Welcome back, good sir! Congrats on the $$$ and mindset upgrade :)

Hey Aaron, it’s nice to look back on your younger self and realize how dumb you were.

The answer is yes, I did reach $100k+ before I turned 30. At 29 I took a job with a salary above that number and also includes a nice annual bonus. As a 31 year old now, I am comfortably well above that number. I’ve also added a wife and a child to support, so I agree with J in that more is better when you have a family.

That all being said, it is stupid to associate professional success or failure with a single number. While I am making good money right now, I also realize that I want to spend more time with my wife and child. I am actively working on ways to earn $100k+ outside of the corporate world so I can not only have great financial security but also spend lots of time with the people who matter most to me.

Interesting! It’s now been a good 6 years since he’s posted it – I’m wondering too :)

I can say for myself over the years that $75k def. seems to be a good level. I’ve made a little less than that, and all the way up to almost double that some years since writing this, and my happiness levels hasn’t really moved around all that much. Though I will say that after having two kids I very much prefer having more than less because you have less time to spend hustling/earning if you need to! And then there’s the whole “providing for your entire family” too if you’re doing so on a single income as I’ve been for the past 5+ years…

But as a single person if you can’t find happiness at $75,000 then quite a few changes probably need to be made :)

Kevin,

I NEED TO KNOW IF YOU MADE YOUR MARK OF $100K by 30!

I set that as my goal around the same time, but only got to $85K last year while I was living in Manhattan. Now I’m making $75K in New Hampshire with no income tax, and the author is right, it’s just about perfect.

Which one would make you the most *happiest*? The jobs themselves as well as the locations? That’s usually what I base my answers on (though the pay and rest of course factor in too).

Tom,

I liked how you broke that down. I’m looking at two possible career changes in the next 2 weeks. I can either take a job at Ebay in San Jose making $73k, for a year, or take a job in Atlanta making $60-$70k. I think $60K goes a lot farther in Atlanta, then $73K does in San Jose. Still the $73K sounds sexier. I could pull it off, because my aunt lives near by, and I could live with her for a year, but that might get old quick. Still Ebay is Silicon valley, and I’ll eventually move up, but still I don’t know at what point you have to move up to be comfortable, when I could just move to Atlanta, and be okay from the beginning.

WR, you are right on, There is nothing better than giving to others–no matter what.

Oh wow, that’s a big one! You’re right that you can’t calculate it for *everyone*, but I guess you can for averages based on stats and polling/etc. Really comes down to lifestyle expenses too. $75k with $75k expenses doesn’t make you feel all that hot, but with $25k expenses it sure does!