Category Archives: Money

So you Chose an Artistic Career Path and now You’re in Your 30’s and YOU BE BROKE

October 11, 2014 By in Career, Money Leave a comment

Okay, so broke is not the right word. I’m not broke – but I don’t have a sizable savings and buying a nice jacket on a whim at Banana Republic is not an option for me now. But, I am not complaining – because I chose this option. I want to write for TV and Film, and I could be toiling for many more years to get there, ‘there’ being the point where I’m paid for that work. That means though, that I can’t take a job with long hours or a ton of after-work responsibilities because I need time and mental energy to focus on my writing. So I’m stuck in a land of entry to mid level admin type work.

Which isn’t bad – it’s something to be thankful and grateful for – BUT,  as I get older and head into murky early thirties-mid-thirties territory, I worry about the “what ifs,” what if I don’t break through for awhile? What if I’m 45 before I do? All that saved salary I miss will have an impact. How will I afford children, if I choose I have them? Yes, my ‘husband’ can pull more of the weight but what psychological impact will that have on me as a woman? Will I feel it necessary to give up more ‘writing time’ to watch the children because he’s paying more for the household?  And very importantly, what about retirement – how can I keep up with saving enough money to retire one day?

I’m not sure what I’m trying to say with this post, but I do think making this sort of choice highlights something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. That life is all about paradoxes and compromises. There’s a internal richness that comes with making a decision to follow what some might call a very risky career path, but there’s the flip side of that – which is the very real worry of monetary security.

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How many of your friends know your salary?

October 7, 2014 By in Money Leave a comment

What do you think about sharing salary details with your friends?

In my twenties, I knew what most of my friends were making. That was because we were all in the same boat – or rather the same entry-level dingy. We were all making anywhere from 22k to 45k in our starter jobs, with some outliers of course. But because we were in a similar salary range, it was easy subject to talk about in our twenties. In fact, it brought us closer – we commiserated by finding the best happy hours in the city and living in shitty apartments with roommates we found on craigslist.

Now that I’m in my early 30’s, I don’t know a single friend’s salary except Laura’s, but even that’s a rough estimate because it changes every year because of the nature of her job. I know Laura’s salary because we enjoy talking about money and saving together. We even have an informal “money club,” where we talk savings ideas and salaries. Maybe it works because we made about the same amount (before I left for graduate school; now I’m just diving into savings constantly). But aside from Laura, I don’t know the salaries of my closest friends.

From around 27 and up, salaries of your peers diverge greatly. Some people choose to go the way of the artist and take day jobs while they spend nights and weekends working on their side projects.  Others choose the more corporate path and get their MBAs or law degrees, likely making six figures and up. So it becomes awkward when the disparity is so large.

What would happen if we did share our salaries? Are we afraid of the jealousies that would creep up? Or the divides that would suddenly appear? Is salary information simply just not that important anymore? Or are we too polite?

For those curious, here is some interesting salary information: