An Australian woman has sparked heated debate about what is considered a “good” salary. Many used to think a six-figure income was a sign you’d “made it” but with the cost-of-living crisis pushing up everyday prices, some workers think they need much more money to live comfortably.
Financial content creator and associate adviser Hannah Elliott recently posed the question online and received hundreds of comments. The Gold Coast worker told Yahoo Finance she was “very surprised” at the variety of answers she received with responses going all the way up to $500,000 a year.
“Some people said they’d be happy on $80,000, whereas some said no less than $200,000 – it just goes to show that there is no cookie cutter answer when it comes to income,” she said.
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Others said they would be happy earning between $110,000 and $130,000 but it would depend on whether they had a HECS debt, or if they had a partner or kids to think about.
“I think there’s no right or wrong answer for what a ‘good’ income is, it’s definitely up to each individual and their lifestyle,” Elliott said.
“There are a lot of factors to consider, such as whether you have children, where you live and your health, to name just a few.”
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Following the viral debate, Elliott posted a follow-up question asking people who earned more than $120,000 a year to share what they did for work.
“So many people were saying that they would feel good, feel comfortable on around $120,000 [or] between $120,000 and $200,000,” she said.
Aussies were quick to share a variety of high-paying jobs across various industries.
“$350,000 — I work in Strategy and Projects in financial services. I have an MBA and I’m a single parent,” one wrote.
“$160,000 — radiographer, 4 years uni. But I did the degree at age 29. Never too late to change your career,” another shared.
“$129,00 currently, with room for growth. Social worker. I feel that this career is a great balance between doing something that feeds my soul, contributes positively to the community, and pays well enough,” a third said.
Other jobs included a project manager in mining on $250,000 a year, a senior project manager for the government on $125,000, a digital marketer on $160,000 and a cleaner on $250,000.
Some Aussies said they were on salaries well above $120,000 but still didn’t feel like they were “rich”.
“I’m on around $300,000 — own a real estate agency. Very comfortable lifestyle but I wouldn’t describe it as wealthy or rich. My partner is on $130,000 in sales. No kids, but a nice life,” one said.
“I’m on $165,000 in the Fed Govt and it’s still pay check to pay check a lot of the time,” another said.
“We’re on $600,000-700,000 combined but with three little kids we just feel comfortable. Don’t feel rich at all. Lawyer and RN [Registered Nurse]. Admittedly he earns $550,000-650,000 of that and I work part time,” a third added.
A Finder survey earlier this year revealed the average Aussie thought they needed to be earning $345,819 per year in order to feel “rich”. This was almost $10,000 more than the previous year.
That’s more than three times more than the average full-time worker’s income of $100,116 per year and more than five times the median Aussie wage of $67,600 per year.
Average figures can be skewed by higher-income earners, compared to the median.
Finder head of consumer research Graham Cooke said cost-of-living pressures meant a lot of people felt they couldn’t get by day to day.
“At every level right now, Australians are reporting feeling the pinch between their paycheque and everyday costs,” Cooke told Yahoo Finance.
“A lot of this is being driven by high inflation and a high cash rate.”
Elliott said the rising cost of living was a “huge” factor impacting what people considered a “good” salary compared to previous years.
“But I also feel there’s a lot more pay transparency nowadays. It’s possible some people have increased their standard of what a ‘good’ salary is after seeing what others are earning,” she said.
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