Author Topic: your salary - do you DESERVE it or does it motivate you?  (Read 908 times)

Offline AWMac

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your salary - do you DESERVE it or does it motivate you?
« Reply #15 on: January 20, 2007, 04:52:12 PM »
As soon as your born they make you feel small,
By giving you no time instead of it all,
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all,
A working class hero is something to be,

They hurt you at home and they hit you at school,
They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool,
Till you're so ****ing crazy you can't follow their rules,
A working class hero is something to be,

When they've tortured and scared you for twenty odd years,
Then they expect you to pick a career,
When you can't really function you're so full of fear,
A working class hero is something to be,

Keep you doped with religion and sex and tv,
And you think you're so clever and you're classless and free,
But you're still ****ing peasants as far as I can see,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.

There's room at the top they are telling you still,
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the fool on the hill,
A working class hero is something to be.
A working class hero is something to be.
If you want to be a hero, well just follow me...

:D

Mac

Offline Auger

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your salary - do you DESERVE it or does it motivate you?
« Reply #16 on: January 20, 2007, 05:05:01 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by eagl
I work harder, but it's because I owe something to someone, not because I particularly want to.


Dang, eagl, that sounds a lot like indenture.

I'm fortunate to work in a sector that is more like a hobby than a job.  I happened to find a vocation that also pays well.  It has provided a specific set of skills that companies need and will pay a fair sum to get done.  It doesn't feel like I'm entitled to my pay, it's just a nice bonus that comes with what I like to do.  The motivation to do better doesn't come from a desire for more $$$, but to be the best that I can be at it.

(If anyone is wondering, I work in Information Security.)

Offline Rolex

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your salary - do you DESERVE it or does it motivate you?
« Reply #17 on: January 20, 2007, 06:25:58 PM »
Total fringed compensation for field-grade officers isn't too shabby these days, is it eagl? I would guess that the average O-5, married with a couple of kids, would need to make about $140,000 in the civilian sector to have the same after-tax lifestyle.

There were times I thought I deserved more money, but hindsight has taught me that I was giving myself more credit than I deserved. There were times I almost went broke starting a business. I look back on it now and remember it as "exciting."

I've always enjoyed the chase. Not the chase for money, but chasing the job, idea, project or dream. The money will follow and reward us for our perserverance. I'm convinced I've made more money in the long run by focusing on the task than I would have made if I had focused on the money.

I know it sounds lofty, even cheesey to cynics, but "Message for Garcia."

Offline Mark Luper

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your salary - do you DESERVE it or does it motivate you?
« Reply #18 on: January 20, 2007, 06:30:11 PM »
Personally I love my job. It suits me to a "T". I am overpaid. I work long hours because I need more money than what I am paid on a regular workweek. I am not overworked at all. It is not physicaly challenging but can be mentaly challeging at times.

I am motivated by the fact it is the best job I've ever had and I like doing it.

Mark
MarkAT

Keep the shiny side up!

Offline Gh0stFT

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your salary - do you DESERVE it or does it motivate you?
« Reply #19 on: January 20, 2007, 06:52:25 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by eagl
I work harder, but it's because I owe something to someone, not because I particularly want to.
[/B]


looks like you work for the millitary? that would explain alot.
You should try to handle your own bussines in the free market,
there, there is only one way -> work harder & feed your family,
satisfy your wife or lose and complain for the rest of your life ;)
The statement below is true.
The statement above is false.

Offline Yknurd

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your salary - do you DESERVE it or does it motivate you?
« Reply #20 on: January 20, 2007, 06:57:17 PM »
I'm a gigolo...I earn it and deserve it both.
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Offline E25280

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your salary - do you DESERVE it or does it motivate you?
« Reply #21 on: January 20, 2007, 09:31:55 PM »
I was working for a company, doing something I loved to do.  They reorganized, looked like I could lose my job due to the headquarters moving to a different city, so I started looking.  Found out my salary was far too low for what I was doing.  I brought that up to my employer, pointed out they would have to pay a new hire more than they would be paying me if they let me keep my job +10%.  They said I could keep my job, but no on the +10%.

A couple months later, I found a similar job at another company.  When I told my company I was going to leave, wow, they suddenly found the +10% I had asked for and they originally refused to give.

And I asked them why I should pass up a +24% increase for their +10%?  Fools.

Bottom line, if you don't think you are paid enough, prove it like I did.  Find something that pays you what you think you are worth (or at least fair market value).  If you can, you win.  If you can't, then at least you'll know it and quit your bellyaching.;)
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Offline eagl

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your salary - do you DESERVE it or does it motivate you?
« Reply #22 on: January 20, 2007, 10:47:18 PM »
Rolex,

With flight pay and retention bonus, you're close but maybe a little high for your O-5 compensation guesstimate.  Without those additions, you're fairly high but still in the same general ballpark.

Moving every few years is a pretty significant financial hit too.  The military compensates me for moving expenses, but nothing can compensate for the fact that every time I buy and sell a house 3 years later, I lose a couple of grand and can't benefit from real estate valuation.  My first house ever, I bought for $94k, sold for $108k (about break-even after expenses and fees), and today the house is worth around $135, so that's about $41k in equity out of my pocket from that move, plus another few grand spent in closing expenses for my new house after my current move...  Ouch.  That can't even be written off my taxes.
Everyone I know, goes away, in the end.

Offline lukster

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your salary - do you DESERVE it or does it motivate you?
« Reply #23 on: January 20, 2007, 11:49:14 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Gh0stFT
looks like you work for the millitary? that would explain alot.
You should try to handle your own bussines in the free market,
there, there is only one way -> work harder & feed your family,
satisfy your wife or lose and complain for the rest of your life ;)


I did and do. Don't believe the military is without it's pressures also.

Offline rpm

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your salary - do you DESERVE it or does it motivate you?
« Reply #24 on: January 20, 2007, 11:50:30 PM »
My boss will not fix or replace broken equiptment until the state inspects us and requires the repair or they will shut us down. He has no worker's compensation coverage and always finds a way to get out of paying for OTJ injuries. He pays the absolute bare minimum wage he can get away with (only 1 person makes over $10 an hour). Raises are non-existant and bonuses are rarely paid even if the requirements are met. The only reason I still work there is to keep me occupied and for the health insurance (which I pay 100%, no employer contribution). So no, my salary is not a motivator and I'm paid about $10 an hour less than I would working the same job in Dallas. The upside is I don't have an hour commute to deal with.
My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives.
Stay thirsty my friends.

Offline Dago

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your salary - do you DESERVE it or does it motivate you?
« Reply #25 on: January 21, 2007, 12:29:42 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by eagl
Rolex,

With flight pay and retention bonus, you're close but maybe a little high for your O-5 compensation guesstimate.  Without those additions, you're fairly high but still in the same general ballpark.

Moving every few years is a pretty significant financial hit too.  The military compensates me for moving expenses, but nothing can compensate for the fact that every time I buy and sell a house 3 years later, I lose a couple of grand and can't benefit from real estate valuation.  My first house ever, I bought for $94k, sold for $108k (about break-even after expenses and fees), and today the house is worth around $135, so that's about $41k in equity out of my pocket from that move, plus another few grand spent in closing expenses for my new house after my current move...  Ouch.  That can't even be written off my taxes.


Just buy a house everywhere you go, and have some property management firm rent it out and manage it for you when you move.  In no time you will have plenty of properties you can't keep track of, plus some decent tax payments to deduct on your 1040.   :D
"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Offline eagl

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your salary - do you DESERVE it or does it motivate you?
« Reply #26 on: January 21, 2007, 12:40:05 AM »
My last 2 assignments were in the UK and Korea... Not gonna buy overseas.

I'd have kept my last US house except it was a bit of a maintenance problem due to shoddy original build quality, so I sold it to avoid a potential money pit situation while I was overseas.  It may have been ok but as one example, the roof design was so bad it was re-roofed 3 times and still leaked due to an overly complex design with too many angles that didn't have enough pitch, allowing ice dams to form in multiple locations.
« Last Edit: January 21, 2007, 12:42:28 AM by eagl »
Everyone I know, goes away, in the end.

Offline AWMac

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your salary - do you DESERVE it or does it motivate you?
« Reply #27 on: January 21, 2007, 01:08:05 AM »
eagl I'm having that prob now... roof sux.

I'd rather be in Korea.  But the IntARD net connection is bad.

I have a job everyone would love but I feel unhappy.

I work from home... log in to the FAA site.. read emails and wait to be called.

Play with the tools and stuff they gave me, review training films.

My Business Casual clothing is a Bathrobe, I pass two cats commuting to work.  Sweet money but I want more in life.  Sitting on my arse making $200.00 a day is boring... I feel like I'm backed into a corner.

Wish Haliburtion would have picked me up and sent me to Iraq...

Mac

Offline eagl

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your salary - do you DESERVE it or does it motivate you?
« Reply #28 on: January 21, 2007, 01:19:03 AM »
You need an outdoor hobby mac :)

Get into a routine... wake up, spend 2-3 hours on professional stuff like those training films, shower/dress and get ready to go out, then get out of the house.  Do anything other than sit around.

Radio control airplanes would be a great thing to do...  Electric would be easier to quickly tear down and toss into the car if you got a work call, but even gas isn't too bad.

But whatever you do, get out of the house as part of your routine.  Do ANYTHING, even if it's just going to a local park or mall to people watch.  Buy some sort of mobile computing device so you can "work" from your remote location...
Everyone I know, goes away, in the end.

Offline AWMac

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your salary - do you DESERVE it or does it motivate you?
« Reply #29 on: January 21, 2007, 01:23:54 AM »
Good advice Eagl...Thanks.

As soon as all the ice melts I'll do that.

I can't take to much more of Judge Judy anymore.  I need air.

Thanx Bud.

Mac