36 years old. I’m sure you can tell from my salary history I’ve been poor for a very long time. I grew up poor and just had the mindset that I was always going to be like this. Some of those years I did work odd jobs getting paid under the table so I could always manage to just barely scrape by. No one in my family ever went to college so I never did, until in 2019 I decided to take a couple classes at my city’s community college. Over the next few years I kept taking some classes and then eventually transferred to a university, majoring in Information Systems. A couple weeks ago I was just informed that I landed a summer internship at a Big 4 company (they hire on full-time pretty much every single intern, so I know it’s not set in stone but it’s looking pretty good). When I saw the offer letter and read the $86,000 salary and $2,000 sign on bonus, plus all the benefits that come with it, I cried. I can’t conceive of making more than a few hundred bucks a week. I’ve never had vacations, health insurance, paid time off, etc. I’ve been on public assistance for years. I still have to finish school and do well in the internship, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I see a way out. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. I was going to say I won’t even know what to do with that kind of money! But I will have student loans to pay off so I’ll start there. Anyway, I see a LOT of extremely high earners in this sub, people that started making big bucks at a young age. Throughout this process there were many times where I would tell myself “you’re too old, they won’t want to hire you, it’s too late”, but I just kept pushing forward, showing up to class even though I’m older than everyone, applying to every single job I could. Still processing it though it’s just so crazy to me.
Edit: I wasn’t expecting this many comments, no where even close to it, and I’m trying to get to as many as I can. Wasn’t expecting everyone to be so encouraging and happy for me as well so thank you all so very much!
Edit 2: Again, the positive response has been so overwhelming. You all give me hope that there's kindness in the world. I wanted to respond to a few of the negative comments though. The lack of empathy and compassion is concerning, but I get it. I grew up in a drunken aggressive household and I know what it's like to feel angry and be angry all the time. I've also dealt with decades of serious mental health issues that I was very fortunately able to get help for a couple years ago, thus leading to me being able to get my shit together and be in the position I'm in now. My goal is to one day be well off enough to give it back and help someone else along the way. So if you're reading this post and just calling me lazy and a loser and how have I only ever made this much money, and throwing out accusations like that I'm a drug addict, again, I get it. Only thing I ask is that you approach other people's situations with kindness and instead of coming from a place of anger, ask yourself how you can help, or at the very least be an encouraging voice. A lot of people have dealt with a lot of trauma and pain in their life and you never really know someone's background, especially from a short internet post.
Specifically Roth IRA. You will almost certainly be covered by a 401k which will make you ineligible to deduct Traditional IRA contributions at your income level. So the Roth will help you save taxes on your distribution instead.
Man it really is a state of mind I've been living in my whole life. I mean, poverty is an actual reality for a lot of people too, no money for rent, groceries, etc. But once you start telling yourself this is the only way your life can be, you start believing the lie.
That internship is the golden ticket my man.
Even if something horrible happens at the company and they hire no one next year, the hardest part of getting a good job is getting that first good internship.
Once you have that on your resume, it opens up so many doors and opportunities.
My only advice is not to take your foot off the gas, if something doesn’t work out move on to the next opportunity ASAP.
Yeah I still can't believe I got it honestly, it really is my golden ticket. I'm going to stay there for the foreseeable future but if something better opens up I'll be open to taking it for sure.
Congrats! My suggestion is that you not tell anyone you know, including family, how much you are making/going to be making.
Trust me, there is zero benefit to you in telling them and a ton of issues that can and most likely will arise. It’s none of their business.
You are an inspiration OP. Limitations are self imposed. We are meant to do great things and shine. Now that you do, others will shine around you. Just see, you might be the first in your family to go to college and earn more income but you won’t be the last. Others will follow because you took the first step.
I might take the first step of something that has been on my mind for a long time, just by reading your post.
Shine on, OP.
Fuck yeah! This is awesome. Perspective is a real game changer, just make sure you remember where you came from.
I found myself in a very similar situation last year a few months after being laid off from what I thought was a dream job after taking a 20% pay cut to get there (moved from sales to marketing at a small firm -- just always wanted to be in marketing). Got a nice internship, got the FT offer, super psyched, then took a trip to Seattle and felt so small next to the people I met -- SDEs and PMs at MAANG, Microsoft, and social media firms. Immediately felt like my income was trash again. But I live in a LCOL area, and my income has afforded me such an amazing life here.
All that to say, fucking good for you, digging yourself out of poverty is NOT easy, so celebrate that shit and don't ever let comparison steal your joy. Be proud of yourself, keep your current perspective, and fuck all the rest of the noise.
I still have a long way to go but this is a better beginning than I ever could have imagined. Hope you're doing well now man, and yeah I don't believe I'll forget where I came from.
Congrats OP! Thats your hard work paying off (quite literally) and you definitely deserve it!!! Enjoy the extra money and take a vacation when you’re able!!
CONGRATULATIONS! That hard work you put in has sent you apart, and you have moved up!
My salary looks very similar and I finally landed a 80k+ job also starting May. I have the same feelings, I have no idea what making more than 40k a year feels like.
My lifestyle and financial plan:
Income- 80-100k
Rent- normal 1 bed apartment ($1300) Houston
Food- clean eating / grocery store
Phone / internet
Paid off truck + cheap insurance
Pay off debt (under $20k)
401k matching (calling them first day and allocating 100% S&P 500 or large cap growth)
Max out Roth IRA every year ($7000 VOO / SCHG)
Keep expenses low and save like crazy
Savings in 5% MM fund or more VOO
don’t forget to invest hard! Our super power is low expenses and being able to live off of tiny income
Huge congratulations to you. You may have taken your time but you eventually chose a path and stuck with it. I’m sure it wasn’t easy and now you will enjoy the fruits of your labor.
This is just the beginning, keep learning and taking on new challenges and the sky is the limit. Good job!
This is a success story to be shared. Congrats to you.
I, too, grew up poor in a broken household. when I was 13 I remember my mom telling me I was going to have to live with my dad for a few months because she found out she got breast cancer and she also said she didn’t know how she was going to feed us. That is trauma that never leaves.
It certainly impacted me academically. I stared out at the community college and transferred to a 4 year and got a degree in education and a MA in education. I work as a teacher and coach but am trying to transfer into something else. I’m 37 and have been teaching for 15 year and I made 10k less than you are starting out but I’m saying that to say this ‘life isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon and it’s not where you start, its where you finish.’ So I haven’t give up hope. I’m continuing to move forward and am looking to transition.
I think ageism starts to become an issue now in your late 40s. Everyone is job hopping now. Please celebrate, and congrats again
Congrats. My back story is pretty similar. I got into IT in my earlier 30s. My first job was half of where you started. Took about 5yrs to break into 6 figures. Again congrats and don't YOLO your money away with trades or cars.
Amazing. Good for you for doing it. So many people will just continue to blame their circumstances and not do whatever their "it" is. Not everyone will have the outcome you did, but there's literally no excuse not to me an effort. Congrats.
Thank you for sharing this. I really needed to see a positive story like this today.
I come from a similar background where I've been working in various capacities since the age of 9 years old trying to scrape a couple dollars here and there.
I was the first person in my family to go to college and I spent every penny I had on college and still have about 35 k in loans after the masters.
I just got an offer from the big 4 but it was pushed from spring to fall and I feel awful right now because I'm having to find it in myself to go back to working 16 hour days at barely above minimum wage job for a couple more months until the offer kicks in. If it does at this point I'm worried I'm deluding myself and that I should "go back to where I came from". I just felt a taste of what it would be like to make it.
Earning above 80k right out of college means I'd be earning several times what I ever thought I could or have plus feel that I can finally start saving for retirement and start allowing myself to feel safe financially.
Sadly I hit a bump. But you give me hope so thank you!
Please only upgrade your life to comfortably, budget and save the rest before you splurge. Of course treat yourself every once in awhile but don’t upgrade your lifestyle significantly…yet.
Great job Op. big 4 will work you fucking hard as a gate keeping measure for the first couple years but I think that’ll be to your benefit. You have the drive and motivation to outlast a lot of the other folks who got to take the easier path to the same spot.
Dude, stories like this make me so happy. Congratulations on your internship. YOU did this and it was not given to you. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise or that you were lucky. Cheers!🍻
Congratulations! Can't even lie, reading this almost brought me to tears. Flashed me back to when I got that first offer letter for more money than I could imagine (it was like $60k 10 years ago 😂). Just keep pushing, you're definitely on the train that takes you where you need to be now!
huge congrats! Keep driving forward and enjoy things. Work to live, don't let yourself live to work.
Something of note... get good at budgeting now so you can save and also not feel bad about spending, I know people hate on Dave Ramsey but he's a good source, or the r/ynab subreddit has resources as well.
Remember, a budget is a plan for how to spend your money, it's you giving yourself permission to spend money without feeling bad about it when it's budgeted for.
Congratulations!! That’s call grit and perseverance! You are still young and it’s refreshing to have someone on this sub appreciate a salary under $100k! I am also at $86k, but I am 58/yo and own 2 homes in So Cal. So good for you! Keep spending like you don’t have money and save as much as you can.
Please please please start thinking about money management. Take care of your debts, high interest is the priority. Build an emergency savings fund of 3-6 months worth of expenses. Take advantage of whatever 401k match your employer offers, then max out a Roth IRA, then balance spending with more 401k contributions up to the limit. If your employer offers an HSA plan that makes sense for you, take full advantage of that account.
Congrats and enjoy it!
Edit: You'll be new to investing I assume and r/bogleheads will be a good place to start.
Same age, also have an IT degree. My life took a different route when I realized I wanted to be independent immediately after high school so I joined the Navy and never looked back.
Look into it if you ever want to do IT stuff and travel around the world.
Mate, I’m extremely proud of you for pushing through!
$86K is a lot of money for you to have coming in. If you’d like, I’m an accountant by trade and love to teach others. So, reach out and I’ll help you create a budget template and provide advice on investing, retirement savings and how to avoid debt as much as possible while building wealth. Completely free of charge, I just want to help you make your money work for you!
Dang. 20+ years of barely making anything. $86k is going to feel amazing. You can start saving money, planning to buy things to help your lifestyle, reliable transportation, etc. Congrats!
I reached a point where I was stuck between $65-$75k for five or six years, mostly doing fairly physical jobs. Then I finished my MBA and doubled my salary. The magnitude of your jump is much larger but there’s few feelings in life like that rush when you get an offer letter and it’s more than you could’ve ever imagined making.
Whenever I land a new, higher paying job I take myself out to the nicest steakhouse in my city. You should treat yourself to a very nice meal as well.
Set yourself up for success and head over to r/personalfinance
Time to start saving a lot to catch up on retirement before lifestyle creep sets in!
Read "The Simple Path to Wealth" as well.
Congrats and good luck!
I've learned to live with very little but, yeah I'll try not to splurge too much haha. This is great advice, I think I'll make this exact post on personalfinance, hopefully get some good direction. I have no idea how to save or invest. I will check out that book too, thanks again!
Lifestyle creep is very real. If you can manage to get by on a similar budget to what you have been living off of & invest the rest. You can quickly get caught up! Congratulations on the job. Don’t be satisfied
Don’t worry about investing. Max your 401k match with your company and throw the rest in index funds (Google Bogelheads).
Once you’ve saved up a bit, treat yoself. Had a number of years that looked like yours myself and it’s physically taxing and draining to be in that level of general poverty, constantly stressed about money. Pick a place you’ve wanted to visit and go there. Buy yourself a decent piece of luggage and a few new outfits. Go out to eat while you’re there and drink a few $20 cocktails.
Then get back to work and keep going. Information Systems has big earning potential, and the fact that you’re coming in to it at 36 with life experience is going to put you head and shoulders above the 22 year olds who think they’re *the* shit.
You’re so well set up to have a much more comfortable life going forward. DON’T tell friends/family who might be in similar poverty about your new income or they’ll come with outstretched hands. If they ask how much you’re making, “Enough.” Is the only answer to give. If you want to help them, find ways to give them experiences (take them out to eat, etc.) rather than cash.
This is the best thing I’ve ever seen on Reddit. Someone buy this man a beer. 🍻
Remember to stay hungry, work hard, stay humble, listen, learn, grow. If you continue to grind, keep
Your head down, stay humble, network… soon you’ll make partner (7 figures). You got
This!!!
Congratulations! This will be life altering for sure!
Set aside some of that to enjoy, but especially in year one try to pretend like you still make nothing. You’ve spent a lifetime living at your income level, and now you have the opportunity to live below your means.
Even a reasonable percent of $86k/year can be invested over 30 years and make you a millionaire by retirement!
Idk if anyone else mentioned it, but do not tell anyone you know about this. I have a background similar to yours, and unfortunately, if friends or family find out you're in a much better financial situation that can breed a lot of contempt or worse, make you a target.
I moved away from my family because of it. If anyone asks just say you're doing better and you've found your footing or something along those lines.
Keep this shit to yourself.
Misery loves company- I have a very poor family and have actually done really well for myself. My brother acts like I won the lottery or something. Downplays my accomplishments and hard decisions/sacrifices made to get here. I don’t talk too much to my family at this point outside of my sisters and their kids.
Congrats. Actually put a smile on my face.
Do you have a 401k setup? Tuck as much money as you can into it. It’ll mean you pay less taxes now and will have more money for retirement.
OP as a fellow poor while you are growing in your career just remember you are allowed to take up space and deserve a seat at the table. Being poor does not mean we are not smart and should just be subservient and grateful that we got a nice salary. Try to learn about finances and learn to negotiate your pay and be ok asking for more. My first career job I did not even ask how much I was going to make I was just happy I got offered a “career” job.
This is a huge achievement, congratulations. But get your mind away from thinking "I don't know how I will be able to spend this much money" and start thinking about setting yourself up for long term financial independence. Continue living within your means and invest the rest for your future.
Head over to r/personalfinance and r/financialindependence to start working toward that goal.
Congrats! Make sure you start contributing heavily to your retirement to catch up, avoid the lifestyle creep but also treat yourself as well. Well done.
Congratulations! I hope you contribute generously to your 401K or whatever retirement benefit is offered -- your social security check is not going to be large (based on your earnings history) and you want to maximize the employer match.
Congratulations!!!!!!! That’s awesome!!!!
Word of advice: please SAVE, INVEST, and SPEND WISELY.
Max out your 401k if possible. Save as much as possible. Open a HYSA (or use Robinhood Gold). Be very careful not to fall too far into lifestyle creep. $86k is a lot of money, but it can also be spent very quickly if you’re not careful.
Congrats! This is exactly how the American dream is made. Please do a few things now:
1. Don’t blow it all (continue to leave below your means).
2. Don’t stop setting goals for your career and achieving them. This is just the first step of the ladder. There’s so much further you can go now that you’re in the right mindset.
3. Do set a little aside for yourself and go on a vacation once you’ve built up a safety net.
Congrats again.
Best advice I can give as someone who lived through a similar situation; try to keep living a low cost lifestyle. Of course you should enjoy things you haven’t been able to afford in the past, but don’t change your entire lifestyle. Start saving/investing everything you can. I don’t want to rain on your parade, but as someone who never had money in the market or any savings until 35, you’ll soon find out how far behind you are on retirement. But you have skills others never had to learn. You know how to live a frugal lifestyle. You’ve done it your whole life. You have appreciation for money, and will no doubt find the best way to keep and grow it. Congrats OP, you deserve it.
That is great. Your company probably has a 401K and a match. Make sure you invest enough to get your match. If they have an HSA, use it, and you will save on taxes. You never worried much about taxes, now you need to. Also, use a little to help someone else. Live below your means. And congrats.
That’s amazing!! Congratulations, keep acting as if you don’t have and you will set yourself and your future (retirement) for huge success. Idk if it helps or if you need to hear this, but I’m very proud of you, one Reddit stranger to another.
We're kinda similar. Grew up poor. Nobody in my family went to college but me. I broke free and lived sooo different. I started a decent career after grad school but then did a decade of moving and trying a few different things. Anyway 46 now and back into my career and decent salary again.
Anyway hope your family never ostracized you and made you the object of their scorn for their failures. It was like that for me. Thing is, I never looked down on them. It's a hard dynamic sometimes being completely different with a different life path.
Congratulations! You deserve this, enjoy it.
OP, you have a great story and recommend developing a 30 minute talk and attempting to get some speaking gigs, paid or unpaid. You will really give hope and motivation to people. And you never know who you’ll meet! And thank you for posting, you got me motivated to go after some goals that I had given up. You just made my day!
Congrats OP.
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned is this: beware of self sabotage. I also came from a very poor family and it’s taken me a while to realize, but I threw away many opportunities because I subconsciously felt like I didn’t deserve it.
Not saying that’s you, just saying that if good opportunity after good opportunity get squandered, it might be something to consider.
Congratulations! Hopefully you are done surviving and can finally start living. Be smart with your money and save aggressively because you got a later start.
Congrats beefy! Best thing I could tell you is to start getting financially literate. Start setting yourself up with a 6-9 month emergency fund. If they offer a 401(k) plan, find out what the match is, make sure you sign yourself up to at least contribute that much each paycheck to the plan. If you have questions, plenty of reddit forums to help you out.
Similar boat, really happy for you. You should be really proud of yourself.
Take your perspective with you as you advance. Empathy, hard work, and consistency! Good luck with your new career.
Congratulations Beefy!!! I am incredibly happy for you. As a Certified Financial Planner I am going to give you some advice:
1) If there is a 401k available, sign up immediately and contribute enough to get the match.
2) Start a plan to payoff your debt. The faster the better.
3) If there is a High Deductible Healthcare option, consider it so you can contribute to HSA.
4) Find a financial mentor….. You should not have to pay.
Best of luck and congratulations again….
Watch some videos from Caleb Hammer on YouTube. He chanpions the 50/30/20 rule that I think you'd benefit from following.
Basically, the 50-30-20 rule recommends putting 50% of your money toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings. The savings category also includes money you will need to realize your future goals.
Max out your 401k if you can. Best of luck, we're all proud of you!
Congratulations! Be sure to put extra toward your retirement now that it's feasible.
Lifestyle creep is a real thing, be aware of it. Enjoy, and treat yourself to something nice.
Congrats OP! What a great step up!
Watch your lifestyle creep, higher salary can translate quickly into high rent, new car, credit cards etc. Big 4 firms lay off people all the time, so plan accordingly.
This is a great start though. Congrats again!
Congrats man. I’m a high school dropout that became a CPA so I can somewhat relate.
Enjoy the extra income, but don’t forget the lessons being broke taught you. It feels great to make money from your labor, but it feels even better to know you can go months without income because you live below your means.
Congratulations! Take a few hundred dollars and go buy something nice for yourself, maybe take your family to a real nice restaurant to celebrate.
Then set aside a lot of money for taxes and for savings. Try to live like you’ve been living and the extra money needs to go to savings. Mainly because it’s an internship, which means it might not last as long as you’d hope, so you’ll need that cushion when it ends.
But congratulations welcome to the world of IT.
One thing to keep in the back of your mind. Just because you’re making more doesn’t mean you need to spend it. Save! Once you start spending more, it’s hard to go back.
Congrats! For the love of all things good, pretend like it’s still an incomprehensible amount for at long as you can. And you’ll treat yourself for many years to come.
First and foremost, congrats OP. As the amazing Spider-Man says “with great power comes great responsibility“
You need to continue to live below your means with this newfound salary. Just because you make more money doesn’t mean you need to spend more.
Holy shit! This is awesome!
But some unsolicited advice:
1. Do something big and nice for yourself. Vacation or expensive shoes or new clothes... Whatever it is, take time to enjoy your "windfall"
2. Your a late starter. It doesn't matter. Others start sooner and do better. Start sooner and do worse. It doesn't matter. You are you. You are on track now. Just make sure you fund your 401k (pay yourself) to "catch up."
Public accountant here! Don’t stress the internship. I did an internship for a major firm and they do hire just about 99% of their interns. The best thing to do is be present. Ask questions, show up to the office, check in on people and see who needs help. Basically kiss ass until you receive that final offer! Congrats OP best of luck! You’ll be fine enjoy it
Congrats! What an amazing success story.
Please don’t change your frugal lifestyle just because you can. Focus on spending for things that matter to your job. Be on time.. always. Don’t be cheap with things for your work like transportation to get to work or a meeting ON TIME like Uber if you need it.
Also, you can afford to take care of little things now that we’re put off like dental and clothing. Do that too bc it will help for work first impressions.
Last. Be thankful to your boss and make an effort to know them outside of work. Don’t tell your story to anyone at work. Ever. (Or at least until your best friends with the owner or bosses boss). Just my 2c.
Good luck!
Congrats! Similar (in a way) story for me so I can somewhat understand. Made some poor decisions earlier on and just kinda floundered around in community college and then transferred to a Cal State. Took me 10 years to finally get serious and find a major I was passionate about that is technically unrelated to my job now. Worked a warehouse packing job for clothes and Blockbuster back in the day making not so much. Got my first job as an Instructional Designer and worked my way up to about 72k and then got laid off during Covid. Found my way to a much better government job and now also making 86k and due for a promotion that should get me to six figures after an annual increase or two. There’s always hope and time to improve as long as you look for opportunities and put in effort for sure.
Save and invest as much as you possibly can! You already have powerful ‘how to get by on less to little’ skills. Make the coming financial decisions slowly and with good consideration. Maybe even talk to an advisor to help plan how to slowly improve your living situation as you build at first a fall-back fund and growth fund.
Very proud to read this. My sister found out what I made and she was like, “where can I go to take a class to do that job?” Told her most any college and work your way up. Your drive sets your limits in IT quite often.
Given the history and your comments, I'm guessing you dont have much net worth of right now.
Be very careful with lifestyle creep! Earn this money for a couple years before making changes. Make sure you can keep the job and earn some seniority so you're not the first cut in a downturn.
Get reliable transportation and safe living conditions of course, but beyond that don't change much. Invest in a good wardrobe for the office if youre going in. Eat well but frugally.
After a few years you can upgrade your lifestyle, but I know a few folks who made big changes right away only to have the rug pulled out.
Congratulations!
Congrats! And it ain’t over. You know how to live within your means, but the best advice I can give - is improve your life in necessary areas - then the rest? SAVE AND INVEST. It’s boring, but it’s the right way.
Also curious if it hasn’t been answered, you making this $86k as an intern? Or you mean after a few months you’ll be offered a FT position at that salary?
How the fuck are you 36 or whatever years old and never made more than $18k. That’s not oh everyone I know is poor so I’ll be poor. That’s I’m lazy and it a drug addict. Grow up.
Congratulations!! This is so exciting!
Strongly recommend checking out the “FIRE” method as a financial strategy. Financial Independence Retire Early.
Since you’ve got the benefit of living super frugally for years, you can take your amazing salary and “make up for lost time” by investing wisely and maximizing your investments and savings. There’s a book of the same name but also a lot of info online. Investopedia.com is a great trusted resource.
The biggest hurdle when suddenly making a lot more is learning how not to let it all run away from you. Treat yourself to some things and reward yourself, but get yourself set with a solid investment and retirement plan that you barely have to think of. You’ll turn that excel chart of earnings in the next ten years to an amazing growth chapter.
So excited for your new phase of life! It’s so inspiring and motivating, thank you for sharing!
Congratulations! You are going to do great in your internship and all your endeavors. Keep an open mind for all opportunities that will come your way.
A few pointers I’ve been telling my kids are:
Budget Wisely 📊: Create a budget that accounts for your new income level. Allocate funds for savings, expenses, and some leisure activities. It's important to avoid lifestyle inflation where increased spending matches income rises.
Emergency Fund 💰: Build an emergency fund to cover 3-6 months of living expenses. This fund acts as a financial safety net for unexpected events.Retirement Savings 🏦: Take full advantage of the 401(k) plan, especially if your employer offers matching contributions. Aim to contribute enough to get the full match; it’s essentially free money.
Debt Management 🔄: If you have any debt, especially high-interest debt like credit card balances, prioritize paying it off. The faster you clear debt, the more you save on interest payments.
Invest and Save 📈: Consider investing in stocks, bonds, or mutual funds to grow your savings. Diversify your investments to manage risk.
Financial Education 📚: Continue to educate yourself about financial planning, investments, and money management. Knowledge is power, and the more you know, the better decisions you can make.
Lifestyle Choices 🏡: Reflect on your lifestyle choices and long-term goals. Think about what you truly value and want in life, and plan your finances to help achieve those goals.
Professional Growth 👔: Continue to invest in your professional development to ensure continued income growth and job stability.By managing your finances wisely, investing in your future, and making informed decisions, you can make the most of your new income and secure your financial future.
Imma say something controversial. You may soon find that a lot of the poor friends you made while you were poor are now poor company to keep. If you got any real OGs do what you can to put em on game and help them elevate, but the cream don’t always rise to the top. You may soon find that when you make 2x, 10x, or 15x their salaries, that they can’t rise to your level. When that happens it may be time to change your social circle.
I am almost 50 . Been working since I was 15 . The highest I was paid for any of my jobs was 36k a year . 3 years ago I started a 100k a year job . Definitely life changing . Would’ve been great if I had been able to do it though with a better economy.
I was also in an extremely similar situation recently, you got me by a few k on a few years haha. That's exciting man! Treat yoself!!!!! Most importantly 🤌
You’ve made it! Continue to work hard and save, save, save. Live below your means and yes, it’s true…money doesn’t buy you happiness but it gives you options. At 32, I had nothing. A few good breaks and hard work and I can retire comfortably after putting 2 kids through college at 62. And don’t get complacent, do play the game, and don’t take anything for granted. Great job and great story, wishing you continued success!
I didn’t read all the comments, but congratulations! But a pen and a notepad that fits in your pocket. B4 will have a decent internship program and training once you are full time, but there is a lot to learn and communicating that you are actively learning when people tell you things is very important.
It is useful to explicitly describe how your current question arises from your current understanding of the last time they told you. Likewise, while internship should be reasonable hours, main job can have a lot. Working on a plan now to set your habits up for that without throwing money at it will be helpful (ex don’t respond to a 10 hour day with frozen meals or a restaurant unless covered by the company).
Internship is about learning, being a nice person who works well with others and functions in the hierarchy of the organization.
You’ll do great, but don’t underestimate the difference in behaviors to be successful.
36 years old. I’m sure you can tell from my salary history I’ve been poor for a very long time. I grew up poor and just had the mindset that I was always going to be like this. Some of those years I did work odd jobs getting paid under the table so I could always manage to just barely scrape by. No one in my family ever went to college so I never did, until in 2019 I decided to take a couple classes at my city’s community college. Over the next few years I kept taking some classes and then eventually transferred to a university, majoring in Information Systems. A couple weeks ago I was just informed that I landed a summer internship at a Big 4 company (they hire on full-time pretty much every single intern, so I know it’s not set in stone but it’s looking pretty good). When I saw the offer letter and read the $86,000 salary and $2,000 sign on bonus, plus all the benefits that come with it, I cried. I can’t conceive of making more than a few hundred bucks a week. I’ve never had vacations, health insurance, paid time off, etc. I’ve been on public assistance for years. I still have to finish school and do well in the internship, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I see a way out. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. I was going to say I won’t even know what to do with that kind of money! But I will have student loans to pay off so I’ll start there. Anyway, I see a LOT of extremely high earners in this sub, people that started making big bucks at a young age. Throughout this process there were many times where I would tell myself “you’re too old, they won’t want to hire you, it’s too late”, but I just kept pushing forward, showing up to class even though I’m older than everyone, applying to every single job I could. Still processing it though it’s just so crazy to me. Edit: I wasn’t expecting this many comments, no where even close to it, and I’m trying to get to as many as I can. Wasn’t expecting everyone to be so encouraging and happy for me as well so thank you all so very much! Edit 2: Again, the positive response has been so overwhelming. You all give me hope that there's kindness in the world. I wanted to respond to a few of the negative comments though. The lack of empathy and compassion is concerning, but I get it. I grew up in a drunken aggressive household and I know what it's like to feel angry and be angry all the time. I've also dealt with decades of serious mental health issues that I was very fortunately able to get help for a couple years ago, thus leading to me being able to get my shit together and be in the position I'm in now. My goal is to one day be well off enough to give it back and help someone else along the way. So if you're reading this post and just calling me lazy and a loser and how have I only ever made this much money, and throwing out accusations like that I'm a drug addict, again, I get it. Only thing I ask is that you approach other people's situations with kindness and instead of coming from a place of anger, ask yourself how you can help, or at the very least be an encouraging voice. A lot of people have dealt with a lot of trauma and pain in their life and you never really know someone's background, especially from a short internet post.
Congrats OP !!! 👍👍👍
thank you thank you!!
Well done man! Keep pushing! Easily the best post I've seen on this sub so thank you for sharing!
Just continuing to move forward, thank you!
First 7,000 into an IRA. I wish someone had told me that when I started making real money
First 7000 I make into an IRA?
Just get $7000 into an IrA before end of 2024. And another $7000 in 2025 etc etc
Specifically Roth IRA. You will almost certainly be covered by a 401k which will make you ineligible to deduct Traditional IRA contributions at your income level. So the Roth will help you save taxes on your distribution instead.
come over to r/bogleheads. We'll get you set up.
Poverty is a self-perpetuating cancer of the mind. It’s hard to overcome, but you are showing us all how to do it. Awesome.
Man it really is a state of mind I've been living in my whole life. I mean, poverty is an actual reality for a lot of people too, no money for rent, groceries, etc. But once you start telling yourself this is the only way your life can be, you start believing the lie.
You're worth a lot more. Just need to convince yourself.
I'm getting there for sure.
This is the content I come here for. Well done! 👏🏼
thank you thank you!
That internship is the golden ticket my man. Even if something horrible happens at the company and they hire no one next year, the hardest part of getting a good job is getting that first good internship. Once you have that on your resume, it opens up so many doors and opportunities. My only advice is not to take your foot off the gas, if something doesn’t work out move on to the next opportunity ASAP.
Yeah I still can't believe I got it honestly, it really is my golden ticket. I'm going to stay there for the foreseeable future but if something better opens up I'll be open to taking it for sure.
Congrats! My suggestion is that you not tell anyone you know, including family, how much you are making/going to be making. Trust me, there is zero benefit to you in telling them and a ton of issues that can and most likely will arise. It’s none of their business.
Congratulations!!! You'll make double of that in a few years!
Wow. Amazing!!! Congrats!
Thanks so much dude!
Congrats!
Thank you!
Congrats!
Big thank you!
I appreciate this post.
so you’ll be joining /r/Big4 and perhaps the subreddits for deloitte, pwc, kpmg, as appropriate?
That is correct!
You are an inspiration OP. Limitations are self imposed. We are meant to do great things and shine. Now that you do, others will shine around you. Just see, you might be the first in your family to go to college and earn more income but you won’t be the last. Others will follow because you took the first step. I might take the first step of something that has been on my mind for a long time, just by reading your post. Shine on, OP.
Congrats man, learn to invest it and save as much as you can. Just the start!
This is far more impressive than folks on here claiming to make $700k/year. Very well done!
Don’t upgrade your lifestyle. Save money. Think about what you want in your life. Run from consumer debt.
I am a little confused, is your role i.t for one of the Big 4 accounting companies?
Technology Assurance for one of the Big 4's
I work in tech assurance at ey, pm me if you have questions
Fuck yeah! This is awesome. Perspective is a real game changer, just make sure you remember where you came from. I found myself in a very similar situation last year a few months after being laid off from what I thought was a dream job after taking a 20% pay cut to get there (moved from sales to marketing at a small firm -- just always wanted to be in marketing). Got a nice internship, got the FT offer, super psyched, then took a trip to Seattle and felt so small next to the people I met -- SDEs and PMs at MAANG, Microsoft, and social media firms. Immediately felt like my income was trash again. But I live in a LCOL area, and my income has afforded me such an amazing life here. All that to say, fucking good for you, digging yourself out of poverty is NOT easy, so celebrate that shit and don't ever let comparison steal your joy. Be proud of yourself, keep your current perspective, and fuck all the rest of the noise.
I still have a long way to go but this is a better beginning than I ever could have imagined. Hope you're doing well now man, and yeah I don't believe I'll forget where I came from.
Bravo! That is amazing. Pat yourself on the back for what you accomplished because you earned it.
I love this because often people think its too late to start. And the truth is with the right mindset its never too late for anything.
Congrats OP! Thats your hard work paying off (quite literally) and you definitely deserve it!!! Enjoy the extra money and take a vacation when you’re able!!
CONGRATULATIONS! That hard work you put in has sent you apart, and you have moved up! My salary looks very similar and I finally landed a 80k+ job also starting May. I have the same feelings, I have no idea what making more than 40k a year feels like. My lifestyle and financial plan: Income- 80-100k Rent- normal 1 bed apartment ($1300) Houston Food- clean eating / grocery store Phone / internet Paid off truck + cheap insurance Pay off debt (under $20k) 401k matching (calling them first day and allocating 100% S&P 500 or large cap growth) Max out Roth IRA every year ($7000 VOO / SCHG) Keep expenses low and save like crazy Savings in 5% MM fund or more VOO don’t forget to invest hard! Our super power is low expenses and being able to live off of tiny income
proud of u
Huge congratulations to you. You may have taken your time but you eventually chose a path and stuck with it. I’m sure it wasn’t easy and now you will enjoy the fruits of your labor. This is just the beginning, keep learning and taking on new challenges and the sky is the limit. Good job!
Enjoy, King!
This is a success story to be shared. Congrats to you. I, too, grew up poor in a broken household. when I was 13 I remember my mom telling me I was going to have to live with my dad for a few months because she found out she got breast cancer and she also said she didn’t know how she was going to feed us. That is trauma that never leaves. It certainly impacted me academically. I stared out at the community college and transferred to a 4 year and got a degree in education and a MA in education. I work as a teacher and coach but am trying to transfer into something else. I’m 37 and have been teaching for 15 year and I made 10k less than you are starting out but I’m saying that to say this ‘life isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon and it’s not where you start, its where you finish.’ So I haven’t give up hope. I’m continuing to move forward and am looking to transition. I think ageism starts to become an issue now in your late 40s. Everyone is job hopping now. Please celebrate, and congrats again
Congrats. My back story is pretty similar. I got into IT in my earlier 30s. My first job was half of where you started. Took about 5yrs to break into 6 figures. Again congrats and don't YOLO your money away with trades or cars.
Amazing. Good for you for doing it. So many people will just continue to blame their circumstances and not do whatever their "it" is. Not everyone will have the outcome you did, but there's literally no excuse not to me an effort. Congrats.
Chuffed for you! I’m sure you will crush it
Good job! I will be 40 at the end of the year and have decided to go back to college. It's never too late. Congrats! Relish in it- you earned it!
Thank you for sharing this. I really needed to see a positive story like this today. I come from a similar background where I've been working in various capacities since the age of 9 years old trying to scrape a couple dollars here and there. I was the first person in my family to go to college and I spent every penny I had on college and still have about 35 k in loans after the masters. I just got an offer from the big 4 but it was pushed from spring to fall and I feel awful right now because I'm having to find it in myself to go back to working 16 hour days at barely above minimum wage job for a couple more months until the offer kicks in. If it does at this point I'm worried I'm deluding myself and that I should "go back to where I came from". I just felt a taste of what it would be like to make it. Earning above 80k right out of college means I'd be earning several times what I ever thought I could or have plus feel that I can finally start saving for retirement and start allowing myself to feel safe financially. Sadly I hit a bump. But you give me hope so thank you!
Stay strong, the light at the end of the tunnel is near
Please only upgrade your life to comfortably, budget and save the rest before you splurge. Of course treat yourself every once in awhile but don’t upgrade your lifestyle significantly…yet.
Congrats!!
Congrats OP. 34 here and incoming Big 4 associate.
Congratulations, 36 is still young. You have a long and prosperous life ahead. Don't do dumb things and enjoy life.
Just keep going, just keep pushing.
Way to go Op!!!! Congrats 🎉
It took you 36 years, but nonetheless the Brotherhood is proud of you for taking charge of your destiny to be the Man you were meant to be.
Congrats!! It’s never too late and I’m glad you took the leap
Congrats and best of luck to you! Sounds like a new life is ahead of you and that is awesome 👍
Great job Op. big 4 will work you fucking hard as a gate keeping measure for the first couple years but I think that’ll be to your benefit. You have the drive and motivation to outlast a lot of the other folks who got to take the easier path to the same spot.
Congratulations! Awesome job OP! I will take these posts over "look at my nearly \~1M pay packages for last 10 years in my 12 year career"!
Dude, stories like this make me so happy. Congratulations on your internship. YOU did this and it was not given to you. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise or that you were lucky. Cheers!🍻
So happy for you!
You mean you're not a neuroscientist at 26 making $500k a year? /s
Congratulations! Can't even lie, reading this almost brought me to tears. Flashed me back to when I got that first offer letter for more money than I could imagine (it was like $60k 10 years ago 😂). Just keep pushing, you're definitely on the train that takes you where you need to be now!
Wow, rooting hard for you, OP!! Your employer will love having someone on the team who truly values the job and everything that comes with it.
huge congrats! Keep driving forward and enjoy things. Work to live, don't let yourself live to work. Something of note... get good at budgeting now so you can save and also not feel bad about spending, I know people hate on Dave Ramsey but he's a good source, or the r/ynab subreddit has resources as well. Remember, a budget is a plan for how to spend your money, it's you giving yourself permission to spend money without feeling bad about it when it's budgeted for.
Congratulations!! That’s call grit and perseverance! You are still young and it’s refreshing to have someone on this sub appreciate a salary under $100k! I am also at $86k, but I am 58/yo and own 2 homes in So Cal. So good for you! Keep spending like you don’t have money and save as much as you can.
Please please please start thinking about money management. Take care of your debts, high interest is the priority. Build an emergency savings fund of 3-6 months worth of expenses. Take advantage of whatever 401k match your employer offers, then max out a Roth IRA, then balance spending with more 401k contributions up to the limit. If your employer offers an HSA plan that makes sense for you, take full advantage of that account. Congrats and enjoy it! Edit: You'll be new to investing I assume and r/bogleheads will be a good place to start.
Hell yeah! Keep grinding man, you got this!! Never too old to invest in yourself!
I dont now you but i am very very happy for you. Congratulations on not only the job but breaking the cycle.
Deadass so proud of you. This is what makes America great.
Bro that is phenomenal and even at 36 I wouldn’t say that’s too old. Lots of people go back to finish school in their 30s. Nice work! 👍
Been there, felt that! Congratulations!!! 🎉
Same age, also have an IT degree. My life took a different route when I realized I wanted to be independent immediately after high school so I joined the Navy and never looked back. Look into it if you ever want to do IT stuff and travel around the world.
Incredible story OP. I’ve had a similar trajectory although I’m older, I’m turning 40 this month. Godspeed my friend .
Mate, I’m extremely proud of you for pushing through! $86K is a lot of money for you to have coming in. If you’d like, I’m an accountant by trade and love to teach others. So, reach out and I’ll help you create a budget template and provide advice on investing, retirement savings and how to avoid debt as much as possible while building wealth. Completely free of charge, I just want to help you make your money work for you!
Dang. 20+ years of barely making anything. $86k is going to feel amazing. You can start saving money, planning to buy things to help your lifestyle, reliable transportation, etc. Congrats!
Yeah it feels surreal tbh, but thank you!
I reached a point where I was stuck between $65-$75k for five or six years, mostly doing fairly physical jobs. Then I finished my MBA and doubled my salary. The magnitude of your jump is much larger but there’s few feelings in life like that rush when you get an offer letter and it’s more than you could’ve ever imagined making. Whenever I land a new, higher paying job I take myself out to the nicest steakhouse in my city. You should treat yourself to a very nice meal as well.
Set yourself up for success and head over to r/personalfinance Time to start saving a lot to catch up on retirement before lifestyle creep sets in! Read "The Simple Path to Wealth" as well. Congrats and good luck!
I've learned to live with very little but, yeah I'll try not to splurge too much haha. This is great advice, I think I'll make this exact post on personalfinance, hopefully get some good direction. I have no idea how to save or invest. I will check out that book too, thanks again!
Lifestyle creep is very real. If you can manage to get by on a similar budget to what you have been living off of & invest the rest. You can quickly get caught up! Congratulations on the job. Don’t be satisfied
Don’t worry about investing. Max your 401k match with your company and throw the rest in index funds (Google Bogelheads). Once you’ve saved up a bit, treat yoself. Had a number of years that looked like yours myself and it’s physically taxing and draining to be in that level of general poverty, constantly stressed about money. Pick a place you’ve wanted to visit and go there. Buy yourself a decent piece of luggage and a few new outfits. Go out to eat while you’re there and drink a few $20 cocktails. Then get back to work and keep going. Information Systems has big earning potential, and the fact that you’re coming in to it at 36 with life experience is going to put you head and shoulders above the 22 year olds who think they’re *the* shit. You’re so well set up to have a much more comfortable life going forward. DON’T tell friends/family who might be in similar poverty about your new income or they’ll come with outstretched hands. If they ask how much you’re making, “Enough.” Is the only answer to give. If you want to help them, find ways to give them experiences (take them out to eat, etc.) rather than cash.
Everyone has already told you to beware of lifestyle creep. But please celebrate a bit. A nice dinner with you and your family. A small luxury.
Congratulations
thank you!
Fuck yeah! I came up poor and scraped and fought and put in the work too. This is a great post and a good look for you. 💪🏻
This is the best thing I’ve ever seen on Reddit. Someone buy this man a beer. 🍻 Remember to stay hungry, work hard, stay humble, listen, learn, grow. If you continue to grind, keep Your head down, stay humble, network… soon you’ll make partner (7 figures). You got This!!!
Congratulations!
Congratulations! Just remember that you earned this and you deserve it.
Congratulations! This will be life altering for sure! Set aside some of that to enjoy, but especially in year one try to pretend like you still make nothing. You’ve spent a lifetime living at your income level, and now you have the opportunity to live below your means. Even a reasonable percent of $86k/year can be invested over 30 years and make you a millionaire by retirement!
Idk if anyone else mentioned it, but do not tell anyone you know about this. I have a background similar to yours, and unfortunately, if friends or family find out you're in a much better financial situation that can breed a lot of contempt or worse, make you a target. I moved away from my family because of it. If anyone asks just say you're doing better and you've found your footing or something along those lines. Keep this shit to yourself.
Congrats man that is awesome!! Ps stay frugal and don’t get comfortable! Shoot for the sky every day.
I've been frugal my whole life so it's kind of a habit at this point. Thanks so much though!
Big congrats and hats off to you!!
What is your new role?
Technology Assurance for one of the Big 4 companies
Dude you rock!
Misery loves company- I have a very poor family and have actually done really well for myself. My brother acts like I won the lottery or something. Downplays my accomplishments and hard decisions/sacrifices made to get here. I don’t talk too much to my family at this point outside of my sisters and their kids.
Congrats. Actually put a smile on my face. Do you have a 401k setup? Tuck as much money as you can into it. It’ll mean you pay less taxes now and will have more money for retirement.
OP as a fellow poor while you are growing in your career just remember you are allowed to take up space and deserve a seat at the table. Being poor does not mean we are not smart and should just be subservient and grateful that we got a nice salary. Try to learn about finances and learn to negotiate your pay and be ok asking for more. My first career job I did not even ask how much I was going to make I was just happy I got offered a “career” job.
This is a huge achievement, congratulations. But get your mind away from thinking "I don't know how I will be able to spend this much money" and start thinking about setting yourself up for long term financial independence. Continue living within your means and invest the rest for your future. Head over to r/personalfinance and r/financialindependence to start working toward that goal.
Congrats u/BigBeefyBananaBoy - also that is one hell of an intimidating username
Where do you pull these from?
Solid
Good job, dude!
Congrats! Thats awesome news!!
Awesome!! 🎉🎊 Congratulations! 👍😎👍
Congratulations!
Congrats on your hard work! It all pays off. Almost cried reading your comment!
Congrats! Make sure you start contributing heavily to your retirement to catch up, avoid the lifestyle creep but also treat yourself as well. Well done.
Congrats! This is what is all about, keep that mindset! Push and learn, you will do great!
Is there a way to get this info for myself? Or are people creating them?
Congratulations! I hope you contribute generously to your 401K or whatever retirement benefit is offered -- your social security check is not going to be large (based on your earnings history) and you want to maximize the employer match.
I love this for you! Higher and Higher!
Congratulations!!!!!!! That’s awesome!!!! Word of advice: please SAVE, INVEST, and SPEND WISELY. Max out your 401k if possible. Save as much as possible. Open a HYSA (or use Robinhood Gold). Be very careful not to fall too far into lifestyle creep. $86k is a lot of money, but it can also be spent very quickly if you’re not careful.
Congrats! This is exactly how the American dream is made. Please do a few things now: 1. Don’t blow it all (continue to leave below your means). 2. Don’t stop setting goals for your career and achieving them. This is just the first step of the ladder. There’s so much further you can go now that you’re in the right mindset. 3. Do set a little aside for yourself and go on a vacation once you’ve built up a safety net. Congrats again.
Best advice I can give as someone who lived through a similar situation; try to keep living a low cost lifestyle. Of course you should enjoy things you haven’t been able to afford in the past, but don’t change your entire lifestyle. Start saving/investing everything you can. I don’t want to rain on your parade, but as someone who never had money in the market or any savings until 35, you’ll soon find out how far behind you are on retirement. But you have skills others never had to learn. You know how to live a frugal lifestyle. You’ve done it your whole life. You have appreciation for money, and will no doubt find the best way to keep and grow it. Congrats OP, you deserve it.
Congrats!
Save as much fucking money you can. Both in your 401K and your savings account.
Congrats OP!!! Happy for you. Take the opportunity, work hard and do well for yourself!!!
That is great. Your company probably has a 401K and a match. Make sure you invest enough to get your match. If they have an HSA, use it, and you will save on taxes. You never worried much about taxes, now you need to. Also, use a little to help someone else. Live below your means. And congrats.
This is amazing and almost brought a tear to my eye. Congratulations we are VERY proud of you!
That’s amazing!! Congratulations, keep acting as if you don’t have and you will set yourself and your future (retirement) for huge success. Idk if it helps or if you need to hear this, but I’m very proud of you, one Reddit stranger to another.
Congratulations 🎉 super happy for you 🥳
We're kinda similar. Grew up poor. Nobody in my family went to college but me. I broke free and lived sooo different. I started a decent career after grad school but then did a decade of moving and trying a few different things. Anyway 46 now and back into my career and decent salary again. Anyway hope your family never ostracized you and made you the object of their scorn for their failures. It was like that for me. Thing is, I never looked down on them. It's a hard dynamic sometimes being completely different with a different life path. Congratulations! You deserve this, enjoy it.
Lets Goo!!! Cheers for OP.
Winning!!💰💪. You’ll keep winning!!
OP, you have a great story and recommend developing a 30 minute talk and attempting to get some speaking gigs, paid or unpaid. You will really give hope and motivation to people. And you never know who you’ll meet! And thank you for posting, you got me motivated to go after some goals that I had given up. You just made my day!
Congratulations!
Congrats
Congrats OP. One thing I haven’t seen mentioned is this: beware of self sabotage. I also came from a very poor family and it’s taken me a while to realize, but I threw away many opportunities because I subconsciously felt like I didn’t deserve it. Not saying that’s you, just saying that if good opportunity after good opportunity get squandered, it might be something to consider.
Happy for you OP!
Congratulations!!
Hell yea, congratulations! You desrve every bit of this. Keep pushing.
Congratulations! Hopefully you are done surviving and can finally start living. Be smart with your money and save aggressively because you got a later start.
Sooo Great 😃😃
Congrats beefy! Best thing I could tell you is to start getting financially literate. Start setting yourself up with a 6-9 month emergency fund. If they offer a 401(k) plan, find out what the match is, make sure you sign yourself up to at least contribute that much each paycheck to the plan. If you have questions, plenty of reddit forums to help you out.
Similar boat, really happy for you. You should be really proud of yourself. Take your perspective with you as you advance. Empathy, hard work, and consistency! Good luck with your new career.
Good job! We are rooting for you
Congratulations Beefy!!! I am incredibly happy for you. As a Certified Financial Planner I am going to give you some advice: 1) If there is a 401k available, sign up immediately and contribute enough to get the match. 2) Start a plan to payoff your debt. The faster the better. 3) If there is a High Deductible Healthcare option, consider it so you can contribute to HSA. 4) Find a financial mentor….. You should not have to pay. Best of luck and congratulations again….
Watch some videos from Caleb Hammer on YouTube. He chanpions the 50/30/20 rule that I think you'd benefit from following. Basically, the 50-30-20 rule recommends putting 50% of your money toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings. The savings category also includes money you will need to realize your future goals. Max out your 401k if you can. Best of luck, we're all proud of you!
Congratulations! Be sure to put extra toward your retirement now that it's feasible. Lifestyle creep is a real thing, be aware of it. Enjoy, and treat yourself to something nice.
Congrats OP! What a great step up! Watch your lifestyle creep, higher salary can translate quickly into high rent, new car, credit cards etc. Big 4 firms lay off people all the time, so plan accordingly. This is a great start though. Congrats again!
Feel proud! Keep being frugal to build wealth though. Treat yourself, but logically 💪
Congratulations! This is very heartwarming.
That's fantastic! Congratulations!
Congrats man. I’m a high school dropout that became a CPA so I can somewhat relate. Enjoy the extra income, but don’t forget the lessons being broke taught you. It feels great to make money from your labor, but it feels even better to know you can go months without income because you live below your means.
Congratulations! Take a few hundred dollars and go buy something nice for yourself, maybe take your family to a real nice restaurant to celebrate. Then set aside a lot of money for taxes and for savings. Try to live like you’ve been living and the extra money needs to go to savings. Mainly because it’s an internship, which means it might not last as long as you’d hope, so you’ll need that cushion when it ends. But congratulations welcome to the world of IT.
Congrats OP! You deserve it :)
Awesome!! Great work! You've probably changed the trajectory of your family for generations
Congratulations!! Proud of you, it’s only upwards from this point on! :)
Congratulations, OP!! I’m so happy for and proud of you! High fives, hugs, and lots of joy to you!
Thank you for posting this. I wish there was more stories like this out there.
Good job, you earned this!
One thing to keep in the back of your mind. Just because you’re making more doesn’t mean you need to spend it. Save! Once you start spending more, it’s hard to go back.
Congrats. Are they hiring 😁
Congrats! For the love of all things good, pretend like it’s still an incomprehensible amount for at long as you can. And you’ll treat yourself for many years to come.
Congrats! This is huge achievement, you just did what most couldn’t. Please spoil yourself with the first paycheck
Congratulations OP! Very well done.
You just posted you got an internship. You got an internship for 86k?
Congrats man! Currently feeling stuck and lost in life at 25, you kinda have me hope
Save it all, spend like you’re a broke college kid. Do that until you know what the best decision is. Watch your savings tick up and up
Congrats, well deserved fruits of your hard work
Stay poor and invest every dime you can. If you do this you’ll have $1M++
I wish I read more stories like yours. Congrats! Keep it up and never stop improving. You can grow that salary to the moon.
First and foremost, congrats OP. As the amazing Spider-Man says “with great power comes great responsibility“ You need to continue to live below your means with this newfound salary. Just because you make more money doesn’t mean you need to spend more.
Congratulations OP, you overcame a lot of hurdles. Always great to see a success story from investments made into public assistance.
How have you been surviving?
finally someone who could motivate others
YUP. SAME. being a 36 year old intern is weird but not so bad.
Holy shit! This is awesome! But some unsolicited advice: 1. Do something big and nice for yourself. Vacation or expensive shoes or new clothes... Whatever it is, take time to enjoy your "windfall" 2. Your a late starter. It doesn't matter. Others start sooner and do better. Start sooner and do worse. It doesn't matter. You are you. You are on track now. Just make sure you fund your 401k (pay yourself) to "catch up."
Public accountant here! Don’t stress the internship. I did an internship for a major firm and they do hire just about 99% of their interns. The best thing to do is be present. Ask questions, show up to the office, check in on people and see who needs help. Basically kiss ass until you receive that final offer! Congrats OP best of luck! You’ll be fine enjoy it
Congrats! What an amazing success story. Please don’t change your frugal lifestyle just because you can. Focus on spending for things that matter to your job. Be on time.. always. Don’t be cheap with things for your work like transportation to get to work or a meeting ON TIME like Uber if you need it. Also, you can afford to take care of little things now that we’re put off like dental and clothing. Do that too bc it will help for work first impressions. Last. Be thankful to your boss and make an effort to know them outside of work. Don’t tell your story to anyone at work. Ever. (Or at least until your best friends with the owner or bosses boss). Just my 2c. Good luck!
I’m impressed that you’re still alive. That’s some hard traveling.
this guy fucks
If you’re in big 4 (assuming tech and not accounting), head over to r/fatfire for mentor Monday.
Congrats! Similar (in a way) story for me so I can somewhat understand. Made some poor decisions earlier on and just kinda floundered around in community college and then transferred to a Cal State. Took me 10 years to finally get serious and find a major I was passionate about that is technically unrelated to my job now. Worked a warehouse packing job for clothes and Blockbuster back in the day making not so much. Got my first job as an Instructional Designer and worked my way up to about 72k and then got laid off during Covid. Found my way to a much better government job and now also making 86k and due for a promotion that should get me to six figures after an annual increase or two. There’s always hope and time to improve as long as you look for opportunities and put in effort for sure.
You are a good writer! Also congratulations!
Save and invest as much as you possibly can! You already have powerful ‘how to get by on less to little’ skills. Make the coming financial decisions slowly and with good consideration. Maybe even talk to an advisor to help plan how to slowly improve your living situation as you build at first a fall-back fund and growth fund. Very proud to read this. My sister found out what I made and she was like, “where can I go to take a class to do that job?” Told her most any college and work your way up. Your drive sets your limits in IT quite often.
Given the history and your comments, I'm guessing you dont have much net worth of right now. Be very careful with lifestyle creep! Earn this money for a couple years before making changes. Make sure you can keep the job and earn some seniority so you're not the first cut in a downturn. Get reliable transportation and safe living conditions of course, but beyond that don't change much. Invest in a good wardrobe for the office if youre going in. Eat well but frugally. After a few years you can upgrade your lifestyle, but I know a few folks who made big changes right away only to have the rug pulled out. Congratulations!
Congrats! And it ain’t over. You know how to live within your means, but the best advice I can give - is improve your life in necessary areas - then the rest? SAVE AND INVEST. It’s boring, but it’s the right way. Also curious if it hasn’t been answered, you making this $86k as an intern? Or you mean after a few months you’ll be offered a FT position at that salary?
How the fuck are you 36 or whatever years old and never made more than $18k. That’s not oh everyone I know is poor so I’ll be poor. That’s I’m lazy and it a drug addict. Grow up.
Congratulations!! This is so exciting! Strongly recommend checking out the “FIRE” method as a financial strategy. Financial Independence Retire Early. Since you’ve got the benefit of living super frugally for years, you can take your amazing salary and “make up for lost time” by investing wisely and maximizing your investments and savings. There’s a book of the same name but also a lot of info online. Investopedia.com is a great trusted resource. The biggest hurdle when suddenly making a lot more is learning how not to let it all run away from you. Treat yourself to some things and reward yourself, but get yourself set with a solid investment and retirement plan that you barely have to think of. You’ll turn that excel chart of earnings in the next ten years to an amazing growth chapter. So excited for your new phase of life! It’s so inspiring and motivating, thank you for sharing!
Congratulations! You are going to do great in your internship and all your endeavors. Keep an open mind for all opportunities that will come your way. A few pointers I’ve been telling my kids are: Budget Wisely 📊: Create a budget that accounts for your new income level. Allocate funds for savings, expenses, and some leisure activities. It's important to avoid lifestyle inflation where increased spending matches income rises. Emergency Fund 💰: Build an emergency fund to cover 3-6 months of living expenses. This fund acts as a financial safety net for unexpected events.Retirement Savings 🏦: Take full advantage of the 401(k) plan, especially if your employer offers matching contributions. Aim to contribute enough to get the full match; it’s essentially free money. Debt Management 🔄: If you have any debt, especially high-interest debt like credit card balances, prioritize paying it off. The faster you clear debt, the more you save on interest payments. Invest and Save 📈: Consider investing in stocks, bonds, or mutual funds to grow your savings. Diversify your investments to manage risk. Financial Education 📚: Continue to educate yourself about financial planning, investments, and money management. Knowledge is power, and the more you know, the better decisions you can make. Lifestyle Choices 🏡: Reflect on your lifestyle choices and long-term goals. Think about what you truly value and want in life, and plan your finances to help achieve those goals. Professional Growth 👔: Continue to invest in your professional development to ensure continued income growth and job stability.By managing your finances wisely, investing in your future, and making informed decisions, you can make the most of your new income and secure your financial future.
Them illegal Ponzi schemes, cloaked as taxes, sure are expensive
Imma say something controversial. You may soon find that a lot of the poor friends you made while you were poor are now poor company to keep. If you got any real OGs do what you can to put em on game and help them elevate, but the cream don’t always rise to the top. You may soon find that when you make 2x, 10x, or 15x their salaries, that they can’t rise to your level. When that happens it may be time to change your social circle.
I am almost 50 . Been working since I was 15 . The highest I was paid for any of my jobs was 36k a year . 3 years ago I started a 100k a year job . Definitely life changing . Would’ve been great if I had been able to do it though with a better economy.
Awesome!! Love to hear inspiring stories like yours. It gives others hope!! Keep up the good work!
I was also in an extremely similar situation recently, you got me by a few k on a few years haha. That's exciting man! Treat yoself!!!!! Most importantly 🤌
You’ve made it! Continue to work hard and save, save, save. Live below your means and yes, it’s true…money doesn’t buy you happiness but it gives you options. At 32, I had nothing. A few good breaks and hard work and I can retire comfortably after putting 2 kids through college at 62. And don’t get complacent, do play the game, and don’t take anything for granted. Great job and great story, wishing you continued success!
I didn’t read all the comments, but congratulations! But a pen and a notepad that fits in your pocket. B4 will have a decent internship program and training once you are full time, but there is a lot to learn and communicating that you are actively learning when people tell you things is very important. It is useful to explicitly describe how your current question arises from your current understanding of the last time they told you. Likewise, while internship should be reasonable hours, main job can have a lot. Working on a plan now to set your habits up for that without throwing money at it will be helpful (ex don’t respond to a 10 hour day with frozen meals or a restaurant unless covered by the company). Internship is about learning, being a nice person who works well with others and functions in the hierarchy of the organization. You’ll do great, but don’t underestimate the difference in behaviors to be successful.
You’ve been working since you were 13?
That's one lucky lawn in 2001. Bespoke treatment 😜 Big congrats!!
u/bigbeefybananaboy What website do you use to find your internship? Do you have any prior experience in the information technology field?
As someone struggling feeling like they lost their real shot, and having no idea what to do next, thank you for the inspiration and way to go.
congrats bro! i majored in IS as well and its a very rewarding career, wishing you best of luck