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Great Expectations
A recent chat with my five siblings, the youngest being 19, centered around jobs and salaries. One sibling was recently laid off from an industrial/manufacturing job, and one graduates from St. Thomas College tomorrow afternoon with a four year degree in accounting. The youngest has a retail job while she attends college. One is in the Army and attending college (he hopes to be a career military man). Another has a retail management job, after graduating with an auto-mechanical-related degree. I am the eldest, and I work in an office support/marketing job. We're all pretty "typical" I think.
The one who was laid off felt that, though he had no experience, he would be best suited to be a waiter/server where, as he has been told by "friends," he will undoubtedly make "a few hundred dollars a night." The burgeoning accountant has held a steady job while in school, but has no real-world accounting experience per se. I sent both job opportunities that I have seen that may interest them. The accountant told me flat out, "I don't know what the job pays, but I wouldn't take anything less than $40,000/year to start." He has been searching fruitlessly for a few months now. The would be waiter told me he wouldn't take a retail or manufacturing job at all, not even a temporary position. His job search lasted close to three months. Both live with the parents, rent-free. Both have car loan payments.
Compare that to a (former) friend of mine that I had known since childhood. She lived at home rent- and tuition-free throughout college. She even spent some time studying abroad in Italy. As we grew up, I moved out young and did not finish college, and she oft said that people without (college) degrees were doomed in some way or another. When she did graduate two years ago, she told me she would not "take a sh**" for "less than $45,000." We ended up growing apart, and I feel that our values and expectations from life ultimately caused the rift. I hear that her Mom has since gotten her a job at her workplace doing a job that has nothing to do with her degree for a respectable $34,000/year.
Now, I want to make it clear that I love all of my siblings, and I want them to all feel successful and contented with their lot in life. I also avoid (very purposefully) offering advice when it hasn't been requested.
That being said, I wanted to do a little bit of fact finding on wages in this country. I think sometimes we (Gen Y) expect too much. This isn't totally our fault, but it is something that will serve to hold us back unless we tackle it head-on. Here goes.
According to the Census Bureau for the last recorded year (2007), the median (or middle-most) reported income for a male working full-time, year-round was $45,113. The median income for a woman working full-time, year-round was $35,102. Meanwhile, fewer than 5% of full-time working individuals in this country made more than $100,000 ("six figures").
In a 1,000-teen survey done by Charles Schwab entitled "Teens & Money," we learned that in 2007, the average teenage boy's expected salary "when they were an adult" was $174,000. Girls averaged the modest expectation of $114,200.
Finally, couple that with a brief review of average student loan debts for 2003-4, provided by www.finaid.org. In the 2003-2004 school year, two year graduates walked away with an average of $11,000 in student loan debt. Four year's graduated that loan to $18,000 in debt. Graduate Degrees shouldered loans ranging from $27,000-$114,000. And if memory serves, you can't declare bankruptcy and get out from under this particular type of debt.
In closing, I don't want to discourage anyone from attaining additional education. I don't want you to plan on taking a job washing dishes after completing a neuro-science degree at college.
I only want you to have realistic expectations as soon as possible. You'll be happier in the long run knowing what success really looks (and spends) like for the majority of Americans out there. And perhaps re-evaluating what really matters at the end of the day (or work week). We continue to all be in this together, as far as I am concerned.
Penny describes herself as "a twenty-something gal hoping to reach other Gen Y's (and a few Gen X'ers) regarding frugality and frugaliciousness." She can be found on her RadiatorToast blog or in her home in "Minneapolis, Minnesnowduh". You can email her at penny@radiatortoast.com
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