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52, never married/no kids, currently living in a LCOL part of Nevada (rural area south of Vegas). I WFH and make $32/hour to edit archaeological and historic properties reports for compliance with federal and state laws.

Spent 25 years in local newspapers getting paid dogshit wages, so I'm way behind on retirement (the last paper I worked at, the 401k match was basically "Eh, we can give you a hundred bucks this year") and pretty much resigned to working until I'm 70 to maximize the Social Security monthly check. Was told to leave 4 years ago and ended up changing industries. Nice thing is the new place is an ESOP company so that gives me an additional source of retirement funds I otherwise wouldn't have had. But right now I'm trying to put every spare dime into a Roth IRA and online brokerage, and I'm contributing more than the company match to the 401k, trying to make up for lost time.

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vixenlion@reddit

My dad work for a newspaper in Indiana for 35 years.

He had a nice pension.

Gen X got screwed first on the pensions

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Cubbance@reddit

I'm a 51 Male, in Kansas City, MO. So, LCOL. I work in a hospital as an Epilepsy Monitor Tech, and I make around 48k? Not much. My 401k is at like 70k. I'm basically screwed. My retirement plan consists entirely of dying at work so my brother doesn't have to discover my body. Hopefully I die at the beginning of the shift rather than the end, because it would suck to put in a whole day that I'm not going to end up getting paid for lol.

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vixenlion@reddit

Yours is the first comment.

I have a 10th of that in my 401k and we are similar age…

I feel like a bum.

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peekedtoosoon@reddit

56(M), Tipperary, Ireland Self-Employed Engineer WFH €50/hr €500k in pension pot

Melodic_Scallion_578@reddit

I will call into work dead.

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Luggage-of-Rincewind@reddit

Think I’ll need to too - to pay for the hole in the ground or box of matches. 😳

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Impressive-Reach-793@reddit

Fam of 5, hubs and I work ft, making $200k in hcol nj. Firmly Middle class. $350,-400k in 401k

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RevBeardman@reddit

48, married, spouse is not employed.

LCOL part of a HCOL state.

Currently circa $90k salary. Less than $20k savings, no 401k.

Own home with the bank but will be out of mortgage w/in next 5 years. Also have half equity (with sibling) in family home.

Retirement plans amount to crawling off into the woods to die or dropping dead at work. Hopefully the former.

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New-Caterpillar6747@reddit

I feel you with the retirement plan.

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OTF98121@reddit

53 single F, lives in a VHCOL west coast city. I used to make $120k a year, but I’ve been on disability for 1.5 years and only earn 60k now. Aside from disability, I have $850k in a brokerage account, $400k in a 401k, $100k in a pension, $100k in cash savings that I supplement my disability with, and 60% equity in a $900k house.

Character-Salary634@reddit

Yep.... I've worked too hard for too little pay.... Good grief... "Be an Engineer! ..they said"

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Seecue7130@reddit

Samesies!

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genx_meshugana@reddit

My hourly is 58 and change, but I work a ton of OT, so my yearly is between 180-200/year.

I'm still on track for working until I'm dead, because I spent most of a decade owning a restaurant, and I'm still paying for those debts 5 years after closing. Only in the past 4 years did I start a 401k.

My only saving grace might be VA disability, if I can ever get the guts to finish the process. (multiple SAs, no documentation of it, long process to prove...)

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58 just retired making $108k in SoCal. $892k in retirement between 401k, brokerage and savings. Taking SS at 64 @ $30k per year.

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Sudo_Incognito@reddit

Broke evidently.

😂 23 years as a public school teacher. Master's+30, 3 certs, 3 AP certs, extra duty daily, work summer except for 3 weeks - I'm all the way up to 65k a year!

But I heard on the news that teachers are overpaid.

Dallas area. High Cost of Living. I’m 60 and my wife is 55. We want to retire together in five years, when I turn 65.

My wife and I make $100K a year combined. Three kids.

Even_Competition_954@reddit

The number of people here who think that ’hackers’ can steal their identities from a number and state on a Reddit post confirms just how close to Boomers we actually are.

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Pleasant-Minute-1793@reddit

Like 99% of people here’s SSN, dob, etc etc were leaked and hacked long before now.

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midnightmomma20@reddit

Leaked?!? That was basically my school ID.

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ezgomer@reddit

“they” already know anyway so what does it matter

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Initial_Project_7592@reddit

$150k salary in MN, soon to be in KY

This is depressing & certainly not something we could have ever foreseen. I'm sorry this happened to you.

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Btt3r_blu3@reddit

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Sad_Jellyfish4394@reddit

Ky 64k a year found my forever job late but might be able to retire at 67- im 50. Will own my modest home and hopefully my car before that and have been squirreling away anything I can.

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Sleep-Improvement613@reddit (OP)

Is your job guaranteed? I thought I was going to retire from my former employer, a fortune 10 company but they decided to lay people off a couple of years ago

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Sad_Jellyfish4394@reddit

I work for the commonwealth. So as long as people need help (snap and medical) i will have a job unless i really screw something up. And i royally have to mess something up.

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Neat_Point1061@reddit

$100,000 per year. Husband appx $200,000 per year. Total, $300,000 per year. It does vary b/c entertainment business is up and down. My income is fixed. His varies. He didn't work for about 2 years, so you can take that income and divide by 4 to get the true income. (counting 2 years of unemployment + 2 years of working on that wage.) Getting out of debt is really hard.

Are we doing good? Heck no. Late in life bought a house in a major metropolitan city, and we put in all our savings. We are house-poor. Plus we have a child in grade school. Childcare is expensive.

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bodhi471@reddit

I work full time and make enough to cover my basic bills. No savings other than a public employees pension that is miniscule.

Professional_Ruin_24@reddit

Yeah but you’re also on the younger side of Gen X

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TrainingLow9079@reddit

I doubt my salary will ever increase much in my field...

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GophergutzRedd@reddit

MCOL (for now...it's Florida). Make about $135k. Some of that is bonuses which have decreased since the economy has slowed down. I'm making more money than I ever have, but still end up with $100 in my account the day before payday. Mo money, mo problems I guess. I have some retirement and other investments so it's not completely bleak. Never really thought about retiring early until recently and now it's all I can think about, LOL. Wish I'd started saving a long time ago so I could get out of this rat race.

will retire at 62 with a pension and ~ $1.5m in a retirement account barring an economic crash.

Well about that last bit, good luck out there.

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Curious_Bicycle_@reddit

I agree that we should all be talking about wages and incomes I just can’t decide if this is a bot. It’s totally something my nosey over sharing GenX ass would jump into but it’s a little sus lol

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Taway_rentalquery@reddit

59M. NoCal HCOL. Salary including base, bonus and RSU’s is around $4.5 to $5 million per year. I am retiring at the end of 2026. Fingers crossed NW should be around $38M when I retire.

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Training-Finish-2754@reddit

Are you single? J/K🤣🤣

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Kylearean@reddit

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Candor10@reddit

We're all praying for you.

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Taway_rentalquery@reddit

LOL, I probably should have rephrased that. The "fingers crossed" had more to do with as recently as February I was on a trajectory for that number and then Iran happened. I am hoping things normalize back by the time I retire. If they don't I will be fine. I realize I am very fortunate.

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cruisereg@reddit

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I get that but I’ve never seen a security question asking how much you make a year. Besides wouldn’t the people need to know your email and/or username for the websites? I still don’t see how an anonymous post showing your income would get anyone anywhere.

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kangadac@reddit

I was thinking of the mother's maiden name, elementary school, first pet, etc., questions elsewhere.

CommanderSincler@reddit

You mean I was being original in putting down "Sesane"??

Aw crap, shouldn't have said that

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Mortimer452@reddit

I used to feel that way. Then I got a manager position in IT and saw the shenanigans going on with payroll and salary negotiations. Salary ranges amongst similar employees was absolutely wild - one software dev making $55k and another at $90k with similar experience/skills.

They just made up different titles for everyone to avoid labor law issues (two people with same title making vastly different salaries). One would be "Software Developer" another would be "ERP Software Developer" another "Software Engineer II" etc.

The ex is gonna take a bite, but I'll be able to at least get 50% of my high 5 years for myself. Divorce is worth it, especially when you find THAT person who is a true partner.

We grew up poor, so we don't need much except a little lot with room for a well placed garden.

The plan is to travel between growing seasons. And to live a sustainable life.

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Traditional_Tank_540@reddit

Retired a couple years ago at 54. Woo-hoo

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pickleddresser@reddit

45, Virginia, making 20 an hour. The most I've ever made in my life. College educated too. Last year made about 40k with OT. Spouse & I broke 100k last year for the first time.

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Holiday-Lawfulness30@reddit

51 single F with $196,000 salary in HCOL area. Medical/dental/3% 401k match and 3% employer contribution to 401(A). I'll get about $2700/mo in pension. House will be paid off in 4 years. Only $465k in 401k right now, but that's growing with higher contributions. I'll love to retire early but Fidelity tells me it's not an option before 65. I hope they're wrong.

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AJLindy@reddit

Was making 90k in customer support. Been laid off now for exactly 9 months today. incredible.

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-CanisLupusLycaon-@reddit

Having adult conversations about salary/income really needs to be normalized. Corporations take advantage of our self imposed taboo and get away with paying employees much less than they should by having us run around “afraid” to speak about our income.

R67H@reddit

56 M divorced wage slave in HCOL state. $63/hr with fully paid medical, 401k & Roth with under $200k, and pension. I still rent. My brother is in the same position. I'm confortable, healthy and love my job. After retirement in 9 years I'll probably go into sub teaching or something, just to keep busy between backpacking and fishing.

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DryFoundation2323@reddit

Retired at 54. Currently 58. Pull about 70k US in pension. Also have a 457 plan to supplement expenses. When I hit 62, pulling socialist insecurity before it dries up

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Tamsin72@reddit

53F, middle cost of living area, teacher on the top step 118k per year but after teaching summer school, afterschool, and coaching I'm up to $145k. Retiring at 55 with a pension of $80k and $300kish in savings.

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buffs1876@reddit

$280k between the wife and I. Our savings has gotten wiped out multiple times. I'll work until I'm dead.

exitcode137@reddit

If you’re going to have medical insurance that pays for almost nothing, have you tried the ACA marketplace? $3,000/month for insurance that covers almost nothing is garbage.

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kangadac@reddit

That *is* the ACA marketplace, sadly. We're in a medical desert in my area (both providers and insurers). CHI (Catholic Health Initiatives) has been buying up competition and shutting it down or merging them into their conglomerate.

My (small) company was on Aetna, but could no longer afford their rates. We switched to an HRA (health reimbursement arrangement) where we buy plans on the ACA marketplace and the company provides a stipend that offsets a bit of that cost: $800/month. The main plan here (Regence, Blue Shield) \~$3k/month for my family, and that's only a silver plan; the gold plan was well north of $4k.

60 yr old 250k + bonus + equity 1.5 mill in 401 k

500k equity in my home.

Ok-Mention6768@reddit

I'm about the same age. I also work in a warehouse facility in the upper Midwest. But you are earning more money than I am! It's not the salary that depresses me. It's what has happened to my aging, aching body...

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Extreme-Amount-9689@reddit

And yes, I feel like I’m stuck because I’m getting older.

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Extreme-Amount-9689@reddit

Well my base salary is 54k. I worked some overtime to hit 64k last year.

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grey_canvas_@reddit

I work for the government and make like $25 an hour - with a degree.

$105k-110k. LCOL in the Deep South, it’s affordable but a cultural desert and that’s gotten old. I miss food and diversity in general. Hard part is a made the same money 20 years ago but in a HCOL area. The trade offs we make…

TheOriginal_858-3403@reddit

I have a small pension that will give me about $60k at 62 when I plan to retire

Is that $60k/year? That's small? And with only 4 months vested?? Somethings not making sense here. I have a actual small pension form the hospital I work at. It was a defined benefit pension that I had about 12 years in when they switched it to a defined contribution plan. I will net about $1200/month (about $15k/year) when I retire at 62. It will barely cover my property tax here in central NJ. I have 401k/403b's to make up for the rest. I hope to have near $2mil in those by the time I give up.

Tl;dr - $60k/yr is not that small of a pension, especially with only 4 months into it.

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Hi-itsme-@reddit

I wish! Sorry it wasn’t clear, the pension was discontinued shortly after I began working there so I was only able to have it for a few months. So at retirement it will be worth $60k as a lump sum or a small annuity payment monthly upon retirement.

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TheOriginal_858-3403@reddit

Oh, that's different. Yikes. $900K isn't terrible though. Maybe work a few hours a week at a job you might enjoy just to make a few hundred a month. Spend wisely. Die early. These are all options available to you. Good luck.

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Hi-itsme-@reddit

Yes, I am definitely going in thinking about doing something part time as well, but it must be a low stress job as im in a moderately stressful role now so whatever it is, it has to be easy and something where I clock out, I clock OUT if you know what I mean! I will not take anything that requires a work phone hah.

But if I downsize the large home and buy all cash or close to it, I’m just going to take what I have been spending there and add to contributions for the next 12 years.

I’m kind of middle of the pack when compared to my peer group, I suppose. But at least I have the house to leverage a down size, I realize that puts me in a more advantageous position than so many others.

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TheOriginal_858-3403@reddit

I don't know where you live, but in NJ there are endless jobs available to do mindless shit for low pay. I'll line up the soup cans for $17/hr, especially if I can do it with an earbud in. Fired? Oh well, move on to the next job. Even delivering pizza pays okayish, at least around here.

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HCOL, salary is a bit less than half of my area's median household income, but I have ways of making it work. I have <100k in retirement savings but almost all of that has happened in the last 3-4 years, so with planning to work until my mid 70s I figure I'm okay.

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jkepros@reddit

46, HCOL. $170K a year for me. A little less for my husband. Will get $20k/year pension from when I was a teacher and current job has a defined benefit pension that will give me roughly $100K a year. We have about $1M in savings/retirement savings.

Adventurous_Class_90@reddit

It’s been a rough couple years since Q4’24. Clients pulled back on spending in the run up to the election. Then they held spending because of the tariff threats. Then the tariffs and spending holds. That’s not even counting my non-profit clients who donations dry up.

I managed to get a couple MRR clients not quite in my area of expertise but it is deeply discounted over my regular rate.

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taumeson@reddit

48, MCOL, $300k HHI, $600k retirement.

Big family, big house, big cars, college tuition - big expenses. HHI was about $170k-$200k for a long time with young kids and stay at home mom.

47, I make the equivalent of around US$110k. But I support my boyfriend who only makes around US$35k and this is Canada so real estate and col in our area is very expensive. But we are doing okay.

The one thing I have going is an inflation protected defined benefits pension. With me splitting my pension with my boyfriend I should end up in the same place financially given lower taxes. I have some savings on the side. Aiming to reach maybe 350k by then.

56 yo. Live in the northeast tri-state area. Was making 65K plus bonus annually bringing me to about 80 K. Then 2 1/2 years ago had my salary cut to 35K and no bonus. Can’t leave because we can’t risk losing the benefits, but I end up taking home almost 0 in order to cover benefits and FSA account. Spouse 61yo. Makes about 220 K. Retirement and investment accounts bring us close to about 2 million.

We do not feel relaxed about any of this as we have a high school age son who will be going to university. Very uneasy in terms of job stability and living in the red all the time.

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freshcoffeegrounds@reddit

New Jersey, ER doctor. I make a lot of money and work 27 hours a week (3 shifts of 9 hours on a set Mon Tues Wed night set schedule). I could make more if I pick up more shifts but 4 day weekend is worth more to me. I have about 2.5 mill in retirement and I'm 50. I maxed out our 403b and 457 every year. I have young kids and 9 years left on my mortgage so I'm working full time til I'm 60 then prob cut down to 1-2 shifts a week and then down more maybe per diem in my mid 60s. I consider myself lucky and I worked extremely hard to get where I'm at, basically erased 9 years of my life after college for med school and residency.

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Alternative-Law4626@reddit

Relatively comparable, but one probably older at 61. Also burned about 14 years starting at 17. 5 years in the Army. 4 years undergrad, 3 years law school and passing the bar. Practiced 2 years and taught myself tech in the 1990s. That ended up being my career.

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Beneficial_Pickle322@reddit

53 Midwest, currently making about 400k in banking, I just got this high salary a few years ago. Previously I was making 200k or so. looking to step back soon to reduce stress, new comp will be 260k I’ll retire in 3 years.

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IsLying@reddit

u/sodomeyes what makes you think anyone is telling the truth?

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ksgar77@reddit

In a LCOL city and make $80k as a teacher. I have some of my own retirement but also will get a nice pension at 62. I’m feeling pretty good about it and do better than most in this area.

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Final-Maybe5065@reddit

55yo VHCOL. $175k/yr, Wife 90k/yr. Retirement savings and accounts ~$1.1mil, another ~700k in equity in our homes.

i finally have a stable job within this past month at least.

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ezgomer@reddit

50, Texas, MCOL, $120k in healthcare.

Wow. I went down the list quite a bit and looked like I'm the only Canadian so far.

Early 50s, law enforcement on the corrections side, $108k plus unlimited overtime of we want. In Canada our corrections is all government run, not privatized. So I've got a government pension and benefits for life. Technically I have 6.5 years until retirement, but I made a dumb move in my 40s and have just about 10 years on our mortgage left. On the upside we have no kids. We've started talking about what we're going to do and anything is possible. Heck we've even talked about selling everything off and moving to Bali.

49m 133k/y prior military for 10 years, born in the Midwest, living in S. Korea currently working in cybersecurity.

How much money do I make? Enough to party.

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UK, 56m.

Up until 2018, I had telecoms job rising to £52k + 20% bonus at a UK tier 1 telco.

I left to join a telecoms start-up for £78k, no bonus.

Start-up was acquired by a tech giant in 2020, salary has steadily increased to £92k + £5.5k car allowance, the bonus varies but the last 2 years have been good at 25% cash bonus and £10k stock. In UK terms a lot of people would see this as excellent, especially in the provinces (I'm in South Wales).

I'm way behind on retirement I think, despite paying in steadily for 30 years, though retirement could be enforced sooner than I'd like, at least from high-earning jobs. With a fair wind I'll pay off the mortgage with stock and luck (£80k left). I'll need something above minimum wage (£25k) to keep our head above water for sure.

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rundabrun@reddit

Mexico. Around $10,000 usd per year, no retirement.

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disco_duck2004@reddit

Ohio - last year I made $215k