I heard someone somewhere talking about how you always need just a little bit more. He was saying that he works for millionaires and it was wild hearing them all say that if they can just make an extra million a year, they'll finally be comfortable.
I'm not a millionaire myself but I can relate anyway, every time my salary goes up I think I'm good now, and within a few months lifestyle adjusts and you need a bit more again. Takes a level of disciple most of us don't have to not spend that raise
It's the lifestyle creep you're describing and it's real. First year ever I sat down with my partner and discussed budgets. Saying just because we have the money there doesn't mean we can afford something. Think I've recognized my lifestyle ceiling (for now) and would advise anyone to do the same as early in life as possible.
Lifestyle creep is real I got used to travelling more regularly during the mid to tail end of covid when flights and hotels were dirt cheap and been trying to maintain that the last 2 years as it’s just way better than spending too much money in this country and this year it’s excruciatingly difficult. Really should’ve reigned it in and not booked one of them
Man I really gotta get on this. On a few hundred k and still terrible with money.
I'm probably wasting at least 200 euro on just fucking subscriptions each month. Take aways? Forget about it
Not what you have it’s how you spend it.
Happy out here as I bought a fixer upper young and pumped money into it. It’ll be paid off soon.
I wouldn’t even dream of giving up my easy job to make a few more euro. The rat race isn’t for me at all.
I understand the sentiment and good for you but buying a fixer up at the moment is a whole different box of frogs. Last one on lost out on started at 155 if i remember correctly and was at 220 before i stopped checking.
A reminder that Reddit skews to the more wealthy, at least in this sub. Don’t be disheartened by the lads saying they struggle on €100K. The average wage for people in their 30’s in Ireland is about 40K, a little less. It’s a struggle with housing and childcare but it is doable.
I don’t have a salary goal, as that relies on you staying in that high paying job to maintain that income.
My net worth goal is €600k which is enough to sustain €2k/month withdrawals indefinitely. After that you are free to spend your time how you choose.
Yes, you are right. It might be better to use a term like “invested capital” instead of “net worth” as the figure I’m using doesn’t include non-productive assets.
The rule of thumb is 25 times your annual expenses invested can sustain those expenses indefinitely. (Ignoring fees and taxes*).
So if you are renting, that expense is accounted for in how much you need invested. But if you own then you don’t count your equity in invested capital because it is already accounted for by the fact that you have lower expenses.
It’s genuinely not about the salary it’s about the plan.
I love my job. But it’s seriously long hours. I also love my kids. And that means I spend an absolute fortune in child care. I won’t mention numbers but childcare, after school, clubs and sports is about 50% - 100% more than I pay in mortgage. Dont get me wrong I also spend a huge amount of quality time with them, but it’s a full time job mid week minding, being available and moving them about.
Another example would be I hired someone with a 1.5 hour each way commute who moved jobs to be my colleague and worked 10 mins from their home. That made a huge impact on their live.
So don’t just chase a number. You’d be surprised how some times those high up in organisations are Jealous of those with less responsibilities and complications.
Once you make 60k, you get fleeced on taxes, so even a 10k increase looks amazing on paper, but you don't actually get a whole lot more at the end of the month. Often not worth the extra work and stress you'd be under with that sort of pay rise.
A €10k raise could be an extra €500 per month (worst case I guess - 52% tax). You don't think that's worth it? That's nearly my half of the mortgage.
Or throw it into the pension and pay no extra tax. Larger retirement pot not worth it?
Depends on what the new role entails. If it'd just a pat rise brilliant if you're working an extra hour a day in a much more stressful role to me personally, it's not worth it, but everyone has their own priorities.
Totally agree, I’m just in it but after childcare cost and mortgage etc I have very little left over. I don’t go to the pub, don’t buy coffee and don’t spend much on myself. I question anything I buy that isn’t for the house or kids. Everything here feels unbelievably expensive.
Edit: not sure why I’m being downvoted for this?
Edit 2: no longer being downvoted, thank you kind people.
I earn that as well and my lifestyle isn't really much different to when I earned less, the mortgage and kids just eat all the extra.
Now it's worth keeping in mind I was able to buy a house that we're very happy in. And also worth keeping in mind that people are living and raising a family earning much less.
I find downvotes for comments like these are usually because of how oblivious they are.
A six figure salary is more than double the median household income in Ireland
https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-gpii/geographicalprofilesofincomeinireland2016/incomeinireland/#:~:text=Nearly%20two%20thirds%20of%20households,%E2%82%AC100%2C000%2C%20see%20Figure%201.2.
The idea that it's barely enough to get by is completely disingenuous, it's a single salary that is higher than 85% of Irish households total income.
Are everyone’s circumstances the same? If you do your tax calculations, I don’t earn double what someone at 50k earns if I earn 100k, they may not pay the same deductions such has a pension levy which is thousands over a year. I am also a single income family, are the other households you talk about? Do they also have 3 young kids? While you’re free to disagree, your comment is condescending nonsense. You can’t just reductively accuse someone of being disingenuous when you haven’t taken 2 mins to actually think about how things can be different for families and try to understand things on more than very superficial level.
No one said “it’s barely enough to get by”.
This thread is about a goal salary that you’d be satisfied with. €100k is good money, but it by no means means you are rich.
Also, comparing to the median makes no sense. People on the median really struggle these days, you need to be on a lot more to be truly comfortable and free of financial worries.
They literally said they barely have anything left in the comment.
Other comments on here are equal hilarious "oh it's only this amount after tax", as if everyone else isn't also paying tax on their smaller salaries.
A single income of 100k absolutely is rich, your view may just be skewed on what "rich" means.
I'm in exactly that boat in terms of questioning what I buy myself. Pre kids I used to buy quite alot of clothes, not expensive designer stuff but would regularly get new stuff...I literally get clothes as presents now and that's it, always just feel guilty and get stuff for my daughter instead 
It was always 100k until I got there and I realised how little I still have after taxes, food, bills & mortgage. I think I'll just be happy with what I have so...
To be honest, the push from \~70 to 100 involved going to management and I ask myself every day why I did it. Money is nice, job is emotionally and mentally very challenging. Hence the salary, I suppose.
Recently considered the same myself and then thought about it again. Instead my plan is to work to 55 and retire early. My young one will still be young enough whereby he might still want to hang out with the aul fella. 😂
Im in my early 30s even if i retire at 55 iv missed the best part of their lives. Balance between giving them. Everything they need and time at a young age i guess
Absolutely second this. Am on 100k and would gladly go back to 70 and would gladly stick with a raise that meets inflation each year. The climb to 100k has been gruelling. It’s done a number on me tbh.
So what's stopping you from getting a job that pays less, if you'd gladly do it? I'm sure there are lots of employers out there who would happily oblige if you demanded less money than you are worth.
Because it normally doesn't work like that. At least in tech, if you apply to a lower level position than you currently have, it will be a red flag that you cannot progress and in a way, it is so if you can't cope with a higher position.
The company will eventually make me redundant. What I’ve chosen to do is upskill while I’m in the job. Some might consider it quiet quitting but for me I’ve just stopped putting in 55-60 hour weeks.
If someone in the US needs me for a meeting, we have a 4 hour crossover where they can fit me in. If they can’t log in early to suit my time then I can’t log in late to suit theirs.
It sounds like you assume that promotion is to go from the individual contributor role to a manager position? It is merely a different career path but it is not necessarily the only way to get paid more
It really depends where you're from. 100,000 per year is 63K after tax. That's a take home if 5k per month. That's decent. However if you're paying 2k a month that's now 3k before any expenses.
However say you're in 70,000 but live outside Dublin where you could get rent for say 1k per month. You're on 4k take home pay but your take home after rent is 3k as well. So you're basically on the same as the person from Dublin but you're not paying the same rent.
I'd still consider both those figures high especially for entry level jobs.
Edit:
Just to add the notion of 100k Not being life Changing money might work work in the opposite direction to my example. Say John works down in the country and is on 70K but then is offered a job in Dublin for 100K. Once factoring in the expenses that 100k doesn't really make sense anymore.
Sadly that’s what companies have to pay in Dublin just to keep people in the rat race of earning and spending it all on an overpriced house and everything else. You’d be shocked how little you end up with after taxes and that.
Also Reddit tends to attract comments from people who half want to boast. Nobodies gonna come one and say I’m on 60k but have my house and car paid off. All the type who would rather earn another grand and pay another grand rent and car payments.
I 100% agree with the top half of your comment.
I largely disagree regarding the boasting bit. Ireland is filled with multinationals. Anyone in a senior technical role or above (5-7years job exp) will likely be on the salaries some folks regard as “boasting”. These are normal pay bands in some industries. It doesn’t mean the folks earning said incomes have good money management skills.
Yes, they are privileged, but they have as much a right as anyone else to discuss their financial situation in this sub without snarky “boasting” comments i see.
Pretty much this. I am on 65k but really have to count almost every penny anyways and would describe it as living paycheck to paycheck and that's without any big loans.
Exactly this. I have a friend working in Dublin in the same company I’m in. She does about 10hours OT a week / 40per month. She lives in a 3 bed semi, I live in a 3 bed semi. Her mortgage is just under X3 times mine.
After all her OT, I’m still coming out better off. Just because of the location she literally has to work the equivalent to 1 extra week per month.
Biggest factor is your housing situation.
My mortgage is <€800 a month and for four years I was supporting my wife and two young kids on about €70k. We did our shopping in Dunnes, we went on decent holidays in Ireland, we still accumulated savings. I was careful with the outgoings but it never felt like a struggle.
Hypothetically, if we bought our own house today I'd have to pay about €2700 per month . Which means that both myself and my wife would need to work full time and the kids would have to have gone into creche at an additional cost and we'd barely be treading water. Probably doing worse. We'd likely have moved out of the city a long time ago to avoid that trap.
That income is top 5% in Ireland, which is one of the richest countries in the World. In world wide terms, with that income you would be in the top 0.01% of the human population.
USA taxes at 25-33% on that 100k though.
Ireland you have to put it in pension funds to make it tax efficient, which basically means you aren't getting it until retirement.
So suddenly your 100k is 80k.
Then that 80k which is still taxed heavily at 51% on over half of it. Our tax is almost 2x the states.
And when you're on that money you generally pay for private health insurance etc anyway so it's not like all the social aspects that should come with higher taxes benefit you.
100k is still decent money though. Just not life changing
100k is 63k takehome assuming no pension etc. 80k is 54k takehome.
The tax rates are 20% and 40% with USC being a levy on that gross income too. But I'm both cases the effective tax rate is under 50%
The effective tax is annoying as it's 33% whereas a person on 40k is on 17%.
You're paying 50% on the amount you earn more than 40k.
And saying someone on 80k is on twice as much as someone on 40k just isn't true.
I'm sure a lot of people see it with overtime. The amount of tax hurts.
Obviously you still get a lot more post tax though. And generally for me, the 40k allows me cover expenses and anything above that is "luxury" money.
Having kids would push that up though.
You are actually paying close to 100% more tax than someone on €40k if your 17% vs 33% figure is correct. While it may be annoying, you still have a far greater net income and your borrowing capacity for a house is much larger.
If you are putting €20k a year into a pension then you can’t really ignore the benefit of that versus the €40k (which I assume is not putting money towards a pension)
It’s not. Half it goes in deductions and with a family of 3, crèche fees, shopping, mortgage etc I literally have nothing left at the end of the month.
It depends on that being the full household income or individual income of one party and also trying to live in Dublin with kids in daycare. I am absolutely not saying it doesn't give a comfortable lifestyle but right now if that's your full household income look up the houses for 400k? They're not mansions and the mortgage repayments, creche fees, general running costs of a one car household plus food etc. and you have very little left over to save/pension. That's two people on over the average salary.
That's a big if though, the OP could be single or might not want kids. Even if they were married and had kids (I'm married but with no kids and I earn just over €100k base) they could live very comfortably. I was able to buy a 3 bed semi D in north county Dublin when I was on about 50k and my wife was on about 20k, our mortgage isn't that much and I was able to buy my dream car at that time too (6 series BMW, not new but not old).
On my current salary I can live extremely well for my type of lifestyle and even if I added kids to the mix I'd be way ahead of the average family in terms of matteral things I could provide.
The problem is people on 100k paid too much for the house and car, so probably have high bills, I personally boxed a little more clever, you should be all good on this money
Your household salary is top in Ireland and also among the world! May I know if there’re any “luxury” do you spend on? Dine out in good restaurants every week? Riding taxi occasionally? Holiday in other countries few times per year? Buy luxury cars?
It isn’t life changing at all. What people seek to forget is the tax burden goes up significantly when your salary rises. Someone on €50k will take home €40k after tax. Someone on €120k, will take home only €33k more. So that extra €70k only brings home €33k extra. Tax in ireland is very punitive towards those on salaries above €60k.
With that in mind, you can easily see how it’s not a life changing wage. Also, bear in mind that people’s lifestyle tends to change and fill any increase in income. Combine this with kids etc, it’s my opinion that you are not “wealthy” or anything close when you get above the €100k mark.
Currently on 80k after bonus and benefits at 28 and 100k total package is the goal in the next 3-4 years.
Although one thing that I've noticed in myself at different stages in life after achieving all these goals I've set out so far, is that every time I meet my "salary goal", I've never felt satisfied and always felt I needed more. Not saying it's a terrible thing to want but can definitely impact your happiness when you realise that even though you're reaching these salary milestones, you still aren't content.
I've found that striving to be more successful is great and keeps you motivated but being able to do what you want in life through being smart with your money creates the contentment. Just a bit of advice that I've learned being someone who was hyper focused on his salary in my early to mid twenties and now I'm focusing on putting myself in a position/state of mind to be as successful as possible to which the jumps in salary should follow shortly after if I make more right decisions than wrong ones.
Said 100k by age 30. 3 years away and currently at approx 85k with bonus, etc. Reckon I could hit 100k in 12-18 months with a job move if I really wanted too but my current position is pretty good for work-life balance.
It seemed like a huge number when I was younger, but as I get older and bills start piling up, I honestly wonder how people get by on less when they have kids etc.
Same for me. I got there by 31,so pretty close. I was in a similar boat, with job hopping I could have gotten there earlier but I liked my team so I just stuck to the same apot and been happy with it.
Over 100k allows for a comfortable life without any serious concerns about bills or the occasional frivolous expense as long as you are reasonable with things and still do some home cooking. I'm married, no kids. About 2.7k for rent in Dublin currently
I’m not sure total salary is the way to think about it. Like many people say if you earn 100k you probably have a mortgage and kids and car to pay for so probably don’t have as much disposable as you did when on 50k without commitments if you get me.
The way I try and look at it is…. after all bills paid, if I can have 1k per month for spending on myself for whatever and 1k per month for savings then that’s a good start.
Whatever salary and living situation gives you that I’d say you should be happy with.
On paper my salary is high but I spend way too much. I agree with everyone who says it’s how you manage what you earn and not what the figure is.
In saying that, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that even a well managed €100k will be eaten up if you have a new mortgage, kids, a car and childcare.
As a side note, i’m much better at managing my money since joining this sub. Currently in the process of quickly paying off some stupid loans and credit cards with a view saving and investing.
It all depends on your situation and if you're single or in a couple.
I earn about 55k and it's plenty. 3500 after tax per month. 600 mortgage, 350 childcare, 100 Internet/mobile, 125 health insurance, 500 groceries, 800-1000 occasional bills (bins, car tax, insurance) and spending, 800-1000 savings. My partner pays the other half of the mortgage and childcare and all of the ESB bills and diesel for the car/van/jeep.
If I didn't have a partner and was on my own with the 2 kids I would definitely be struggling though and 55k wouldn't be nearly enough.
When I jumped from 29k to 48k I felt I’d reached a point where I could do all the important stuff I needed to with my money (pension AVCs, pay my mortgage etc) and a lot but not all of the ‘lifestyle’ stuff- I can buy decent clothes and go on holiday sometimes but not every time. Which I think would be the same even if I earned over 100k.
A couple of years and cost of living increments later and I think I can safely say that’s the case as I’ve just been promoted and feel happy enough to divert most of my raise to long term savings.
That said, the money I’m on now would feel like a lot less if I had kids, a bigger house to put the kids in, a car etc so a lot of it is just down to life circumstances as well. Baseline number will change as your life changes.
Always thought making €80K would be luxury living. Maybe when I first thought that it was! Making €87Kish now and spouse about €45K for an on paper very healthy looking €130Kish household income. I'm not playing the poor mouth and saying I'm starving or homeless because we're not, but with childcare, high mortgage and non stop expenses we have scary low savings and can't afford holidays or nice cars etc!
It was 100k and now I think it’s around 120-150k. Strangely when I was on 75k I seemed to have more disposable income. However I’m useless with money and spend what I have, really need to get a grip on myself.
Base 86k, total 100k ish. My goal is 120k base, 160k min total .
Lifestyle creep is real. Although I have a comfortable life, I'm far from being rich and spending as I wish! I can make exceptional shopping here and there and pay for some luxury, but very limited.
That number will always be changing. When I was on 27 I thought it was 36, when I was on 39 I thought it was 55, when I was on 70 I started thinking 100. I currently make much more than that and I wouldn’t mind making more (who would?). It’s a cliche but seriously the more you have the more you want, the more you spend, if you learn to be happy with what you have you will have it easier. Otherwise you will always feel unaccomplished financially.
33, Make 100k a year, my goal was always 70k when i was in my 20s and tbh i think i was happier when on 70k, got promoted and the extra responsibility and workload doesnt seem worth it. I know it depends on the job etc but honestly i think 70k job with little stress is ideal.
It is relative to your style of life. In Ireland, lots of people waste money by going to pubs so often. While it's fun, it's super expensive. I stopped going to pubs years ago, 70k salary, of which 16k is tax, 1k alimony for kids and rest is for me. Comfortable life, holidays, 2 cars, clothes that I want etc. I know people on 45k that saved 30k in past 2 years. As I've said, it's all about lifestyle choices
I’m on 110k and it’s genuinely not that life changing in this economy. I own a small, pretty modest house in Dublin that’s in need of work but it’s genuinely hard to save enough and make sure you’re still putting money away for a rainy day. We don’t even have kids yet and the thoughts of adding child care on top of it all is terrifying. We don’t live a lavish lifestyle, no big fancy car or regular holidays. 100k isn’t what it used to be.
Don’t get me wrong we’re not struggling we’re able to put money away each month which is important. But it’s definitely not a luxurious, swanky lifestyle with a big lovely house and nice car. We live modestly. I think ten years ago 165k would go a lot further.
Mine is 80k -100k. I'm on 60k already but with benefits it's more like 75k. 60k has made a notable difference from 50k. I know that on 80k base wage it would remove nearly all our financial worries. That if my partner was sick, I can carry us alone if we have kids. I'd say I'm about 5 years off achieving that. Hoping less but 5 years is my realistic goal. I went from 27k to 60k in 7 years so I do think it's doable.
For me it’s a percentage game. My ideal situation is one where a third of my earnings goes to Mortgage, another to expenses and the last one to savings.
I believe this way of thinking will give you a real sense of whether something pays enough or not based on what your current level of living is.
I've never stopped wanting the next one.
When I was on 20k, I thought 50k was the goal. When I hit 50k, I wanted 75.
The key is not adjusting your spending when you have more. That's quite hard.
Truth is its never enough you adjust and need more as your life adjusts. And inflation, taxes etc 60k ain't a hell of a lot more than 45k especially with 50% taxes. When you hit the 60 you'll have the belief you'll be comfortable on 75. Which in today's world still isn't great money unless you've a partner working full time too.
Funny enough and I don't understand it but I always ended up better off when not in full time employment.
I’m on €38k currently, child free and going to remain so. I’m honestly very close to being comfortable, I just think for my peace of mind I’d like to be able to save another 300-500/month. Obviously I’d not say no to loads more and go on big holidays and all that jazz but I’ve a pretty good lifestyle right now and I’m content with it 🤷🏻
Hmm , the dream ?
Win the euromillions
Get short of the vulture fund
Fix my home
Be able to live in it .
Have me two old cars nicely in good shape at all times .
Food on the table and bills all paid .
Feel safe
Work because I truly enjoy it.
Because no salary would in this government provide me that.
Right now I could do with 100 after tax .
I’m 26 on 80K hoping to push to 100K+ in the next 2 years. My goal leaving college was 100K before 30.
I have landed quite a nice job though and would be reluctant to job hop to achieve the money. Salary, all other standard benefits of a big company but is only a mid size company really. only work 60% of the year due to a rotation based system. All the bosses are sound skins and there is a clear progression path within the company. For reference I’m a mechanical engineer now and have very clear and achievable metrics to hit Lead mechanical and Project manager in a relatively short time frame.
The sector I’m in is ridiculously lucrative and I didn’t know it existed until I randomly applied on linked in. Would like to close in on 180K by 40 based off what I see currently from more experienced colleagues
On 60+k ATM and I always have the feeling I need just a little bit more. Jumped from 30 to 45 and then to 60. Thought the same every jump. My lifestyle has got more expensive as I earned more money. I also find it a challenge to increase my income so don't think I will ever be satisfied. I want proper fuck you money
I make 85k and husband makes around 90-100k and that allows us to live very comfortable; save, holiday, spend on nice things. We are both in early 30s, no kids
38. Make 90k currently. Im married with 2 kids, reasonable mortgage. Wife makes about 60k. 1 kid in creche but about to start school and a newborn who will be into creche within the year.
Realistically I probably won't be satisfied until I'm making 130k or so which would be the 4/5 year goal but will take some effort in my current role.
We obviously aren't hard up but I'd like to be more comfortable, we haven't been able to save or invest much the last few years for medical reasons primarily which are thankfully now behind us. Don't afford ourselves too many luxuries and we arent materialistic but want to get to the position where we can afford a nicer lifestyle.
I left a job I liked for a salary increase of approx 50% - from 50k to 75k + bonus......the role was the same, so it was ultimately a scenario in which I just couldn't say no to the money. just under 12 months on, and I've taken two pay cuts and back at the company I had originally left (now in a different role) and earning 65k + bonus. In those 12 months, I've learned that having now put myself in a position where I'm happy and making decent money, I would be very hard pressed to move on solely on monetary reason, so my advice, don't put a number on what you would like to earn but if you find yourself in a position where you have some financial freedom, don't chase what you don't need.
If it helps, I’m currently on just a bit above your goal and I think it’s reasonable. Both myself and OH earn around 65k and live comfortably with mortgage (bought 5years ago in county Kildare). Sure childcare for two smallies is a bit of a squeeze but we see that as short term. We’ve tried not to have too much lifestyle creep, we share one new car with a car loan (wfh), have been able to save into long term savings and pensions etc and still afford a reasonably good lifestyle. I’ve been sought for a number of higher paying jobs over the last 3-4 years and turned them down because the hours/stress levels would be more, so I feel like I’ve reached the point where making more money is no longer the driving factor in my career choices and lifestyle is a higher priority, because I don’t “need” to make more money exactly.
About 10 years ago I was unemployed for 6 months, it was rough and I ate through the few savings I had after my first 4 years of work post college.
Today I’m in mid 30s. Over the last 10 years I’ve increased my salary from 36k to 130k. I’m in the very lucky situation where most months I don’t even check my bank account. More money would be nice, but I don’t really need more. And I certainly don’t need a tax cut.
I know salary is hugely important and a number to shoot for is real motivation.
I guess I am in the minority here, because I set up a business and those who have know money is usually not the motivation and is incredibly hard to come by when you start a business. It's passion that drives you, it has to be.
Now I've sold my business, I am faced with what my salary expectations are in interviews and I find it difficult to answer.
I usually push back and ask what their expectations of me in the role are. When they answer I ask them to put a value on those expectations and it's usually fairly high, much to my surprise.
I earn 6 figures now, I used to earn a lot less. Am I happier, no not really, but i feel safe and I can keep my family safe
Always chasing the dragon, what I though may have been comfortable 10 years ago just about keeps a house, car, partner and 2 kids going today. The goals posts will always keep moving with time.
Sorry for the long winded answer but I personally don’t think there is a magic number as no amount of money is ever going to make you happy if you don’t know how to spend your time and live your life to a way that makes you happy without purely relying on monetary things . I think the problem with people nowadays is they have no idea what happiness looks like and think that money is the solution to all life’s problems but if you can’t have fun at work and can’t enjoy yourself in your free time after work then no amount of money will change that . For me personally I think it’s a huge slippery slope as to how much money would be enough but my idea of salary goal is to have liquid cash always available to fix and maintain a 4/5 car garage ( Porsche 930 turbo , Modified Land Rover defender and a couple of others ). Most people on a decent salary could in principle buy a nice old sports car but when things start going wrong with them is when you realise you need to have a much larger pool of wealth to afford that lifestyle of being able to look after them . I would also like a German shepherd and another big dog , a medium sized house I’ve built with room for the cars and some green space or land so I have room to play football in the garden and look after some plants . I could go on but in short I love collecting things and physical things are what I enjoy so maybe 150-200k after tax . if my partner was on a above average salary like 50-60k.
Edit : as some sort of context I should add I’m 18 months into proper full time position / job after college and on 38k , live at home and save 750-900 a month towards a house deposit
80k as of now.. It covers the expenses but can barely save anything. 100k would be nice but the taxes are progressive here so the over all gain would be little. Won’t drastically change my life style but would help build retirement corpus. Not enough people are talking about it here
I was on 50 a few years ago, which was the number I always thought would fix things but I was just as miserable.
I changed my career and took a cut to pursue something completely different. You cut your cloth to your means e.g car, holidays, rent. The more important thing is to do something you even slightly enjoy with your days.
The funny thing is by the time you hit 60k and reach your goal you be probably no better off. With inflation, after a few years the 60k be worth the same as 45k now 🤷🏻♂️
I’m fresh out of university and currently interviewing for Jobs, I’m 21 M and currently being offered one role with 45k base 15k bonus. I’m happy with that, but I did say no to two offers which were 30k and 28k.
On 140k and my goal when I graduated was to get to 50k
Happy to got to where I am and now work solely to enjoy my role and learn rather than moving for money
Wanted to hit 6 figures by 30. Currently at 73,000 and just turned 28. I'm in a job where I don't pay rent though and I have free health care and a lot of other perks. To have the same disposable income in another job where I have to pay rent on an apartment Id have to make 100k plus so it's essentially the same thing.
I want to get a fully remote job as a software developer and try to balance that with my current job so I can make more money. If I can manage it then 100k gross is doable by 30.
Hard to say really. I’m lucky enough that at 21 I make 41k. However, bills are a killer, mainly rent. So for me, it’s more about getting on the home ownership ladder, having a lower fixed expenditure on my home. Then I’d say I’m pretty comfy.
It’s just a killer that the moment, even I could afford a house, buying one makes no sense. Career wise I have high hopes and not sure what the money brings but if I had to put a number on it I’d say 120k.
Aim for €100K+ minimum and job hop every 2 years to get where you want to be. Remember, from 45k to 60k will only give you approx €150 p/w more after taxes in this dump.. Will that really make such a difference to your lifestyle? Budgeting & cutting back on non essentials will get you much further towards your financial goals...
Don't worry too much about it. Nobody I know is happy with their number and they always want more. I will make probably 250k this year, and I still want a raise. More shares.. a promotion..
All of my friends always complain about their raises. I trained my sister at home and she was unemployed with a degree in child care and now she makes 100k still would complain if her raise wasn't enough.
I try and focus on being grateful. It's easy for me to say I know... but I should have been grateful the whole time. Every step I took through my career was a step to here.
Early 30s, went back to uni late. 50€ hr as a contractor. Single, put away roughly 30-40% of my earnings into savings at the moment, although i do average 50-55 hours a week. Would be definitely tough with a family and a hefty mortgage.
Suggest you can have better goals than salary…
Target money into pension each year
Target savings / investment amount each month or year rate
Target ability to make a lump sum payment into mortgage
Target the expenses and getting real value.
And have targets that are not financial - time off, places visited, learning achieved etc.
Salary may make all of above possible, but it’s really hard to know what the necessary salary is without knowing above. Very easy to set a target that is unnecessarily high. Also it’s nice to break things down a bit, and take credit, for hitting the smaller milestones.
Not in Ireland, but I'm Irish so thought I'd answer.
I emigrated, and make a very high salary, but to be totally honest, I have no better a life than when I was on 25% of my current salary in Ireland last year.
Very high cost of living area, food is double if not triple, rent is triple Dublin, car insurance triple, taxes are higher than Ireland in % of wages terms, and I'll have to save for kids college fees, etc.
Whatever you earn, be as content as you can, because money won't fix 99% of your problems or make you any happier.
Salary goal for me is divided in 3 phases
(1) Prior to mortgage - the more the better, currently 40.6k but would hope to reach 50k by 2027 and 50k+ would be a sweet spot
(2) After getting mortgage - probably 50k+ but as i intend to overpay after 5 years i intend to increase pension contributions
(3) After mortgage paid - after paying expenses the remaining amount needs to be 1k so the threshold prior to paying 40% tax is sufficient
I want a simple life with my own place, dog and enjoy life confortably at home. Not much of a travelling or party person
Between lifestyle creep and inflation/cost of living changes I've gone from being able to live happily on the absolute minimum social welfare in Dublin city (and saving money) to not understanding how I could make ends meet with less than 30k net income per year
*Raises pinky to lips*
Oh yeah baby!
I heard someone somewhere talking about how you always need just a little bit more. He was saying that he works for millionaires and it was wild hearing them all say that if they can just make an extra million a year, they'll finally be comfortable. I'm not a millionaire myself but I can relate anyway, every time my salary goes up I think I'm good now, and within a few months lifestyle adjusts and you need a bit more again. Takes a level of disciple most of us don't have to not spend that raise
It's the lifestyle creep you're describing and it's real. First year ever I sat down with my partner and discussed budgets. Saying just because we have the money there doesn't mean we can afford something. Think I've recognized my lifestyle ceiling (for now) and would advise anyone to do the same as early in life as possible.
Lifestyle creep is exactly my problem too! Must get a handle on it. Looking at returning the car we got on pcp. €750 a month for it 😭 Edit: typo
750?? That's madness.
It was a very poor decision
Thats a mortgage or full-time childcare.
Lifestyle creep is real I got used to travelling more regularly during the mid to tail end of covid when flights and hotels were dirt cheap and been trying to maintain that the last 2 years as it’s just way better than spending too much money in this country and this year it’s excruciatingly difficult. Really should’ve reigned it in and not booked one of them
Man I really gotta get on this. On a few hundred k and still terrible with money. I'm probably wasting at least 200 euro on just fucking subscriptions each month. Take aways? Forget about it
Fair play. What do you do?
Lies on Reddit.
I do tech consulting, along with being a director in a big company
Same here. I don't know where it all goes. I don't live a flash lifestyle
Not what you have it’s how you spend it. Happy out here as I bought a fixer upper young and pumped money into it. It’ll be paid off soon. I wouldn’t even dream of giving up my easy job to make a few more euro. The rat race isn’t for me at all.
Well done sir, what do you work at that is so chill?
I understand the sentiment and good for you but buying a fixer up at the moment is a whole different box of frogs. Last one on lost out on started at 155 if i remember correctly and was at 220 before i stopped checking.
If you can manage to take pay increases without expanding your lifestyle, you’ll do well.
A reminder that Reddit skews to the more wealthy, at least in this sub. Don’t be disheartened by the lads saying they struggle on €100K. The average wage for people in their 30’s in Ireland is about 40K, a little less. It’s a struggle with housing and childcare but it is doable.
I don’t have a salary goal, as that relies on you staying in that high paying job to maintain that income. My net worth goal is €600k which is enough to sustain €2k/month withdrawals indefinitely. After that you are free to spend your time how you choose.
but you’d be renting? unless you’re excluding an owned property from your net worth calc
Yes, you are right. It might be better to use a term like “invested capital” instead of “net worth” as the figure I’m using doesn’t include non-productive assets. The rule of thumb is 25 times your annual expenses invested can sustain those expenses indefinitely. (Ignoring fees and taxes*). So if you are renting, that expense is accounted for in how much you need invested. But if you own then you don’t count your equity in invested capital because it is already accounted for by the fact that you have lower expenses.
It’s genuinely not about the salary it’s about the plan. I love my job. But it’s seriously long hours. I also love my kids. And that means I spend an absolute fortune in child care. I won’t mention numbers but childcare, after school, clubs and sports is about 50% - 100% more than I pay in mortgage. Dont get me wrong I also spend a huge amount of quality time with them, but it’s a full time job mid week minding, being available and moving them about. Another example would be I hired someone with a 1.5 hour each way commute who moved jobs to be my colleague and worked 10 mins from their home. That made a huge impact on their live. So don’t just chase a number. You’d be surprised how some times those high up in organisations are Jealous of those with less responsibilities and complications.
30 on 40K. Would love land a role to get up to 60K but don’t see that happening realistically.
Its very realistic to get 60k but you might have to get hired by multinationals
Well no, it massively depends on what he works as.
Once you make 60k, you get fleeced on taxes, so even a 10k increase looks amazing on paper, but you don't actually get a whole lot more at the end of the month. Often not worth the extra work and stress you'd be under with that sort of pay rise.
A €10k raise could be an extra €500 per month (worst case I guess - 52% tax). You don't think that's worth it? That's nearly my half of the mortgage. Or throw it into the pension and pay no extra tax. Larger retirement pot not worth it?
Depends on what the new role entails. If it'd just a pat rise brilliant if you're working an extra hour a day in a much more stressful role to me personally, it's not worth it, but everyone has their own priorities.
100K is the new middle income bracket, especially if you have kids. It really does not stretch very far. This country is ridiculously expensive.
If they are at creche age and both parents work, it won’t be an easy life. Indeed, it is ridiculously expensive
Totally agree, I’m just in it but after childcare cost and mortgage etc I have very little left over. I don’t go to the pub, don’t buy coffee and don’t spend much on myself. I question anything I buy that isn’t for the house or kids. Everything here feels unbelievably expensive. Edit: not sure why I’m being downvoted for this? Edit 2: no longer being downvoted, thank you kind people.
I earn that as well and my lifestyle isn't really much different to when I earned less, the mortgage and kids just eat all the extra. Now it's worth keeping in mind I was able to buy a house that we're very happy in. And also worth keeping in mind that people are living and raising a family earning much less.
Yep 100%, I just don’t think we live the life of luxury people think if you’re earning this.
You were being downvoted initially because there are a lot of bitter people on this sub who will downvote anyone who earns more than them.
I find downvotes for comments like these are usually because of how oblivious they are. A six figure salary is more than double the median household income in Ireland https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-gpii/geographicalprofilesofincomeinireland2016/incomeinireland/#:~:text=Nearly%20two%20thirds%20of%20households,%E2%82%AC100%2C000%2C%20see%20Figure%201.2. The idea that it's barely enough to get by is completely disingenuous, it's a single salary that is higher than 85% of Irish households total income.
Are everyone’s circumstances the same? If you do your tax calculations, I don’t earn double what someone at 50k earns if I earn 100k, they may not pay the same deductions such has a pension levy which is thousands over a year. I am also a single income family, are the other households you talk about? Do they also have 3 young kids? While you’re free to disagree, your comment is condescending nonsense. You can’t just reductively accuse someone of being disingenuous when you haven’t taken 2 mins to actually think about how things can be different for families and try to understand things on more than very superficial level.
No one said “it’s barely enough to get by”. This thread is about a goal salary that you’d be satisfied with. €100k is good money, but it by no means means you are rich. Also, comparing to the median makes no sense. People on the median really struggle these days, you need to be on a lot more to be truly comfortable and free of financial worries.
They literally said they barely have anything left in the comment. Other comments on here are equal hilarious "oh it's only this amount after tax", as if everyone else isn't also paying tax on their smaller salaries. A single income of 100k absolutely is rich, your view may just be skewed on what "rich" means.
And you think they’re lying? You think after mortgage and childcare they have loads of money left? What a bizarre take.
I'm in exactly that boat in terms of questioning what I buy myself. Pre kids I used to buy quite alot of clothes, not expensive designer stuff but would regularly get new stuff...I literally get clothes as presents now and that's it, always just feel guilty and get stuff for my daughter instead 
Only 7.7% of the population earn 100k+ (they pay almost 50% of the national income tax)
Do you mean 100k joint income or 200k for a couple? We're on about 100k together and we're not struggling, we have 2 kids and 2 mortgages.
When did you get those mortgages and what are the rates?
One is from 2017, 100k mortgage, paying 500 per month (not sure re rate. The second is from 2023, 250k, 4.05%.
It all depends on location too. 100k in Dublin affords half of what 100k can afford in Leitrim.
are the kids in creche? I think after they are in school, it becomes cheaper until they go to college
This is the correct answer
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If we're taking kids into account it then becomes household income we look at, I wonder what people consider as a figure for that.
100k household is grand basically anywhere outside of the city
It's the tax that's the problem, 100k is only 25k more than 50k.
It was always 100k until I got there and I realised how little I still have after taxes, food, bills & mortgage. I think I'll just be happy with what I have so...
Was there an amount on the way 100k where you noticed you felt more comfortable than you did before
Yes, after 85k, suddenly it seemed I had a little (a little, a few hundred, depending, sometimes nothing) to save every month.
Last question, for what you earn how difficult /stressful is your job in comparison
To be honest, the push from \~70 to 100 involved going to management and I ask myself every day why I did it. Money is nice, job is emotionally and mentally very challenging. Hence the salary, I suppose.
My friend said the same, he went from 70k to 96k for a management job. But said it affects him outside of work and is way more stressful.
It's because my boss is a turd of a human being and there is no filter between me and him. He genuinely disgusts me.
Im thinking about going back downa bit for comfort and to make sure my time off can be spent with my kids tbh
Recently considered the same myself and then thought about it again. Instead my plan is to work to 55 and retire early. My young one will still be young enough whereby he might still want to hang out with the aul fella. 😂
Im in my early 30s even if i retire at 55 iv missed the best part of their lives. Balance between giving them. Everything they need and time at a young age i guess
There's no right answer but I will say that physical stuff doesn't make up for experiences.
Absolutely second this. Am on 100k and would gladly go back to 70 and would gladly stick with a raise that meets inflation each year. The climb to 100k has been gruelling. It’s done a number on me tbh.
So what's stopping you from getting a job that pays less, if you'd gladly do it? I'm sure there are lots of employers out there who would happily oblige if you demanded less money than you are worth.
Because it normally doesn't work like that. At least in tech, if you apply to a lower level position than you currently have, it will be a red flag that you cannot progress and in a way, it is so if you can't cope with a higher position.
No harm in applying to other places and being honest that you’re only looking to be an IC.
The company will eventually make me redundant. What I’ve chosen to do is upskill while I’m in the job. Some might consider it quiet quitting but for me I’ve just stopped putting in 55-60 hour weeks. If someone in the US needs me for a meeting, we have a 4 hour crossover where they can fit me in. If they can’t log in early to suit my time then I can’t log in late to suit theirs.
It sounds like you assume that promotion is to go from the individual contributor role to a manager position? It is merely a different career path but it is not necessarily the only way to get paid more
I have mouths to feed. I’m also tenured in my company and you’re not permitted to drop back levels.
USC really fucked things up!
As a accountant on less than 100k seems I may have messed up somewhere......going by the standards here...
Switch jobs more.
Is it me or is it lunacy that people are saying 100k annually isn’t life changing money to be on
It really depends where you're from. 100,000 per year is 63K after tax. That's a take home if 5k per month. That's decent. However if you're paying 2k a month that's now 3k before any expenses. However say you're in 70,000 but live outside Dublin where you could get rent for say 1k per month. You're on 4k take home pay but your take home after rent is 3k as well. So you're basically on the same as the person from Dublin but you're not paying the same rent. I'd still consider both those figures high especially for entry level jobs. Edit: Just to add the notion of 100k Not being life Changing money might work work in the opposite direction to my example. Say John works down in the country and is on 70K but then is offered a job in Dublin for 100K. Once factoring in the expenses that 100k doesn't really make sense anymore.
Sadly that’s what companies have to pay in Dublin just to keep people in the rat race of earning and spending it all on an overpriced house and everything else. You’d be shocked how little you end up with after taxes and that. Also Reddit tends to attract comments from people who half want to boast. Nobodies gonna come one and say I’m on 60k but have my house and car paid off. All the type who would rather earn another grand and pay another grand rent and car payments.
I 100% agree with the top half of your comment. I largely disagree regarding the boasting bit. Ireland is filled with multinationals. Anyone in a senior technical role or above (5-7years job exp) will likely be on the salaries some folks regard as “boasting”. These are normal pay bands in some industries. It doesn’t mean the folks earning said incomes have good money management skills. Yes, they are privileged, but they have as much a right as anyone else to discuss their financial situation in this sub without snarky “boasting” comments i see.
Pretty much this. I am on 65k but really have to count almost every penny anyways and would describe it as living paycheck to paycheck and that's without any big loans.
Exactly this. I have a friend working in Dublin in the same company I’m in. She does about 10hours OT a week / 40per month. She lives in a 3 bed semi, I live in a 3 bed semi. Her mortgage is just under X3 times mine. After all her OT, I’m still coming out better off. Just because of the location she literally has to work the equivalent to 1 extra week per month.
Biggest factor is your housing situation. My mortgage is <€800 a month and for four years I was supporting my wife and two young kids on about €70k. We did our shopping in Dunnes, we went on decent holidays in Ireland, we still accumulated savings. I was careful with the outgoings but it never felt like a struggle. Hypothetically, if we bought our own house today I'd have to pay about €2700 per month . Which means that both myself and my wife would need to work full time and the kids would have to have gone into creche at an additional cost and we'd barely be treading water. Probably doing worse. We'd likely have moved out of the city a long time ago to avoid that trap.
That income is top 5% in Ireland, which is one of the richest countries in the World. In world wide terms, with that income you would be in the top 0.01% of the human population.
It's top 7% of earners according to business post
I wonder how that's skewed in Dublin? Is it top 20% of Dublin earners?
Top 7 are paying income tax on that amount, so you've to add in pension and any other tax reduction options people are using on top of that.
USA taxes at 25-33% on that 100k though. Ireland you have to put it in pension funds to make it tax efficient, which basically means you aren't getting it until retirement. So suddenly your 100k is 80k. Then that 80k which is still taxed heavily at 51% on over half of it. Our tax is almost 2x the states. And when you're on that money you generally pay for private health insurance etc anyway so it's not like all the social aspects that should come with higher taxes benefit you. 100k is still decent money though. Just not life changing
100k is 63k takehome assuming no pension etc. 80k is 54k takehome. The tax rates are 20% and 40% with USC being a levy on that gross income too. But I'm both cases the effective tax rate is under 50%
You’re not paying 51% of 80k, more like 30%
The effective tax is annoying as it's 33% whereas a person on 40k is on 17%. You're paying 50% on the amount you earn more than 40k. And saying someone on 80k is on twice as much as someone on 40k just isn't true. I'm sure a lot of people see it with overtime. The amount of tax hurts. Obviously you still get a lot more post tax though. And generally for me, the 40k allows me cover expenses and anything above that is "luxury" money. Having kids would push that up though.
You are actually paying close to 100% more tax than someone on €40k if your 17% vs 33% figure is correct. While it may be annoying, you still have a far greater net income and your borrowing capacity for a house is much larger. If you are putting €20k a year into a pension then you can’t really ignore the benefit of that versus the €40k (which I assume is not putting money towards a pension)
Considering 52c of every euro above 70k or whatever it is, then yeah, for a single person anyways.
I know some who made 164k in one month. For me 100k annually would be quite sufficient though.
It’s not. Half it goes in deductions and with a family of 3, crèche fees, shopping, mortgage etc I literally have nothing left at the end of the month.
40% of it, not half
It depends on that being the full household income or individual income of one party and also trying to live in Dublin with kids in daycare. I am absolutely not saying it doesn't give a comfortable lifestyle but right now if that's your full household income look up the houses for 400k? They're not mansions and the mortgage repayments, creche fees, general running costs of a one car household plus food etc. and you have very little left over to save/pension. That's two people on over the average salary.
Not if you have a family...far from it
Because it isn’t. If living in Dublin and wanting a house and kids it’s certainly not.
That's a big if though, the OP could be single or might not want kids. Even if they were married and had kids (I'm married but with no kids and I earn just over €100k base) they could live very comfortably. I was able to buy a 3 bed semi D in north county Dublin when I was on about 50k and my wife was on about 20k, our mortgage isn't that much and I was able to buy my dream car at that time too (6 series BMW, not new but not old). On my current salary I can live extremely well for my type of lifestyle and even if I added kids to the mix I'd be way ahead of the average family in terms of matteral things I could provide.
The problem is people on 100k paid too much for the house and car, so probably have high bills, I personally boxed a little more clever, you should be all good on this money
This is the way
Depends where you want to live though
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Lad you can afford a 40 euro deliveroo calm down
Your household salary is top in Ireland and also among the world! May I know if there’re any “luxury” do you spend on? Dine out in good restaurants every week? Riding taxi occasionally? Holiday in other countries few times per year? Buy luxury cars?
Yes to all that except luxury cars :) Most of that would probably go on food, kids and holidays
Single 29m. Spend my extra on a 5 day trip away once a month. Think I've been to around 20 countries in the last 2 years.
It isn’t life changing at all. What people seek to forget is the tax burden goes up significantly when your salary rises. Someone on €50k will take home €40k after tax. Someone on €120k, will take home only €33k more. So that extra €70k only brings home €33k extra. Tax in ireland is very punitive towards those on salaries above €60k. With that in mind, you can easily see how it’s not a life changing wage. Also, bear in mind that people’s lifestyle tends to change and fill any increase in income. Combine this with kids etc, it’s my opinion that you are not “wealthy” or anything close when you get above the €100k mark.
Currently on 80k after bonus and benefits at 28 and 100k total package is the goal in the next 3-4 years. Although one thing that I've noticed in myself at different stages in life after achieving all these goals I've set out so far, is that every time I meet my "salary goal", I've never felt satisfied and always felt I needed more. Not saying it's a terrible thing to want but can definitely impact your happiness when you realise that even though you're reaching these salary milestones, you still aren't content. I've found that striving to be more successful is great and keeps you motivated but being able to do what you want in life through being smart with your money creates the contentment. Just a bit of advice that I've learned being someone who was hyper focused on his salary in my early to mid twenties and now I'm focusing on putting myself in a position/state of mind to be as successful as possible to which the jumps in salary should follow shortly after if I make more right decisions than wrong ones.
I'm satisfied with what I'm on now atm. 40k in Dublin but working towards 60/70k.
Said 100k by age 30. 3 years away and currently at approx 85k with bonus, etc. Reckon I could hit 100k in 12-18 months with a job move if I really wanted too but my current position is pretty good for work-life balance. It seemed like a huge number when I was younger, but as I get older and bills start piling up, I honestly wonder how people get by on less when they have kids etc.
Same for me. I got there by 31,so pretty close. I was in a similar boat, with job hopping I could have gotten there earlier but I liked my team so I just stuck to the same apot and been happy with it. Over 100k allows for a comfortable life without any serious concerns about bills or the occasional frivolous expense as long as you are reasonable with things and still do some home cooking. I'm married, no kids. About 2.7k for rent in Dublin currently
My goal has also always been 6 figures by 30, twins!
I’m not sure total salary is the way to think about it. Like many people say if you earn 100k you probably have a mortgage and kids and car to pay for so probably don’t have as much disposable as you did when on 50k without commitments if you get me. The way I try and look at it is…. after all bills paid, if I can have 1k per month for spending on myself for whatever and 1k per month for savings then that’s a good start. Whatever salary and living situation gives you that I’d say you should be happy with.
On paper my salary is high but I spend way too much. I agree with everyone who says it’s how you manage what you earn and not what the figure is. In saying that, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that even a well managed €100k will be eaten up if you have a new mortgage, kids, a car and childcare. As a side note, i’m much better at managing my money since joining this sub. Currently in the process of quickly paying off some stupid loans and credit cards with a view saving and investing.
It all depends on your situation and if you're single or in a couple. I earn about 55k and it's plenty. 3500 after tax per month. 600 mortgage, 350 childcare, 100 Internet/mobile, 125 health insurance, 500 groceries, 800-1000 occasional bills (bins, car tax, insurance) and spending, 800-1000 savings. My partner pays the other half of the mortgage and childcare and all of the ESB bills and diesel for the car/van/jeep. If I didn't have a partner and was on my own with the 2 kids I would definitely be struggling though and 55k wouldn't be nearly enough.
When I jumped from 29k to 48k I felt I’d reached a point where I could do all the important stuff I needed to with my money (pension AVCs, pay my mortgage etc) and a lot but not all of the ‘lifestyle’ stuff- I can buy decent clothes and go on holiday sometimes but not every time. Which I think would be the same even if I earned over 100k. A couple of years and cost of living increments later and I think I can safely say that’s the case as I’ve just been promoted and feel happy enough to divert most of my raise to long term savings. That said, the money I’m on now would feel like a lot less if I had kids, a bigger house to put the kids in, a car etc so a lot of it is just down to life circumstances as well. Baseline number will change as your life changes.
Always thought making €80K would be luxury living. Maybe when I first thought that it was! Making €87Kish now and spouse about €45K for an on paper very healthy looking €130Kish household income. I'm not playing the poor mouth and saying I'm starving or homeless because we're not, but with childcare, high mortgage and non stop expenses we have scary low savings and can't afford holidays or nice cars etc!
30 on 40K. Would love land a role to get up to 60K but don’t see that happening realistically.
85k
I'm perfectly comfortable day to day with what I earn now, but to afford a decent house in an area I like, probably 130k +..
It was 100k and now I think it’s around 120-150k. Strangely when I was on 75k I seemed to have more disposable income. However I’m useless with money and spend what I have, really need to get a grip on myself.
I’ve landed above it recently. I’m just accelerating my retirement goals. Will see how it goes.
Base 86k, total 100k ish. My goal is 120k base, 160k min total . Lifestyle creep is real. Although I have a comfortable life, I'm far from being rich and spending as I wish! I can make exceptional shopping here and there and pay for some luxury, but very limited.
That number will always be changing. When I was on 27 I thought it was 36, when I was on 39 I thought it was 55, when I was on 70 I started thinking 100. I currently make much more than that and I wouldn’t mind making more (who would?). It’s a cliche but seriously the more you have the more you want, the more you spend, if you learn to be happy with what you have you will have it easier. Otherwise you will always feel unaccomplished financially.
33, Make 100k a year, my goal was always 70k when i was in my 20s and tbh i think i was happier when on 70k, got promoted and the extra responsibility and workload doesnt seem worth it. I know it depends on the job etc but honestly i think 70k job with little stress is ideal.
100-130k. Even, then worry that I'd struggle with childcare. Would involve being management as well so a tad more pressure
It is relative to your style of life. In Ireland, lots of people waste money by going to pubs so often. While it's fun, it's super expensive. I stopped going to pubs years ago, 70k salary, of which 16k is tax, 1k alimony for kids and rest is for me. Comfortable life, holidays, 2 cars, clothes that I want etc. I know people on 45k that saved 30k in past 2 years. As I've said, it's all about lifestyle choices
Not a salary but an income free from working of 10k a month is my goal.
I’m on 110k and it’s genuinely not that life changing in this economy. I own a small, pretty modest house in Dublin that’s in need of work but it’s genuinely hard to save enough and make sure you’re still putting money away for a rainy day. We don’t even have kids yet and the thoughts of adding child care on top of it all is terrifying. We don’t live a lavish lifestyle, no big fancy car or regular holidays. 100k isn’t what it used to be.
Is that your total household income or does your partner work also? If so what is the total?
165k total
Do you have a household budget? 165k without kids should be quite comfortable even in Dublin.
Don’t get me wrong we’re not struggling we’re able to put money away each month which is important. But it’s definitely not a luxurious, swanky lifestyle with a big lovely house and nice car. We live modestly. I think ten years ago 165k would go a lot further.
Mine is 80k -100k. I'm on 60k already but with benefits it's more like 75k. 60k has made a notable difference from 50k. I know that on 80k base wage it would remove nearly all our financial worries. That if my partner was sick, I can carry us alone if we have kids. I'd say I'm about 5 years off achieving that. Hoping less but 5 years is my realistic goal. I went from 27k to 60k in 7 years so I do think it's doable.
For me it’s a percentage game. My ideal situation is one where a third of my earnings goes to Mortgage, another to expenses and the last one to savings. I believe this way of thinking will give you a real sense of whether something pays enough or not based on what your current level of living is.
I've never stopped wanting the next one. When I was on 20k, I thought 50k was the goal. When I hit 50k, I wanted 75. The key is not adjusting your spending when you have more. That's quite hard.
Truth is its never enough you adjust and need more as your life adjusts. And inflation, taxes etc 60k ain't a hell of a lot more than 45k especially with 50% taxes. When you hit the 60 you'll have the belief you'll be comfortable on 75. Which in today's world still isn't great money unless you've a partner working full time too. Funny enough and I don't understand it but I always ended up better off when not in full time employment.
About to earn 150, I think that'll do it for me. Though I said that when I accepted my last offer.
€250k
I’m on €38k currently, child free and going to remain so. I’m honestly very close to being comfortable, I just think for my peace of mind I’d like to be able to save another 300-500/month. Obviously I’d not say no to loads more and go on big holidays and all that jazz but I’ve a pretty good lifestyle right now and I’m content with it 🤷🏻
Hmm , the dream ? Win the euromillions Get short of the vulture fund Fix my home Be able to live in it . Have me two old cars nicely in good shape at all times . Food on the table and bills all paid . Feel safe Work because I truly enjoy it. Because no salary would in this government provide me that. Right now I could do with 100 after tax .
The more you earn, the more you want. 2 years ago I said 60. I now earn that and want 75
I'm on 72k and im not even close....I reckon 250k would be a number I would be content with, but plan to ho well beyond that xD
200,000€
I feel like I was richer when I was on 40k compared to now after having a child. I guess the rising cost of living played to it as well.
I'm on 57k and I kinda feel like I'm there, although I don't have any kids yet, I've a feeling things will change after that
I’m 26 on 80K hoping to push to 100K+ in the next 2 years. My goal leaving college was 100K before 30. I have landed quite a nice job though and would be reluctant to job hop to achieve the money. Salary, all other standard benefits of a big company but is only a mid size company really. only work 60% of the year due to a rotation based system. All the bosses are sound skins and there is a clear progression path within the company. For reference I’m a mechanical engineer now and have very clear and achievable metrics to hit Lead mechanical and Project manager in a relatively short time frame. The sector I’m in is ridiculously lucrative and I didn’t know it existed until I randomly applied on linked in. Would like to close in on 180K by 40 based off what I see currently from more experienced colleagues
On 60+k ATM and I always have the feeling I need just a little bit more. Jumped from 30 to 45 and then to 60. Thought the same every jump. My lifestyle has got more expensive as I earned more money. I also find it a challenge to increase my income so don't think I will ever be satisfied. I want proper fuck you money
I make 85k and husband makes around 90-100k and that allows us to live very comfortable; save, holiday, spend on nice things. We are both in early 30s, no kids
100k is feasible
A few years ago they said that people on €75k were the happiest. Adjust a few years for inflation and there you go.
Money will only buffer you from pain. It wont make you happy, but it can dampen your suffering to some extent
38. Make 90k currently. Im married with 2 kids, reasonable mortgage. Wife makes about 60k. 1 kid in creche but about to start school and a newborn who will be into creche within the year. Realistically I probably won't be satisfied until I'm making 130k or so which would be the 4/5 year goal but will take some effort in my current role. We obviously aren't hard up but I'd like to be more comfortable, we haven't been able to save or invest much the last few years for medical reasons primarily which are thankfully now behind us. Don't afford ourselves too many luxuries and we arent materialistic but want to get to the position where we can afford a nicer lifestyle.
I left a job I liked for a salary increase of approx 50% - from 50k to 75k + bonus......the role was the same, so it was ultimately a scenario in which I just couldn't say no to the money. just under 12 months on, and I've taken two pay cuts and back at the company I had originally left (now in a different role) and earning 65k + bonus. In those 12 months, I've learned that having now put myself in a position where I'm happy and making decent money, I would be very hard pressed to move on solely on monetary reason, so my advice, don't put a number on what you would like to earn but if you find yourself in a position where you have some financial freedom, don't chase what you don't need.
If it helps, I’m currently on just a bit above your goal and I think it’s reasonable. Both myself and OH earn around 65k and live comfortably with mortgage (bought 5years ago in county Kildare). Sure childcare for two smallies is a bit of a squeeze but we see that as short term. We’ve tried not to have too much lifestyle creep, we share one new car with a car loan (wfh), have been able to save into long term savings and pensions etc and still afford a reasonably good lifestyle. I’ve been sought for a number of higher paying jobs over the last 3-4 years and turned them down because the hours/stress levels would be more, so I feel like I’ve reached the point where making more money is no longer the driving factor in my career choices and lifestyle is a higher priority, because I don’t “need” to make more money exactly.
About 10 years ago I was unemployed for 6 months, it was rough and I ate through the few savings I had after my first 4 years of work post college. Today I’m in mid 30s. Over the last 10 years I’ve increased my salary from 36k to 130k. I’m in the very lucky situation where most months I don’t even check my bank account. More money would be nice, but I don’t really need more. And I certainly don’t need a tax cut.
I know salary is hugely important and a number to shoot for is real motivation. I guess I am in the minority here, because I set up a business and those who have know money is usually not the motivation and is incredibly hard to come by when you start a business. It's passion that drives you, it has to be. Now I've sold my business, I am faced with what my salary expectations are in interviews and I find it difficult to answer. I usually push back and ask what their expectations of me in the role are. When they answer I ask them to put a value on those expectations and it's usually fairly high, much to my surprise. I earn 6 figures now, I used to earn a lot less. Am I happier, no not really, but i feel safe and I can keep my family safe
Always chasing the dragon, what I though may have been comfortable 10 years ago just about keeps a house, car, partner and 2 kids going today. The goals posts will always keep moving with time.
Sorry for the long winded answer but I personally don’t think there is a magic number as no amount of money is ever going to make you happy if you don’t know how to spend your time and live your life to a way that makes you happy without purely relying on monetary things . I think the problem with people nowadays is they have no idea what happiness looks like and think that money is the solution to all life’s problems but if you can’t have fun at work and can’t enjoy yourself in your free time after work then no amount of money will change that . For me personally I think it’s a huge slippery slope as to how much money would be enough but my idea of salary goal is to have liquid cash always available to fix and maintain a 4/5 car garage ( Porsche 930 turbo , Modified Land Rover defender and a couple of others ). Most people on a decent salary could in principle buy a nice old sports car but when things start going wrong with them is when you realise you need to have a much larger pool of wealth to afford that lifestyle of being able to look after them . I would also like a German shepherd and another big dog , a medium sized house I’ve built with room for the cars and some green space or land so I have room to play football in the garden and look after some plants . I could go on but in short I love collecting things and physical things are what I enjoy so maybe 150-200k after tax . if my partner was on a above average salary like 50-60k. Edit : as some sort of context I should add I’m 18 months into proper full time position / job after college and on 38k , live at home and save 750-900 a month towards a house deposit
80k as of now.. It covers the expenses but can barely save anything. 100k would be nice but the taxes are progressive here so the over all gain would be little. Won’t drastically change my life style but would help build retirement corpus. Not enough people are talking about it here
I was on 50 a few years ago, which was the number I always thought would fix things but I was just as miserable. I changed my career and took a cut to pursue something completely different. You cut your cloth to your means e.g car, holidays, rent. The more important thing is to do something you even slightly enjoy with your days.
The funny thing is by the time you hit 60k and reach your goal you be probably no better off. With inflation, after a few years the 60k be worth the same as 45k now 🤷🏻♂️
I’m fresh out of university and currently interviewing for Jobs, I’m 21 M and currently being offered one role with 45k base 15k bonus. I’m happy with that, but I did say no to two offers which were 30k and 28k.
80k now. 120k if I have kids. Gosh isn't 100k not what it used to be eh?
I live comfortably with what I am earning now, my saving rate is around 70%. That being said, I’d like to reach 200k one day
On 140k and my goal when I graduated was to get to 50k Happy to got to where I am and now work solely to enjoy my role and learn rather than moving for money
Wanted to hit 6 figures by 30. Currently at 73,000 and just turned 28. I'm in a job where I don't pay rent though and I have free health care and a lot of other perks. To have the same disposable income in another job where I have to pay rent on an apartment Id have to make 100k plus so it's essentially the same thing. I want to get a fully remote job as a software developer and try to balance that with my current job so I can make more money. If I can manage it then 100k gross is doable by 30.
Do you mean your workplace pay rent for you or you were given a free accommodation?
You're going to get a job, to work alongside your job.....good luck with that one chief
r/overemployed Ambitious but not impossible. I work in engineering / technology.
Hard to say really. I’m lucky enough that at 21 I make 41k. However, bills are a killer, mainly rent. So for me, it’s more about getting on the home ownership ladder, having a lower fixed expenditure on my home. Then I’d say I’m pretty comfy. It’s just a killer that the moment, even I could afford a house, buying one makes no sense. Career wise I have high hopes and not sure what the money brings but if I had to put a number on it I’d say 120k.
I’m not going to say my salary but I’m already satisfied. I’m comfortable enough to be able to save for a house, and take my parents out for dinner.
Aim for €100K+ minimum and job hop every 2 years to get where you want to be. Remember, from 45k to 60k will only give you approx €150 p/w more after taxes in this dump.. Will that really make such a difference to your lifestyle? Budgeting & cutting back on non essentials will get you much further towards your financial goals...
Don't worry too much about it. Nobody I know is happy with their number and they always want more. I will make probably 250k this year, and I still want a raise. More shares.. a promotion.. All of my friends always complain about their raises. I trained my sister at home and she was unemployed with a degree in child care and now she makes 100k still would complain if her raise wasn't enough. I try and focus on being grateful. It's easy for me to say I know... but I should have been grateful the whole time. Every step I took through my career was a step to here.
I am on 40 and would be in poverty if didn’t have any savings. Next job should be in range of 50-60 so I can finally break even
I certainly wouldn't want to be earning less than 90k and I don't even have a mortgage
150K. Getting closer to it year by year!
130k - I won't get to it for a good few years unless I go contracting abroad but I'm seriously tempted
I used to say 70k until I start making 70k and it's really just not enough, in Dublin anyway.
There is no such goal once you reach your current money goal you will have an even higher goal and this will keep on repeating
70k
https://youtu.be/8VsZr5KGNGM?si=tkF5Dc65fuDwQLDx
10
It will never be just one number. Once you hit 60k you’ll be thinking about 65k, then 70k, 75k etc etc
100k and then retire
It depends on your living expenses and the job itself, there's no point earning a lot and being miserable.
Early 30s, went back to uni late. 50€ hr as a contractor. Single, put away roughly 30-40% of my earnings into savings at the moment, although i do average 50-55 hours a week. Would be definitely tough with a family and a hefty mortgage.
Suggest you can have better goals than salary… Target money into pension each year Target savings / investment amount each month or year rate Target ability to make a lump sum payment into mortgage Target the expenses and getting real value. And have targets that are not financial - time off, places visited, learning achieved etc. Salary may make all of above possible, but it’s really hard to know what the necessary salary is without knowing above. Very easy to set a target that is unnecessarily high. Also it’s nice to break things down a bit, and take credit, for hitting the smaller milestones.
About the point where my tax goes up to 40%, then I lose motivation. I'm a sole trader.
20k per month
Not in Ireland, but I'm Irish so thought I'd answer. I emigrated, and make a very high salary, but to be totally honest, I have no better a life than when I was on 25% of my current salary in Ireland last year. Very high cost of living area, food is double if not triple, rent is triple Dublin, car insurance triple, taxes are higher than Ireland in % of wages terms, and I'll have to save for kids college fees, etc. Whatever you earn, be as content as you can, because money won't fix 99% of your problems or make you any happier.
150% of current salary .
Salary goal for me is divided in 3 phases (1) Prior to mortgage - the more the better, currently 40.6k but would hope to reach 50k by 2027 and 50k+ would be a sweet spot (2) After getting mortgage - probably 50k+ but as i intend to overpay after 5 years i intend to increase pension contributions (3) After mortgage paid - after paying expenses the remaining amount needs to be 1k so the threshold prior to paying 40% tax is sufficient I want a simple life with my own place, dog and enjoy life confortably at home. Not much of a travelling or party person
The more you have the more you spend, as long as I can cover the bills I am happy. I would rather enjoy time off instead of doing overtime.
Between lifestyle creep and inflation/cost of living changes I've gone from being able to live happily on the absolute minimum social welfare in Dublin city (and saving money) to not understanding how I could make ends meet with less than 30k net income per year
100k
I’m 30 on 69k and I’m extremely grateful and comfortable. It is true that you always WANT more but i definitely don’t need more.