How do people make $100+ salary?

[DeniseNJ]

Federal gov't hires for almost every imaginable profession and college degree.  Go to USAjobs.  Currently hiring is low and jobs have been cut quite a bit, and departures haven't been replaced, in the last 4 years. But they will have to start hiring a lot soon since somone has to do the work of all the ppl they lost.  A change of administration will open the flood gates to gov't work.

Most of what you need to know, like program specific skills, they will teach you.  and once you are in gov't you can qualify for internal fed jobs with other agancies to climb the pay scale.  Pay varies with location.  Look at OPM website for GS payscales--that's general service.  Most analyst positions go up to a GS-12, but you may start at a GS 7 and get a grade increase every year, and then raises with step increases every year or two.  Really, no matter your major, there is a federal job for it.

Except that USAjobs is a black hole of sadness where resumes go to die. My th has been applying for over four years with a USAjobs tailored resume (checked by countless other government employees who agree that it’s written properly and well) and has made it to a real human phone interview only once. They promoted from within instead. He’s applied from GS 5 on up. I’m starting to think no one gets hired unless they know someone.

I'd agree with this.   There are very few job openings that are open to everyone.  Most are reserved for govt employees, spouses, veterans, etc. 
That's why I suggest contractor.  There are jobs that need to be filled, but it's very hard to get a foot in the door as a fed.  extremely easy as a contractor.

That's not a bad option, but hasn't panned out for us either. He is a veteran, with related preferences. He tried going the contractor route for a while, but everyone wants you to have a clearance first. His clearance expired some years ago.

To the topic, I think that the government is a great way to go if you can get in. It can just be really hard to get in.

It is hard to get in lately, since there has been very little hiring during the new adminstration.  It's a cycle.  In the next few years there will have to be a flood of hirings to replace all the ppl who left and haven't been replaced. That's how it's been for the 22 yrs I've been in gov't.  Also, some agencies have tons of positions, like SSA, so they need to hire more.  Once you get in, it's so much easier to move to other agencies.

And yes you do have to say you are an expert in everything, but your resume does have to back this up with the same language used in the announcement.

[DeniseNJ]

Lots of jobs mentioned are including overtime or super long hours, 80-100.  That's more like having two jobs at 50K per job. I don't think the nature of the question is, "How can I work as much as possible to make as much money as possible?"  I know that doctors and laywers make tons of dough but they also work long hours.  It's great to know where the good gigs are but it would be helpful to know, who's working a 40 to 45 hour gig and making 100K.  Gov't definitly. Depends on where you live and what agency you are with of course but here is the NY/NJ pay scale. https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/pdf/2020/NY.pdf

After 5 yrs a GS12 will making 100K.  If you start at a GS7 you can get to a 9, then 11, then 12 so in 8 yrs you'd be making 100K.  (lots of positions skip GS10)  You get a sideways raise every yr to a step 4 then they slow down.  Tak a gov't job if you can get one, then you can jump agencies and positions.

[jps]

Accounting and Finance jobs not hard to make $100,000.  Staff accounting jobs start between $50,000 - $60,000 at my company and can work your way up to managing an accounting team and easily make over $100,000.  Many in our Financial Planning and Analysis department make over $100,000.  Most have about 10 years of experience
 and are very good with data analysis and technology.  Our tax accountants/managers all make over $100,000 and a big demand for good tax accountants.  I work in financial planning and analysis but if I had to do it over again would have focused on tax.

Can you say what type of company/size and location? Large metro area?

[WGH]

Accounting and Finance jobs not hard to make $100,000.  Staff accounting jobs start between $50,000 - $60,000 at my company and can work your way up to managing an accounting team and easily make over $100,000.  Many in our Financial Planning and Analysis department make over $100,000.  Most have about 10 years of experience
 and are very good with data analysis and technology.  Our tax accountants/managers all make over $100,000 and a big demand for good tax accountants.  I work in financial planning and analysis but if I had to do it over again would have focused on tax.

+1 to finance and accounting jobs. Not every business needs an engineer but they all need accountants. If you are one of those who is both analytical but also has emotional intelligence you can go far in management.

I work in local government as a finance director at just over $100k. Underpaid for the responsibility and number of reports but it's all about the benefits, pension, job security, and work/life balance. Work over 40 hours? Uh no. If I did it would be banked as comp time which I could use later for PTO.

If I super hustled I could make more in the corporate world I am sure but it's not worth it. I feel very blessed.

[Michael in ABQ]

Lots of jobs mentioned are including overtime or super long hours, 80-100.  That's more like having two jobs at 50K per job. I don't think the nature of the question is, "How can I work as much as possible to make as much money as possible?"  I know that doctors and laywers make tons of dough but they also work long hours.  It's great to know where the good gigs are but it would be helpful to know, who's working a 40 to 45 hour gig and making 100K.  Gov't definitly. Depends on where you live and what agency you are with of course but here is the NY/NJ pay scale. https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/pdf/2020/NY.pdf

After 5 yrs a GS12 will making 100K.  If you start at a GS7 you can get to a 9, then 11, then 12 so in 8 yrs you'd be making 100K.  (lots of positions skip GS10)  You get a sideways raise every yr to a step 4 then they slow down.  Tak a gov't job if you can get one, then you can jump agencies and positions.

I'm a GS-12 and I'd have to be Step 10 to make $100k in my area, or a GS-13 Step 4. But then again median home price is still in the mid 200s whereas I'm sure NJ is much higher. Plus higher much higher property taxes (about 2.5% of home value vs. about 1% in my area).

I was in a career field (commercial real estate appraisal) where you could make $100k or more pretty normally. But probably not in 40 hours a week, 9-5. That was one reason I made a change, it's nice to just put in my 40 hours and leave work at work.

[Cooper62]

Accounting and Finance jobs not hard to make $100,000.  Staff accounting jobs start between $50,000 - $60,000 at my company and can work your way up to managing an accounting team and easily make over $100,000.  Many in our Financial Planning and Analysis department make over $100,000.  Most have about 10 years of experience
 and are very good with data analysis and technology.  Our tax accountants/managers all make over $100,000 and a big demand for good tax accountants.  I work in financial planning and analysis but if I had to do it over again would have focused on tax.

Can you say what type of company/size and location? Large metro area?

Fortune 500 company in a low cost of living large midwest metro area.

[use2betrix]

Lots of jobs mentioned are including overtime or super long hours, 80-100.  That's more like having two jobs at 50K per job. I don't think the nature of the question is, "How can I work as much as possible to make as much money as possible?"  I know that doctors and laywers make tons of dough but they also work long hours.  It's great to know where the good gigs are but it would be helpful to know, who's working a 40 to 45 hour gig and making 100K.  Gov't definitly. Depends on where you live and what agency you are with of course but here is the NY/NJ pay scale. https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/pdf/2020/NY.pdf

This is definitely an important aspect to consider. Different people make different types of sacrifices to earn higher incomes.

I was at a wedding last week and a childhood friend told me he works at a plastic molding company operating the machinery, and he made over $100k last year working long hours and no formal training. He’s 30 and I think he was at around $25/hr,

I think it’s important for people to realize that far more people CAN make $100k+/yr however it also takes SACRIFICE that they may not understand.

Sometimes I see people complain about their wage, but then they refuse to work over 40 hrs, relocate, etc.

I’m 32 with an associates degree and this year I’ll make the equivalent of $400k+ (my take home will be around $305k). With that in mind, I’ve averaged 55-ish hours this year, and most years far more. I’ve also moved to 8 different states in the last dozen years constantly finding the best contracting position. There’s a lot of people who won’t work 60, 70, 80 hr weeks, and sometimes that is what it takes to get into the higher paying positions. Same goes for people who aren’t willing to move for better career opportunities.

[Padonak]

Lots of jobs mentioned are including overtime or super long hours, 80-100.  That's more like having two jobs at 50K per job. I don't think the nature of the question is, "How can I work as much as possible to make as much money as possible?"  I know that doctors and laywers make tons of dough but they also work long hours.  It's great to know where the good gigs are but it would be helpful to know, who's working a 40 to 45 hour gig and making 100K.  Gov't definitly. Depends on where you live and what agency you are with of course but here is the NY/NJ pay scale. https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/pdf/2020/NY.pdf

This is definitely an important aspect to consider. Different people make different types of sacrifices to earn higher incomes.

I was at a wedding last week and a childhood friend told me he works at a plastic molding company operating the machinery, and he made over $100k last year working long hours and no formal training. He’s 30 and I think he was at around $25/hr,

I think it’s important for people to realize that far more people CAN make $100k+/yr however it also takes SACRIFICE that they may not understand.

Sometimes I see people complain about their wage, but then they refuse to work over 40 hrs, relocate, etc.

I’m 32 with an associates degree and this year I’ll make the equivalent of $400k+ (my take home will be around $305k). With that in mind, I’ve averaged 55-ish hours this year, and most years far more. I’ve also moved to 8 different states in the last dozen years constantly finding the best contracting position. There’s a lot of people who won’t work 60, 70, 80 hr weeks, and sometimes that is what it takes to get into the higher paying positions. Same goes for people who aren’t willing to move for better career opportunities.

What do you do for work?

[Bloop Bloop]

Lots of jobs mentioned are including overtime or super long hours, 80-100.  That's more like having two jobs at 50K per job. I don't think the nature of the question is, "How can I work as much as possible to make as much money as possible?"  I know that doctors and laywers make tons of dough but they also work long hours.  It's great to know where the good gigs are but it would be helpful to know, who's working a 40 to 45 hour gig and making 100K.  Gov't definitly. Depends on where you live and what agency you are with of course but here is the NY/NJ pay scale. https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/pdf/2020/NY.pdf

This is definitely an important aspect to consider. Different people make different types of sacrifices to earn higher incomes.

I was at a wedding last week and a childhood friend told me he works at a plastic molding company operating the machinery, and he made over $100k last year working long hours and no formal training. He’s 30 and I think he was at around $25/hr,

I think it’s important for people to realize that far more people CAN make $100k+/yr however it also takes SACRIFICE that they may not understand.

Sometimes I see people complain about their wage, but then they refuse to work over 40 hrs, relocate, etc.

I’m 32 with an associates degree and this year I’ll make the equivalent of $400k+ (my take home will be around $305k). With that in mind, I’ve averaged 55-ish hours this year, and most years far more. I’ve also moved to 8 different states in the last dozen years constantly finding the best contracting position. There’s a lot of people who won’t work 60, 70, 80 hr weeks, and sometimes that is what it takes to get into the higher paying positions. Same goes for people who aren’t willing to move for better career opportunities.

Yeah, the part about sacrifice is true. I now only work about 35-40 hours per week, but in the past I regularly did 50-60 hours a week. But it's not even just about the hours of work, it's the stress - of having to do well throughout university and law school, of having to compete with other ambitious people, having to get up early or stay up late to read a trial brief etc etc

A lot of people say they are willing to work hard for a high income but then they are not willing to do what it actually takes - which in my case was to sometimes work 15 hour days under the stress of having to run a trial.

[Dicey]

This thread is so old, I may have said this before, but it bears repeating. You don't have to make $100K to get to FIRE. I never did. DH never did. Together we're FI and I RE'd three weeks after we got married almost eight years ago, so there was really no period where we were both contributing to a huge combined number.

Except last year, we blew it. We flipped a house, which is our idea of fun, and it pushed our gross income over $200K for the year, even after we stuffed the max into DH's 401k. We were shocked that we couldn't do a Roth. What?? We even had to defer the deductions on our rentals. Huh?

Kind of funny that the big bucks came well after FI(us)& RE(me). It was kind of a one off and not likely to be repeated, especially because DH can retire in about six months and probably will. I doubt we'll tackle such a huge flip again.

[use2betrix]

Lots of jobs mentioned are including overtime or super long hours, 80-100.  That's more like having two jobs at 50K per job. I don't think the nature of the question is, "How can I work as much as possible to make as much money as possible?"  I know that doctors and laywers make tons of dough but they also work long hours.  It's great to know where the good gigs are but it would be helpful to know, who's working a 40 to 45 hour gig and making 100K.  Gov't definitly. Depends on where you live and what agency you are with of course but here is the NY/NJ pay scale. https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/pdf/2020/NY.pdf

This is definitely an important aspect to consider. Different people make different types of sacrifices to earn higher incomes.

I was at a wedding last week and a childhood friend told me he works at a plastic molding company operating the machinery, and he made over $100k last year working long hours and no formal training. He’s 30 and I think he was at around $25/hr,

I think it’s important for people to realize that far more people CAN make $100k+/yr however it also takes SACRIFICE that they may not understand.

Sometimes I see people complain about their wage, but then they refuse to work over 40 hrs, relocate, etc.

I’m 32 with an associates degree and this year I’ll make the equivalent of $400k+ (my take home will be around $305k). With that in mind, I’ve averaged 55-ish hours this year, and most years far more. I’ve also moved to 8 different states in the last dozen years constantly finding the best contracting position. There’s a lot of people who won’t work 60, 70, 80 hr weeks, and sometimes that is what it takes to get into the higher paying positions. Same goes for people who aren’t willing to move for better career opportunities.

What do you do for work?

Oil & Gas - new construction. I’m part of the management team.

[use2betrix]

Lots of jobs mentioned are including overtime or super long hours, 80-100.  That's more like having two jobs at 50K per job. I don't think the nature of the question is, "How can I work as much as possible to make as much money as possible?"  I know that doctors and laywers make tons of dough but they also work long hours.  It's great to know where the good gigs are but it would be helpful to know, who's working a 40 to 45 hour gig and making 100K.  Gov't definitly. Depends on where you live and what agency you are with of course but here is the NY/NJ pay scale. https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/pdf/2020/NY.pdf

This is definitely an important aspect to consider. Different people make different types of sacrifices to earn higher incomes.

I was at a wedding last week and a childhood friend told me he works at a plastic molding company operating the machinery, and he made over $100k last year working long hours and no formal training. He’s 30 and I think he was at around $25/hr,

I think it’s important for people to realize that far more people CAN make $100k+/yr however it also takes SACRIFICE that they may not understand.

Sometimes I see people complain about their wage, but then they refuse to work over 40 hrs, relocate, etc.

I’m 32 with an associates degree and this year I’ll make the equivalent of $400k+ (my take home will be around $305k). With that in mind, I’ve averaged 55-ish hours this year, and most years far more. I’ve also moved to 8 different states in the last dozen years constantly finding the best contracting position. There’s a lot of people who won’t work 60, 70, 80 hr weeks, and sometimes that is what it takes to get into the higher paying positions. Same goes for people who aren’t willing to move for better career opportunities.

Yeah, the part about sacrifice is true. I now only work about 35-40 hours per week, but in the past I regularly did 50-60 hours a week. But it's not even just about the hours of work, it's the stress - of having to do well throughout university and law school, of having to compete with other ambitious people, having to get up early or stay up late to read a trial brief etc etc

A lot of people say they are willing to work hard for a high income but then they are not willing to do what it actually takes - which in my case was to sometimes work 15 hour days under the stress of having to run a trial.

Exactly. Not to mention, you work 60 hrs a week and you’re really earning 1.5x as much experience. Even though I only have around 12 actual years of experience, my knowledge base would be more comparable to someone with 18 years experience at 40 hours a week.

Lot of people complain about their income, but once you start telling them to work an extra 20 hours/wk or to move across the country, there’s usually an excuse that comes up, and a lot more complaints..

[TomTX]

What do you do for work?

Oil & Gas - new construction. I’m part of the management team.

With the current bust likely to be extended and many companies having drastically cut back new construction, you might want to think about transferring over to wind farm construction. Presuming you're upstream, that is.

[zinnie]

English major checking in here: be the person people want to promote. Solve problems before people know they exist, pitch solutions across the org, solve people problems within your group and with other groups so you are the one people trust/ confide in when issues arise. Be the person who speaks out at meetings. Help the boss look good and help your group look good and be successful. Before you know it people start to see you as the authority and you’re the obvious choice to lead. A director level just about anywhere in the US should hit 100k, I believe? I’m sure in some industries it’s easier to rise there faster. I’ve had good luck with newer or fast growing companies as they constantly need to add new directors as they figure things out.

I’ve never had to work particularly long hours, for the record. A good thing about moving up the ladder is being able to set the strategy, pace, staffing. And get rid of silly inefficiencies. If you’re doing something really valuable for the org/industry no one cares how many hours it takes. After 40 hrs you’re not getting most people’s best work anyway...

[DeniseNJ]

Lots of jobs mentioned are including overtime or super long hours, 80-100.  That's more like having two jobs at 50K per job. I don't think the nature of the question is, "How can I work as much as possible to make as much money as possible?"  I know that doctors and laywers make tons of dough but they also work long hours.  It's great to know where the good gigs are but it would be helpful to know, who's working a 40 to 45 hour gig and making 100K.  Gov't definitly. Depends on where you live and what agency you are with of course but here is the NY/NJ pay scale. https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/pdf/2020/NY.pdf

This is definitely an important aspect to consider. Different people make different types of sacrifices to earn higher incomes.

I was at a wedding last week and a childhood friend told me he works at a plastic molding company operating the machinery, and he made over $100k last year working long hours and no formal training. He’s 30 and I think he was at around $25/hr,

I think it’s important for people to realize that far more people CAN make $100k+/yr however it also takes SACRIFICE that they may not understand.

Sometimes I see people complain about their wage, but then they refuse to work over 40 hrs, relocate, etc.

I’m 32 with an associates degree and this year I’ll make the equivalent of $400k+ (my take home will be around $305k). With that in mind, I’ve averaged 55-ish hours this year, and most years far more. I’ve also moved to 8 different states in the last dozen years constantly finding the best contracting position. There’s a lot of people who won’t work 60, 70, 80 hr weeks, and sometimes that is what it takes to get into the higher paying positions. Same goes for people who aren’t willing to move for better career opportunities.

Yeah, the part about sacrifice is true. I now only work about 35-40 hours per week, but in the past I regularly did 50-60 hours a week. But it's not even just about the hours of work, it's the stress - of having to do well throughout university and law school, of having to compete with other ambitious people, having to get up early or stay up late to read a trial brief etc etc

A lot of people say they are willing to work hard for a high income but then they are not willing to do what it actually takes - which in my case was to sometimes work 15 hour days under the stress of having to run a trial.

Exactly. Not to mention, you work 60 hrs a week and you’re really earning 1.5x as much experience. Even though I only have around 12 actual years of experience, my knowledge base would be more comparable to someone with 18 years experience at 40 hours a week.

Lot of people complain about their income, but once you start telling them to work an extra 20 hours/wk or to move across the country, there’s usually an excuse that comes up, and a lot more complaints..

Yep.  You also see this in ppl who are retired and broke but don't seeing moving to another part of the country or another country altogether as an option.  Maybe you want to stay close to your kids.  But if they want you close, they should poney up.  If not, move to Costa Rica and live it up rather than be broke in the Bronx.  They feel stuck but they are the glue!

Unless I hated my job, I would rather get an additional gig part time or more, and keep my current job rather than change jobs altogether to work longer hours for more money.  But either is an option.

[BlueHouse]

Does anyone here make over $200k in a business where they own all (or at least a majority of) the equity?

Yep.  I'm an independent consultant, formed as an S-Corp.  My AGI last year was $272,000.  I also save $63K in 401k each year + $7K in roth.   

[Much Fishing to Do]

Does anyone here make over $200k in a business where they own all (or at least a majority of) the equity?

I wholly owned and ran a business for 10 years and profit fluctuated greatly, but on average increased over time.  There were a couple years below $100k (a good bit less than I was making at my previous job), some around $200k, couple closer to 400k and even one year that realized $1M+.  I don't miss it one bit, even if I was willing to continue working the crazy hours the risk was always there.  E.g., if my big year had happened when the covid shutdown occurred, and my primary client that year didn't pay, I could have lost near a million instead of making a million, something that was always in the back of my mind given I'd often have to wait and complain for many months to receive large payments past due. 

I happily collect a paycheck for work at an hourly rate now as I wind down to RE.

[use2betrix]

What do you do for work?

Oil & Gas - new construction. I’m part of the management team.

With the current bust likely to be extended and many companies having drastically cut back new construction, you might want to think about transferring over to wind farm construction. Presuming you're upstream, that is.

I have pretty mixed experience in midstream, downstream (refineries), power plants, chemical plants, and a nuclear plant.

The current bust is certainly hurting. If needed within the next year or two I’ll likely cruise FI and just work a few months a year to make ends meet. There’s frequent high hour, short term jobs that always pop up for routine maintenance at refineries at power plants.

Upstream is the first area taking the major blows, the rest will continue to slow down in the following years.

[BlueHouse]

Does anyone here make over $200k in a business where they own all (or at least a majority of) the equity?

Yep.  I'm an independent consultant, formed as an S-Corp.  My AGI last year was $272,000.  I also save $63K in 401k each year + $7K in roth.   

That's awesome. What field do you consult in?

A very boring niche part of project management that no one else likes to do.  Because so few people like to do it, few train to do it well.  There are many very successful people in my field without college educations.  On the other hand, if I wanted to do my same job as a government employee, I do not qualify because my B.S. isn't in mathematics or statistics. 

[ohio4life]

Ohio certainly doesn't have the greatest incomes. In Columbus it seems pretty common to be making roughly 100k. In Columbus, there are a lot of insurance, tech, healthcare, banking, government, fashion, and higher education jobs that pay around that if you put in your time (~5 to 10 years). It does seem that requires a minimum of a bachelor's degree. In government, healthcare and higher education that most likely requires an advanced degree. The fashion industry seems to be hurting pretty bad right now here. The big fashion/retail companies are shedding jobs.

[MayDay]

Ohio certainly doesn't have the greatest incomes. In Columbus it seems pretty common to be making roughly 100k. In Columbus, there are a lot of insurance, tech, healthcare, banking, government, fashion, and higher education jobs that pay around that if you put in your time (~5 to 10 years). It does seem that requires a minimum of a bachelor's degree. In government, healthcare and higher education that most likely requires an advanced degree. The fashion industry seems to be hurting pretty bad right now here. The big fashion/retail companies are shedding jobs.

We lived near columbus for 5 years, on the east side. A ton of people had jobs at the big retailers. I was always amazed at how oblivious they were to the direction those companies were heading......  In person retail is shrinking, rounds and rounds of layoffs, and people could not see the writing on the wall.

Meanwhile part of the reason we left is H worked for the only major employer in his area and we decided it was too risky.

We are both engineers, make over 100, but didn't get there for ~8 years. I average 45 hours a week, H a little more, but we both were pretty intentional about not going into direct manufacturing support so we had lower hours. The manufacturing engineers are in on Saturdays, staying until 8 at night, etc.

[ohio4life]

Ohio certainly doesn't have the greatest incomes. In Columbus it seems pretty common to be making roughly 100k. In Columbus, there are a lot of insurance, tech, healthcare, banking, government, fashion, and higher education jobs that pay around that if you put in your time (~5 to 10 years). It does seem that requires a minimum of a bachelor's degree. In government, healthcare and higher education that most likely requires an advanced degree. The fashion industry seems to be hurting pretty bad right now here. The big fashion/retail companies are shedding jobs.

We lived near columbus for 5 years, on the east side. A ton of people had jobs at the big retailers. I was always amazed at how oblivious they were to the direction those companies were heading......  In person retail is shrinking, rounds and rounds of layoffs, and people could not see the writing on the wall.

Meanwhile part of the reason we left is H worked for the only major employer in his area and we decided it was too risky.

We are both engineers, make over 100, but didn't get there for ~8 years. I average 45 hours a week, H a little more, but we both were pretty intentional about not going into direct manufacturing support so we had lower hours. The manufacturing engineers are in on Saturdays, staying until 8 at night, etc.

A few of my friends have made it through the early rounds of pandemic or overall retail trend related layoffs, but they are pretty worried about future layoffs. A few acquaintances have already been laid off, apparently.

[broketriathlete]

I started a pool service & repair business.

[Chris@TTL]

Does anyone here make over $200k in a business where they own all (or at least a majority of) the equity?

Yep.  I'm an independent consultant, formed as an S-Corp.  My AGI last year was $272,000.  I also save $63K in 401k each year + $7K in roth.   

Don't forget the HSA and an Accountable Plan if you can make it work with your accountant/business situation! I am in a similar situation with an income in the same ballpark before we started the transition to early retirement.

As far as OP's question:

We reached FI in 2018 (how to become a millionaire in 10 years (or less!)) on an average salary of $77K for each of us through that time. I left corporate life in 2012 and haven't worked more than about 1200 hours/year since.

My other half is a PharmD who has made >$100K each year that she's been a full-time pharmacist, but that's after paying down nearly $200K of student loan debt + interest.

I have a bachelor's in communication (as in, interpersonal communication). I've never used the degree to support a job's criteria directly. The first time I made about $100K was 2011 working in digital strategy.

Here's what I've done that kept me in the >$100K bracket:

• Web development
• Web design/UX
• DevOps
• Digital strategy
• Business: digital strategy consulting
• Business: inventory sourcing for a niche hobby

We've been very fortunate to reach FI and starting our transition to early retirement (though in a pandemic!).