<p>I agree. Everyone who studies petroleum engineering should just call it quits.</p>
<p>I like MLDs suggestion ;p</p>
<p>Anyway, I want a salary that’s above minimum wage and enough for me to be comfortable. That includes a decent place to live, enough money to do something cultural once a month or so (theatre, opera, ballet, etc), nice clothes, and maybe a trip overseas once every year or two. </p>
<p>Then again, my history professor says he gets to write off his overseas trips on his taxes as “research”, so maybe I’ll just end up doing that:)</p>
<p>For me, it’s not a matter of being “flashy”. It’s about experiencing the luxurys I’ve come to love. Not being able to eat out at least once a week or go on nice vacations is going to make life miserable. Of course, these types of privalges won’t be accomplished without hard work, but IMO it is well worth it.</p>
<p>^You do realize that one can afford to eat out once a week and go on a couple vacations every year with far less than 500k/year, right?</p>
<p>Living in California, I’d hope for a starting salary of around 50k as an econ major…cost of living here is too high!</p>
<p>Decent pay by my definition is 200k+ a year minimum starting. In the town I live it would be impossible to live comfortably with less than that. Of course I’m assuming 200k+ a year combined income wife and husband, but I am pursuing a career in specialized medicine to be able to produce that much on my own doing a profession I enjoy. </p>
<p>Late in life 750k+ seems more appropriate. But some specialties start around 500k and go up to 1.2M. I plan to keep working even if I hit the 10M mark(which I think is enough money to live comfortably for the rest of your life and provide for your family of around 3 children and a wife that may or may not work), just to keep busy, save lives, and make some money to donate to proper organizations such as cancer research organizations and disease prevention organizations.</p>
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<p>I guess comfortable is a relative definition. I’ve got a few friends there for grad school making about 15% of your lower bound and they seem to be getting by alright.</p>
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<p>Oh, that explains a bit.</p>
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<p>Not when you live in NY and go on 15k vacations.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine making 500k a year. I’m hoping to start somewhere upwards of 50k (after grad school); that’d be more than my household’s income.</p>
<p>@Ranka</p>
<p>Hahah first of all, you’re not gonna make anywhere near what you think you’re gonna make.</p>
<p>Second, ALOT of that money will go towards malpractice insurance and stuff like that. </p>
<p>Third, you lose so many years of your life if you go the medecine route. I guarantee once you finish school and actually start working, you will look back on your life and say to yourself “where the **** did my life go?”. </p>
<p>Good luck, your path seems miserable and I would never do it, you poor soul you.</p>
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I’d say it’s more the 15k vacations that would use unnecessarily large amounts of money than the living in NY part, lol…</p>
<p>You do realize cheaper vacation options exist, right?</p>
<p>I hope to be bringing in about $300k as a family, like a few people I grew up in a lavish lifestyle with my parents together making ~$500k… Living here there’s a lot of people who live this lifestyle haha grew up a debutante mah like has said… It’s all relative </p>
<p>I’m not sure what my major is or future job is</p>
<p>Its true where you live can definitely affect how much you need to make to live the life you want.</p>
<p>@Ranka-200K starting?! WOW! Thats an insane amount of money to be making right away, but good luck. Gotta agree a little wth Wasted, some of that moneys gonna go towards things like malpractce insurance.</p>
<p>@Amandarin-I agree lol, theres a lot of people on here who are clearly planning to be rich and are used to being rich.</p>
<p>I was just planning on making 90K starting out if I do law. There are people here who are looking at 300K lol. I think theres a point where i’d have so much money that I wouldn’t know what to do with it.</p>
<p>I’m amazed at how high “decent” is for some people. I wouldn’t know what to do with 125k. Buy books and build a personal library? Bank the extra? I dunno, man. I dunno.</p>
<p>The most “extravagant” vacation I’d ever think of going on would probably be a visit to Taiwan to see my grandmother and uncle. That’s what? A bit over $2,000 for airfare? I mean, what would you do on a $15,000 vacation that’d make it worth it is what I’m wondering.</p>
<p>the food in taiwan is very very delicious. that sounds like an amazing vacation.</p>
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not in our america.
****ing lol</p>
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<p>lol, $15,000 vacations. I pay $15,000 for first class airfare alone.</p>
<p>Haha, some of these responses are priceless. Earth to Ranka. Earth to Ranka. Do you read me, Ranka?</p>
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<p>Charter a yacht.</p>
<p>If I go to Med School, I’ll probably start residency around 20K, slightly higher if I get a Mahattan hospital like I would like to. Then I get my huge salary jump to whatever (80kish? I’m not in this for the money) after residency.
If I go to grad school and get a PhD, it’ll be less starting out, but it depends where I work. My research mentor at the moment makes 85K from the school, plus whatever grants are paying him. (About 28K each a year)</p>
<p>On psychiatrists making bank. I have two little brothers, one had his life saved by an oncologist. (Well several) The other had his life saved by a psychologist (OMG no MD?!), do I think she deserves less? Absolutely not.</p>
<p>Marco117- aha well I’m one of those people… I can say I wouldn’t want to live worse. I want to provide for my kids like my MOTHER provided for me with great things, full paid college education, car, grad trip… etc… and an apartment in DC as a playground.</p>