What type of professions earned over $250k a year?

[Took]

It's true that areas with highest income are pro obama. However, it's also true that these are large metropolitan areas and in these areas there's a larger population of people that depend on the gov't for housing, medicaid, food stamps, disability. These people are more likely to vote Democrat, according to CNN. There's also a large minority population and they tend to vote Democrat as well.



It's not whether or not the income is affected so much as it is his leaning towards Socialism. Many people still believe in the American Dream. Obama's share the wealth hinders the dream.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/opinion/10brooks.html?ref=opinion

Actually, David Brooks' column would somewhat contradict your assertion about Obama's support coming mostly from the disenfranchised. He is a conservative and notes a worrying trend in Rep. politics.

 

[Green Tea]

OK, so what are they doing hanging around the DIS??

Maybe it their wives. (or husbands )

 

[drag n' fly]

It is very common for oil and gas engineers to make 250,000 plus here.

 

[Quiksilvr]

It also should be mentioned that working for a big law firm, you're basically selling your soul to the devil. They own you, they own your time. Family vacation to Disney planned, but a client calls the day before you're leaving, guess who's not going on vacation, or who will be tied to their Blackberry and laptop all week? Yes, you can be wealthy working at a big firm, but you pay a family price most people aren't willing to pay and even if you're willing to pay it, it doesn't mean that you kids won't resent being bothered while on vacation.

Pretty good statement of how my life works.

Actually, my firm is better than most about stuff like that, but you're right; they own me.

Now, back to the salt mine.

 

[DMickey28]

It also should be mentioned that working for a big law firm, you're basically selling your soul to the devil. They own you, they own your time. Family vacation to Disney planned, but a client calls the day before you're leaving, guess who's not going on vacation, or who will be tied to their Blackberry and laptop all week? Yes, you can be wealthy working at a big firm, but you pay a family price most people aren't willing to pay and even if you're willing to pay it, it doesn't mean that you kids won't resent being bothered while on vacation.

If you aren't careful you could be on a boat in the Cayman Islands and .... !!!

I watched that movie one too many times.

 

[Island_Lauri]

What the Democrats are not acknowledging is that increasing the taxes on small business owners doesn't ultimately hurt the owners themselves. They increase their prices and decrease the wages they pay to keep their wages the same. So it hurts the consumer and the people who work at these small businesses.

And what some Republicans won't acknowledge is that if the average worker gets to keep more of their wages then they will have more money to spend at those small businesses. Trickle up theory. It is about time that we gave that a try.

 

[justhat]

I didn't read through this entire thread, but the few pages I did are not entirely accurate about the salaries of physicians. My husband is still a resident so we make next to nothing, BUT, the average starting salary for his field (anesthesiology) is $220-$240K. That's for someone 1st year out of residency and about 95% of the time malpractice insurance is paid for by the employer if you work for a hospital. And that salary is based on working for a hospital. If you do a fellowship to specialize in peds, cardiac, or pain, which is just 1 more year past general anesthesia, your starting salary is way more than what I posted above.

Same is true for pretty much all the fields my husband's friends are in (which include general surgery, ophthamology, ENT, EMed). True, the friend in pediatrics won't start out that high, but many other fields make WAY more than that. Cardiothoracic surgeons, for example, start out over $400K. Interventional radiology is about the same. Orthopedics is another lucrative field, particulary cause you can open PT clinics as well.

But with that said, even though we will one day earn over $250K, we are voting for Obama. We live in Washington, DC where most people we know earn over $250K and they are all voting for Obama.

Oh, and about the DIS, my husband does read these boards often in the evenings when he's home. Never this board, mostly just the cruise board since that's what interests him most. He also reads a DirectTV board everyday as well. But, he's not home yet and it's 5:30. He's been gone since 5:30am. He'll be asleep by about 9pm. So not like he has tons of time to read the boards, but in his spare time he does.

 

[perdidobay]

Pretty good statement of how my life works.

Actually, my firm is better than most about stuff like that, but you're right; they own me.

Now, back to the salt mine.

This is my DH's life as well.

One he CHOOSE because he grew up poor and embarrassed by his shack of a house and clothes his schoolmates made fun of.
He told me he was going to make sure his kids never had to deal with those issues.
He never regrets working so hard to do so.

I made the comment eariler in the thread that my DH would never go onto the Disboards, not because he's a snob... He loves WDW! He feels his time is better spent learning new things in his profession. Stuff like that is hoe he got to the top.
However he loves to hear what new things are going on in the parks from me, that I learn here.

As he says.... "If it were easy, they wouldn't be paying me the big bucks".

 

[Galahad]

I didn't read through this entire thread, but the few pages I did are not entirely accurate about the salaries of physicians. My husband is still a resident so we make next to nothing, BUT, the average starting salary for his field (anesthesiology) is $220-$240K. That's for someone 1st year out of residency and about 95% of the time malpractice insurance is paid for by the employer if you work for a hospital. And that salary is based on working for a hospital. If you do a fellowship to specialize in peds, cardiac, or pain, which is just 1 more year past general anesthesia, your starting salary is way more than what I posted above.

Same is true for pretty much all the fields my husband's friends are in (which include general surgery, ophthamology, ENT, EMed). True, the friend in pediatrics won't start out that high, but many other fields make WAY more than that. Cardiothoracic surgeons, for example, start out over $400K. Interventional radiology is about the same. Orthopedics is another lucrative field, particulary cause you can open PT clinics as well.

But with that said, even though we will one day earn over $250K, we are voting for Obama. We live in Washington, DC where most people we know earn over $250K and they are all voting for Obama.

Oh, and about the DIS, my husband does read these boards often in the evenings when he's home. Never this board, mostly just the cruise board since that's what interests him most. He also reads a DirectTV board everyday as well. But, he's not home yet and it's 5:30. He's been gone since 5:30am. He'll be asleep by about 9pm. So not like he has tons of time to read the boards, but in his spare time he does.

DW is a high risk OB and I am an I.T. mid level manager at a large corporation. Our experience suggests that you may change your voting patterns in the next ten years. And it has nothing to do with your income.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Pretty good statement of how my life works.

Actually, my firm is better than most about stuff like that, but you're right; they own me.

Now, back to the salt mine.

Just trying to point out that you may make the money, but people who make this kind of money (1) probably start out with huge debt from school bills and (2) they do pay a price with their personal lives. I think some on the thread might think that people who make significantly more than they do sit around on their butts all day "being rich". I've seen the toll the long hours, days and weeks take on people and their families, so I just wanted people to realize you are working for this money.

I chose to have a job, others chose to have a career. You just need to know what works for you and your life plan.

 

[golfgal]

In the St. Louis area $250,000 is a VERY nice living. For the most part the cost of living here is much lower than coastal areas. My DH is in software sales and makes nowhere near $250,000 and he is the top salesman at his company. The fact is even if you live in a high cost of living area the majority of Americans make less than $250,000. You can complain about higher taxes if you want but in the end I think we will all pay higher taxes regardless of who wins next month. If you want to complain about paying higher taxes because you make a lot more than the average family you can but you will find few people who feel sorry for you. My parents will never clear $100,000 in a year, yet get taxed very heavily. They have no dependents, their house is paid off, and are a two income family. They get no tax breaks. Where is the uproar for them? They aren't alone. Many of their friends are in the same position.

Keep in mind that Missouri is a very inexpensive place to live. My Dad lives in a suburb of St. Louis. His house there is valued at about $225,000, here his house would be valued at about $550,000. That is a HUGE difference. The reason you don't see the higher salaries is because people can live in your area for much less then that and companies don't have to pay as much. Take a sales person in our are and offer them $250,000 and they will laugh in your face.

Your "reality" and your definition of a "good salary" are much much different from the vast majority of people in this country.
To be clear, I have nothing against rich people. And I certainly don't think you should have to pay anyone else's share. When it comes to taxes, I am very conservative. IMO, rich people are already paying way more than their fair share of this country's taxes and I find it extremely aggravating to hear liberals talk about how the rich need to pay their fare share. Are you kidding me? They're already paying the vast majority of the income taxes.

But to say that you make way past $250k and you're not rich is an absolutely ridiculous statement. Think about it for a minute. You're making WAY MORE than 98% of the people in this country, but you're not rich? I guess everyone has their own definition, but IMO, you're crazy if you consider being in the top 2% to be "middle class".

The median household income in the US is around 50k. You make WAY MORE than 5 times that amount, but you're not rich?

When it comes to a definition of a "good salary", I guess that's subjective too. The average salary in the U.S. is about 40k.

From what I've read so far on this thread, I think I need to start looking at sales and consulting positions in my field. I'm a senior software developer with 7 years of experience and I'm still pretty far below 100k. The only people I know in my field who make over 100k are in management or have started their own consulting companies.

Yes, those are AVERAGES. Keep in mind in Texas our house would sell for about $100,000 here it is in the $400,000 range. You can have a nice living in Texas for $100,000 but here is is below average. Take an expensive place to live like San Diego and $100,000 puts you at poverty level. We are not rich, maybe if we lived where you live and made the same we would be rich, but not here.

 

[justhat]

DW is a high risk OB and I am an I.T. mid level manager at a large corporation. Our experience suggests that you may change your voting patterns in the next ten years. And it has nothing to do with your income.

That I doubt. I come from a family of union laborers, I don't think anything can make me vote republican, barring some freak, extreme circumstances. My husband, otoh, had the opposite experience and though he votes democratic (unlike everyone else in his family) he does like things from both sides.

 

[Charade]

And what some Republicans won't acknowledge is that if the average worker gets to keep more of their wages then they will have more money to spend at those small businesses. Trickle up theory. It is about time that we gave that a try.

We've known that for years.