists who knew they could trust him, he was able to get referrals immediately after going freelance
4. Manage career aggressively – from $14/hr as an assistant to … well, quite a bit/hr as a freelancer, without advertising. Ever. He just was willing to work where and when the clients wanted him.
5. Have some luck: that would be me, the wage-earning partner who gave him the stability to take a big chance on starting his own business. It paid off for both of us.
You forgot an important step: Be born white. You’ll earn much more with no additional effort or merit! Also, being a dude will help, but being the “right” race is a VITAL advantage in your career that you can’t overlook if you want to climb that corporate ladder.
Whether building your business or a career at one, the key to build wealth is:
1) Give 10x more than you take. It’s about them, not you, so deliver maximum value.
2) Be remarkable – be irresistible by being an amplified version of yourself. “Be yourself; everyone else is taken.”
3) Scale profits – build a system that makes money and scales, don’t limit yourself by only giving time for money.
Like getagrip mentioned, nice perspective of building income from a job perspective, since not everyone wants to build their own business. However, I feel wealth-building is universal for both types of people.
The first year I filed a $100k+ tax return was the year I turned 27. The path I’ve taken looks a lot like the one outlined in the article.
I love my life. I could not be happier. This isn’t all because of my job, but a lot of it is made possible by my having the career that I do.
The comments are full of negative reactions for whatever reason. Certainly I could have *not* worked to get here. I could have made excuses that I didn’t want to be here. It’s boring, corporate America, part of the rat race, whatever — the same complaints many commenters are making. Where would I be instead? Some other, crappier job, for less money, with less freedom. If I hadn’t followed the path I did, the obvious alternative was *not* to become a test pilot or professional mountain climber or pursue some other exciting and romantic but low paying career. It was simply a worse job that the one I have now.
So sure, criticize this path. If you’re posting your criticism from Tahiti on the deck of the racing sailboat on which you crew for little pay, I understand. If you’re posting it from the only working computer in the small African village where you’ve been living while you dig a well so that the villagers can have clean water, I understand. If you’re posting your criticism from the bus on the way to your crappy retail service job, you’re going to the same rat race I am, except a crappier part of it, and you have to go five days a week, and you don’t get to set your own hours, so maybe you’d like to rethink your criticism? I know lots of people with “regular jobs”. They’re all bound by rules more rigid than my job, and they get less out of them.
The internet is full of “leave the rat race, do what you love for a living!” talk. Most of it is all talk. I drive through town and see a lot of people delivering mail, and fixing cars, and building roads, and selling groceries, and doing real work every day. I see a lot more of these people than I see people getting paid to sit on the beach or play golf or write novels, which is what the internet would have you believe everyone who’s got their act together is doing. They’re not.
And to the people complaining about the site being called “Get Rich Slowly”. The plan takes *seven years* and really takes 13, as was mentioned. If that’s too fast for you, are you sure you don’t want to be reading a site called “Get Rich Never”?
i would add that being born a white male will definitely help. i can attest to this because i have run smack into the glass ceiling many many times in my career.
@Tyler: agreed. I’m puzzled by how readers of a site called “Get Rich Slowly” are so negative about job advice designed to make you get rich a bit less slowly. It’s simply one way to do it, one that’s more realistic than “do what you love and the money will follow.” My job doesn’t stop me from following my dreams on my own time. It doesn’t have to be either-or. Plus, I can follow my dreams in comfort and with health insurance.
given some of the comments made, I’ll preface what I’m going to write by saying that I’m a white female, 30 yrs old. I work & live in Manhattan, in fashion, as a tech designer (my job is to make clothing fit to a company’s standard).
My current salary is a base of 92k, with a 5% 401k bonus at end of year, & a 3.5% to 15% yearly bonus, depending on how my departments do. Last year we got 15%, & this year it’s in the bag again.
The advice you give is sound, though I’d like to add a few observations:
– In a lot of places where you can make 6 figures, where you went to school really doesn’t matter. Not ALL, but a lot. Although I’ve been asked where I went to school (my alma mater is a little no-name school, not FIT or Parsons), as far as I can tell, it never hurt me.
– Working for a “Name Brand” company 1st is key – but be open to the possibility that the work hours suck, the pay is crack, and you’ll be treated like trash. Not saying that’s always the case, but a lot of “Name Brand” companies can afford to act like that, because everybody wants to work there. Putting in a year (at least) is HUGE for helping you make it, but it will suck.
– Overperform, but don’t give 100%. I learned this after a few jobs. It is great to give them more, but if you give 100% from the beginning, it’s much harder to keep giving them more. It’s much better to spent the 1st month or two working maybe 10% ahead, while assessing the situation, & THEN figure out how much to give, so you can get the most bang for your buck, while holding some of your skills in reserve.
– and that negociating tip? that is absolutely key. Early on in my career, I realized that I was being vastly underpaid to do my job. So I interviewed around, found a place that would hire me to do the same job as my current job, but for 10k more. I took that offer back to my company, and got an instant 10k raise – and this was about 2 months AFTER I got my yearly raise.
Lastly, I pushed to get this high for a reason. I’ve saved like hell for retirement. Once my nest egg gets a little higher, I plan to use my earning potential to work a year or two, then take a year or two off to travel, to learn, to look into entrepreneural activities. Depending on how it goes, I’ll do my own thing, or go back to work for another year or two, while I figure out what I want to do with my next 1-2 year sabbatical.
I can still save a lot, and my salary goes far, as long as I keep my costs down. I don’t know that doing that would be possible in every field, but it can happen in fashion, & I plan to take advantage of it.
The article has some good points. HOWEVER, as an HR professional for one of those companies listed above I honestly must say WHO YOU KNOW is a huge part of the jobs you get. You just cannot get over the bias that hiring managers have for people they know or friends of friends, or kids from the same alma mater. I see it all the time. And push back when necessary.
Familiarity is a human trait which gives comfort. We need to acknowledge that to get over it.
It may also be a happy accident. My husband makes 6 figures as a police officer and he works very hard and deserves every bit of it. Trade-offs: always in harm’s way, SHIFTWORK, many rules to follow, disdain from certain members of the public. Benefits: job security, respect, pension, great health benefits, cool car w/flashing lights and sirens to amuse the neighborhood kids. LOL
Being proud of his work and being able to support his family, greed never enters into the equation for him.
Thank you, everyone! This was an informative post and a very interesting, enlightening post-post discussion.
@Tyler
I think some of these are knee-jerk reactions, but there are some people whose personalities are such that they are always “on” and there are some companies and pursuits that will reward this very lucratively. The converse is also true: some jobs will just take advantage of or not reward great performance, and some people just don’t have the temperament to live for their work.
I’m writing from my window office in the penthouse suite at a job I love, but I’m far from making six figures. I don’t want to put in the kind of hours that I see my superiors putting in. I’m happy and comfortable because I have stability, health insurance, disposable income, I work flexible hours, and I don’t work too many hours.
I put myself through school for a career that I love, I’ve spent a year working 60 hour weeks, I’ve gone back to school for a technical master’s, I’ve taught myself technical skills. But it hasn’t changed the fact that I get passed over for technical training, meetings and assignments at work and have to try a lot harder than my male colleagues because there are folks who just assume I’m not competent because I have boobs. I can build a database, a GIS or a geochemical model, and I have male superiors who think my time is best spent editing Word documents. Meanwhile they think the male liberal arts major who is a family friend of the CEO should learn how to krige. The 7 steps to a 100k job doesn’t seem to work the same if your gonads are on the inside.
Sometimes you have to step back and reevaluate your priorities. I just got a call from an Army recruiter about entering as an officer.I wouldn’t make 6 figures, but I’d probably learn how to clean and load all kinds of guns.
People networking has been the most important factor for me, after hard work.
I don’t have a degree, and busted my tail for 7 years waiting tables. I learned that being friendly, genuine, and showing people you work ethic could make you more profitable.
When I found a way into the corporate world I went from entry level to 100k+ in 5 years.
Performed, worked hard, marketed myself internally, and yes… had some really good luck on the way.
This is what I did except that it took me about 20 years to hit 6 figures.
I do think that 7 years if you’re starting from scratch is a bit aggressive. Starting salaries for ‘good’ jobs are often in the $60-75k range. If you just spent 4 years en college to get that degree then you’ve got just 3 more years to hit $100k. Thats 10-20% annual raises for each of the first 3 years of your career. And this step 2 assumes you’re at one of the ‘name’ employers where competition can be pretty tough. Getting 3 nice raises your first 3 years is not too realistic.
But then again the article does say it won’t be easy.
I do think its good to set high goals. Without a goal you won’t get anywhere.
Thanks for agreeing with me, perhaps my sarcasm came across too negative for some people.
@Tyler K
Thanks for your comments. I agree with you on some points, though I think the article misses some of the core values of JD’s blog. Money is not everything, and a low paying job is not necessarily less satisfying (JD’s story about the waiter). I don’t have issues with people making 100k, that’s great if you can get there doing what you love. As for me, I make less than that, but I am at a fulfilling engineering profession, rock climbs quite seriously with my friends, and sells my artworks at local shows. At the same time, I make sure that I come home for dinner on time every night to be with my family. All at the same time.
I don’t think you need to be white male to achieve the 100k. I am sure a minority female from another country will do just as fine. If you are smart and have the ambition, you can achieve the high salary. If that is what you are looking for.
@RMS
No, a low-paying job is not necessarily less satisfying. But a *high* paying job is not necessarily less satisfying either, which is what some people seem to be implying. The implication is that there’s a trade-off: You can *only* make $100k/year if you work 80 hours a week, never are home to see your family, skip hobbies to stay late at the office, and otherwise make your life revolve around work. Therefore, you either have a $100k salary, or you have free time to spend on activities you enjoy.
This is simply not true. Plenty of people make $100k+ working regular 40 hour workweeks. Plenty of people barely scrape by at the poverty line while working two minimum wage jobs, 80 hours a week.
I personally have no set hours, and only go in to the office three days a week, working two days a week from home. My accomplishments are judged based on what gets done, not based on how hard it looks like I’m working. I love this about my work.
On the race/gender issue: I see plenty of non-white people making $100k+ salaries in engineering. They’re overwhelmingly Indian/Asian males.
FWIW, I have seen the same thing Tyler has regarding the relationship between time spent working and income at the upper levels, namely you don’t have to work 80 hours a week to make good money. I have several friends who earn over six figures and work 40 to 45 hours per week.
And on the other end, I also have friends that work many more hours and are just making enough to keep their heads above water.
Of course this is anecdotal information and not scientific in any way. I did a bit of Googling to see if I could find anything on the relationship between hours worked and total income, but came up empty handed. Maybe someone out there will have success finding some data.
@Tyler K – wow, I was trying to piece together a response to the negativity, but you said it better than I ever would. Your comments are usually fantastic and this one did not disappoint.
I have not hit $100k and would be fine if I never did, but the path FMF describes is similar to what I’ve done. I never worked for a “brand name” employer b/c I never liked the idea of being a number in a large company. Maybe that’s a bias I shouldn’t have, but small companies seem to suit me much better.
Some of this article, and some of the comments are operating under a certain set of assumptions, including this one: Having a JOB with a COMPANY is the ultimate goal.
I guess what I like to challenge is the notion that a fixed-income salary is as great as so many people think it is.
But you know something? My ultimate goal is not that. Some people are passionate about things that lead to the corporate world. Picking a career based solely on salary only leads to hating your life.
For the record: “luck” is still a bunch of crap. Maybe you can’t control what happens, but you have 100% control over how you respond to it. Even when the “company” is giving you “no choice” in some or other matter (which is something companies like to do–control people)…who says you HAVE to keep that job?
Maybe once you get to 100k or higher you don’t have to work long hours, but I am sure that to get to that point at a shorter amount of time than usual is a lot of hard work, whether or not they are long hours or not.
From Tyler (#65): “The implication is that there’s a trade-off: You can *only* make $100k/year if you work 80 hours a week, never are home to see your family, skip hobbies to stay late at the office, and otherwise make your life revolve around work. Therefore, you either have a $100k salary, or you have free time to spend on activities you enjoy.”
For years, the only people I knew who were making $100k+ per year were making exactly those sacrifices you describe. Either that, or they were in rehab for substance abuse. The happiest people I knew were in low-wage-earning professions. Given what I saw around me, I concluded that earning a high income = misery.
I’m older and wiser now, and I understand that there’s neither a direct nor inverse correlation between income and happiness, not once one earns enough income to meet one’s basic needs.
@Clint – luck is not necessarily a bunch of crap. Living in NYC, I’ve seen a number of talented friends, with great skills, just not be able to get a lucky break. Likewise, I’ve seen plenty of mediocre people just stumble into the best situations.
and a lot of luck may be factors you can’t control. My last name is as unusual as my first name. I’ve had a number of people tell me that, in addition to having a great resume, they wanted to meet me, because they wanted to see the face behind the name. I didn’t have any say in the name I was born with, but if my name was Kim Smith, I think I’d be in a very different place that I am now. It’s just lucky that I was born with an interesting name(no offense to the Kim Smiths – just saying having anything about you stand out on paper can be a good thing).
I was just going to say that the only people that I know that makes 100k at a faster rate than others without working 80 hours are the software programmers. They usually have great hours, love their job, and the starting salary is probably higher than my current salary (which I am fine with.)
What do you know… that is exactly what you are, a software programmer!
@Tyler, FMF, and others … What role do you think movies and novels might play in creating negative assumptions about certain high-paying careers? For example, how often have you seen a plot set-up in a movie where the successful man who spends a lot of time at the office ends up with an unfaithful spouse?
JD, this post has been on my mind all day, in a good kind of thought-provoking way. Thanks for sharing it!
How to make a sure six figure income: become a physician. Even the family docs make a 150k. No corporate ladder, but there are other headaches(Obamacare,malpractive, overhead). It will take on average about eight years and carry some added opportunity expense.
Steps involved:
1. Study hard. Like science and helping people.
2. Then study harder. Being gifted and a good test-taker does not hurt
3. Do not go to Harvard or Yale, OSU med school grads are also called doctor.
4. Pick a specialty with autonomy, intellectual stimulation, and decent paycheck.
5. Work hard and always do the right thing for the patient. The money eventually comes, but it won’t be millions.
6. Enjoy a rewarding career that puts you in top 1 percent of earners.
There probably needs to be an additional point, If you do something you enjoy eventually you’ll make money at whatever it is you have selected to do(in combination with the other points) and in the long term your happiness will be much higher.
I started of working in a rather low paying part of my organization but I believe that what we do is very valuable and protects the natural environment and people in the process. This has meant I have worked hard in my job and moved up, although not in the mythical 100k bracket yet I will be very close within a few years but one of my goals at work has never been to earn a lot of money. More to enjoy what I do be challanged by what I do and believe that what I’m doing has some benefit to people (community) and the natural environment.
If I could give one piece of advice to people currently looking at Uni/Job it would be that they look inside themselves understand what it is they enjoy doing and try and match a degree/job to that, the money will come eventually it might take a little longer but you’ll be far happier during the Journey.
Dustin | Engaged Marriage says15 October 2009 at 14:17
For the record, I am an engineer with a master’s degree from a university. I’m mostly a 9-to-5 company man.
That said, I believe the quickest and, more importantly, the most effective way to six figures is through entrepreneurship. Personally, I heading down that road myself on a part-time basis at this point.
Some software programmers may work less than 80 hours a week and make more than $100K a year, but that’s not really something you can assume.
I’m in IT, and I know a lot of programmers who make less, and work really long hours — 60 to 80 hours a week or more. The project I’m working on is expected to be developing on a 24×7 basis, and we’re regularly expected to work all weekend in addition to working a full work week. And unless you’re at staff level, forget making $100K. $80-90K sure, but it takes a lot of seniority to cross that $100K barrier.
Also, programmers are facing stiff competition with code shops in India, China and elsewhere willing to work for far less than $100K a year.
Oh, and I also know a lot of programmers who have come to despise their jobs and would love to leave them. Often because they are working horribly long hours and are burned out.
Thanks for this post. It’s outside the usual stuff a bit but interesting and possibly useful.
I’m one of those less-driven folks not interested in six figures or many of the steps to get there. I already have two useless degrees and many dead end jobs behind me – as well as one with 6-figure potential and life-killing hours. Yuck. However I just started business school. It’s a case of action meets opportunity; my employer will pay for school so it just looked like free money to me, whether it interests me or not. So far it interests me. I may have to give those steps another look in another year or so. If I have an opportunity to make money doing something interesting without killing myself, I will absolutely take it.
🙂
Gina brings up a good point about outsourcing. I left a field where it was possible to earn six figures in 2001. Since that time, I’ve gotten quite a bit of anecdotal evidence that the average salaries have dropped substantially, due to massive outsourcing. There are still a few people earning serious $$, but far fewer than when I was in the field. There are also almost no staff jobs remaining. Just about everyone I know is scratching along doing freelance work to make ends meet.
I’m forever thankful that I got out of that field when I did!!
my husband was making 6 figures in 13 years and he is a horseshoer and has NEVER worked 60-80 hrs. a week. my dad was a barber and he is a millionaire. i think this article should have been called “5 steps to AVOIDING 7 figures.”
This is a good article that highlights some proven strategies, but I want to play devils advocate and pose a few questions to FMF and anyone who has taken this corporate ladder and grad school route:
1. Sure, you make more money than most of us. But what has that money given you that someone making $40 or $50K per year doesn’t have?
2. Were all the sacrifices that you speak of worth the monetary gain?
3. Are you any happier for it? Is your family happier for it?
4. Would you have been less happy not sacrificing everything that you did and making $50K a year?
Another point – you graduated grad school with only $5K debt, but most don’t, and they usually miss two years of good salary earnings. Cost benefit analyses often point towards grad school and salary loss resulting in about a 10 year payoff to break even. That isn’t mentioned in this article, but it probably should be.
J.D. – I’d also love to hear some alternate stories from those who have had similar income success, yet chose to go out on their own to earn it vs. play the corporate game.
I just think people who want that kind of corporate life aren’t necessarily the majority. There are so many interesting, worthwhile things to do with your life. Certainly as beverly pointed out there are many paths to make those things worth 6 figures American.
I have a fantastic job, great benefits, awesome view, I do something important to humanity and I earn $75K. I’ll earn more as time goes by. It’s nice. I didn’t worry about strategy. I barely know that there is a corporate world. World travel is a nice perk, too.
I want to comment on the teacher salary thing: Teacher’s may never make a six figure salary, but we receive millions of hugs over the years from children.
It’s important to also surround yourself with high income earning people.
This is a fine article, b/c it’s actually very easy to make 6 figures IF YOU WANT TO.
All the steps you describe are pretty spot on. I just don’t think everybody cares to make 6 figures and are happy just enjoying life just the way they are.
Do really less than 6% of the population earn 6 figures FMF? Just looking at this board, I think more than 35% of the people do.
28 year old MBA kids make $100-120,000/yr and it seems like everybody in Manhattan and San Francisco make over 100K/yr if they have been working for at least 5 years. Could the 6% figure be low?
I think that this post is kind of pointless unless you are sending it out to HS seniors or something.
Also – if you go to a “good school” (even though I have NEVER had an employer actually ask me about the school I went to) wouldn’t you have a huge lump of student loans to pay off? Or is step 6 have your parents pay for your top notch brand name school?
I guess I am in the minority here that I don’t think its a very good post at all.
Get a degree in a high paying field, get a job with a major company, get lucky.
Is that seriously new information to anyone?
If you think the 6% figure is low, you are incredibly out of touch with reality. Heck, 12% of the country is below the poverty level – that’s just under $11k for a single person! I’ve lived in NYC and it is a myth that “everyone” there makes over $100k, or even that very many people do.
Someone made the comment you should surround yourself with high earners, and the result is becoming totally divorced from reality.
I thought this website was about getting rich slowly, not making your whole life revolve around money to get there in 7 years.
I have a question more related to the schools:
The article linked to mentioned online MBA programs- are they really any good/worthwhile (assume you have the money/option/time to go online or in person)?
Ouch with the negativity. I think people are overlooking the fact that there are a lot of things you can do with and MBA, engineering degree, etc that are not just “corporate”.
Then again, while most of the people I know who make 100k are busy, they are also by and large very happy and really like what they do. But it is not for everyone, and hey, if it’s not, DEAL, you don’t all need to make 100k.
Sarah K – You’re right in a way, but the only reality I know are the people living in NYC, San Francisco, DC and the 6 other cities I grew up in. I see people bust their butts everyday to try and work harder for a better life. So, for what it’s worth, it’s my reality and I’m a public school product.
Like I said, this is a good post IF YOU WANT TO try and earn 6 figures. I think a lot of people DON’T want to go through the hassle and the hurdles, and that’s just fine.
To each their own. It should not be a sin for someone to want to make more money in their life. No it should not.
That’s like saying JD shouldn’t deserve making $50,000/month from advertisers on GRS, and that he should remain the way he was 7 years ago. I say congrats to JD and anybody who has spent 7 long years to try and make something more!
FMF – Great article and as a corporate peon myself I agree with you and some of the comments. However, how did you manage (in 7 years) to get a >100K income AND build such a succesful blog. I can imagine that your total household income is probably in excess of $250K when you factor this in. Great stuff.
> 1. Sure, you make more money than most of us. But what has that money given you that someone making $40 or $50K per year doesn’t have?
security. being 100% debt free. Fully funding 401, ira and hsa every year. money for investing. money for vacations. house paid off early.
not to mention that “high income” jobs also come with other perks. vacation days (i get 30) plus sick time and personal days (7 a year). bonus. i don’t get “chewed out” if i’m 20 minutes late. set my own hours, own projects, etc.
> 2. Were all the sacrifices that you speak of worth the monetary gain?
yes. I do what i love; so it’s not really that big a deal. you have to work a job, so why not work a good one even if it takes a bit more effort?
> 3. Are you any happier for it? Is your family happier for it?
yes. money doesn’t buy happiness, but lack of it can buy misery.
> 4. Would you have been less happy not sacrificing everything that you did and making $50K a year?
I’m happier now then when I was making $50K. Again, money doesn’t buy happiness directly; but less stress from money worries does help 🙂
1. That money has given me more savings, a bigger emergency fund, more money put away in retirement
2. what sacrifices? I *like* my job. I don’t love it, but I like it. I love all the things I’ve learned. I love that I’ve gotten into a management position & have learned a ton about how to handle different personalities & how to get them to work together. I love all the information I’ve picked up on sourcing, working with different countries, payroll, & all the different talents it takes to make a profitable business.
sure, sometimes my hours really do suck, which is why I’m working on my exit plan now, but the things I’ve learned in corporate USA will last me for years.
3. well, that’s a toughie, but I’m very happy about all the things I’ve learned. I’m happy at the number of opportunities to travel I’ve had, that I wouldn’t have necessarily had elsewhere. and my parents are very proud of me. I’m not married, and I don’t plan on having kids, so there’s nobody I’ve been neglecting while I focus on my job.
4. why do you assume that people making 100k sacrificed to get there?
there’s no “one size fits all answer”, but the idea that making 100k or more has to involve huge sacrifices or selling one’s soul is bogus. likewise is the idea that all us 100kers are using the money to buy penthouses & porches. I put away over 50% of my gross income. In a few years, I’ll start taking turns between working a few years, then pursuing my own interests for a few years, until I build up a good income doing something else.
without the cushion I made for myself by going after a high income earlier in life, I wouldn’t feel comfortable working on an exit plan now & looking into other opportunities.
I like your tip about starting your career at a brand name company- that was totally true for me working at Allied Signal (now Honeywell). When I lost my job working for a start up I was hired by a former Allied Signal guy.
It took me just under 4 years from the time I started working to rocket into the 6 figure range (switched jobs from making $90K per year to $143K per year!!!)
Although I did have a Bachelors & Masters in Engineering from 2 really good schools.
Is you last name Zawadski by any chance? Because I knew of a Eugenia when I worked at Allied Signal… ?
FMF / JD,
How about a poll on the number of years it took you to hit $1 million in net worth since you started working? Call it from zero to $1 million in X years…
For me that number was 11 years, hopefully it will be much shorter to make the 2nd Mil.
For those of you with comments trashing this post for its overall message:
The post is about increasing your income, which is something JD/GRS encourages quite a bit.
If you are happy with your income, the post doesn’t apply to you — it does not make it “bad”
If you would like to increase your income, then here is ONE option – the advice is simple and tested.
No one is implying anything more than that.
If you haven’t figured that out, you come off sounding defensive — I would have liked to see some more content to these comments (thinking this topic could be quite interesting), but instead there’s just been a lot of silly back and forth on the validity of earning 6 figures.
———-
So… in the interest of adding some content: I agree with the post, but I would add something else — pick a specialty — honing in on one industry or type of position and becoming an expert goes a very long way. Your pool of available opportunities might become more narrow as you specialize, but your knowledge and confidence will increase, as will your value as a big fish in a small pond.
While I love the post–I think it’s got great advice–this analogy doesn’t really hold. The primary purpose of going to college isn’t always to get you that first job. It’s about living away from home, exploring your interests, growing and maturing as a person, and identifying what you’re going to want to do in life.
I know it sounds lame, but without college I’d probably 20 times as immature as I am now. You learn from experience, and the things I learned in college (non-school stuff) have carried me a long way.
That’s an interesting line of thinking — one I hadn’t thought of — but it certainly makes sense.
GE Miller —
I was going to answer your questions, but Dude and Eugenia took all my answers! (Good going, Dude and Eugenia! And thanks.)
Financial Samurai —
Do you have any data that says 6% is low? I’d love to see it. I’ve linked to what I could find on salaries, but would be willing to review anything you might find to the contrary.
Sarah K —
Ha! I’m already at mid-life, don’t want a Porsche, love my work, have a wonderful family, and don’t really need/want anything else in life.
Why assume that six-figures = misery?
David —
Exactly! Thanks for clarifying it for us in one simple thought.
Andy —
I hit $100k when I was 30. I’m much older now and started my blog four years ago and was well into six figures by that time.
Your income guess is close — though a bit low for the past few years. 😉
Mike Hunt —
Thanks! Good to see you over here too! 🙂
Interesting net worth question. I have a bit of an unusual situation (or spin on the question if you prefer) regarding it that would probably be a post in and of itself. Maybe I’ll write about it in the future.
I think the biggest gain with a high-income career is OPTIONS. Take housing, for example. A larger income qualifies you for larger mortgages, which in turn makes a greater percentage of homes in your area available to you. Or you could forgo the mortgage and pay cash for a foreclosure or fixer-upper. Or you could opt out of home ownership altogether and rent a house/apartment/condo/whatever meets your lifestyle needs.
You could buy prepared meals at Whole Foods to your heart’s content, or you could clip coupons and buy nothing but staple groceries as Super Wal-Mart.
You could take a sabbatical or two from work, as Eugenia is planning to do … or you could just keep on truckin’ in to work every day, if your job energizes and refreshes you.
Someone with a lower income might not have as many choices about where to live, where to shop, and how much wage-earning work to do in order to keep themselves afloat.
Financial security is also an option with a high income — it’s not a given. It’s certainly possible to have six-figure earnings with seven-figure spending habits.
@FMF, I totally agree with you. I tell people to get a good degree in a specialty that pays well, sciences, engineering, or last resort business. If you aren’t sure, do a double major or a minor in another area you love, but make sure you haven’t spent 4 years in college without having a degree with significant earnings potential. Many people start the family the love and realize they need to make a decent salary to take care of that family. Having a good income can really help you help your family. I’m also pretty sure that you can use these skills to be successful in all different types of industries, doing something you really enjoy.
One of the big take aways from this was constantly be looking for the next job, it can help you get raises. If someone is going to offer you a job, they have to pay you more than your current job. And once you have a job offer, you can ask your current boss to match it. Its alot easier to ask for a raise when you have a confirmed job offer for $10K more, and your company will have to decide how valuable you are. I love this idea!
For those that are negative, be careful about how you address things in life. Negativity breeds negativity. You can march to a different drum and still be positive in your thoughts about others (many posters did exactly that here). The author didn’t mention being dishonest or doing other immoral activities to get ahead, basically he said work hard and plan your career.
There are lots of ways to make $100K, I make 100k as a military officer. Its hard work, but rewarding and exciting. And having a great retirement will allow me to try a second career that I love!
Just wanted to say thank you for your service to our country. To do something as noble as that while also making six figures must really be a blessing.
I haven’t gotten to my 1st 100k yet, due to a combination of the nosedive the economy took, and a few tough life situations (messy break-up, serious illness). I’m finally back on track. Unless the economy tanks again, I’m on track to make 100k before I hit 32.
I agree w/bon about how specializing can be really helpful. I think it pays to either become very specialized, or because a very evenly-talented generalizer, someone who can pull together a lot of specializers & know how to best have them work well together.
I ended up being a specializer & got into some extra-specialized work, sweaters, underwear & swim. Both take a lot of specialized skills to be good at. If I look into freelancing, I’ll be able to make a higher wage, because I know how to deal with those more difficult categories.
I’ve read through these comments, mostly negative, some positive. I believe I’m more in line with Tyler in my beliefs.
One career path to 100K I have not seen discussed is working for the federal government. It is well known that the federal government bureaucrats are old and gray. Some 60% of the federal government will be eligible to retire within a few short years. This opens up advancement opportunities quickly.
In 2003 I graduated college with a Bachelor’s in Economics. I came to DC and began with the Department of Justice making about 33,000. Because a government job has a mandated ceiling of 40 hours worked per week, and the job tends to not be very stressful, you have a good bit of free time. I was able to go get my Master’s in Economics from a local university (DC has many good ones) while working (I often studied in my office). With good performance you are moved up pay grades, and as a junior statistician I went from 33K to 45K in 2.5 years. After I got my Master’s, I applied for several economist jobs in the government. One I got, moving my salary to about 75K. I’ve been in that job for three years, been promoted twice, and now make over 100K. I work 40 hours a week, I have little trouble commuting, actually enjoy my job, and I’m able to go to school at night and am into my 3rd year of my PhD in Economics, which the government is helping to pay for.
I write specifically about my example because many commentators appear to think that the road to 100K is stressful, in a bad job, or in a rat race, or something. My path was relatively easy, quick, and enjoyable. I like what I do. I’m pretty autonomous at my job (I really don’t have a boss).
It might seem counter-intuitive, but moving into the government, who pays for education and training more frequently than private employers, may be a faster path to getting rich.
Maybe it is lucky that I enjoy math and statistics and economics. But I figured out what I liked to do, designed a work path around it, and then took off. One big thing that helped me was that I was ALWAYS OPEN TO OPPORTUNITIES. Indeed, it was a random opportunity (meeting) that provided me the big jump after my Master’s.
The key point is to choose a marketable degree in college. Study math and science. People who do well in math are not broke. Stop whining that math is hard, overcome this challenge and be better than everyone else at it.
The naysayers in the above posts will unlikely ever make it to 6 figures because of ATTITUDE. You do not have to be a white male to succeed. Change the attitude. Expect to rule the world when you begin your career.
Work had before you have a family and then scale back and enjoy them. I am well into 6 figures with my part time work, and I am not a white male. I work around my family time. Going to t-ball games, x-mas plays, and weekend getaways are more important than work.
I like the overall theme of this article. I’ve recently crested six figures in base salary (although with bonuses I got there sooner) and I really have to agree with many of the points mentioned especially the “work hard” one. You will need to over deliver on goals and projects to get recognized.
Overall, though, probably the most important thing is having a “git er done” attitude. Everyone likely works with someone who is absolutely satisfied with the status quo — and for whom change is HARD. Anything new is IMPOSSIBLE and everything needs to be FULLY DOCUMENTED with WRITTEN PROCEDURES. They will invariably bitch and moan about THAT PERSON WHO BREAKS THE RULES and DOESN’T DO THINGS THE RIGHT WAY. It’s highly likely you want to emulate the person the status quo people bitch and moan about — because they are likely the ones who take calculated risks and are willing to actually do something about out-of-date procedures, business practices and so on. Businesses that fail to adapt to change are not in business for long — so being the person that shows up looking for a better way to do things (and actually does them) is a GREAT way to get ahead. And hey, if you get fired, then go to work for the competitor :).
Also, there is definitely something to be said for getting that industry internship going early on in the college years. If you wheedle your way into an internship in the freshman year timeframe you can emerge from college with 3-4 years of expereince, and that looks GREAT on a resume. Barring the ability to get an intership, volunteering to work on something related can get the networking going early. For programmers, many, many Open Source projects need testers, doc writers, coders, etc. For engineering, volunteer for science fairs, youth activities, etc. For business, look up Junior Achievement and other civic organizations. I’m sure there are analogues for other organizations, as well.
Also, I’ll add in a note about “leadership”. Leadership skills are absolutely critical to success in an organization. So is credibility. Read up on some leadership books (I really like the excellent “The Leadership Challenge”) and start practicing good leadership TODAY. I doin’t care if you are the geekiest shut-in engineer in the world who still lives in your mother’s basement — at some point, people are going to see you as “the person who knows this best” — which makes you a LEADER. You need to know how to handle it if you want to succeed.
I’ll also echo that math, science and engineering are careers that do lend themselves to high earner status. Also law and medicine. Of course, high earner does not equate to “wealthy”, so I would encourage anyone who wants to earn a six figure income to take a quick read of “The Millionaire Next Door” for a great look at how to manage that income.
I also work a “regular” 40-50 hour workweek. I rarely travel (one week a year at most) and I do see my family at night and on the weekends. I don’t carry a blackberry or feel “on call” for work 24/7. Very occasionally I need to work late or on a weekend (I’m in IT and shutdowns happen off business hours — we typically do 1-2 a year) So six figure income most definitely does not imply being a slave to the workplace. But it does mean that you perform services someone is willing to pay for.
Has anybody had the rude awakening that $100K does not go as far in real life as it seemed in university? When I was was 22, I set the goal to make six figures by the time I was 30. I became obsessed about it, had definite setbacks, but reached the goal when I was 29. I imagined nice suits, a nice house, and a BMW in the driveway.
The reality is that the house is very modest, needs work, and even on $100K will take a decade to pay off. A car, any car, is not even in the equation, the suits are cheap and three years old, and dinner out is a monthly occurrence at best. Between $30K going to taxes, trying to pay off the house in ten years, maxing out retirement funds, an education savings plan for my newborn, and putting $500 in savings with every biweekly paycheck, there really is is very little disposable income left at the end of the day.
Anyways, I suppose this is how one gets rich slowly…
@The Beagle — welcome to the world of wealth-building and being responsible (to some extent). However, YOU set the goal to pay off the house, YOU set the goal to save $1000/month, YOU chose to max out the retirement funds and YOU chose to fund education savings for your child.
Most people don’t do that. Quite honestly it sounds like you set financial goals that no longer align with your life, which has changed. Perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate where you are going and what you are doing and see is those choices still make sense.
Understand this isn’t an attack — it’s coming from another goal-setter who will set a goal or plan in motion and then do everything possible to achieve that goal with single-minded determination and who needs a kick in the rear every so often to get the “big picture” — and that usually comes from my wife 🙂
Thanks Jason @110. You eloquently summarized all the worst memories of my brief experience in the corporate world. Aaagh. WRITTEN PROCEDURES. Your advice would have been really welcome to me at the time. I’ll look up that book about leadership.
To gotitall @109. I think maybe a little bit of math can be most useful to people who aren’t interested in it or will even have trouble with it. Do you think that’s possible?
I did my PhD in math and it doesn’t feel like it’s made me any more useful, but maybe I lack the talents and confidence that other people developed when they weren’t studying mathematics.
I enjoyed your take on getting to “six-figures” and applaud anyone who gets there. But I have to say that college and career building have always been, to me, sort of a backwards approach to making money. Career is important. Making good money is important too. But if you make a lot of money but lack the knowledge of how to spend it efficiently, and invest it wisely, you really don’t accomplish anything beyond a vicious cycle. If you think that making money only comes from a job, you’re missing the hidden value of every dollar that ever comes into your hands.
I’ve known people who make six-figures who couldn’t afford to retire, and I’ve met one person who made $30,000 a year who retired early and actually was a millionaire at retirement. No college. No inheritance. No lottery win. Just smart spending and wise investing.
We focus far too much on how much we make and not near enough on what we do with what we make, and so we keep falling into this notion that you have to make a lot of money to have a lot of money. It’s simply not true at all.
Look at, for example, all the athletes who have ever died broke, even making multi-million dollar salaries over the course of their careers.
Ergo the old adage; it’s not what you make, it’s what you do with what you make.
@Jane — thanks. Don’t get me wrong, there is a proper place for procedures and documentation in an organization. The problems come when the procedures, policies and documentation take on a life of their own and become obstacles in the path of innovation and change.
Incidentally, I work for a company that would not exist without mathematics, so the way I feed my family comes right from the efforts of a lot of bright people who know a lot about math, science and engineering!
“Mathematics is the queen of the sciences” – Gauss
@Jason, Yes – my problem with procedures was that they were the only training I received – step-by-step instructions – and I wasn’t allowed to change the steps.
If I asked my boss why we did something a particular way, because sometimes it didn’t make sense to me, he’d say that was how the procedure was written when he started and he thought it best not to change it. So it was just like you said, I think.
(No-one even seemed to know what they were doing!)
@ LittleHouse (#84):
My brother and many of my family’s friends are teachers, and love their work. I (and they) do wish their financial compensation were better.
I do hope, though (if you are in fact a teacher yourself), that that was a typo in your post, and that you know the difference between the plural form of “teacher” and the possessive. If it was not a typo — yikes. One more nail in the coffin for bare-minimum grammar standards in the United States.
One thing I’ve found curious is how many people knock working in Corporate America, & turn around & exault working for yourself as the answer.
Not to knock those that have done so (because I agree with, and hope to get back into, entrepreneurship), but because Hard Work is HARD WORK whether you’re doing it for The Man or yourself.
Working for Corp America, I don’t have to wear as many hats as I would, if I worked for myself. I have a steady income stream. I don’t have to pay ALL of my social security. My health insurance is MUCH cheaper.
If you made 100k gross for yourself vs for Corp America, you’d have a lot less money left over, using the DIY option.
I don’t say any of this to dissuade anyone from working for themselves. I think a lot of people go into entrepreneurship with their eyes half-closed to the difficulties.
And I should know – I originally had a small business for myself, that failed utterly, before I got into what I do now. The 1st time around, I was too young, and it was a “you don’t know what you don’t know, because you don’t know it” sort of situation.
Spending a few years, even ONE year in any kind of management position…if you try to squeeze every bit of learning out of that, it can apply to so many other types of businesses, in realizing what you need to do, to make a business successful.
Back on the topic of making 100k though – even if you’re doing it in Corp America, paying attention to what other departments do can reap huge rewards. It makes you look like a much more forward thinker, which is good for moving up in the ranks. Also, if you spend time on voluntary committees to improve how the company works, that can be a huge bonus in the eyes of the higher-ups, and give you oppurtunities that you wouldn’t otherwise get.
When one of the VPs of my last company left for greener pasteurs, he was impressed enough with my cross-functional work to court me at his next place of employment, which is how I got to the job I’m at today. We both benefitted – he gave me a great deal, because he *knew* he was getting a great person, and wanted to me to happy & stay there. I got a 5k signing bonus & ended up in a better working environment, because I knew that this guy was somebody who was good to work for.
And it doesn’t take brown-nosing to get there. As I’ve moved up, that’s another thing I’ve realized. A lot of high-level (not all, but a lot) do see through the brown-nosing. They might not point it out publicly (which is embarassing for all involved), but they know about it, & it doesn’t do the brown-noser any favors in the long-term.
That’s not everybody, mind you. Just in my experience, most brown-nosers *might* get a little ahead in the short-term, but long-term, they stall themselves out because of it.
This lost me on step one, because it doesn’t address how, say, a 30-something with two kids is supposed to go about obtaining a degree from a good school. You can’t do it over the net. You can’t do it with just night classes. You can’t quit your job and feed your kids on student loans.
This is an article for kids, not everyone. For kids, it’s got some good common sense advice.
As for those who don’t want to believe luck has anything to do with it, I don’t think anyone was arguing that without ginormous lottery-winning sized good fortune, you won’t make it. They’re just acknowledging the fact that sometimes the field you’re getting a degree in dries up and blows away suddenly during your last semester of college. Sometimes you get hit by a bus and make a painful three year recovery where you can’t work at all and fall behind your colleagues. Where you make your own luck is in determining that you’re going to find an opportunity within whatever happens to you, disaster or blessing, because then you usually do figure something out eventually, and you put off a positive attitude that makes people more likely to want to help you.
On first read I missed the bit saying “the seven years noted in the title are post-college”
That makes the $100k goal a lot more attainable in 7 years. I first thought the 7 years included college.
I’m kinda surprised at the negative reaction in many of the comments. These are proven steps that work. That doesn’t mean that it is what everyone should do or that everyone would enjoy it.
I make 100k and I work 40 hours a week. High salary doesn’t require working yourself to death. There are certainly high paid people who do work long hours but its not mandatory for every job.
@Jen — You start off with your problem and finish with your solution. Many, many people get degrees who have kids. They do night, weekend and online courses. Both my wife and I have received advanced degrees at night or on weekends. Their spouse watches the kids while they are in class. If they don’t have a spouse, their parents or siblings pitch in. If they don’t have parents or a spouse, their friends pitch in. Or they get a sitter.
If you really want that degree, you can make it happen. Just like you make the other things happen in your life that you want to happen.
Jason, please re-read my comment and note that I said “good school”, which is what the author said. A “good school”, according to employers who care where you got your degree, is a standard 4 year school designed for people who have nothing to be doing but going to school. Sure, you can get “a” degree at any point in life, but what the author is suggesting is not University of Phoenix, and therefore it’s not going to be in everyone’s reach.
Also please remember that not everyone lives near a college that would be considered a “good school” and may not have any way of making ends meet if they suddenly relocate their family closer to a college town to accommodate their plans.
Note too that I am not saying there is NO way for a 30-something with two kids to achieve six figures. I just dispute the author’s claim that THIS method will work for anyone. It will work for some people, and that’s great. But no one method works for everybody. Life would be so incredibly boring if it were that simple.
There are many 4 year universities that offer traditional degrees through online/distance learning. Some of them are actually “good”, too. In-State pubic universities with this option are pretty much free. This is the 21st Century. Maybe you need to do some research rather than defeating yourself from the outset.
Hi FMF – All I’m saying is that 6% seems low for the number of working Americans making over 100k.
There are over 100 posts here, and it looks like 20-25 people claim they make over 100k. Just saying, I think there’s much more wealth out there than we think.
I wrote about it on FS where policemen, firemen, longshoremen make over 100K, and that’s not even from work. It’s from their pensions! The article is entitled “Fortunes, Fortunes, Everywhere.” Maybe I’ll just repost it, b/c this topic of how much people make seems like it’s quite debatable.
I have a feeling it’s b/c the economy has returned and a lot more people are making more money. The people who are making over 100K downplay the amount of people who make over 100k, b/c that dilutes their stature. Just my theory.
It’s good if you know exactly what you want to do before college however most people do not. In saying this there are a few good points to take in. Basically you just need to be a good performer with a good attitude and your on your way which most people I think know about.
I was pretty excited when I read the title of the article only to find out that the article only refers to making 6 figures through a J-O-B…
Which as you all know is probably the highest taxed way of making 6 figures therefore probably not making it 6 figures.
Plus, contrary to making 6 figures through your own business, can be taken away from you in a snap!
More surprising is that it is hosted on a blog where the owner probably started making 6 figures after leaving his J-O-B…go figure.
Good points. Although, through a series of chain of events I was able to hit the six figure mark. Hard work and longevity with a company do go along way.
Great article! I just would like to add one point. While planning your carrier it is necessary to understand economic conditions. Personally, I’ve lost my chance while markets booming all around and stay with previous company without receiving significant bonuses (like for many other firms). Today, situation significantly changed and now the questions is – to survive rather than increase you wealth. But market will back and some companies will grow faster than other – do not lose your chance to be with that employees!
The approx 6% who make 100,000 is referring to AGI, I believe. So there are probably some more people who make more but then get knocked into a lower bracket from write offs.
But I don’t think the % is as high as you are expecting. $100,000+ individual AGI is a lot of money. People who say otherwise need a reality check.
Just as a data point, I’ve loosely followed these steps, and have done reasonably well with them.
1) Get a high-earning degree from a good school: I got a Computer Science degree from an above-average state college (though not top tier, and certainly not ivy league), in 2002. Thanks to always working part-time while in school and living off-campus, I graduated with no debt.
Comp. Sci., while not as hard as something like chemical engineering, was a much tougher degree than business, education, or communications, and the jobs paid accordingly. It may not be what I love, but I don’t mind it, I’m pretty good at it, and it pays the bills better than teaching (which might be my “ideal job if money didn’t matter”, but I guess we’ll never know).
2) Work for a name-brand employer at your first job: My first job after graduation was with the largest company in my industry, which has a great reputation, both now and back then. They recruited at my college, which is how I got the job. I started at $53,000 in 2002, slightly above average for my degree at the time.
3) Perform: I worked my butt off — sometimes in quantity, always in quality — and in a year was being assigned the same level work as engineers 5-10 years senior to me.
One thing I learned is that performance is just as subject to perception and context as anything else: I had to work harder when next to the young go-getters (of which I was one), but not quite so hard when next to the middle-aged slackers — but still, always do at least a “good” job, if not a great job.
4) Manage career aggressively: OK, so I wasn’t so good about this one at first. Big companies make this difficult, as they have fairly ironclad policies regarding raises and promotions, and people who argue are labeled as troublemakers.
I did, however, change jobs in early 2006 (for a nice pay bump, and freedom bump) to a smaller, though still large and reputable company, where I’ve since been able to earn an excellent reputation with management and customers, to get 4-figure bonuses every year, and to achieve multiple promotions.
5) Have some luck: Luck always plays a role, like it or not.
Good Luck: My resume was light on relevant work experience, so I was actually wait-listed for that first job at the big company — they literally called me the day before the interview because someone else had canceled. (Note to college students: get jobs or internships /in your field/ whenever possible, it’s never too early.)
Back Luck: I was passed over for promotion there because my boss’ /other/ project failed and my team was caught in the crossfire. This, and because I was really bored, is why I left. (One regret about leaving: the big company had a solid pension, which I was not vested in and lost. I probably should have tried transferring to other departments before leaving the company entirely, or at least stuck it out until the 5-year vesting point.)
Good Luck: One of my two recent promotions at my current job was basically due to someone else leaving.
Good or bad, luck plays a role — which is not to say that you shouldn’t be proactive, because you should. But also realize that some events are beyond your control.
Today I make /just/ under $100,000 in base salary. But I do make the cut if you count bonuses, plus I have pretty good benefits (4 weeks/year vacation, flex time, good medical, etc).
It can work. 🙂
My only real regret is that I focused a lot on my “job” rather than my “career”, and I’m currently lagging behind in things like getting my master’s degree, a few professional certifications, etc, which will all help me significantly in the long run.
But hopefully I’ll get my PMP this Spring and enroll in a master’s program next Fall, and begin to reverse that trend.
Just for the record, I am a 27 year old minority female who makes 90K a year (plus a 5% 401K matching bonus and a performance bonus every year).
I would be making 100K a year base but I took longer than 3 months off for my maternity leave after I had a baby AND I had several complications with my pregnancy which precluded me from working (both of which knocked me out of competition for a promotion).
I work 40 hours a week. Period. I do not do OT and my employer has never asked me to.
I have great benefits. I get 4 weeks vacation and 2 weeks sick time off a year.
I hardly ever travel for work.
I love my job. I have a degree in computer science, and I work as a development team lead.
My husband, a white male, makes 125K a year. He is 29 years old. He rarely has to travel. He picks up our daughter from daycare every day at 4pm and brings her home to play with her. Recently, my daughter was ill so he called his boss and told him the situation. He was supposed to be flying out the next day with his boss. His boss told him to stay home with the baby and not to worry about it.
There is a work life balance that needs to be maintained in every job, but it is possible to do this with jobs making over 100K. (In my case, close to 100K). My husband and I are proof of this.
Job hopping is how I’ve managed to get close to 100K. I started in my field in 2004 making 45K, in 2009 I’m making 80K doing the same work because I changed companies and got big pay bumps each time. In one case, I was with a company for only 6 months before moving on to get a 25% increase in pay. I’ve only been given 2 raises in this time (both at my first job) and 0 promotions during this time.
Look at the name/point of this website…it makes sense that there would a higher proportion of 100k+ people here. People that make that much money generally do so deliberately, I think. They actively look for ways to increase their income, which is what would bring them to a site like this in the first place.
Another thing, and this something I think I’ve noticed to be true, but it could just depend on the people that I know…it seems like the lower-earning people I know spend far less time online than the high-earning people. I think some of that has to do with the fact that many of the high-earners I know have desk jobs that give them more time to surf, but it also seems to me that a lot of the low-earners don’t have the interest, or curiosity, or time to be online & utilize the internet the same way higher-earners do.
This is just an observation, and could be inaccurate. But it has seemed to be true from what I’ve observed of friends at different income brackets.
And the part about being white certainly seems to have statistical validity, but obviously there are many exceptions.
I majored in History and worked as a freelancer in a creative field for many years, maxing out at $55K a year (which felt like a fortune!). I actually made a goal to make over $100K and have a better lifestyle by getting a top 5 MBA. It paid off ridiculously well – three years later and I’m at over $200K.
Of course you have to enjoy what you’re doing, but I discovered that most people who get MBAs are actually very, very happy about 10 years + out. It’s a flexible degree, and as another poster said, knowing a little bit of math is priceless. I’m a verbal/creative person at heart, which is also priceless in corp america where seeing the big picture is in short supply. Writing lucid emails is also a very important skill.
Great post, though of course there are many roads.
Wow did you study my career and write a blog post about it? Spot on!
1. Degree in Aerospace Engineering from a very good college. #1 in this degree area. No rich parents paying the way. I was private student loans in my name only all the way.
2. Got a job with Lockheed Martin (ever heard of them?) straight out of school making around $50k base. Got my job by submitting my resume at a job fair on campus where they were recruiting heavily.
3. Yearly performance review ratings of 5 my first two years (out of 5, 5 being the highest). Got a 16% raise my first year (unheard of), 4% the next year (highest of my peers… yes we tell each other our raises).
4. After being promised a promotion (that would also bring a big pay bump) for more than a year. I switched companies. Switching companies was all it took to go from making $60k to $120k. (Yes, double). I got the job at the second company from someone who had worked with me at my first job and saw how high my performance level was. It also didn’t hurt that we had shared several beers after work together with other high performers (aka networking). My first 100k+ year of earnings was my third year out of college at the age of 24. I have gotten TWO $5/hour raises since I’ve been here (in 2 years) and that’s because I’ve asked for them. Both times they were telling me yes before I managed to even get the question out of my mouth. Makes me think I should ask for another one right now… 🙂
5. The “lucky” part that was out of my hands was the timing of my graduation which happened to coincide with a serious lack in availability of aerospace engineers in the career path I chose. Although I did do a fair amount of research into the future demand estimates in my field before I went into it so take that as lucky if you want to.
I seem to have followed steps One and Two (I have a BS in Physics from Tulane and an MSCE specialized in Coastal Engineering from Louisiana State University), by chance (not accident in that they are good decisions by any book). I am working hard on step 3, which is the hardest step of the three, and I’ve been remaining 100% billable at a time when the engineering industry has no work. Nevertheless, it can be quite difficult to excel in a sluggish economy when one isn’t allowed to pursue more than is expected (the extra work should go to the other good workers who happen to be slow). This begs the question, how do I know when it is time to engage step four and look for a new job?
P.S. Step five of having luck, can be helped a little by networking alot. I don’t just network with individuals in my career field though. I make sure that the movers and shakers, the big earners, the power players in my city know who I am even though I’m not in the same profession as 99% of them.
world series live streaming says02 November 2010 at 18:48
I like the overall theme of this article. I’ve recently crested six figures in base salary (although with bonuses I got there sooner) and I really have to agree with many of the points mentioned especially the “work hard” one. You will need to over deliver on goals and projects to get recognized.
Overall, though, probably the most important thing is having a “git er done” attitude. Everyone likely works with someone who is absolutely satisfied with the status quo — and for whom change is HARD. Anything new is IMPOSSIBLE and everything needs to be FULLY DOCUMENTED with WRITTEN PROCEDURES. They will invariably bitch and moan about THAT PERSON WHO BREAKS THE RULES and DOESN’T DO THINGS THE RIGHT WAY. It’s highly likely you want to emulate the person the status quo people bitch and moan about — because they are likely the ones who take calculated risks and are willing to actually do something about out-of-date procedures, business practices and so on. Businesses that fail to adapt to change are not in business for long — so being the person that shows up looking for a better way to do things (and actually does them) is a GREAT way to get ahead. And hey, if you get fired, then go to work for the competitor :).
Also, there is definitely something to be said for getting that industry internship going early on in the college years. If you wheedle your way into an internship in the freshman year timeframe you can emerge from college with 3-4 years of expereince, and that looks GREAT on a resume. Barring the ability to get an intership, volunteering to work on something related can get the networking going early. For programmers, many, many Open Source projects need testers, doc writers, coders, etc. For engineering, volunteer for science fairs, youth activities, etc. For business, look up Junior Achievement and other civic organizations. I’m sure there are analogues for other organizations, as well.
Also, I’ll add in a note about “leadership”. Leadership skills are absolutely critical to success in an organization. So is credibility. Read up on some leadership books (I really like the excellent “The Leadership Challenge”) and start practicing good leadership TODAY. I doin’t care if you are the geekiest shut-in engineer in the world who still lives in your mother’s basement — at some point, people are going to see you as “the person who knows this best” — which makes you a LEADER. You need to know how to handle it if you want to succeed.
I’ll also echo that math, science and engineering are careers that do lend themselves to high earner status. Also law and medicine. Of course, high earner does not equate to “wealthy”, so I would encourage anyone who wants to earn a six figure income to take a quick read of “The Millionaire Next Door” for a great look at how to manage that income.
I also work a “regular” 40-50 hour workweek. I rarely travel (one week a year at most) and I do see my family at night and on the weekends. I don’t carry a blackberry or feel “on call” for work 24/7. Very occasionally I need to work late or on a weekend (I’m in IT and shutdowns happen off business hours — we typically do 1-2 a year) So six figure income most definitely does not imply being a slave to the workplace. But it does mean that you perform services someone is willing to pay for.
I like your ideas and I find them useful, for someone who wants to be an employe and work hard for the rest of there lives. There are better ways for achieving six figure income in 5 years. I recommend looking into network marketing as a profession.
This article should have been entitled “how to be a good little wage slave”.
There are high school students who have gotten to 6 figures in a few months. 7 years? That is just laziness on the author’s part. You are working for somebody ELSE and giving away all YOUR time and YOUR energy for someone elses financial benefit.
You listed working for major brands like they are some kind of enigmatic icon. No, actually they were started by real human beings, maybe even less talented or intelligent that you. They just didn’t make the mistake of choosing to be a wage slave.
Overall a poor article, however I am glad many like it because it means there will be less competition and plenty of drones to hire 🙂
I love this article. Though I’m not sure I’m in total agreement with it. I’m 23 years old and a software developer. I already make six figures a year and did so the same year I left college.
I know what you might think… Yeah, but I can’t code… I suck at math… I can’t get a computer science degree… blah blah…
Today the MEDIAN developer makes $101,790+ a year and over 65% of new developer are self-taught. That means you don’t need a degree, and all you got to be is average (well technically median lol) to make six figures.
Oh, yeah, I almost forgot the math-phobia… Listen, I suck at math. Like seriously suck at it!
Let me ask you this… Can you increment? As in, can you add one to a number… Yeah… Like 5+1=?… Cool, you’re qualified! Congrats!
The rest is down to some hard work, habit, and learning a new skill that is SO easy to learn today. And totally free to do so! Just “google how to learn to code for free” and enjoy your analysis paralysis.
Listen, I love this blog in general. It has some awesome content. I even love this post, it’s very honest and true. Yet I still think there is a great, consistent, and readily available way to make six figures for 6 of those 7 years you’re wasting here. That’s $600,000+ you’re forgoing. Slap that in a Vanguard S&P 500 and smoke it…
Anyway… I’m writing about all this at https://sixfigureprogrammer.com/ – Tell me what you think John. If you don’t agree with me I’d love to talk about it…
There are 145 comments to "Five steps to six figures in seven years".
Hmmm. I was looking for six steps to make seven figures in eight years, but I guess this will have to do. Regarding #5, I think you’re underselling the importance of making your own luck. What many attribute to “luck” is being in the right place at the right time, and you *do* have a reasonable amount of control over that.
Great tips. I think the first tip may turn people off because it goes against the “do what you love” mantra that I see so much. I broke the six figure mark two years into my career, but I specifically chose a high earning major rather than one that interested me. And yes, it’s possible to be successful in a field you don’t care for. I don’t expect my job to be the be all and end all of my life satisfaction. Instead, I use my job to fund my passions (and a possible second career in the arts). Different strokes and all.
Hello Cara. Two years is very impressive–top 1% I would assume. May I ask what your major was?
I’ve been working for 5 years as an engineer via computer science, and my pay has increased thus far by $10k (now @ $60k), and is below average according to salary comparison sites. It does bother me.
Certainly you can “make your own luck” by trying to make smart choices, but often it’s a very random process.
For instance, you make a “good” career decision/move and a year later the company is sold and priorities are shifted. Or you take a job to work for a leading “expert” in your industry. Six months later, his wife takes a job across the country and he’s moving with her. Or the economy tanks and hits your industry especially hard. Or the economy tanks and your industry benefits.
You can see how random many of these things are. The changes can be for better or worse, but they are (for the most part) out of your control — and mostly unforseeable.
Way too much is made out of what university you go to in the States. It’s a real shame. I think like you said, going to a good school is good enough.
sounds like somebody has fallen in love with the ‘rat race’ geez….booooorrrriiiinnnnnggggggggg
I like those ideas. The problem with #1 is that a lot of people don’t know their intended career before college. Often it takes internships or classes to figure out what one would like to do.
I think a lot of step 5 involves networking and meeting people. The luck part will come when the people you meet refer you to good jobs.
As a side note to being positive, learn to resist the urge to say “There’s no way to do that!” You may think you are being a realist, but the people who approach unsolvable problems by saying “Let’s see what we can do about this” come across much better to superiors, even if ultimately the project fails as you predicted.
Look at it this way: If the project succeeds, and you said it couldn’t be done, you look bad for not recognizing the solution. If the project fails, and you said it couldn’t be done, then people suspect that you are secretly happy to be proven right, so it tarnishes your image. But if the project fails, and you were trying everything you could to help salvage it, people will remember that you were putting in effort to try to make things work. And if the project succeeds despite the odds, you get a lot of glory for making the impossible possible.
RE: Step one–I tried going for the high-earning degree, and I was miserable for the first two years of college. So miserable that, despite being a type-A overachiever, the thought of quitting school briefly crossed my mind. When I changed my major, I was suddenly excited to go to class, though I knew I wouldn’t make a ton of money out of school with that degree.
I think if you can compartmentalize your life, you can be happy in a highly-paid career that isn’t your passion, but it seems it’s not something I can do. And I’m okay with that, and if I never make six figures, I’m okay with that, too. I have to be excited by something to be good at it.
I am so glad that this post was in my rss feed this morning.
I have a question:
I have moved rather bumpy through steps 1-3, it really hasn’t been easy at all. I have been struggling lately with WHEN to switch companies (are there any signals besides higher wage)? Also when is a good time to as for a raise (signals?)?
I am at a great company and preforming well – I can tell my co-workers think I am going to leave any day because of the innovation and performance I bring.
I think part of it might be that I can network well, but I just don’t know where I should be networking. I also have degrees in both technology and finance — I don’t know which avenue is best to pursue… I am really confused right now… I guess I need to focus my attention — I just don’t know where……
Anyway, suggestions would be appreciated!!!
For a while, making six-figures was something I wanted to do. Now, I’m not so sure. I’m pretty confident I could do it in my life, I’m just not sure that the cost is worth it… The time & energy expended could be better put towards my hobby and developing that into something productive, so I’ve only ever planned on using my degree part-time. (Eventually, perhaps not at all.) Though full-time at first, to gain experience and pay off those nasty student loans…
I think if you can compartmentalize your life, you can be happy in a highly-paid career that isn’t your passion, but it seems it’s not something I can do. And I’m okay with that, and if I never make six figures, I’m okay with that, too. I have to be excited by something to be good at it.
Yes. I think not enough is said about things like personality, natural aptitude, etc. I am introverted and have low energy. I will never be successful if I use the definition of success as making a lot of money in business or something. If I change the definnition of success to mean being happy and learning to make the most of my life despite any limitations I was born with, then yes, I am successful.
I read on a blog once that in order to be successful people should “be extraverted.” You can’t change how your brain is wired, sorry. It’s not a matter of just learning social skills. I have plenty of social skills. I can “perform” for a while, but then I’m drained. I can’t keep it up. Telling people to just make themselves be extraverted shows a complete misunderstanding and lack of knowledge about personality type.
I always value FMF’s career advice, the stuff he posts is spot-on in my experience and this is an epic and valuable post! Two points not mentioned (I think, maybe I missed them) – living in a big, expensive city will raise your “base” salary on which future raises will be based; and you can sub the name-brand school for a very in-demand specialty – nobody in the US knows the Irish college I went to, but you can be sure they respect the course content of the degree I got, which very few N.American universities offer.
Most of us are going to be at work 40-50 hrs a week for X years anyway, may as well maximize what you earn while you’re at it by using tactics like these and by “managing” your career carefully. It really does create options for you.
Woohoo! I have a BS in electrical engineering and I’m 3 classes away from my MBA with no debt. According to Yahoo I’ve got No. 1 & 2 on ROI.
Glad to see something not recommending starting your own business as the only way to wealth.
Whether you’re working on your own business or working on a career, I’ve always said both take effort and planning to move forward and advance. It’s just more obvious and typically immediate for folks working at their own business that if they slack they lose.
Also hard work alone is not enough in either case. You have to have a vision for what you want in the future if you want to increase your income in your business or career. If you’re answer to the question “where do you see yourself in five years?” is “I don’t know.”, then you need to put some thought into it. Even if you love what you’re doing and decide you want to be doing basically the same thing in five years, at least give it some thought and plan on how to keep motivated doing it.
“These suggestions are difficult to follow. They require tough choices, time commitments, sacrifice, discipline and a bunch of other traits that most people don’t want to bother with.”
How about considering your life values and priorities first, before even contemplating which tough choices, time commitments, etc. are worth it to you?
My brother has followed the above career path to a T; he’s now in his mid-forties making well into the six figures as you describe. His various positions have required almost constant travel and time away from his family. I see the results in the negative behavior of his children and hope the price they ALL paid for his career & income level is worth it to them.
My DH and I decided early on that we value hands-on parenting and time spent with our children. Following that path requires its own tough choices, time commitments, and sacrifice. We don’t have a six-figure income right now, but we have a healthy net worth, which is more important to us.
I think anyone contemplating a career path on the basis of its high earning potential would also benefit from considering how that high income career (and the lifestyle associated with it) would align with their life values.
Good post. I especially agree with making your first job with a well-known company. A business people respect goes a long way on a resume.
Hmm… I’m the poster girl for what not to do at work: (1) I don’t dress for the job I want…probably because I don’t know what job I want; (2) I don’t have a career plan; (3) I don’t
suck upnetwork; (4) I don’t have a filter between brain and mouth; and (5) I actively avoid the bigwigs because of 4.Yet, I make six figures (and without ever having to negotiate my salary or my raises) because I have this wacky idea performance is what counts. Sure, I’ve been doing 60-100 hour work weeks since May, but I have a reputation for always meeting a deadline and being on budget. And whatever is thrown at me, from pulling together quarterly reports to managing IT projects to implementing a new process, I’ll do it.
Of course, the downside of being a performer is your current boss doesn’t want you to leave his department. I keep telling him as long as my raises are higher than the company AND industry averages, I’ll stick around.
Great tips–pretty much what I did. I set a goal for myself in 1998 to double my salary in 5 years, and I quadrupled it in that time. What worked for me were your tips to align yourself with a highly respected company, perform, manage career aggressively, and make your own luck. Most important of those was Perform.
In my “real life” as a wife and mother, my kids were so surprised to see me climb into that 5.63% because I’m far from a shark, and what they took away from my experience was “nice guys don’t have to finish last. Being nice can also pay off.”
#1 rule for advancing your life: Attitude is Everything
You all know how I feel about the importance of finding meaningful work. I think that focusing on money at the exclusion of other factors is generally a road to unhappiness. All the same, I think this is a great post.
FMF’s advice is not applicable to everyone. And I can see how some might interpret it as accepting (and joining) the rat race. All the same, I think many, many people can profit from his advice in this article. It’s possible to follow these steps and to be happy with a meaningful career. In fact, I’d argue that merging these two paths is the Holy Grail of employment.
What are the signs of a “good school”? How do you find out which companies recruit from which schools?
Also, would a company be interested in recruiting a 30-something? I assume they want employees they can mold which is why they recruit from colleges. They’re younger and more malleable.
@ Retirement Savior (#6) – As someone who changed majors five times in university, it’s not necessary to have your career planned out from the moment you take your first step. Essentially, a university degree proves you have the ability to learn. I programmed for Microsoft without a computer degree. I marketed for HP and Agilent Technologies without a marketing degree. I’m currently in a financial planning role, even though I’m not an accountant.
I prefer to go against the grain. This is the traditional route that most people think it the only way to life. I want to do something different and exciting!
Here’s some food for thought:
1. If you don’t absolutely hate what you’re doing, the company, etc., then there probably aren’t going to be any clear signs when you should leave a particular company. I guess you could consider falling below the average payscale for your position (or whatever level you want to be above average) or lack of professional growth to be signs it’s time to move on, but those are often harder to pinpoint and can be moving targets.
2. It’s a good time to ask for a raise when you’ve been over-performing your job requirements for some time and have many quantifiable accomplishments you can point to. If you’re really knocking the ball out of the park (which I get from your comments, maybe I’m simply reading into them though), the fact that you’re valuable and worth more should be a no-brainer to your boss as well.
3. As for the tech versus finance option — that’s something you’ll need to decide. And obviously you’ll want to sort it out before you make any major career moves.
A good school is a 4 year accredited University. They will have a career center that helps graduates find jobs and you can ask them for statistics on where graduates end up. If they are good, they will be proud of those statistics and gladly share them with you.
Yes, of course they would hire a 30-something! First of all, 30 is still considered young in the corporate world. Second, good large companies have anti-discrimination policies anyway.
@ d (#5) and J.D. (#19) and Marcy (#11)
Agreed that this is an incredible post that works very well for “Type 1” personalities: Rule bound, rigid, and boring as heck.
My route to six figures was a bit more entrepreneurial, and (@ Marcy) I am an introvert (as are many entrepreneurs, so don’t lose heart.)
There are many paths to the goal, but the question you need to ask is:
*Is it worth it* (to me – to live this lifestyle in order to make this kind of salary).
One bit of advice that has helped me reach my income goals went something like this:
“Try to find employment with compensation that is *results oriented*”.
For me, that led to a commission structure, and project oriented compensation rather than a salary.
The point is: “Different strokes for different folks”.
I loved this post, and I am certain that if you want to be an accountant, or in some corporate capacity, this will work for you.
Just realize, that if you dance to the beat of your own drum, you are going to have to write the music too. There may not be a ‘script’ for you to follow.
Good luck to all.
FMF – Good post. I pretty much agree with what you said, and I’m living proof that doing it will take you from near poverty to a six figure income in just a few years. For me it wasn’t a charted path, I just continuously worked to improve myself, listened to self help tapes during my commute, and worked to make myself a little better every day.
I’d like to add to a couple of your points:
-Education: Any quality school will do. Seriously, few employers care what college you went to, as long as you have an accredited degree. After your first job, they care more about your experience and your education (or lack of) is a screening tool used by HR to eliminate candidates.
-Luck: You make your own luck. Luck is nothing more than preparation meeting opportunity. If you are looking for opportunity you will find it in any event. If you are looking for life to kick you, that is what you will find as well.
Other Resources:
–Education 2.0: this will save you time, money, and headache when you go to earn your degree.
-A guest post I wrote for GRS: Network Your Way to Job Security. You can find similar articles at my blog Wealth and Wisdom.
Also, consider what is truly important to you. It sounds great to make six figures, but it isn’t worth sacrificing the rest of your life to get it. I know this well. I used to take jobs based on how well they moved my career (and income) forward. It was only when I found myself in a job where I spent all my time on the road that I realized that it was not right for me.
I define a “good school” as one that gets you the initial job you want at the company you want and also has at least some sort of name recognition (either nationally, locally if you’re committed to an area, or in an industry) so it benefits you well past the first job.
As far as how to find out what companies recruit at what schools, simply ask the admissions department of a school you’re considering what companies recruited at the school last year, what sort of positions they were looking for, what job titles and at what companies were students hired, what the average (or estimated) starting salaries were, what percent of graduates had a job at graduation, and on and on. They should either have this info available or be able to track it down for you.
As far as a company recruiting a 30-something, I don’t think there’s much problem with that (as long as you’re closer to 30 than 40.) It’s true that some companies want younger recruits that they can then mold and as such some will probably not want to talk to you. But, there are plenty that will — especially if you’re going for an advanced degree like an MBA. In addition, be aware that some companies might be wary so in your interviews be sure to stress your “willingness to try new things”, “desire to learn and improve yourself”, and “flexibility in managing all aspects of your work.”
@Marcy
I’m sorry you’ve been told that being an extrovert is the only way to make it in your career. You’re right that that shows lack of understanding of how people are different and that there’s no one size fits all solution to life.
That being said being an extrovert is more about how you get energized than about how many people you interact with on a daily basis. As an introvert myself, being around people and talking to people on the phone all day drains me. (Fortunately, that’s not my only job requirement.) I need time by myself to recharge for the next day/task.
My youth leader growing up shared with me one of the most profound concepts about being an introvert. He is himself, though you wouldn’t think so when you first met him, particularly as a youth leader. He always seemed energetic, fun to be around, and willing to listen. We were talking about personality for one reason or another and he said that he was an introvert. I didn’t believe him until he explained it’s not about how popular you are or how much energy you have or how many friends you have, it’s about how you charge yourself. If being around people gets you charged up, you’re an extrovert. If you need to be by yourself to recharge, you’re an introvert. It has nothing to do with how many people you know.
So social skills are just that, skills anyone can learn. For my job and the job description I think I’d like to move onto, I have to interact, manage, and lead people. That part is both exciting and scary to me. I like talking to people and getting them to help me accomplish a mutual goal. I just have to remember to find time to recharge when I need it.
@FMF – great article. I’m not sure if I’m going to go after a six figure salary or not (I know that’s a big step in the not direction) but this is a good road map for being a successful employee either way.
I’ll be honest, phrases like “much of life and the results of work are out of your hands” rub me in absolutely the wrong direction. Talk to any truly successful person (and by successful, I mean a person who does the work they love, makes the money they want, and lives 100% according to their beliefs and priorities), and you will see that luck and chance had absolutely NOTHING to do with their success.
It has a lot more to do with being smart, being conscious, thinking positive, knowing your strengths, seeing the possibilities, knowing your priorities, and being proactive.
A lot of these tips sound like a one-way ticket to a really bland, get-paid-to-walk-around-with-coffee career as a Cube Farm Overseer. Of course, if you’re sort of bland and uncreative yourself, it might work for you.
I would add getting a well placed internship to that list. It’s a combination of schooling/training and networking. The company I am with now doesn’t recruit from the school I went to, but they do have departments that selectively pick from specific schools and programs that align with the research they do and I got the ‘in’ in that way.
I don’t love what I do, but I don’t hate it either. And while I agree that one’s motivation shouldn’t only be money, I also think people who loftily state that you should ‘do what you love’ don’t have it right either. Life is a balance. My plan is to continue doing what I’m doing for a bit longer, but I’m socking away the money I make now so I am not tied to this job if I ever DO become miserable. I think that is where a lot of people in high paying jobs make a mistake. Most people don’t hate their jobs from the get go, they grow to hate it due to increasing demands, management changes, or simply burning out.
just make sure that you don’t get screwed by the overall economy and go back to earning 1/2 the 6 figures you were earning.. it’s happened to allot of us out here.. doing the things mentioned above make only a marginal difference when the overall tide goes down.. it may keep your boat afloat, but not in the rich seas you’d become accustomed to.. remember most of those “name brand employers” that were mentioned in the article jetizened countless thousands, if not 10’s of 1000’s, of employees this past year.
#3 can also cause early burn-out. If you’re just doing it for the money, you will burn out. If you’re not just doing it for the money, you don’t need this tip. Otherwise, you get to the point where you realize that no amount of money is going to buy your time with your family and friends, time for yourself, or your youth back.
You can keep your six figures, I prefer just financial stability, health insurance, a comfortable life, a smallish house, a short commute, and lots of extra time with my family and to pursue various other interests and activities.
J.D.’s next article:
HOW TO MARRY A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN
Step one: Be handsome! Your hair should be soft and wavy, your teeth gleaming! No acne. Be buff and tan and muscular, and tall.
Step two: Be successful! Have a great, six figure job (see my previous article). Drive a big, fancy car and wear lots of jewelry. Own a huge house.
Step three: Be respectful! Dames dig that.
Step four: Pick the prettiest one. Don’t worry about brains so much. You’ll be moving on in 5-10 years anyway.
I’m quite shocked at the people stating “great post”. 99% of this article is common sense, but out of reach for 99% of the populace. This would be a “great post” for perhaps a middle schooler that was just starting to get interested in a career, but even then, unattainable for the vast majority.
Although I think some of you are missing FMF’s point, I do have to say that Hokojoma’s comment (#33) made me laugh out loud. 🙂
I’ve pretty much been following this Path and it’s working pretty well. If you count the 1 year Master’s program then I’m just starting year 4 and 80% of the way to 6 figures. I graduated from a Ivy League school with a Master’s degree, worked for a big name company starting at 65k. The company I worked for had a big recruiting presence at my school and my hiring manager told me that the reputation of the school had a big impact on his decision. I had really good results and got a 4k raise in 6 months. Moved jobs to a smaller, but still big name company for 10k more and in a lower cost of living state. My housing costs each year are 6k less now than they were at my old job (I miss Wegmans). Unfortunately this last year is really starting to kill my momentum.
Not sure how this post was much of a revelation… you could as easily have said, “become a doctor!” or “practice law for a large company!” or even, “Record hit album!” Or, you can look up average salaries in different positions and find one whose average at 5 years is >$100K, get the job and there you have it. In other words, it doesn’t take much specialty knowledge to tell someone to get a degree and work hard.
I think this post would have been more interesting if you’d listed the major skill sets the population is likely to have, and defined a career path that matches each one. How to make six figures as an artist, a musician, a retailer, a scientist, an.. ummm… English major.
These are great actionable steps, but as pointed out in the article, are far from easy. I would argue building your own business is a much easier way to accomplish a 100K per year income.
I think the same general rules apply, tweaked a bit:
1. Your school is not important to prospective customers. Experience is what matters.
2. You don’t need to work for a well-known employer, only do business with them. This is much easier to do.
3. Performing will get you ahead in any area. Probably the most important factor for raising your income if you’re self-employed
4. Manage your goals aggressively
5. Have some luck.
Six Steps to getting ahead in Corporate America:
1. Be in the right place at the right time. (Luck.)
2. Know the right people, and be friendly with them. (This is called sucking up. Do it the right way, and management will like you. Do it the wrong way, and management will despise you.)
3. Don’t be afraid to tell people when they are wrong, especially management. They will respect you for having a spine. (Once again, do it the right way…the wrong way will get you labeled a trouble-maker)
4. Appear competent. (Notice I didn’t say be competent. Perception > reality, especially in corporations.)
5. Notice I’ve given conditional statements to 2,3 and 4 above…I can’t tell you *how* to do these things…either you’ve learned them through your interpersonal working relationships over the past 20, 30, 40 or 50 years, or you haven’t.
6. Be a problem solver, not a problem creator. (There are two types of employees, period. Make sure you know which one you are. You’d be surprised how many bad employees think they are good employees. This is coming from someone with extensive management experience.)
OR, you can ignore all the above, and become a complete sociopath in the corporate arena. Backstab, belittle, undermine, flatter, lie, scheme, circumvent, lie some more… in other words, do whatever it takes. Soon, you will be an executive.
You might read the Statement above and think it is meant as humor. It isn’t.
Good article! I agree with all your points. I don’t see why so many people have bees in their bonnets about “joining the rat race”.
Many people complain they don’t have enough money, but don’t put in the hard work that is needed to get it. Those same individuals envy those who make $100K+, and think it’s easy.
@#33 lol funny… but the point is that everything FMF suggests is achievable with hard work. Even the “luck” he suggests is conditional on the previous steps…
First you say…
And just a bit later your first step is…
I think you’re cheating a lot. In one breath you say you’re only talking about after college and in the next you’re tacking 4 or more years on to the program. I might have believed it if you had said 10 years since 1 year of a 4 year degree is blown on non-degree related “general education” stuff. I took 7 years just to get through my BS and MS and after nearly 15 years (at one employer admittedly) I’m just now getting within “arms reach” of the 6 figure mark – I figure about 5 more years and I’ll just cross that line. Of course, by then I expect to be completely debt free and well into JD’s “third stage”.
I like the idea of making your own luck. I earned a promotion less than a year into my first job by making my own luck. Yes, it was lucky that the person before me left. But the position was going to remain vacant until I took on one of the projects and then asked for the job. Yes, I got lucky, but I also created my own luck by putting myself in a position where I was capable of doing the new job and then asking for it.
Can someone remind me of the name of this blog? That’s right, it’s Get Rich Slowly, and that’s why I follow it regularly. If you want to get rich quickly at a job and kill yourself at work for a few years, then read the blogs by Tim Ferriss or by Ramit Sethi.
1. You don’t have to take a job in a field you hate just to make six figures. Sure, some fields/degrees have built-in advantages, but if your likes don’t suit one of these, then go your own path. You can still earn a decent salary (and maybe six figures) — you’re just taking a different path (as some have suggested.) That said, it may be harder to do (for instance, I’m guessing the average musician earns less than the average engineer), but for most people it’s much better to earn $80k doing what you love than making $100k in a field you dispise.
As JD said, for some (many?) personal preferences and high-earning professions intersect. I am blessed to be in a field that I both enjoy and is one where I can earn a good salary.
2. Some seem to equate “perform” to “work like a slave.” I grant that many people get ahead by putting in 60+ hours a week, but this is not necessary in all cases and is certainly not needed over the life of a career (for instance, you may work more hours when you’re younger and then be able to scale back as your experience grows.)
3. There is an aspect of “making your own luck”, but there’s also a facet of luck that can’t be planned for, controlled or predicted. The people that get ahead IMO are those that come out better than before despite the (sometimes poor) circumstances that are thrown at them.
I disagree with working for a big name institution. I was offered positions at both a big name company and a little indie place. I would not have been paid more at the indie place, and worse, I would have been trapped into one small focus area.
By going with the indie company, my real talent (the ability to walk into a complete mess, figure it out, and go) showed how valuable I am. Because of that, I’ve been cross trained on far more positions than I ordinarily would have at a big name place.
If I do eventually move to a bigger company, I can command a higher salary based on my incredibly varied skill set.
Oh, God. The first time I witnessed this, I was shocked (I was so naive back then). I couldn’t figure out how this person looked at herself in the mirror every morning. After a few months of her abuse, I left the department despite vehement protests from three levels of senior management and she got demoted.
RMS: That’s exactly what I was thinking! Usually I don’t comment on the posts like this (that I don’t like or don’t apply to me) but you voiced my thoughts so precisely I just had to tell you that. 🙂
@FMF (comment #44) … My DH is living proof of both #1 and #3. His salaried occupation as a pilot involves VERY different working conditions than the types of high-earning, desk-bound occupations found in corporate finance, management, engineering, IT, etc. Until recently, aviation also carried good potential for a six-figure career, depending on the type of aircraft you flew, the company you worked for, and your seniority within the company.
The combination of economic downturn and the events of 9/11 saw many of those lucrative aviation opportunities vanish within months. Economic downturns are to be expected, but terrorist attacks of that magnitude?
The readers have been heard! Well, some of them, anyhow. Mike sent a question by e-mail. He has a high-paying career and is not happy. I’ll post a follow-up “ask the readers” on Saturday morning to address his situation and to deal with some of your concerns. Sound good?
No one has complete control over their lives.
The only thing you can do is maximize your chance of success, but there is no such thing as a 100% guarantee in life. No matter how great your chances of success are, there is still a chance at failure.
Just because you received the opportunity, does not mean you were the most qualified. You could have a contact, you were willing to take a lower salary, you have specialized knowledge, or you were in the right place at the right time.
Right place at the right time… sound a lot like market timing to me. *cough* luck *cough*
To end this, I’m not saying it’s all luck, but remember to appreciate your circumstances, and there are always those who are/were not as fortunate as you. I’ve known people who had to drop out of high school to work minimum wage jobs, just to put food on the dinner table.
@Hokojoma
1. Write that book.
2. Publish that book.
3. Sell that book and profit.
4. Plastic surgery.
5. Show proof that it works in revised book.
6. Profit more.
I haven’t read through all the comments yet because I have to, you know, do some work – but wanted to thank FMF and JD and say YES this does work. My DH did exactly these five things and he did reach 6 figs in 7 yrs as a personal trainer and physical therapist assistant – a career he loves:
1. Get a degree – a B.A. in Biology from CSU-Northridge, which combined with experience let him take the state P.T.A. licensing exam.
2. Work for a name-brand employer: in the Rehab department at UCLA
3. Perform – as an assistant for physical therapists who knew they could trust him, he was able to get referrals immediately after going freelance
4. Manage career aggressively – from $14/hr as an assistant to … well, quite a bit/hr as a freelancer, without advertising. Ever. He just was willing to work where and when the clients wanted him.
5. Have some luck: that would be me, the wage-earning partner who gave him the stability to take a big chance on starting his own business. It paid off for both of us.
Best to everyone, stay healthy!
You forgot an important step: Be born white. You’ll earn much more with no additional effort or merit! Also, being a dude will help, but being the “right” race is a VITAL advantage in your career that you can’t overlook if you want to climb that corporate ladder.
Hey FMF,
Whether building your business or a career at one, the key to build wealth is:
1) Give 10x more than you take. It’s about them, not you, so deliver maximum value.
2) Be remarkable – be irresistible by being an amplified version of yourself. “Be yourself; everyone else is taken.”
3) Scale profits – build a system that makes money and scales, don’t limit yourself by only giving time for money.
Like getagrip mentioned, nice perspective of building income from a job perspective, since not everyone wants to build their own business. However, I feel wealth-building is universal for both types of people.
Thanks,
Oleg
I love my life. I could not be happier. This isn’t all because of my job, but a lot of it is made possible by my having the career that I do.
The comments are full of negative reactions for whatever reason. Certainly I could have *not* worked to get here. I could have made excuses that I didn’t want to be here. It’s boring, corporate America, part of the rat race, whatever — the same complaints many commenters are making. Where would I be instead? Some other, crappier job, for less money, with less freedom. If I hadn’t followed the path I did, the obvious alternative was *not* to become a test pilot or professional mountain climber or pursue some other exciting and romantic but low paying career. It was simply a worse job that the one I have now.
So sure, criticize this path. If you’re posting your criticism from Tahiti on the deck of the racing sailboat on which you crew for little pay, I understand. If you’re posting it from the only working computer in the small African village where you’ve been living while you dig a well so that the villagers can have clean water, I understand. If you’re posting your criticism from the bus on the way to your crappy retail service job, you’re going to the same rat race I am, except a crappier part of it, and you have to go five days a week, and you don’t get to set your own hours, so maybe you’d like to rethink your criticism? I know lots of people with “regular jobs”. They’re all bound by rules more rigid than my job, and they get less out of them.
The internet is full of “leave the rat race, do what you love for a living!” talk. Most of it is all talk. I drive through town and see a lot of people delivering mail, and fixing cars, and building roads, and selling groceries, and doing real work every day. I see a lot more of these people than I see people getting paid to sit on the beach or play golf or write novels, which is what the internet would have you believe everyone who’s got their act together is doing. They’re not.
And to the people complaining about the site being called “Get Rich Slowly”. The plan takes *seven years* and really takes 13, as was mentioned. If that’s too fast for you, are you sure you don’t want to be reading a site called “Get Rich Never”?
i would add that being born a white male will definitely help. i can attest to this because i have run smack into the glass ceiling many many times in my career.
@Tyler: agreed. I’m puzzled by how readers of a site called “Get Rich Slowly” are so negative about job advice designed to make you get rich a bit less slowly. It’s simply one way to do it, one that’s more realistic than “do what you love and the money will follow.” My job doesn’t stop me from following my dreams on my own time. It doesn’t have to be either-or. Plus, I can follow my dreams in comfort and with health insurance.
given some of the comments made, I’ll preface what I’m going to write by saying that I’m a white female, 30 yrs old. I work & live in Manhattan, in fashion, as a tech designer (my job is to make clothing fit to a company’s standard).
My current salary is a base of 92k, with a 5% 401k bonus at end of year, & a 3.5% to 15% yearly bonus, depending on how my departments do. Last year we got 15%, & this year it’s in the bag again.
The advice you give is sound, though I’d like to add a few observations:
– In a lot of places where you can make 6 figures, where you went to school really doesn’t matter. Not ALL, but a lot. Although I’ve been asked where I went to school (my alma mater is a little no-name school, not FIT or Parsons), as far as I can tell, it never hurt me.
– Working for a “Name Brand” company 1st is key – but be open to the possibility that the work hours suck, the pay is crack, and you’ll be treated like trash. Not saying that’s always the case, but a lot of “Name Brand” companies can afford to act like that, because everybody wants to work there. Putting in a year (at least) is HUGE for helping you make it, but it will suck.
– Overperform, but don’t give 100%. I learned this after a few jobs. It is great to give them more, but if you give 100% from the beginning, it’s much harder to keep giving them more. It’s much better to spent the 1st month or two working maybe 10% ahead, while assessing the situation, & THEN figure out how much to give, so you can get the most bang for your buck, while holding some of your skills in reserve.
– and that negociating tip? that is absolutely key. Early on in my career, I realized that I was being vastly underpaid to do my job. So I interviewed around, found a place that would hire me to do the same job as my current job, but for 10k more. I took that offer back to my company, and got an instant 10k raise – and this was about 2 months AFTER I got my yearly raise.
Lastly, I pushed to get this high for a reason. I’ve saved like hell for retirement. Once my nest egg gets a little higher, I plan to use my earning potential to work a year or two, then take a year or two off to travel, to learn, to look into entrepreneural activities. Depending on how it goes, I’ll do my own thing, or go back to work for another year or two, while I figure out what I want to do with my next 1-2 year sabbatical.
I can still save a lot, and my salary goes far, as long as I keep my costs down. I don’t know that doing that would be possible in every field, but it can happen in fashion, & I plan to take advantage of it.
The article has some good points. HOWEVER, as an HR professional for one of those companies listed above I honestly must say WHO YOU KNOW is a huge part of the jobs you get. You just cannot get over the bias that hiring managers have for people they know or friends of friends, or kids from the same alma mater. I see it all the time. And push back when necessary.
Familiarity is a human trait which gives comfort. We need to acknowledge that to get over it.
It may also be a happy accident. My husband makes 6 figures as a police officer and he works very hard and deserves every bit of it. Trade-offs: always in harm’s way, SHIFTWORK, many rules to follow, disdain from certain members of the public. Benefits: job security, respect, pension, great health benefits, cool car w/flashing lights and sirens to amuse the neighborhood kids. LOL
Being proud of his work and being able to support his family, greed never enters into the equation for him.
Thank you, everyone! This was an informative post and a very interesting, enlightening post-post discussion.
@Tyler
I think some of these are knee-jerk reactions, but there are some people whose personalities are such that they are always “on” and there are some companies and pursuits that will reward this very lucratively. The converse is also true: some jobs will just take advantage of or not reward great performance, and some people just don’t have the temperament to live for their work.
I’m writing from my window office in the penthouse suite at a job I love, but I’m far from making six figures. I don’t want to put in the kind of hours that I see my superiors putting in. I’m happy and comfortable because I have stability, health insurance, disposable income, I work flexible hours, and I don’t work too many hours.
I put myself through school for a career that I love, I’ve spent a year working 60 hour weeks, I’ve gone back to school for a technical master’s, I’ve taught myself technical skills. But it hasn’t changed the fact that I get passed over for technical training, meetings and assignments at work and have to try a lot harder than my male colleagues because there are folks who just assume I’m not competent because I have boobs. I can build a database, a GIS or a geochemical model, and I have male superiors who think my time is best spent editing Word documents. Meanwhile they think the male liberal arts major who is a family friend of the CEO should learn how to krige. The 7 steps to a 100k job doesn’t seem to work the same if your gonads are on the inside.
Sometimes you have to step back and reevaluate your priorities. I just got a call from an Army recruiter about entering as an officer.I wouldn’t make 6 figures, but I’d probably learn how to clean and load all kinds of guns.
People networking has been the most important factor for me, after hard work.
I don’t have a degree, and busted my tail for 7 years waiting tables. I learned that being friendly, genuine, and showing people you work ethic could make you more profitable.
When I found a way into the corporate world I went from entry level to 100k+ in 5 years.
Performed, worked hard, marketed myself internally, and yes… had some really good luck on the way.
Great article.
I think this is good advice.
This is what I did except that it took me about 20 years to hit 6 figures.
I do think that 7 years if you’re starting from scratch is a bit aggressive. Starting salaries for ‘good’ jobs are often in the $60-75k range. If you just spent 4 years en college to get that degree then you’ve got just 3 more years to hit $100k. Thats 10-20% annual raises for each of the first 3 years of your career. And this step 2 assumes you’re at one of the ‘name’ employers where competition can be pretty tough. Getting 3 nice raises your first 3 years is not too realistic.
But then again the article does say it won’t be easy.
I do think its good to set high goals. Without a goal you won’t get anywhere.
@Lesley
Thanks for agreeing with me, perhaps my sarcasm came across too negative for some people.
@Tyler K
Thanks for your comments. I agree with you on some points, though I think the article misses some of the core values of JD’s blog. Money is not everything, and a low paying job is not necessarily less satisfying (JD’s story about the waiter). I don’t have issues with people making 100k, that’s great if you can get there doing what you love. As for me, I make less than that, but I am at a fulfilling engineering profession, rock climbs quite seriously with my friends, and sells my artworks at local shows. At the same time, I make sure that I come home for dinner on time every night to be with my family. All at the same time.
I don’t think you need to be white male to achieve the 100k. I am sure a minority female from another country will do just as fine. If you are smart and have the ambition, you can achieve the high salary. If that is what you are looking for.
Thanks for reading.
Just to add another data point: I’m a minority female and hit $100K at age 28.
@RMS
No, a low-paying job is not necessarily less satisfying. But a *high* paying job is not necessarily less satisfying either, which is what some people seem to be implying. The implication is that there’s a trade-off: You can *only* make $100k/year if you work 80 hours a week, never are home to see your family, skip hobbies to stay late at the office, and otherwise make your life revolve around work. Therefore, you either have a $100k salary, or you have free time to spend on activities you enjoy.
This is simply not true. Plenty of people make $100k+ working regular 40 hour workweeks. Plenty of people barely scrape by at the poverty line while working two minimum wage jobs, 80 hours a week.
I personally have no set hours, and only go in to the office three days a week, working two days a week from home. My accomplishments are judged based on what gets done, not based on how hard it looks like I’m working. I love this about my work.
On the race/gender issue: I see plenty of non-white people making $100k+ salaries in engineering. They’re overwhelmingly Indian/Asian males.
And on the other end, I also have friends that work many more hours and are just making enough to keep their heads above water.
Of course this is anecdotal information and not scientific in any way. I did a bit of Googling to see if I could find anything on the relationship between hours worked and total income, but came up empty handed. Maybe someone out there will have success finding some data.
@Tyler K – wow, I was trying to piece together a response to the negativity, but you said it better than I ever would. Your comments are usually fantastic and this one did not disappoint.
I have not hit $100k and would be fine if I never did, but the path FMF describes is similar to what I’ve done. I never worked for a “brand name” employer b/c I never liked the idea of being a number in a large company. Maybe that’s a bias I shouldn’t have, but small companies seem to suit me much better.
Some of this article, and some of the comments are operating under a certain set of assumptions, including this one: Having a JOB with a COMPANY is the ultimate goal.
I guess what I like to challenge is the notion that a fixed-income salary is as great as so many people think it is.
But you know something? My ultimate goal is not that. Some people are passionate about things that lead to the corporate world. Picking a career based solely on salary only leads to hating your life.
For the record: “luck” is still a bunch of crap. Maybe you can’t control what happens, but you have 100% control over how you respond to it. Even when the “company” is giving you “no choice” in some or other matter (which is something companies like to do–control people)…who says you HAVE to keep that job?
Maybe once you get to 100k or higher you don’t have to work long hours, but I am sure that to get to that point at a shorter amount of time than usual is a lot of hard work, whether or not they are long hours or not.
From Tyler (#65): “The implication is that there’s a trade-off: You can *only* make $100k/year if you work 80 hours a week, never are home to see your family, skip hobbies to stay late at the office, and otherwise make your life revolve around work. Therefore, you either have a $100k salary, or you have free time to spend on activities you enjoy.”
For years, the only people I knew who were making $100k+ per year were making exactly those sacrifices you describe. Either that, or they were in rehab for substance abuse. The happiest people I knew were in low-wage-earning professions. Given what I saw around me, I concluded that earning a high income = misery.
I’m older and wiser now, and I understand that there’s neither a direct nor inverse correlation between income and happiness, not once one earns enough income to meet one’s basic needs.
@Clint – luck is not necessarily a bunch of crap. Living in NYC, I’ve seen a number of talented friends, with great skills, just not be able to get a lucky break. Likewise, I’ve seen plenty of mediocre people just stumble into the best situations.
and a lot of luck may be factors you can’t control. My last name is as unusual as my first name. I’ve had a number of people tell me that, in addition to having a great resume, they wanted to meet me, because they wanted to see the face behind the name. I didn’t have any say in the name I was born with, but if my name was Kim Smith, I think I’d be in a very different place that I am now. It’s just lucky that I was born with an interesting name(no offense to the Kim Smiths – just saying having anything about you stand out on paper can be a good thing).
@Tyler K
I was just going to say that the only people that I know that makes 100k at a faster rate than others without working 80 hours are the software programmers. They usually have great hours, love their job, and the starting salary is probably higher than my current salary (which I am fine with.)
What do you know… that is exactly what you are, a software programmer!
@Tyler, FMF, and others … What role do you think movies and novels might play in creating negative assumptions about certain high-paying careers? For example, how often have you seen a plot set-up in a movie where the successful man who spends a lot of time at the office ends up with an unfaithful spouse?
JD, this post has been on my mind all day, in a good kind of thought-provoking way. Thanks for sharing it!
How to make a sure six figure income: become a physician. Even the family docs make a 150k. No corporate ladder, but there are other headaches(Obamacare,malpractive, overhead). It will take on average about eight years and carry some added opportunity expense.
Steps involved:
1. Study hard. Like science and helping people.
2. Then study harder. Being gifted and a good test-taker does not hurt
3. Do not go to Harvard or Yale, OSU med school grads are also called doctor.
4. Pick a specialty with autonomy, intellectual stimulation, and decent paycheck.
5. Work hard and always do the right thing for the patient. The money eventually comes, but it won’t be millions.
6. Enjoy a rewarding career that puts you in top 1 percent of earners.
There probably needs to be an additional point, If you do something you enjoy eventually you’ll make money at whatever it is you have selected to do(in combination with the other points) and in the long term your happiness will be much higher.
I started of working in a rather low paying part of my organization but I believe that what we do is very valuable and protects the natural environment and people in the process. This has meant I have worked hard in my job and moved up, although not in the mythical 100k bracket yet I will be very close within a few years but one of my goals at work has never been to earn a lot of money. More to enjoy what I do be challanged by what I do and believe that what I’m doing has some benefit to people (community) and the natural environment.
If I could give one piece of advice to people currently looking at Uni/Job it would be that they look inside themselves understand what it is they enjoy doing and try and match a degree/job to that, the money will come eventually it might take a little longer but you’ll be far happier during the Journey.
For the record, I am an engineer with a master’s degree from a university. I’m mostly a 9-to-5 company man.
That said, I believe the quickest and, more importantly, the most effective way to six figures is through entrepreneurship. Personally, I heading down that road myself on a part-time basis at this point.
$100’000 dollars Canadian or US? I’m guessing US.. what’s that in real money?
Ok, sorry.. thats a bad, sick joke. But I just wanted to say, $100k is not worth the same everywhere in the world 🙂
@RMS (#72):
Some software programmers may work less than 80 hours a week and make more than $100K a year, but that’s not really something you can assume.
I’m in IT, and I know a lot of programmers who make less, and work really long hours — 60 to 80 hours a week or more. The project I’m working on is expected to be developing on a 24×7 basis, and we’re regularly expected to work all weekend in addition to working a full work week. And unless you’re at staff level, forget making $100K. $80-90K sure, but it takes a lot of seniority to cross that $100K barrier.
Also, programmers are facing stiff competition with code shops in India, China and elsewhere willing to work for far less than $100K a year.
Oh, and I also know a lot of programmers who have come to despise their jobs and would love to leave them. Often because they are working horribly long hours and are burned out.
Thanks for this post. It’s outside the usual stuff a bit but interesting and possibly useful.
I’m one of those less-driven folks not interested in six figures or many of the steps to get there. I already have two useless degrees and many dead end jobs behind me – as well as one with 6-figure potential and life-killing hours. Yuck. However I just started business school. It’s a case of action meets opportunity; my employer will pay for school so it just looked like free money to me, whether it interests me or not. So far it interests me. I may have to give those steps another look in another year or so. If I have an opportunity to make money doing something interesting without killing myself, I will absolutely take it.
🙂
Gina brings up a good point about outsourcing. I left a field where it was possible to earn six figures in 2001. Since that time, I’ve gotten quite a bit of anecdotal evidence that the average salaries have dropped substantially, due to massive outsourcing. There are still a few people earning serious $$, but far fewer than when I was in the field. There are also almost no staff jobs remaining. Just about everyone I know is scratching along doing freelance work to make ends meet.
I’m forever thankful that I got out of that field when I did!!
my husband was making 6 figures in 13 years and he is a horseshoer and has NEVER worked 60-80 hrs. a week. my dad was a barber and he is a millionaire. i think this article should have been called “5 steps to AVOIDING 7 figures.”
This is a good article that highlights some proven strategies, but I want to play devils advocate and pose a few questions to FMF and anyone who has taken this corporate ladder and grad school route:
1. Sure, you make more money than most of us. But what has that money given you that someone making $40 or $50K per year doesn’t have?
2. Were all the sacrifices that you speak of worth the monetary gain?
3. Are you any happier for it? Is your family happier for it?
4. Would you have been less happy not sacrificing everything that you did and making $50K a year?
Another point – you graduated grad school with only $5K debt, but most don’t, and they usually miss two years of good salary earnings. Cost benefit analyses often point towards grad school and salary loss resulting in about a 10 year payoff to break even. That isn’t mentioned in this article, but it probably should be.
J.D. – I’d also love to hear some alternate stories from those who have had similar income success, yet chose to go out on their own to earn it vs. play the corporate game.
I just think people who want that kind of corporate life aren’t necessarily the majority. There are so many interesting, worthwhile things to do with your life. Certainly as beverly pointed out there are many paths to make those things worth 6 figures American.
I have a fantastic job, great benefits, awesome view, I do something important to humanity and I earn $75K. I’ll earn more as time goes by. It’s nice. I didn’t worry about strategy. I barely know that there is a corporate world. World travel is a nice perk, too.
I want to comment on the teacher salary thing: Teacher’s may never make a six figure salary, but we receive millions of hugs over the years from children.
Too bad the salary doesn’t match the hugs!
-Little House
It’s important to also surround yourself with high income earning people.
This is a fine article, b/c it’s actually very easy to make 6 figures IF YOU WANT TO.
All the steps you describe are pretty spot on. I just don’t think everybody cares to make 6 figures and are happy just enjoying life just the way they are.
Do really less than 6% of the population earn 6 figures FMF? Just looking at this board, I think more than 35% of the people do.
28 year old MBA kids make $100-120,000/yr and it seems like everybody in Manhattan and San Francisco make over 100K/yr if they have been working for at least 5 years. Could the 6% figure be low?
How incredibly soul-crushing. I hope you’re already saving for the Porsche and therapy you’ll need for your mid-life crisis.
No matter how hard these steps or tips may seem to follow, it goes along perfectly with–“you can do anything you set your mind to”.
Great post
I think that this post is kind of pointless unless you are sending it out to HS seniors or something.
Also – if you go to a “good school” (even though I have NEVER had an employer actually ask me about the school I went to) wouldn’t you have a huge lump of student loans to pay off? Or is step 6 have your parents pay for your top notch brand name school?
I guess I am in the minority here that I don’t think its a very good post at all.
Get a degree in a high paying field, get a job with a major company, get lucky.
Is that seriously new information to anyone?
Financial Samurai:
If you think the 6% figure is low, you are incredibly out of touch with reality. Heck, 12% of the country is below the poverty level – that’s just under $11k for a single person! I’ve lived in NYC and it is a myth that “everyone” there makes over $100k, or even that very many people do.
Someone made the comment you should surround yourself with high earners, and the result is becoming totally divorced from reality.
I thought this website was about getting rich slowly, not making your whole life revolve around money to get there in 7 years.
I have a question more related to the schools:
The article linked to mentioned online MBA programs- are they really any good/worthwhile (assume you have the money/option/time to go online or in person)?
Ouch with the negativity. I think people are overlooking the fact that there are a lot of things you can do with and MBA, engineering degree, etc that are not just “corporate”.
Then again, while most of the people I know who make 100k are busy, they are also by and large very happy and really like what they do. But it is not for everyone, and hey, if it’s not, DEAL, you don’t all need to make 100k.
Sarah K – You’re right in a way, but the only reality I know are the people living in NYC, San Francisco, DC and the 6 other cities I grew up in. I see people bust their butts everyday to try and work harder for a better life. So, for what it’s worth, it’s my reality and I’m a public school product.
Like I said, this is a good post IF YOU WANT TO try and earn 6 figures. I think a lot of people DON’T want to go through the hassle and the hurdles, and that’s just fine.
To each their own. It should not be a sin for someone to want to make more money in their life. No it should not.
That’s like saying JD shouldn’t deserve making $50,000/month from advertisers on GRS, and that he should remain the way he was 7 years ago. I say congrats to JD and anybody who has spent 7 long years to try and make something more!
FS
FMF – Great article and as a corporate peon myself I agree with you and some of the comments. However, how did you manage (in 7 years) to get a >100K income AND build such a succesful blog. I can imagine that your total household income is probably in excess of $250K when you factor this in. Great stuff.
I’m not the guy, but can answer some of this:
> 1. Sure, you make more money than most of us. But what has that money given you that someone making $40 or $50K per year doesn’t have?
security. being 100% debt free. Fully funding 401, ira and hsa every year. money for investing. money for vacations. house paid off early.
not to mention that “high income” jobs also come with other perks. vacation days (i get 30) plus sick time and personal days (7 a year). bonus. i don’t get “chewed out” if i’m 20 minutes late. set my own hours, own projects, etc.
> 2. Were all the sacrifices that you speak of worth the monetary gain?
yes. I do what i love; so it’s not really that big a deal. you have to work a job, so why not work a good one even if it takes a bit more effort?
> 3. Are you any happier for it? Is your family happier for it?
yes. money doesn’t buy happiness, but lack of it can buy misery.
> 4. Would you have been less happy not sacrificing everything that you did and making $50K a year?
I’m happier now then when I was making $50K. Again, money doesn’t buy happiness directly; but less stress from money worries does help 🙂
@ GE Miller
to answer your questions:
1. That money has given me more savings, a bigger emergency fund, more money put away in retirement
2. what sacrifices? I *like* my job. I don’t love it, but I like it. I love all the things I’ve learned. I love that I’ve gotten into a management position & have learned a ton about how to handle different personalities & how to get them to work together. I love all the information I’ve picked up on sourcing, working with different countries, payroll, & all the different talents it takes to make a profitable business.
sure, sometimes my hours really do suck, which is why I’m working on my exit plan now, but the things I’ve learned in corporate USA will last me for years.
3. well, that’s a toughie, but I’m very happy about all the things I’ve learned. I’m happy at the number of opportunities to travel I’ve had, that I wouldn’t have necessarily had elsewhere. and my parents are very proud of me. I’m not married, and I don’t plan on having kids, so there’s nobody I’ve been neglecting while I focus on my job.
4. why do you assume that people making 100k sacrificed to get there?
there’s no “one size fits all answer”, but the idea that making 100k or more has to involve huge sacrifices or selling one’s soul is bogus. likewise is the idea that all us 100kers are using the money to buy penthouses & porches. I put away over 50% of my gross income. In a few years, I’ll start taking turns between working a few years, then pursuing my own interests for a few years, until I build up a good income doing something else.
without the cushion I made for myself by going after a high income earlier in life, I wouldn’t feel comfortable working on an exit plan now & looking into other opportunities.
FMF,
Good to read you on another site 🙂
I like your tip about starting your career at a brand name company- that was totally true for me working at Allied Signal (now Honeywell). When I lost my job working for a start up I was hired by a former Allied Signal guy.
It took me just under 4 years from the time I started working to rocket into the 6 figure range (switched jobs from making $90K per year to $143K per year!!!)
Although I did have a Bachelors & Masters in Engineering from 2 really good schools.
-Mike H.
Eugenia,
Is you last name Zawadski by any chance? Because I knew of a Eugenia when I worked at Allied Signal… ?
FMF / JD,
How about a poll on the number of years it took you to hit $1 million in net worth since you started working? Call it from zero to $1 million in X years…
For me that number was 11 years, hopefully it will be much shorter to make the 2nd Mil.
-Mike H.
The post is about increasing your income, which is something JD/GRS encourages quite a bit.
If you are happy with your income, the post doesn’t apply to you — it does not make it “bad”
If you would like to increase your income, then here is ONE option – the advice is simple and tested.
No one is implying anything more than that.
If you haven’t figured that out, you come off sounding defensive — I would have liked to see some more content to these comments (thinking this topic could be quite interesting), but instead there’s just been a lot of silly back and forth on the validity of earning 6 figures.
———-
So… in the interest of adding some content: I agree with the post, but I would add something else — pick a specialty — honing in on one industry or type of position and becoming an expert goes a very long way. Your pool of available opportunities might become more narrow as you specialize, but your knowledge and confidence will increase, as will your value as a big fish in a small pond.
How do you apply Step 1 if you’ve already got a PhD in uselessness from a fairly good school?
Should you then go back to university? That sounds like a lot of work! I guess that’s one of the sacrifices?
Just like a résumé’s main purpose is to get you an interview, graduating from college’s primary purpose is to get you that first job and often a “good” school can do the job just as well as a “top” college.
While I love the post–I think it’s got great advice–this analogy doesn’t really hold. The primary purpose of going to college isn’t always to get you that first job. It’s about living away from home, exploring your interests, growing and maturing as a person, and identifying what you’re going to want to do in life.
I know it sounds lame, but without college I’d probably 20 times as immature as I am now. You learn from experience, and the things I learned in college (non-school stuff) have carried me a long way.
That’s an interesting line of thinking — one I hadn’t thought of — but it certainly makes sense.
GE Miller —
I was going to answer your questions, but Dude and Eugenia took all my answers! (Good going, Dude and Eugenia! And thanks.)
Financial Samurai —
Do you have any data that says 6% is low? I’d love to see it. I’ve linked to what I could find on salaries, but would be willing to review anything you might find to the contrary.
Sarah K —
Ha! I’m already at mid-life, don’t want a Porsche, love my work, have a wonderful family, and don’t really need/want anything else in life.
Why assume that six-figures = misery?
David —
Exactly! Thanks for clarifying it for us in one simple thought.
Andy —
I hit $100k when I was 30. I’m much older now and started my blog four years ago and was well into six figures by that time.
Your income guess is close — though a bit low for the past few years. 😉
Mike Hunt —
Thanks! Good to see you over here too! 🙂
Interesting net worth question. I have a bit of an unusual situation (or spin on the question if you prefer) regarding it that would probably be a post in and of itself. Maybe I’ll write about it in the future.
Inspiring post. Crystal-clear guidance to hang over our beds and look at regularly.
Unusually interesting discussion in the comments, too. Some good points from all sides.
I think the biggest gain with a high-income career is OPTIONS. Take housing, for example. A larger income qualifies you for larger mortgages, which in turn makes a greater percentage of homes in your area available to you. Or you could forgo the mortgage and pay cash for a foreclosure or fixer-upper. Or you could opt out of home ownership altogether and rent a house/apartment/condo/whatever meets your lifestyle needs.
You could buy prepared meals at Whole Foods to your heart’s content, or you could clip coupons and buy nothing but staple groceries as Super Wal-Mart.
You could take a sabbatical or two from work, as Eugenia is planning to do … or you could just keep on truckin’ in to work every day, if your job energizes and refreshes you.
Someone with a lower income might not have as many choices about where to live, where to shop, and how much wage-earning work to do in order to keep themselves afloat.
Financial security is also an option with a high income — it’s not a given. It’s certainly possible to have six-figure earnings with seven-figure spending habits.
@bon, love the comments!
@FMF, I totally agree with you. I tell people to get a good degree in a specialty that pays well, sciences, engineering, or last resort business. If you aren’t sure, do a double major or a minor in another area you love, but make sure you haven’t spent 4 years in college without having a degree with significant earnings potential. Many people start the family the love and realize they need to make a decent salary to take care of that family. Having a good income can really help you help your family. I’m also pretty sure that you can use these skills to be successful in all different types of industries, doing something you really enjoy.
One of the big take aways from this was constantly be looking for the next job, it can help you get raises. If someone is going to offer you a job, they have to pay you more than your current job. And once you have a job offer, you can ask your current boss to match it. Its alot easier to ask for a raise when you have a confirmed job offer for $10K more, and your company will have to decide how valuable you are. I love this idea!
For those that are negative, be careful about how you address things in life. Negativity breeds negativity. You can march to a different drum and still be positive in your thoughts about others (many posters did exactly that here). The author didn’t mention being dishonest or doing other immoral activities to get ahead, basically he said work hard and plan your career.
There are lots of ways to make $100K, I make 100k as a military officer. Its hard work, but rewarding and exciting. And having a great retirement will allow me to try a second career that I love!
Jeff —
Just wanted to say thank you for your service to our country. To do something as noble as that while also making six figures must really be a blessing.
@ Mike Hunt
nope, that’s not me. 🙂 What’s Allied Signal?
I haven’t gotten to my 1st 100k yet, due to a combination of the nosedive the economy took, and a few tough life situations (messy break-up, serious illness). I’m finally back on track. Unless the economy tanks again, I’m on track to make 100k before I hit 32.
I agree w/bon about how specializing can be really helpful. I think it pays to either become very specialized, or because a very evenly-talented generalizer, someone who can pull together a lot of specializers & know how to best have them work well together.
I ended up being a specializer & got into some extra-specialized work, sweaters, underwear & swim. Both take a lot of specialized skills to be good at. If I look into freelancing, I’ll be able to make a higher wage, because I know how to deal with those more difficult categories.
I’ve read through these comments, mostly negative, some positive. I believe I’m more in line with Tyler in my beliefs.
One career path to 100K I have not seen discussed is working for the federal government. It is well known that the federal government bureaucrats are old and gray. Some 60% of the federal government will be eligible to retire within a few short years. This opens up advancement opportunities quickly.
In 2003 I graduated college with a Bachelor’s in Economics. I came to DC and began with the Department of Justice making about 33,000. Because a government job has a mandated ceiling of 40 hours worked per week, and the job tends to not be very stressful, you have a good bit of free time. I was able to go get my Master’s in Economics from a local university (DC has many good ones) while working (I often studied in my office). With good performance you are moved up pay grades, and as a junior statistician I went from 33K to 45K in 2.5 years. After I got my Master’s, I applied for several economist jobs in the government. One I got, moving my salary to about 75K. I’ve been in that job for three years, been promoted twice, and now make over 100K. I work 40 hours a week, I have little trouble commuting, actually enjoy my job, and I’m able to go to school at night and am into my 3rd year of my PhD in Economics, which the government is helping to pay for.
I write specifically about my example because many commentators appear to think that the road to 100K is stressful, in a bad job, or in a rat race, or something. My path was relatively easy, quick, and enjoyable. I like what I do. I’m pretty autonomous at my job (I really don’t have a boss).
It might seem counter-intuitive, but moving into the government, who pays for education and training more frequently than private employers, may be a faster path to getting rich.
Maybe it is lucky that I enjoy math and statistics and economics. But I figured out what I liked to do, designed a work path around it, and then took off. One big thing that helped me was that I was ALWAYS OPEN TO OPPORTUNITIES. Indeed, it was a random opportunity (meeting) that provided me the big jump after my Master’s.
You gave the best advice for students, to get a high earning degree–not some degree that has very limited value as an entryway to business!
The key point is to choose a marketable degree in college. Study math and science. People who do well in math are not broke. Stop whining that math is hard, overcome this challenge and be better than everyone else at it.
The naysayers in the above posts will unlikely ever make it to 6 figures because of ATTITUDE. You do not have to be a white male to succeed. Change the attitude. Expect to rule the world when you begin your career.
Work had before you have a family and then scale back and enjoy them. I am well into 6 figures with my part time work, and I am not a white male. I work around my family time. Going to t-ball games, x-mas plays, and weekend getaways are more important than work.
I like the overall theme of this article. I’ve recently crested six figures in base salary (although with bonuses I got there sooner) and I really have to agree with many of the points mentioned especially the “work hard” one. You will need to over deliver on goals and projects to get recognized.
Overall, though, probably the most important thing is having a “git er done” attitude. Everyone likely works with someone who is absolutely satisfied with the status quo — and for whom change is HARD. Anything new is IMPOSSIBLE and everything needs to be FULLY DOCUMENTED with WRITTEN PROCEDURES. They will invariably bitch and moan about THAT PERSON WHO BREAKS THE RULES and DOESN’T DO THINGS THE RIGHT WAY. It’s highly likely you want to emulate the person the status quo people bitch and moan about — because they are likely the ones who take calculated risks and are willing to actually do something about out-of-date procedures, business practices and so on. Businesses that fail to adapt to change are not in business for long — so being the person that shows up looking for a better way to do things (and actually does them) is a GREAT way to get ahead. And hey, if you get fired, then go to work for the competitor :).
Also, there is definitely something to be said for getting that industry internship going early on in the college years. If you wheedle your way into an internship in the freshman year timeframe you can emerge from college with 3-4 years of expereince, and that looks GREAT on a resume. Barring the ability to get an intership, volunteering to work on something related can get the networking going early. For programmers, many, many Open Source projects need testers, doc writers, coders, etc. For engineering, volunteer for science fairs, youth activities, etc. For business, look up Junior Achievement and other civic organizations. I’m sure there are analogues for other organizations, as well.
Also, I’ll add in a note about “leadership”. Leadership skills are absolutely critical to success in an organization. So is credibility. Read up on some leadership books (I really like the excellent “The Leadership Challenge”) and start practicing good leadership TODAY. I doin’t care if you are the geekiest shut-in engineer in the world who still lives in your mother’s basement — at some point, people are going to see you as “the person who knows this best” — which makes you a LEADER. You need to know how to handle it if you want to succeed.
I’ll also echo that math, science and engineering are careers that do lend themselves to high earner status. Also law and medicine. Of course, high earner does not equate to “wealthy”, so I would encourage anyone who wants to earn a six figure income to take a quick read of “The Millionaire Next Door” for a great look at how to manage that income.
I also work a “regular” 40-50 hour workweek. I rarely travel (one week a year at most) and I do see my family at night and on the weekends. I don’t carry a blackberry or feel “on call” for work 24/7. Very occasionally I need to work late or on a weekend (I’m in IT and shutdowns happen off business hours — we typically do 1-2 a year) So six figure income most definitely does not imply being a slave to the workplace. But it does mean that you perform services someone is willing to pay for.
Has anybody had the rude awakening that $100K does not go as far in real life as it seemed in university? When I was was 22, I set the goal to make six figures by the time I was 30. I became obsessed about it, had definite setbacks, but reached the goal when I was 29. I imagined nice suits, a nice house, and a BMW in the driveway.
The reality is that the house is very modest, needs work, and even on $100K will take a decade to pay off. A car, any car, is not even in the equation, the suits are cheap and three years old, and dinner out is a monthly occurrence at best. Between $30K going to taxes, trying to pay off the house in ten years, maxing out retirement funds, an education savings plan for my newborn, and putting $500 in savings with every biweekly paycheck, there really is is very little disposable income left at the end of the day.
Anyways, I suppose this is how one gets rich slowly…
@The Beagle — welcome to the world of wealth-building and being responsible (to some extent). However, YOU set the goal to pay off the house, YOU set the goal to save $1000/month, YOU chose to max out the retirement funds and YOU chose to fund education savings for your child.
Most people don’t do that. Quite honestly it sounds like you set financial goals that no longer align with your life, which has changed. Perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate where you are going and what you are doing and see is those choices still make sense.
Understand this isn’t an attack — it’s coming from another goal-setter who will set a goal or plan in motion and then do everything possible to achieve that goal with single-minded determination and who needs a kick in the rear every so often to get the “big picture” — and that usually comes from my wife 🙂
Thanks Jason @110. You eloquently summarized all the worst memories of my brief experience in the corporate world. Aaagh. WRITTEN PROCEDURES. Your advice would have been really welcome to me at the time. I’ll look up that book about leadership.
To gotitall @109. I think maybe a little bit of math can be most useful to people who aren’t interested in it or will even have trouble with it. Do you think that’s possible?
I did my PhD in math and it doesn’t feel like it’s made me any more useful, but maybe I lack the talents and confidence that other people developed when they weren’t studying mathematics.
I enjoyed your take on getting to “six-figures” and applaud anyone who gets there. But I have to say that college and career building have always been, to me, sort of a backwards approach to making money. Career is important. Making good money is important too. But if you make a lot of money but lack the knowledge of how to spend it efficiently, and invest it wisely, you really don’t accomplish anything beyond a vicious cycle. If you think that making money only comes from a job, you’re missing the hidden value of every dollar that ever comes into your hands.
I’ve known people who make six-figures who couldn’t afford to retire, and I’ve met one person who made $30,000 a year who retired early and actually was a millionaire at retirement. No college. No inheritance. No lottery win. Just smart spending and wise investing.
We focus far too much on how much we make and not near enough on what we do with what we make, and so we keep falling into this notion that you have to make a lot of money to have a lot of money. It’s simply not true at all.
Look at, for example, all the athletes who have ever died broke, even making multi-million dollar salaries over the course of their careers.
Ergo the old adage; it’s not what you make, it’s what you do with what you make.
@Jane — thanks. Don’t get me wrong, there is a proper place for procedures and documentation in an organization. The problems come when the procedures, policies and documentation take on a life of their own and become obstacles in the path of innovation and change.
Incidentally, I work for a company that would not exist without mathematics, so the way I feed my family comes right from the efforts of a lot of bright people who know a lot about math, science and engineering!
“Mathematics is the queen of the sciences” – Gauss
@Jason, Yes – my problem with procedures was that they were the only training I received – step-by-step instructions – and I wasn’t allowed to change the steps.
If I asked my boss why we did something a particular way, because sometimes it didn’t make sense to me, he’d say that was how the procedure was written when he started and he thought it best not to change it. So it was just like you said, I think.
(No-one even seemed to know what they were doing!)
@ LittleHouse (#84):
My brother and many of my family’s friends are teachers, and love their work. I (and they) do wish their financial compensation were better.
I do hope, though (if you are in fact a teacher yourself), that that was a typo in your post, and that you know the difference between the plural form of “teacher” and the possessive. If it was not a typo — yikes. One more nail in the coffin for bare-minimum grammar standards in the United States.
One thing I’ve found curious is how many people knock working in Corporate America, & turn around & exault working for yourself as the answer.
Not to knock those that have done so (because I agree with, and hope to get back into, entrepreneurship), but because Hard Work is HARD WORK whether you’re doing it for The Man or yourself.
Working for Corp America, I don’t have to wear as many hats as I would, if I worked for myself. I have a steady income stream. I don’t have to pay ALL of my social security. My health insurance is MUCH cheaper.
If you made 100k gross for yourself vs for Corp America, you’d have a lot less money left over, using the DIY option.
I don’t say any of this to dissuade anyone from working for themselves. I think a lot of people go into entrepreneurship with their eyes half-closed to the difficulties.
And I should know – I originally had a small business for myself, that failed utterly, before I got into what I do now. The 1st time around, I was too young, and it was a “you don’t know what you don’t know, because you don’t know it” sort of situation.
Spending a few years, even ONE year in any kind of management position…if you try to squeeze every bit of learning out of that, it can apply to so many other types of businesses, in realizing what you need to do, to make a business successful.
Back on the topic of making 100k though – even if you’re doing it in Corp America, paying attention to what other departments do can reap huge rewards. It makes you look like a much more forward thinker, which is good for moving up in the ranks. Also, if you spend time on voluntary committees to improve how the company works, that can be a huge bonus in the eyes of the higher-ups, and give you oppurtunities that you wouldn’t otherwise get.
When one of the VPs of my last company left for greener pasteurs, he was impressed enough with my cross-functional work to court me at his next place of employment, which is how I got to the job I’m at today. We both benefitted – he gave me a great deal, because he *knew* he was getting a great person, and wanted to me to happy & stay there. I got a 5k signing bonus & ended up in a better working environment, because I knew that this guy was somebody who was good to work for.
And it doesn’t take brown-nosing to get there. As I’ve moved up, that’s another thing I’ve realized. A lot of high-level (not all, but a lot) do see through the brown-nosing. They might not point it out publicly (which is embarassing for all involved), but they know about it, & it doesn’t do the brown-noser any favors in the long-term.
That’s not everybody, mind you. Just in my experience, most brown-nosers *might* get a little ahead in the short-term, but long-term, they stall themselves out because of it.
This lost me on step one, because it doesn’t address how, say, a 30-something with two kids is supposed to go about obtaining a degree from a good school. You can’t do it over the net. You can’t do it with just night classes. You can’t quit your job and feed your kids on student loans.
This is an article for kids, not everyone. For kids, it’s got some good common sense advice.
As for those who don’t want to believe luck has anything to do with it, I don’t think anyone was arguing that without ginormous lottery-winning sized good fortune, you won’t make it. They’re just acknowledging the fact that sometimes the field you’re getting a degree in dries up and blows away suddenly during your last semester of college. Sometimes you get hit by a bus and make a painful three year recovery where you can’t work at all and fall behind your colleagues. Where you make your own luck is in determining that you’re going to find an opportunity within whatever happens to you, disaster or blessing, because then you usually do figure something out eventually, and you put off a positive attitude that makes people more likely to want to help you.
On first read I missed the bit saying “the seven years noted in the title are post-college”
That makes the $100k goal a lot more attainable in 7 years. I first thought the 7 years included college.
I’m kinda surprised at the negative reaction in many of the comments. These are proven steps that work. That doesn’t mean that it is what everyone should do or that everyone would enjoy it.
I make 100k and I work 40 hours a week. High salary doesn’t require working yourself to death. There are certainly high paid people who do work long hours but its not mandatory for every job.
@Jen — You start off with your problem and finish with your solution. Many, many people get degrees who have kids. They do night, weekend and online courses. Both my wife and I have received advanced degrees at night or on weekends. Their spouse watches the kids while they are in class. If they don’t have a spouse, their parents or siblings pitch in. If they don’t have parents or a spouse, their friends pitch in. Or they get a sitter.
If you really want that degree, you can make it happen. Just like you make the other things happen in your life that you want to happen.
Jason, please re-read my comment and note that I said “good school”, which is what the author said. A “good school”, according to employers who care where you got your degree, is a standard 4 year school designed for people who have nothing to be doing but going to school. Sure, you can get “a” degree at any point in life, but what the author is suggesting is not University of Phoenix, and therefore it’s not going to be in everyone’s reach.
Also please remember that not everyone lives near a college that would be considered a “good school” and may not have any way of making ends meet if they suddenly relocate their family closer to a college town to accommodate their plans.
Note too that I am not saying there is NO way for a 30-something with two kids to achieve six figures. I just dispute the author’s claim that THIS method will work for anyone. It will work for some people, and that’s great. But no one method works for everybody. Life would be so incredibly boring if it were that simple.
There are many 4 year universities that offer traditional degrees through online/distance learning. Some of them are actually “good”, too. In-State pubic universities with this option are pretty much free. This is the 21st Century. Maybe you need to do some research rather than defeating yourself from the outset.
Hi FMF – All I’m saying is that 6% seems low for the number of working Americans making over 100k.
There are over 100 posts here, and it looks like 20-25 people claim they make over 100k. Just saying, I think there’s much more wealth out there than we think.
I wrote about it on FS where policemen, firemen, longshoremen make over 100K, and that’s not even from work. It’s from their pensions! The article is entitled “Fortunes, Fortunes, Everywhere.” Maybe I’ll just repost it, b/c this topic of how much people make seems like it’s quite debatable.
I have a feeling it’s b/c the economy has returned and a lot more people are making more money. The people who are making over 100K downplay the amount of people who make over 100k, b/c that dilutes their stature. Just my theory.
It’s good if you know exactly what you want to do before college however most people do not. In saying this there are a few good points to take in. Basically you just need to be a good performer with a good attitude and your on your way which most people I think know about.
Maybe you need to do some research rather than defeating yourself from the outset.
This coming from someone who immediately assumed I was describing my own situation rather than a hypothetical? 😉
I was pretty excited when I read the title of the article only to find out that the article only refers to making 6 figures through a J-O-B…
Which as you all know is probably the highest taxed way of making 6 figures therefore probably not making it 6 figures.
Plus, contrary to making 6 figures through your own business, can be taken away from you in a snap!
More surprising is that it is hosted on a blog where the owner probably started making 6 figures after leaving his J-O-B…go figure.
LM, good point. Who are you exactly referring to in the end, FMF leaving his 6 figure job or JD? FMF right?
I think FMF rocks, especially since he donates all his blog rev to charity!
Good points. Although, through a series of chain of events I was able to hit the six figure mark. Hard work and longevity with a company do go along way.
Great article! I just would like to add one point. While planning your carrier it is necessary to understand economic conditions. Personally, I’ve lost my chance while markets booming all around and stay with previous company without receiving significant bonuses (like for many other firms). Today, situation significantly changed and now the questions is – to survive rather than increase you wealth. But market will back and some companies will grow faster than other – do not lose your chance to be with that employees!
@Financial Samurai —
The approx 6% who make 100,000 is referring to AGI, I believe. So there are probably some more people who make more but then get knocked into a lower bracket from write offs.
But I don’t think the % is as high as you are expecting. $100,000+ individual AGI is a lot of money. People who say otherwise need a reality check.
Just as a data point, I’ve loosely followed these steps, and have done reasonably well with them.
1) Get a high-earning degree from a good school: I got a Computer Science degree from an above-average state college (though not top tier, and certainly not ivy league), in 2002. Thanks to always working part-time while in school and living off-campus, I graduated with no debt.
Comp. Sci., while not as hard as something like chemical engineering, was a much tougher degree than business, education, or communications, and the jobs paid accordingly. It may not be what I love, but I don’t mind it, I’m pretty good at it, and it pays the bills better than teaching (which might be my “ideal job if money didn’t matter”, but I guess we’ll never know).
2) Work for a name-brand employer at your first job: My first job after graduation was with the largest company in my industry, which has a great reputation, both now and back then. They recruited at my college, which is how I got the job. I started at $53,000 in 2002, slightly above average for my degree at the time.
3) Perform: I worked my butt off — sometimes in quantity, always in quality — and in a year was being assigned the same level work as engineers 5-10 years senior to me.
One thing I learned is that performance is just as subject to perception and context as anything else: I had to work harder when next to the young go-getters (of which I was one), but not quite so hard when next to the middle-aged slackers — but still, always do at least a “good” job, if not a great job.
4) Manage career aggressively: OK, so I wasn’t so good about this one at first. Big companies make this difficult, as they have fairly ironclad policies regarding raises and promotions, and people who argue are labeled as troublemakers.
I did, however, change jobs in early 2006 (for a nice pay bump, and freedom bump) to a smaller, though still large and reputable company, where I’ve since been able to earn an excellent reputation with management and customers, to get 4-figure bonuses every year, and to achieve multiple promotions.
5) Have some luck: Luck always plays a role, like it or not.
Good Luck: My resume was light on relevant work experience, so I was actually wait-listed for that first job at the big company — they literally called me the day before the interview because someone else had canceled. (Note to college students: get jobs or internships /in your field/ whenever possible, it’s never too early.)
Back Luck: I was passed over for promotion there because my boss’ /other/ project failed and my team was caught in the crossfire. This, and because I was really bored, is why I left. (One regret about leaving: the big company had a solid pension, which I was not vested in and lost. I probably should have tried transferring to other departments before leaving the company entirely, or at least stuck it out until the 5-year vesting point.)
Good Luck: One of my two recent promotions at my current job was basically due to someone else leaving.
Good or bad, luck plays a role — which is not to say that you shouldn’t be proactive, because you should. But also realize that some events are beyond your control.
Today I make /just/ under $100,000 in base salary. But I do make the cut if you count bonuses, plus I have pretty good benefits (4 weeks/year vacation, flex time, good medical, etc).
It can work. 🙂
My only real regret is that I focused a lot on my “job” rather than my “career”, and I’m currently lagging behind in things like getting my master’s degree, a few professional certifications, etc, which will all help me significantly in the long run.
But hopefully I’ll get my PMP this Spring and enroll in a master’s program next Fall, and begin to reverse that trend.
It seems that 5% is very low – check out the states from 2007:
http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/index.html
Granted, they are 2007 but I be it won’t be that far off
Just for the record, I am a 27 year old minority female who makes 90K a year (plus a 5% 401K matching bonus and a performance bonus every year).
I would be making 100K a year base but I took longer than 3 months off for my maternity leave after I had a baby AND I had several complications with my pregnancy which precluded me from working (both of which knocked me out of competition for a promotion).
I work 40 hours a week. Period. I do not do OT and my employer has never asked me to.
I have great benefits. I get 4 weeks vacation and 2 weeks sick time off a year.
I hardly ever travel for work.
I love my job. I have a degree in computer science, and I work as a development team lead.
My husband, a white male, makes 125K a year. He is 29 years old. He rarely has to travel. He picks up our daughter from daycare every day at 4pm and brings her home to play with her. Recently, my daughter was ill so he called his boss and told him the situation. He was supposed to be flying out the next day with his boss. His boss told him to stay home with the baby and not to worry about it.
There is a work life balance that needs to be maintained in every job, but it is possible to do this with jobs making over 100K. (In my case, close to 100K). My husband and I are proof of this.
Job hopping is how I’ve managed to get close to 100K. I started in my field in 2004 making 45K, in 2009 I’m making 80K doing the same work because I changed companies and got big pay bumps each time. In one case, I was with a company for only 6 months before moving on to get a 25% increase in pay. I’ve only been given 2 raises in this time (both at my first job) and 0 promotions during this time.
45K -> 60K ( 33% pay increase)
60K – > 75K ( 25% pay incrase)
75K -> 80K ( 6.67% pay increase)
Total pay increase from 2004 -> 2009: 77.78%
Look at the name/point of this website…it makes sense that there would a higher proportion of 100k+ people here. People that make that much money generally do so deliberately, I think. They actively look for ways to increase their income, which is what would bring them to a site like this in the first place.
Another thing, and this something I think I’ve noticed to be true, but it could just depend on the people that I know…it seems like the lower-earning people I know spend far less time online than the high-earning people. I think some of that has to do with the fact that many of the high-earners I know have desk jobs that give them more time to surf, but it also seems to me that a lot of the low-earners don’t have the interest, or curiosity, or time to be online & utilize the internet the same way higher-earners do.
This is just an observation, and could be inaccurate. But it has seemed to be true from what I’ve observed of friends at different income brackets.
Looks like 6% is about right:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_States
And the part about being white certainly seems to have statistical validity, but obviously there are many exceptions.
I majored in History and worked as a freelancer in a creative field for many years, maxing out at $55K a year (which felt like a fortune!). I actually made a goal to make over $100K and have a better lifestyle by getting a top 5 MBA. It paid off ridiculously well – three years later and I’m at over $200K.
Of course you have to enjoy what you’re doing, but I discovered that most people who get MBAs are actually very, very happy about 10 years + out. It’s a flexible degree, and as another poster said, knowing a little bit of math is priceless. I’m a verbal/creative person at heart, which is also priceless in corp america where seeing the big picture is in short supply. Writing lucid emails is also a very important skill.
Great post, though of course there are many roads.
Wow did you study my career and write a blog post about it? Spot on!
1. Degree in Aerospace Engineering from a very good college. #1 in this degree area. No rich parents paying the way. I was private student loans in my name only all the way.
2. Got a job with Lockheed Martin (ever heard of them?) straight out of school making around $50k base. Got my job by submitting my resume at a job fair on campus where they were recruiting heavily.
3. Yearly performance review ratings of 5 my first two years (out of 5, 5 being the highest). Got a 16% raise my first year (unheard of), 4% the next year (highest of my peers… yes we tell each other our raises).
4. After being promised a promotion (that would also bring a big pay bump) for more than a year. I switched companies. Switching companies was all it took to go from making $60k to $120k. (Yes, double). I got the job at the second company from someone who had worked with me at my first job and saw how high my performance level was. It also didn’t hurt that we had shared several beers after work together with other high performers (aka networking). My first 100k+ year of earnings was my third year out of college at the age of 24. I have gotten TWO $5/hour raises since I’ve been here (in 2 years) and that’s because I’ve asked for them. Both times they were telling me yes before I managed to even get the question out of my mouth. Makes me think I should ask for another one right now… 🙂
5. The “lucky” part that was out of my hands was the timing of my graduation which happened to coincide with a serious lack in availability of aerospace engineers in the career path I chose. Although I did do a fair amount of research into the future demand estimates in my field before I went into it so take that as lucky if you want to.
I seem to have followed steps One and Two (I have a BS in Physics from Tulane and an MSCE specialized in Coastal Engineering from Louisiana State University), by chance (not accident in that they are good decisions by any book). I am working hard on step 3, which is the hardest step of the three, and I’ve been remaining 100% billable at a time when the engineering industry has no work. Nevertheless, it can be quite difficult to excel in a sluggish economy when one isn’t allowed to pursue more than is expected (the extra work should go to the other good workers who happen to be slow). This begs the question, how do I know when it is time to engage step four and look for a new job?
P.S. Step five of having luck, can be helped a little by networking alot. I don’t just network with individuals in my career field though. I make sure that the movers and shakers, the big earners, the power players in my city know who I am even though I’m not in the same profession as 99% of them.
I like the overall theme of this article. I’ve recently crested six figures in base salary (although with bonuses I got there sooner) and I really have to agree with many of the points mentioned especially the “work hard” one. You will need to over deliver on goals and projects to get recognized.
Overall, though, probably the most important thing is having a “git er done” attitude. Everyone likely works with someone who is absolutely satisfied with the status quo — and for whom change is HARD. Anything new is IMPOSSIBLE and everything needs to be FULLY DOCUMENTED with WRITTEN PROCEDURES. They will invariably bitch and moan about THAT PERSON WHO BREAKS THE RULES and DOESN’T DO THINGS THE RIGHT WAY. It’s highly likely you want to emulate the person the status quo people bitch and moan about — because they are likely the ones who take calculated risks and are willing to actually do something about out-of-date procedures, business practices and so on. Businesses that fail to adapt to change are not in business for long — so being the person that shows up looking for a better way to do things (and actually does them) is a GREAT way to get ahead. And hey, if you get fired, then go to work for the competitor :).
Also, there is definitely something to be said for getting that industry internship going early on in the college years. If you wheedle your way into an internship in the freshman year timeframe you can emerge from college with 3-4 years of expereince, and that looks GREAT on a resume. Barring the ability to get an intership, volunteering to work on something related can get the networking going early. For programmers, many, many Open Source projects need testers, doc writers, coders, etc. For engineering, volunteer for science fairs, youth activities, etc. For business, look up Junior Achievement and other civic organizations. I’m sure there are analogues for other organizations, as well.
Also, I’ll add in a note about “leadership”. Leadership skills are absolutely critical to success in an organization. So is credibility. Read up on some leadership books (I really like the excellent “The Leadership Challenge”) and start practicing good leadership TODAY. I doin’t care if you are the geekiest shut-in engineer in the world who still lives in your mother’s basement — at some point, people are going to see you as “the person who knows this best” — which makes you a LEADER. You need to know how to handle it if you want to succeed.
I’ll also echo that math, science and engineering are careers that do lend themselves to high earner status. Also law and medicine. Of course, high earner does not equate to “wealthy”, so I would encourage anyone who wants to earn a six figure income to take a quick read of “The Millionaire Next Door” for a great look at how to manage that income.
I also work a “regular” 40-50 hour workweek. I rarely travel (one week a year at most) and I do see my family at night and on the weekends. I don’t carry a blackberry or feel “on call” for work 24/7. Very occasionally I need to work late or on a weekend (I’m in IT and shutdowns happen off business hours — we typically do 1-2 a year) So six figure income most definitely does not imply being a slave to the workplace. But it does mean that you perform services someone is willing to pay for.
Possess a constructive perspective while looking for a career, when being interviewed always be courteous, inquire and also be truthful
I like your ideas and I find them useful, for someone who wants to be an employe and work hard for the rest of there lives. There are better ways for achieving six figure income in 5 years. I recommend looking into network marketing as a profession.
This article should have been entitled “how to be a good little wage slave”.
There are high school students who have gotten to 6 figures in a few months. 7 years? That is just laziness on the author’s part. You are working for somebody ELSE and giving away all YOUR time and YOUR energy for someone elses financial benefit.
You listed working for major brands like they are some kind of enigmatic icon. No, actually they were started by real human beings, maybe even less talented or intelligent that you. They just didn’t make the mistake of choosing to be a wage slave.
Overall a poor article, however I am glad many like it because it means there will be less competition and plenty of drones to hire 🙂
Hey John,
I love this article. Though I’m not sure I’m in total agreement with it. I’m 23 years old and a software developer. I already make six figures a year and did so the same year I left college.
I know what you might think… Yeah, but I can’t code… I suck at math… I can’t get a computer science degree… blah blah…
Today the MEDIAN developer makes $101,790+ a year and over 65% of new developer are self-taught. That means you don’t need a degree, and all you got to be is average (well technically median lol) to make six figures.
Oh, yeah, I almost forgot the math-phobia… Listen, I suck at math. Like seriously suck at it!
Let me ask you this… Can you increment? As in, can you add one to a number… Yeah… Like 5+1=?… Cool, you’re qualified! Congrats!
The rest is down to some hard work, habit, and learning a new skill that is SO easy to learn today. And totally free to do so! Just “google how to learn to code for free” and enjoy your analysis paralysis.
Listen, I love this blog in general. It has some awesome content. I even love this post, it’s very honest and true. Yet I still think there is a great, consistent, and readily available way to make six figures for 6 of those 7 years you’re wasting here. That’s $600,000+ you’re forgoing. Slap that in a Vanguard S&P 500 and smoke it…
Anyway… I’m writing about all this at https://sixfigureprogrammer.com/ – Tell me what you think John. If you don’t agree with me I’d love to talk about it…
All the best 🙂