What would you call a decent salary at this point in your life?

I remember a long time ago when the standard definition of “a good salary” was 1,000 times your age. Now it’s probably more like 2,000. Of course, higher is better and lower works if it’s all you got.

As a 22 year old about to graduate, I’ll take anything at this point.

I think I am WORTH approximately 1.5 times what I currently earn. I’ve taken on about 50% more work in the past 18 months and when asked about a raise, I was told “in this economy, we should all be happy that we have a job”. Which essentially means if I want more money, I’m looking for a second job. Not happy, but still employed, which translates to still being able to eat and live indoors.

40k baby! That’s all I need : )

For the first time in my life I feel like I am making a ‘decent’ salary. Of course I could use alot more but what I have is acceptable for the moment. I’d say a ‘decent’ salary is as follows (by my own standards, please note that this is based on staying in the same field and assuming promotions to manager levels, career changers would start at the entry level):

Entry-level work – 40,000 – 45,000/yr
5 years experience – 50,000 – 60,000/yr
10–15 years experience – 70,000 – 80,000/yr
20–30 years experience – 100,000 – 150,000/yr

These are the goals I have for myself. Of course this may or may not be realistic depending on circumstances but I would like to be banking 6 figures by the time my kids are in their 20’s. These numbers might change (go up) as time goes on b/c inflation’s a bitch and owning a home/having kids is expensive. I realize that in order to meet these goals I might have to start my own business in the future. Also, I hope not to have to change careers too much. I will not disclose what I make now but let’s just say I’m right on schedule.

It really depends on whether I’m the sole earner for my family. If I am, a decent salary range would be 60–80K.

$ 45,000 (Canuck bucks).

For where I am now and for my skill sets, $80,000.

Rent, bills, gas + $1.

im only 16, minium wage where i am located is only $7.25 an hour… i dont think thats enough i go through money like its nothing & i get paid every two weeks pay checks for me look about like $297_ $317 every two weeks

I make a good living, have no complaints. My salary compensation is well negotiated for every year. However, I am under the impression that everybody makes the same amount, because whenever you ask anyone what they make, they always seem to say “Not enough.”

I’d be happy with $25,000/year right now because 1) I’m only 21, and 2) I’m in a relationship with someone who makes very good money in their career.

Wow – @glenjamin – your listing of salaries per years of work experience is exactly what I’d put, too.
I’d put the caveats around it that:
1) These ranges are for a mid-sized US city (not New York, Chicago, LA, also not for small-town USA)
2) Salary ranges are expressed in USD
3) Ranges are applicable for professional (white-collar) office worker type job (think: corporate chemist, business consultant, accountant).

Entry-level work – 40,000 – 45,000/yr
5 years experience – 50,000 – 60,000/yr
10–15 years experience – 70,000 – 80,000/yr
20–30 years experience – 100,000 – 150,000/yr

I would be happy with the average salary for what I do (CNC Machinist), which is in the neighborhood of $40K/yr, or just under $20/hr (average). Hell, I would be content with what the bottom 10% of them make, which is “only” about $32k/yr; 90% of us earn more than that.

Sadly, as great as my employer is in the intangible ways, my wage is merely $11/hr and the other parts of my compensation package (401K, insurance…) are also below industry average. In fact, my household income (me plus my wife) is less than what the average CNC Machinist earns by themselves!

If it weren’t for the fact that some of those “intangibles” like the work environment mean so much to me, I would be out of there in a heartbeat! Sadly, there are few companies that are both cool and well-paying, so I am willing to sacrifice a little money to work someplace that I don’t hate. Still, it would be nice if I earned enough to maintain our current standard of living (or improve it!) while allowing my wife to stay home and cook. She wants to be a housewife, but can’t since I don’t earn enough for her to do that.

100,000 U.S. +/- 5% for my requirements. Career opportunity for growth , work from home/commute, additional responsibility, coming out of a LOW, can be a factor in changing that number beyond the +/-
This is for the Boston area.
Based on experience, area of the country, comparable salaries.
If moving to other locations, cost of living in that area is the factor for variation.

A hug and a kiss from my kids and 3 weeks vacation at my stage of my life is worth more to me than a six figure income.

Low end of decent $4000. mo
Mid range of decent $6000.00
Top end of decent $7500.

I base this on years I’ve had in the past and what I was able to do/accomplish with those amounts money. I’m a person who values having medical insurance, bills paid in full, no lines of credit and being able to slide my debit card at the grocery store without worry; there are times it hasn’t been that way for me.

Around double what I make now. If I was able to do the wilderness skills instructing something close to full time and not have to supplement with security work, that’d be close enough.

I have a stable income tutoring kids; the rest of the time I spend on creative work.
It’s more than sufficient for my needs. I’d even call $1200 great; and I have friends who get by on half that amount.

I think my definition of “decent” is basically, enough so that I don’t have to be thinking about money.
Thankfully I really don’t have much that requires a lot of money currently…!
This will change when I have kids, or need to embark on a bigger ambitions (mortgage for house?, etc).