• tomkatt@lemmy.world
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    23 hours ago

    Yep. I struggled for years doing desktop and helpdesk work for fairly low pay. When I finally caught a break and started making “decent” money (aka, around $65k) I was happy initially, but costs kept rising, and at the time I got upset because I realized I could buy toys and amenities, but still couldn’t afford stuff that mattered, like a house or saving for retirement. Financial stability was still an illusion.

    Now I earn double that, and I’m careful with money, and it’s still going to take a large amount of care and planning to make retirement possible and pay off the house. Shit’s not easy, and I particularly sympathize with people starting out today, it seems like entering any field but particularly IT now is harder than it’s ever been.

    And that’s without the fuckhead in chief constantly sowing economic chaos like he’s speed running American collapse any %. It’s probably only going to get harder from here.

    • FlexibleToast@lemmy.world
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      22 hours ago

      Yeah, I see the same things. Even though I’m making that money, I think I end up saving something like 30% or more of it. After all that saving and my mortgage, I do have enough for toys, but I still keep those even modest. I have a small truck the Hyundai Santa Cruz, a 1965 15’ boat, and a small motorcycle. I realize I have more than most and I’m more comfortable than most, but I feel like I’m at the level everyone should be at. What I mean by that is everyone should be able to afford a comfortable life and modest toys. It shouldn’t be only the high earners. I wish everyone could have this lifestyle. And they probably could if it wasn’t for the greed of the ultra-wealthy.

      It seems like entering any field but particularly IT now is harder than it’s ever been.

      It’s certainly not the golden ticket it once was. It still has high potential, but it’s just harder to get now. Even for us that are in it already, there aren’t as many opportunities to jump over to a higher paying company because your raises didn’t keep up with your growth like there used to be.