advice for a fresh grad/first time employee?

Question

i just graduated a couple of months ago (psych major) and i am now employed at a pretty good, stable mental health service company. i am earning about 32k/yr is that good? should i look for a better paying job? do you have advice on how i can do better with the money i am earning? im paying about 800 for rent and my monthly bills.. am i spending too much???

yeah i think i am spending almost 45% of my salary on rent and monthly bills. i have no debt and my credit card bills are kept really low. is 45% of my salary on rent and bills too much??

Answer 1

Whether the amount you earn is good or not depends partly on the cost of living in the area you work and live. Some areas pay less, but the cost of living is less. Others pay more, but the cost of living is more. It balances out. If I had to do it over again, I'd work where I want to retire. If that area paid more, fine; if not, that's ok too. I'd be where I want to be.

To help you decide whether you are getting paid well, you may want to do a Google.com search on the words "minimum wage". Places that have a high minimum wage (say $7 per hour rather than $5 per hour) are probably high cost of living areas.

Once you know that, you can then go to a book store and ask for books on careers and income, or books on what different jobs typically pay. There's quite a few of those books available. You don't have to buy one. Just sit in the book store, browse the content, and make note of the pay range for your job. Your current income should be somewhere in the low range (the starting range). Exactly where in the low range you should be depends partly on where you live and partly on your school grades and how much your employer wanted you as an employee.

If your location is in a low cost of living area, then your starting pay being low in the low-range shown is probably ok, but if you live in a high cost of living area, then you starting pay should be higher in the low-range shown.

If your employer really wanted you on the payroll (because you were tops in your class, or there is a shortage of available people graduating in your field, etc.) then that might push your starting pay yet a little higher in the low-range than it would otherwise be.

Keep in mind that the low range is usually the starting pay, and the high range is usually the ending pay (after years of experience) or when close to retirement. But on the bright side, those numbers are for today, not tomorrow. In other words, the numbers for starting pay represent today's starting numbers, and the numbers for ending pay represent today's ending numbers. By the time you are at the end stage of your career, the numbers will have grown considerably from what is shown in the book today. They grow based on inflation, and demand in your field.

If your costs (rent and other bills) are only $800 per month, you either live in a low cost of living area (which I doubt because you sound like you're in California) or you are very good at managing your money and expenses (which is what I think is the case).

Congratulations on your ability with your finances, and good luck in your career.

In closing, let me add that I'm 66 and retired now, so I've experienced working for a living, and I'm now experiencing retirement (or not working for a living anymore). You may be wondering what things will be like for you when you no longer work anymore (even though that's a long way away). To give you some insight into what might happen to you, let me compare some of my numbers with some of yours.

I started at $16K rather than your $32K. I ended at $42K, so if you grow at the same rate, you would end at $84K. I don't know whether your job requires overtime work or even pays overtime pay, but if it does, you might average more than the ending $84K. For example, during my last 5 years of work, my average income was $55K rather than my base $42K. That increase in income during those last 5 years was due to overtime pay and represents a 31% increase during those years. If your case turns out to be similar, then your $84K ending pay will be $110K during your last 5 years.

I don't think I earned big bucks by any means during my career, but I always had enough to live on, and watched my spending, much like you appear to be doing. So, although there are no guarantees that your situation will be similar to mine (but at a higher income level), there's at least a possibility that it will, and these numbers will give you a feel for what your financial life might be like when you are ready to retire.

Hope you found this stuff interesting.

Answer 2

32k for a first job is not bad at all. I wouldn't worry too much about looking for a better paying job just yet; you don't know enough about being in the workforce to realize how much that extra salary may "cost" you in the long run. Give it some time, at least a year of work history. That'll make you a better candidate and will also allow you to really figure out what is important to you in a career.

In terms of money... only you can tell if you are spending too much. If you are putting a lot of stuff on your credit cards or taking out loans or paying bills late, you are spending beyond your means. But if you are able to put a little money into savings at the end of every month, and are not racking up a lot of debt, you are fine.

Make sure you are taking advantage of any 401(k) plan your employer has. That's for your retirement which may seem pretty far away but will be here before you know it. You put a bit from every paycheck into your account and your employer puts a contribution too, usually based on how much you put in. A good match is 50%; if you put in $10 then your employer puts in $5. That grows your retirement money real fast and also gives you some nice tax benefits!

Answer 3

32 K a year is a good starting wage for an undergrad degree. I started at 30 K + all insurance paid 3 years ago and make 42 K + same today. Stick with your job - don't look anywhere until you get that magical 3 yrs experience under your belt (5 yrs is better). As an average (I live in Cincinnati) I'd say your rent is about $150/mo to the steep side - but it's not way out of whack. Open a savings account that automatically deposits a set amount from your checking every month and forget about it. You can figure out how to invest it when you amass a little $$. Make a budget and stick to it!

Answer 4

I think a 32K paying job right out of college is really good--get some experience under your belt and put it on your resume later on down the line and then search for another job (if you want). NEVER quit a job without another one!! It's hard to make ends meet... just budget well and try not to spend beyond your means....(credit cards are dangerous). Good Luck!!

Answer 5

You may be doing well to start your career, but after you get some experience definitely look for a new job that pays higher. Depending on your debt you may be extending yourself. If my calculations are remotely correct you are spending half of your salary on rent and bills. Hope that helps.

Answer 6

as a fresh grad, you need to focus on 2 things:

1. gaining experience to take you to the next level
2. earning a decent income while you gain that experience

the next few years are critical. if you concentrate on gaining good experience, you will be able to market yourself for a better paying job down the line.

start saving some of your discretionary income in a 401k or IRA.

no, 45% is not too much at your level. good job!

Answer 7

Just build up time and paid expirence under your belt and in the mean time go on the government page of what ever state you live and you can get a idea of what your type of job pays you it would be under the labor board and wages it gives you a idea of what your area you live in is paying for your position
try it and good luck

Answer 8

tell your husband to hire a clean worker and then hearth her. tell him to provide up helping her together with her own life. this might bring about criminal issues (Coming from and HR supervisor) tell him to make a coverage that text cloth messages of courtroom circumstances isn't familiar interior the destiny that if she has a criticism a pair of individual or coverage that she desires to fill out a criticism checklist. this way there will be documentation of the criticism and of what action grew to become into taken to sparkling up it, it is going to additionally forestall her from continually complaining approximately non-matters. If this individual is demanding that yet another worker be fired what are the reason? despite the fact that if that's a character conflict your husband desires to make it sparkling the her aversion to this worker isn't with reference to the fundamental applications of the activity, and if she would be able to no longer act like a expert on the activity then she would be able to be released. each so often a competent scare is all that it's going to take to get somebody into shape. If no longer, this weight on our husbands shoulders won't be worth working short exceeded till omit complains allot can be replaced.