What would be your ideal (but realistic) yearly salary?

25 comments

1. $200k to $250k without kids.

   I left a job making $115k for a job, including a bonus paid $210k. That extra money was a huge difference. 115k was great, and all my needs were more than met. But at 200k, I was able to pile money into my retirement accounts and do a ton of traveling.

   The rate I was able to save, I was planning to retire early, hopefully by my late 40s.

   Unfortunately, the party didn’t last, and due to restructuring, my entire division at work was laid off.

   I got a new job that pays $170k, which is still fantastic. But the lower salary probably means retiring in my early 50s instead of late 40s.

2. I have 2 kids and am the primary financial provider for my family. Currently, make almost 200k which is great. Definitely provides us a comfortable life in a MCOL location. 300k would mean I could retire around 50, so that’s my goal

3. About 500k each partner . NJ is expensive

4. 250K

5. My income is really high (about $1mm) but when I was making $50k I thought $100k would be rich, and then I thought it would be $200k.

   I honestly did not feel “rich” until I was at about $700k (I live in Canada so that’s about $30kish take home a month).

6. Would have to be in the $300-500k range. Anything below that doesn’t really mean anything anymore. It’s just basic survival.

7. Given where we live and assuming that my wife is still making her current salary? Maybe $100K? I have no great interest in being rich, and we’re pretty comfy as-is. Hell, I was just telling my wife that, if I had my way, I’d spirit her and I and the pets away to a cabin in the middle of nowhere so I can just drink tea, admire the scenery, and read. Right now my only major financial concerns are the mortgage, the HELOC, and a handful of outstanding things that (I think) need to be addressed with the house. Once that’s taken care of? Fuck if I know what I’d spend money on.

8. 200k usd a year after taxes.

9. Reading these comments makes me want to cry 😭 I’m currently on 21k in the UK.

10. Around 50-60k€ would be good enough . I live in Europe with no kids.

11. I’ve got a pretty solid salary now at $140k. But therapy is expensive. I would be happy with another 10 or 20k.

12. 250k USD base. 20-30% bonus, about 300k I guess.

    My wife could stop working, though I’d prefer the dual incomes for retirement reasons. I’m at 170 plus a bonus of 20% ish working at a large bank, but 250 seems possible in the next 5-7 years. We’re always wary of layoffs and geographic strategies of large corporations, so who knows if it’s actually in the cards.

13. I’m on £28,000. I could live very comfortably on £50,000 and a life of near luxury on £70,000.

14. I’d like to bring in $150k usd after taxes.

15. I could live extremely well at $100k.

16. 250 k.

    Don’t nearly that much, but that would be my ideal. He’ll, I’d be happy with 100 k

17. $170k combined income no kids. It works. But anything more would make life much easier

18. I’m around 50-55k gross rn. I’d be set at 80k. I’d be lavish for my standards around 125k.

19. I could earn 55k with a slight change in role. But that big pay bump comes with a tonne of extra legal responsibility. Ironically less work though, as that role comes with a deputy.

    Not worth it in my eyes.

20. 500k$, after taxes. I am very comfortable with a little more than half of that but inherited wealth, and the support and connections of my family are a huge part of that comfort. With 500k, I could achieve my current living standard on my own, by the relatively acceptable age of 50, with smart investments, and frugality. I would still have to forgo some luxuries, I currently have access to(and I enjoy them very much), but I don’t find them necessary, and I would not consider putting work towards having them, a worthy effort.

21. 300K. Currently at 200K.

22. Damn, I was thinking $80k-$100k. I support myself and my partner on my measley $53k salary over here.

23. $200k take home, accounting for also w/my wife’s income. Realistically, we’ll be higher than that in just a couple of years, but that’s all we’ll really need to meet our future lifestyle desires at this point. Maybe that goes up if we adopt/have more kids

    Actually just watched a take on the UPS drivers pay negotiations, in the US. How their pay actually works out, and why it isn’t ‘incredible’ that their senior drivers make +$130k take home, that their pay has just kept up with inflation over the decades.

24. Realistically, I’d be cool with $150-200k, but with full healthcare and pension, like my predecessors got before me where I work. Especially with all I had to learn for my trade, I’d have been better off putting that time and brain power to better use as an engineer, they get paid more, and get less dirty.

25. 200k and I might be able to save for a house here in Ontario. Maybe.