this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2024
96 points (93.6% liked)

Ask Lemmy

27256 readers
2420 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either [email protected] or [email protected]. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email [email protected]. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try [email protected] or [email protected]


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 73 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Universal basic income and universal healthcare so I (and everybody else) don't have to worry about a job, being able to work, retirement, disability, and employers will have to offer meaning, increased quality of life, and actual respect to attract employees.

[–] Gradually_Adjusting 35 points 11 months ago

These social safety nets would be a huge win for worker's rights too. If you can tell a job to go fuck itself on the spot, they can't operate without treating people right.

[–] tdawg 65 points 11 months ago (7 children)

The day I got signed on for 120k was the day all my financial anxieties went away. I'm not rich by any means. My rent is still stupid high. My bills never stop coming in. But I can finally afford furniture. I can finally afford to visit my family when I want to. I don't worry about min-maxing at the grocery store. I'm not "happy" but it's the closest I've ever been

[–] A_Random_Idiot 13 points 11 months ago

Being able to walk into a store and drop 50 dollars on something on rare occasion without having to have a panic attack and spend the day before doing in depth financial analysis and math, I cant imagine how much healthier my life would be without that stress.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] [email protected] 58 points 11 months ago (8 children)

UBI paid for by liquidating billionaires

[–] [email protected] 34 points 11 months ago

UBI paid for by ~~liquidating~~ liquifying billionaires

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago (2 children)

the logistics of this are a little iffy. People don't really melt, they burn

[–] [email protected] 22 points 11 months ago (3 children)

They don't need to be melted, they can be forced through a fine mesh instead.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

We need to utilize the expertise of the hydraulic press channel for this task. Spaghettifying billionaires sounds very therapeutic.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (6 replies)
[–] RisingSwell 45 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I earn enough, I'd rather just halve my hours.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 39 points 11 months ago (2 children)

The more money I make the sooner I can stop working.

So bigger salary = bigger happy. Always. There's no number that is "enough".

I enjoy my job, so working 20 more years isn't that onerous.

But I'd rather retire tomorrow than work for anyone else.

[–] tdawg 18 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Honestly? If I won the lottery today I would still work. I really really enjoy my work. It keeps me focused and motivated. My problem is having my livelyhood tied to the wims of a chaotic prideful coke filled VC

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

That's fair, and also true for me.

I enjoy laboring. I do not enjoy working for others.

I've got endless amounts of side projects that I never have enough mental energy for because the job saps it all.

When I got laid off last year I had about a month between jobs where I got to just do whatever I wanted. After about a week of decompressing I started working 5ish hours a day on side projects, because I wanted something that was more mentally stimulating.

[–] just_change_it 14 points 11 months ago (4 children)

There’s no number that is “enough”.

A quadrillion dollars per minute ought to be enough for anybody.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 11 months ago (1 children)

See that means I would instantly retire, so I wouldn't be working.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

You would work until you got your first paycheck. If it were a job that paid you under the table you could theoretically work a single shift. Best job ever.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] jpreston2005 30 points 11 months ago (10 children)

the amount you need to make in order to afford the ever-fleeting american dream is about $140k right now. so I want 280k

[–] Ramblingman 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I'm sorry but this can't be correct. I live within 30 minutes of two minor cities with plenty to do and me and my wife combined make around 100k. We live comfortably and have 50k in the bank in addition to retirement. We also have one kid. This is highly dependent on where you live. I am not saying the cost of housing,etc is not a problem but some of these numbers need to be put in context.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (9 replies)
[–] Furbag 26 points 11 months ago (10 children)

I remember a time when someone making "six figures" was extremely wealthy. Now six figures just seems to be the baseline for even having a chance at tackling home ownership in suburban areas. 120k is probably ideal. I don't likely need more than that and it should be enough to pay for a comfortable lifestyle.

Getting there is the tricky part.

[–] Thrashy 18 points 11 months ago

I make $115k per year, my wife makes another $20k or so, we have one kid, a tiny house in a slightly sketch part of our Midwestern city that I bought a decade ago when it was almost cheap, and both our cars are paid off... and we're treading water financially. I don't know how anybody my age is affording big houses and new cars, unless it's just by snowballing debt at an alarming pace. I'm already underfunding my 401k just to maintain some liquidity.

load more comments (9 replies)
[–] [email protected] 23 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Salary? No. Stipend, yes. Give me enough to comfortably live on and pursue interests and hobbies with no requirement for work. That's the closest money would get to making me happy.

[–] CaptainSpaceman 23 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago

DING DING DING DING

[–] [email protected] 20 points 11 months ago (5 children)

I am fine with my current salary. None of the problems I have are due to having too little money. It is more that I have hardly any time to spend that money and live a fairly lonely life. None of that would be fixed by a higher salary, which is why I have little motivation to try to get promoted.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

I would suggest volunteering at animal shelters on your days off might help with the fairly lonely life. The one by me let's you check out dogs to go to the beach with and return.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] Brainsploosh 15 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Enough to cover my living expenses, working expenses, retirement fund, savings, etc. at about 8-12 hours of work/week.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] Usernameblankface 14 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Bills plus car fuel and maintenance plus the cost of good quality food plus full coverage of medical insurance plus deductible (yay America) plus mortgage payments plus 10-20% on top of that.

Basically, cover the cost of very comfortable living and take the financial worry out of being alive.

Edit: echoing other comments, this would not make me happy directly. It would open up more possibilities to pursue the things in life that bring/grow happiness.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 11 months ago (3 children)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] Atin 12 points 11 months ago

Enough that I didn't have to worry about not being able to pay rent and bills.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Hey you guys, how for away do you think that mirage is?

[–] radix 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yep. One's lifestyle (almost) always expands to fit their means.

As soon as you make what feels "comfortable," you'll want another 10-20k.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago (1 children)

No amount will make me happy.

Once your basic needs are met, the equation becomes: Salary = Expenses + Savings. So, the questions becomes, how much savings makes you happy?

If you are happy to work in your job until "retirement age", a small savings rate will do, in theory; that is if the salary is adjusted for cost-of-living and tax.

Are you happy working this job for the rest of your life? Full time (whatever that means in your work culture)?

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago

For me, other factors are much more important than the salary.

A tedious job with unpleasant colleagues would never make me happy, no matter how high the salary. On the other hand, if I had a job that was fun and had nice colleagues, I would be happy with a salary that only covered the essentials.

Also, I would rather have a salary that only covers the essentials for 30 hours a week than a salary twice as high for 60 hours a week. What good is money if I can never spend it?

There are more factors that are more important to me than the salary. How much physical labor is involved in the job? Do I have to work at night? Do I work shifts or do I have flexible working hours? Does the employer offer a pension plan? Are there any other benefits? Where would I have to work, close to friends and family or far away? ...

Yeah, there really isn't just one threshold value that would make me happy. More is better of course, but there are too many other factors.

Though it's probably worth mentioning that I don't have any children and don't plan on having any.

[–] MTK 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

One that would leave me not thinking about it anymore

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (5 children)

I live in a third world country, if I can get 3K USD per month I believe I'll pretty good.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

In the short term? $50k. Enough to get by and save for big purchases with enough left over to get a faster motorcycle.

In the long term? $100k. Enough to seriously save up for an actual house to live the American Dream.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (6 children)
load more comments (6 replies)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

I don't have a solid answer.

Money alone isn't going to make me happy. Yeah, it removes a lot of one type of stress. But it can also be a trap. Like, I'm doing solidly okay in my job, but it's enough that I can't easily quit and start over in a different career, even though I stopped caring about this one a decade ago. And a high-paying job can come with a lot of other stressors, things that keep you working harder and longer hours than you otherwise would.

$100k would probably seem pretty good for a long time, given where I currently live. If I had to live in NYC, I'd probably say more like $500k.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

1/3 median home price for area of employment.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (6 children)

Money has long ceased to provide happiness. >80% of my salary ends up in a savings account, no idea if I'll ever touch it.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

Something like 100k€ would enable me to do all the traveling I want to do and simultaneously save up enough money for a comfortable early retirement. Currently I'm focussing more on having a job that isn't soul-crushingly stressful and full of overtime though.

[–] betterdeadthanreddit 5 points 11 months ago

A question like this could be an intro to a shady MLM pitch. Break the ice, get the conversation going and gain a sense of the range of numbers to make up for earnings examples.

[–] marx2k 5 points 11 months ago (3 children)

I make 120k in a medium sized city where the median income is about 75k. I'm pretty content, tbh. I also don't buy shit i don't need. Most of my expenses are my hobbies. I do have a lot of hobbies. But I still make enough every two weeks where I'm able to stash it away in a savings account.

Now if I only knew how to and had the balls to invest beyond retirement accounts.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›