Wallet Voyeur

We generally believe that salary and prestige go hand-in-hand. Usually, the more a job pays, the more prestigious it is. But what happens when you take a pay cut to take a better job? Can prestige be more important than salary?

Today's episode features a university employee in Melbourne, by way of Edmonton, who makes  $105,000 AUD/year who also gets an additional 17% for his super-annuation (a pension, to you and me). He was introduced to financial planning in 7th grade by his teacher, encountered resistance about discussing money from his family, but also had the good fortune of having several high-paying construction jobs in his late teens to help set him on his way. 

Let's hear from a Thunder Bay, ON science outreacher who manages budgets, people, and large projects. She makes $68,000 CAD/year but is often on-edge, worried that her staff possibly feels disdain toward her because of how much she earns. We also discuss her life in an area with a moderate cost of living that has afforded her and her husband to purchase a home, raise a child, and even have an electric car and a camper.

Let's hear from an assistant professor of biology who makes $70,000/year - which you could have found out yourself since the salaries of all staff at public universities are published. We'll hear about how he thought he was rich when he got a fellowship for $30,000, what it was like to purchase a home a suddenly be $128,000 in debt (hint: it wasn't so bad compared to renting), and how he and his wife share household finances.

This episode features a corporate marketing professional who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in small town Eastern Connecticut who once made $14/hour as a janitor at 14 and just recently took a pay cut down to $116,000/year to relocate to Louisville. Let's hear about what it's like to have more than $125,000 in student loan debt, purchasing a 2,000-square-foot home for $37,000 after once living in a $2,400/month Manhattan apartment, being told by your HR department to specifically not discuss your salary, and the culture shock of going from a poor town to a fancy New York City college full of rich kids. And whatever you do, don't ask your teachers how much they make, even when doing an assignment about choosing a career. 

Hear from an Australian science researcher who openly talks about money with all of his friends -- which he recognizes is unusual. He earns $85,000 AUD each year plus 12% superannuation to be put toward retirement. We'll learn that he and his friends aren't shy, how his willingness to talk about money directly led to him helping a coworker negotiate a raise at her new job, and why he believes that investing in real estate in expensive markets like Melbourne may not make sense for millennials any more.

Today we hear from a tax clerk in Lawrence, KS who makes $19.88/hour, and only five people on Earth know how much she earns (well, until now). We'll learn how she tries to save a bit of money each month while still managing to spend $50 every six weeks on meal worms to to feed her chickens and duck.

Many people assume that financial planners cater exclusively to wealthy individuals, and therefore, the wealthy often assume their planners are in their same tax bracket. But sometimes they aren't even close. In this episode, a financial planner starts a cooperative planning company, shares revenue with his staff, and usually finishes the year with about $30,000. In Austin. Where the cost-of-living is soaring. But he explains how people making $30,000/year have much more in common with those making $300,000/year, and how many of us can easily adjust to a sudden change in our income, whether for the better or the worse.

Glen Tickle is a working comedian. He's not a total unknown but he's certainly not in the same atmosphere as Sarah Silverman or Chris Rock either. So how does an artist make a living? Last year he made $30,000 but in others he made far less, and he's been paid as little as $20 for a gig. This episodes explores how artists negotiate the promise of a potentially large career with the constant turmoil of sometimes not knowing from where your next check will come or for how much it will even be.

When is $50,000 greater than $130,000? Apparently when your true-self is at stake. Let's hear from a woman who felt richer (in her soul, at least) when she was making $50,000/year at a non-profit in New York than when she was earning $130,000/year at a healthcare company in Los Angeles -- where it took a 30% pay cut at a new organization to feel like herself again.