What is considered a good wage at what age?

discogurl · 04-05-2022 4:35pm #1

Hi All,

I have a broad question. Im 32 and earn 40,000 per annum work in event management. Would people consider that a good salary, or just a good salary for my age? It doesn't feel like much but I was talking to a friend over the week who makes 26,000 and seem to think I was rich! She also asked me why I drive an Opal Corsa on that income lol

Green Mile · 04-05-2022 4:38pm

It is relative, people on here on €100k pa would think they too are on a small salary whereas other people on here on €30k pa would think they are on a great salary.

I would say that you are on an average salary OP. Your friend on €26,000 pa is very small salary especially if they are full time.

thiagos · 04-05-2022 4:39pm

Tbh id consider that a relatively low salary but ive no idea. 55k at 30 seems decent going

discogurl · 04-05-2022 4:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119015551#Comment_119015551

Yeah I understand, Im from Dublin but commute from Drogheda as that's where I could afford an apartment. So my income could mean struggle if renting in Dublin. And if I was in Mayo it could mean being well off. I've also noticed as you earn more your costs go up (newer car, holiday loans etc) so we generally end up with the same disposable play money

Mad_maxx · 04-05-2022 6:29pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058244450/what-is-considered-a-good-wage-at-what-age

its an average salary , below average for Dublin

Xidu · 04-05-2022 6:35pm

Big tech company would offer a start salary from 35k - 70k depends on the job description.

an entry level accountant might get 35-40K but for age 32 would be around 50k at least.

a software developer could be 70-90k at age 32. I have a colleague who is software developer owning 91k base plus 8k for mid year bonus, 13k for year end bonus + 90k shares….mind he is only 31.

so…. It really depends on the job description and what company you work for.

riclad · 05-05-2022 10:50pm

the average wage depends on what industry you are in, your experience, qualifications, what age you are .

Fallout2022 · 05-05-2022 10:54pm

Half your age plus seven.

munster87 · 05-05-2022 10:59pm

I’m 35, grossed just over 80k last year. I would think that’s average enough, maybe higher side of average, for people in full time employment in my age bracket.

However, I live in Dublin and have 2 young kids. The mortgage and childcare etc. doesn’t leave much disposable!

Still stihl waters 3 · 05-05-2022 11:06pm

A plumber in West clare on 60k a year might have a better lifestyle with a lot more disposable income than a plumber on 80k in dublin but you'd obviously think the 80k is better if you knew nothing of their circumstances

Geuze · 05-05-2022 11:16pm

40k at age 32 in a rural town is okay.

40k at age 32 paying Dublin rents is very difficult.

road_high · 05-05-2022 11:31pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119021559#Comment_119021559

Over €80k gross is average? Fcukin hell I’m in the wrong profession. Or is this another mad boards thread on salaries 😬

kirving · 05-05-2022 11:58pm

It completely depends on where you live. I have the joy of renting two places at the moment.

€600 Galway House (share with 1 other):

€300pm + ESB + Gas = €375

€375x12 = €4500py (€9k gross salary)

€1700 Dublin Apartment (share with 1 other)

€850pm + ESB + Gas + BB + TV = €1000pm

€1000x12 = 12k (€24k gross salary)

Slightly different bills, but the [b]difference,[/b] between Galway and Dublin for me is approximately €15k per year of my gross salary, and that's only because I'm sharing both places.

Otherwise, renting a 1 bed apartment in Dublin would cost me €30k (of my gross salary) MORE than a 3 bed house in Galway.

Big gross salaries in Dublin have little to do with anyones day to day disposable income tbh.

riclad · 06-05-2022 1:38am

The highest wages are in the tech industry, finance, in general or maybe someone with a specific qualification. Eg medical consultant. But the cost of living rent in a rural town is alot lower than living in dublin. The question is hard to answer in that every industry has different wage rates and people like stockbrokers get a bonus depending on performance in the last year. I think the economy is in for a rough time , as in inflation and interest rates go up, and the supply chain crisis gets worse

10-05-2022 8:38pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119021606#Comment_119021606

Funny how your colleagues in the Civil and Public Service never seem to acknowledge this rather than use those living and struggling in Dublin as leverage to secure pay rises for the entire country.

This week we had the propaganda wing of the nurses bemoaning about having to eat out of food banks in the cities. As if they were the worst paid of people in cities 🙄

Motivator · 10-05-2022 11:33pm

Friends of mine are on €100k+ in Dublin and are on their uppers. Can’t buy a house and are blowing thousands in rent each month.

Other friends down at home are on €40k and have their own house, comfortable enough standard of living and seem much happier than those that are living in Dublin.

Those in Dublin and the bigger cities have a better quality social life with more options and variety of things to do. Smaller areas don’t have a whole lot outside of the pub etc. but trying to save money in Dublin is just a no no. Unless you’re on €250k a year, there’s not much difference between someone earning €50k or €100k in Dublin - the higher salary can rent a bigger apartment maybe and can get a few extra pints every week but I can’t see what else they can have that lower salary earners.

CPTM · 11-05-2022 12:08am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119044076#Comment_119044076

Ah there's a good bit extra there. 2k extra a month after tax is 24k a year, nearly 100k difference after 4 years. That would mean a better house needing less renovations. It could reduce your mortgage from 30 years down to 8 years. You could through loads into a pension and retire early or have more freedom later to change career. More options in terms of schools for the kids. Better clothes, more for things like gym or clothes or socialising.

El_Duderino 09 · 11-05-2022 8:33am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119015566#Comment_119015566

Buying a newer car and going on lore expensive holidays ARE 'disposable play money'. Unless you're just getting a newer car and going on more expensive holidays as part of your job and you're not enjoying it, then that is your discretionary spending.

I think people always compare themselves to the more wealthy people and decide they're poor. There was a classic bit on Question Time in the UK before the 2019 election. Labour proposed an additional 5% tax on the top 5% of earners (over 80,000pa. One guy in the audience was livid. He said he only earned 80,000 and he was going to have to pay the tax. He had no idea that he was in the top 5% of earners and thought he was being shafted. He wentnon to say every accountant, was on over 80,000 pa.

Goes to show how clueless some people are about how well off they actually are.

https://twitter.com/bbcquestiontime/status/1197651546940608514?t=YNN5LrhGlG_9AJ7FA4ROJw&s=19

Motivator · 11-05-2022 8:33am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119044180#Comment_119044180

Ok maybe it was a bit of an exaggeration but anyone on €100k is still going to have to mind themselves. With the cost of everything in Dublin I’d hate to see what kind of disposable income I’d have at the end of every month if I had the same standard of living I have in rural Cork. Dublin, while a lovely city to shop and eat out in, is extortionate when it comes to the smaller things.

AyeGer · 11-05-2022 8:38am

Reading this thread you’d think an average wage for a 30 something is about 80k.

Stats on the average wages are available if you Google them.

squigglestrebor · 11-05-2022 8:40am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119044076#Comment_119044076

Are you insane? Trying to save money in dublin is a no no unless you are on 250k a year?

Ray Palmer · 11-05-2022 5:10pm

I have read a few of these posts before and noticed some mention in property comments about price. There is a weird belief that tech salaries are astronomical for all in the sector. It really isn't, better paid than admin jobs but not by much. You can make great money as contractors but that often means periods without work and a loss of illness coverage. It takes years to gets the high paying tech jobs if you are good enough. Lots of people avoid management jobs and just program with a decent salary but not the 80k-100k think is standard.

I did manage to quadruple my take home pay in a year after discovering my skills were much better than I thought and in more demand. IT can be funny like that. That was just after I hit 30 so I get the OPs point there were others I knew earning way more before I got a pay jump. I was just about to change careers. Money didn't solve the issues I had with work but it meant more time off and freedom to do other things.

https://gradireland.com/careers-advice/information-technology/tech-sector-salaries

Tinter Box · 11-05-2022 5:46pm

Worked in a specialist area of finance for 20 plus years. I found my salary was pretty stagnant for about ten years but had pretty much doubled in my late 40s. This is due to switching jobs and reaching a certain level of seniority!

Gusser09 · 11-05-2022 5:51pm

Its all to do with outgoings. Someone on 40k could be weller off than someone on 100k with a huge mortgage, 4 kids big car etc.

El_Duderino 09 · 11-05-2022 6:09pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119047507#Comment_119047507

Not true. Having a huge mortgage (assuming it represents a decent house) a nice car and 4 kids, ARE discretionary spending. Loads of people can't afford a house, car and children. People who want children are pushing having them back further and further so they can afford them, and it's the same with houses.

No matter what way you slice it, a person on 100k is significantly 'weller off' than someone on 40k. Even of if they gamble the difference on gambling apps, that's their choice (a poor choice IMO) and that choice doesn't exist for the person on 40k.

pgj2015 · 11-05-2022 10:01pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119015566#Comment_119015566

Your costs don't have to go up just because you earn more as time goes by. The corsa will still do the same job as brand new Audi A6.

11-05-2022 10:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058244450/what-is-considered-a-good-wage-at-what-age

Keep in mind you pay 50 percent tax after 36 thousand, so if your hoping to get a raise of 10.000, you will only see 5 thousand of that. It dosnt give you much motivaton to earn more and that extra bit you pay on the tax, you wont see it, the goverment will squander it. Plenty of people in Dublin who are earning your salary are living in house shares, trying to save money. So its also relative to where you live.

Xidu · 11-05-2022 10:19pm

I have to say your friend who own 100k a year can’t buy a house in Dublin is becoz of he just eat in restaurant 3 meal a day? Buy LV handbags every month? How on earth he can’t afford a house while earning 100k? Don’t you know that’s like top 5? If top 5 can’t afford a house then who else can? The rest of us aren’t all inherite from parents.

Motivator · 11-05-2022 11:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119048842#Comment_119048842

Well first off he’s struggled to get the money together for a deposit. He’s also single which doesn’t help. He got outbid on two houses he’s looked at in the last 6 months. If he moved down the country he’d be able to buy a house on his current wage, but if he moved down the country his wage would probably decrease by 40% so he’d be screwed again there.

toyotatommy · 11-05-2022 11:31pm

I have a huge penis and a battery car 167k

Xidu · 11-05-2022 11:34pm

How come? Single 100k gross pay. Net pay is like 55k at least?

if he pays 1.5k on renting, spent 1.5k on daily life and holidays.

save 1.5k/m, that’s 18k/y

so save like 3 years would be 54k.

What’s the average semi-d house cost in Dublin?

Ray Palmer · 12-05-2022 11:34am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119049181#Comment_119049181

Yes he could do this but if he hasn't yet then that is why they can't buy a house. The fact they have been outbid suggests a healthy deposit. Like most people they probably want more than they can afford and needs to adjust expectations. I came back to ireland with a chunk of change thinking I could buy a nice house in a nice area. Ended up with an ex corpo house in an OK area at first. Friends bought further out much bigger houses but commutes were 2hours each way. Salary rose and was able to move up. House price increases meant my property was worth more than my friends and I was able to go up the ladder in Dublin as my wages rose. Friends moved closer to Dublin and downsized due to prices.

The thing about moving out of Dublin you do it once and probably can't get back afterwards without a lot more money.

Mister Vain · 12-05-2022 1:04pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058244450/what-is-considered-a-good-wage-at-what-age

You could be driving a Merc on that salary. 😊 To me it is a good salary but then I'm on the same income as your friend. Actually slightly less.

Badly Drunk Boy · 12-05-2022 1:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119048734#Comment_119048734

Indeed!

Ray Palmer · 12-05-2022 2:40pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119050835#Comment_119050835

Sorry to sounds so ignorant but how do you live on that? Do you live with parents are you young?

Mister Vain · 12-05-2022 5:01pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119051532#Comment_119051532

I built a log cabin in the parents back garden. I know plenty of people on even less than that. I was on minimum wage myself for most of my 20's.

Ray Palmer · 13-05-2022 11:59am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119052285#Comment_119052285

It really is a foreign concept to me. I dropped out of college but even when in college I got higher than minimum wage as I got made a supervisor/team lead ever minimum wage job I took. Kind of just landed in IT because the delays in stuff we needed from the IT guys was so slow so I just leant how to do what they were doing for us. That just lead to me being hired by a rival and doing a lot of their IT work. No qualifications in IT but doing it over 20 years. Pretty much all my good friends from school have done well.

Minimum wage was never considered a salary to live on when and where I grew up. Always an auxiliary salary for either a house wife or students. The expectation to live on it seems to have only come about in the last 10 years. Maybe things were different outside of Dublin.

I do count myself lucky and recently tried to help an old neighbour's son out. He does have ADHD so I wasn't prepared for his lack of motivation. It seems like him and his friends do nothing with the exception of one or two with jobs. These workers currently seem to buy stuff for the group. It made me remember my own past and the start of distancing from certain school friends. You just end up leaving them behind as your lifestyle improves. I still see one guy with his bag of cans going to the park. Smart guy back in the day but just never started an adult life. It is also weird to bump into an old boss and see them still working in the same type of job. One old boss I bumped into was on my street. His in-laws live here he was obviously shocked when he heard we bought here. Loads of questions on what I was doing. Life isn't a sprint it is a marathon. I just can't stay still and not learn something new or get bored.

What is considered a good wage at what age?

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