$30/hr is considered "high earnings"?

[LAM]

400k is exec or high level consultants fees.

Guys on the tools may pull half that, but generally under

and they EARN and DESERVE every single dollar, there are no easy jobs out there for those guys on the tools.

 

[theCaptn']

No argument from me

 

[oufinny]

Let's see some evidence of this....98% of america would be trying to become "tool hand"....whatever that is if it paid 400k+ a year..

I work in pipeline construction and our welders can make between $5-6K a week, that is pretty standard for them with the hours, pay for their rigs and per diem. Mind you these are the highest paid people on our job site. I doubt there are guys on rigs making that crazy $16K every two weeks, many friends worked offshore and they had good jobs, not THAT good though. I will say this, most of the guys that make the big money in my industry have a pretty hard job, are never at home, live out of a travel trailer and have no guarantee of work after a given project is finished.

 

[maniclion]

I work in pipeline construction and our welders can make between $5-6K a week, that is pretty standard for them with the hours, pay for their rigs and per diem. Mind you these are the highest paid people on our job site. I doubt there are guys on rigs making that crazy $16K every two weeks, many friends worked offshore and they had good jobs, not THAT good though. I will say this, most of the guys that make the big money in my industry have a pretty hard job, are never at home, live out of a travel trailer and have no guarantee of work after a given project is finished.

Plus your body can't handle that back breaking abuse for very many years, hopefully these guys are investing that money wisely and not blowing it right away...

 

[LAM]

I work in pipeline construction and our welders can make between $5-6K a week, that is pretty standard for them with the hours, pay for their rigs and per diem. Mind you these are the highest paid people on our job site. I doubt there are guys on rigs making that crazy $16K every two weeks, many friends worked offshore and they had good jobs, not THAT good though. I will say this, most of the guys that make the big money in my industry have a pretty hard job, are never at home, live out of a travel trailer and have no guarantee of work after a given project is finished.

I know 2 brothers from high school that went into underwater welding they didn't last more than about 10+ years.

 

[oufinny]

Plus your body can't handle that back breaking abuse for very many years, hopefully these guys are investing that money wisely and not blowing it right away...

The smart ones do that plan to do it long term. It's the drugs that many get on to deal with the fatigue that is the issue. I will say they have nice toys: guns, trucks, race cars, knives, four wheelers, did I mention guns? It's not my chosen profession but a lot of them didn't get an education and its a pretty solid job considering the circumstances many grew up in.

 

[oufinny]

I know 2 brothers from high school that went into underwater welding they didn't last more than about 10+ years.

This is like saturation diving; you don't last all that long but the money is insane. Sat divers can easily clear $250K in a year but most are fucked up in the head to some degree, have a story about how they almost died at least once and who wants to be in a sat chamber for weeks on end with a bunch of dudes that's a whopping 200 square feet.

 

[theCaptn']

The smart ones do that plan to do it long term. It's the drugs that many get on to deal with the fatigue that is the issue. I will say they have nice toys: guns, trucks, race cars, knives, four wheelers, did I mention guns? It's not my chosen profession but a lot of them didn't get an education and its a pretty solid job considering the circumstances many grew up in.

The smart ones become trainers

 

[Zaphod]

I made a lateral move at work with strong potential to move a bit higher up. The guy who works for me now makes less than the co-ops and interns and he works his ass off every day. The co-ops and interns generally end up as light labor for the engineers who can't stand the feel of oil and grease on their own hands.

 

[sofargone561]

rich ass mother fuckers. i make FAR less then $30 an hour

 

[OfficerFarva]

rich ass mother fuckers. i make FAR less then $30 an hour

Well instead of spending so much time trying to get free gearz you could go and hit the books and edumicate yourself for something better

 

[LAM]

$30 an hour isn't shit! Making money is a constant grind. I work VERY hard and it pays off. If you put the time in, the money will come.

people don't realize just how little the dollars goes today because of the cumulative effect of inflation. US goods are now produced so cheaply and of such low quality you can still even purchase stuff with the toilet paper dollar.

$30 in 2013 = $16 in 1990's dollars, that's freaking awesome! you get to pay double for the same amount of stuff.

 

[Curt James]

people don't realize just how little the dollars goes today because of the cumulative effect of inflation. US goods are now produced so cheaply and of such low quality you can still even purchase stuff with the toilet paper dollar.

$30 in 2013 = $16 in 1990's dollars, that's freaking awesome! you get to pay double for the same amount of stuff.

You and your facts.

 

[OfficerFarva]

I'm familiar with the oil industry...Petroleum Engineers aren't pulling 400k a year...nobody on there tools is pulling 400k a year...

Granted the oil fields pay well...but not that well..

The guys on salary might not make that much but hourly guys can easily. In my field of work guys straight out of school start at a little over 100k a year than with bonuses, incentives, travel pay, etc. they're easily making over 170k and with a little overtime 200k. With a few years experience they can hit 300+. And contractors from all sorts of different fields can make a good pile easily too. My one buddy is a heavy duty mechanic and a while ago he bought some shitty ass old mobile truck. He contracts himself out for $130 an hour and during the winter (so for about 6 months) he works 12+ hours a day, usually for a month at a time, takes 4 days off and repeats. These contractors are technically a small business too so they hardly get taxed anything.

 

[LAM]

You and your facts.

if the US gov didn't subsidize foods and energy, etc. a good portion of the bottom 50% couldn't afford to purchase them on their own.

 

[tech123]

if the US gov didn't subsidize foods and energy, etc. a good portion of the bottom 50% couldn't afford to purchase them on their own.

I didn't realize the gov subsidizes energy, but if they do, I assume they do so with tax dollars. Meaning taxpayers are paying for the subsidies that make it tenable for low wage earners to get by. Seems like an okay plan to me.

 

[tech123]

The guys on salary might not make that much but hourly guys can easily. In my field of work guys straight out of school start at a little over 100k a year than with bonuses, incentives, travel pay, etc. they're easily making over 170k and with a little overtime 200k. With a few years experience they can hit 300+. And contractors from all sorts of different fields can make a good pile easily too. My one buddy is a heavy duty mechanic and a while ago he bought some shitty ass old mobile truck. He contracts himself out for $130 an hour and during the winter (so for about 6 months) he works 12+ hours a day, usually for a month at a time, takes 4 days off and repeats. These contractors are technically a small business too so they hardly get taxed anything.

Unless there are special tax considerations for this type of work, I assure you small business owners making 2-300k are getting taxed quite a bit.

If I started a sub-s corp and had a 1099 relationship with a company, and they paid me 300k, I'd be responsible for employer and employee side FICA (7.65+7.65 = 15.3%) just to start. Then I get to deduct business expenses and pay federal income tax at the tax rate for whatever my adjusted gross income is. So if I had 100k in deductions to take my AGI to 200k, I'm still paying a lot. Here's just a basic example assuming someone made 300k gross, had enough deductions to get their FIT taxable income down to 200k:

Assuming Married, with 200000 FIT AGI


FIT Withholding (Annually) = 28457.50 + (200000 - 154700 = 45300*0.28) = $41141.50

FICA Withholding (Annually) - assuming 300k taxable

SSI = 6.2% Employer, 6.2% Employee on first $113,700 = $14098.80


OASDI = 1.45% Employer, 1.45% Employee on first $200,000 = $5800.00
+ 1.54% Employee, 1.45% Employer on amounts over $200.000 = $2990.00

------------
Total = $64030.30 Taxes

 

[OfficerFarva]

Unless there are special tax considerations for this type of work, I assure you small business owners making 2-300k are getting taxed quite a bit.

If I started a sub-s corp and had a 1099 relationship with a company, and they paid me 300k, I'd be responsible for employer and employee side FICA (7.65+7.65 = 15.3%) just to start. Then I get to deduct business expenses and pay federal income tax at the tax rate for whatever my adjusted gross income is. So if I had 100k in deductions to take my AGI to 200k, I'm still paying a lot. Here's just a basic example assuming someone made 300k gross, had enough deductions to get their FIT taxable income down to 200k:

Assuming Married, with 200000 FIT AGI


FIT Withholding (Annually) = 28457.50 + (200000 - 154700 = 45300*0.28) = $41141.50

FICA Withholding (Annually) - assuming 300k taxable

SSI = 6.2% Employer, 6.2% Employee on first $113,700 = $14098.80


OASDI = 1.45% Employer, 1.45% Employee on first $200,000 = $5800.00
+ 1.54% Employee, 1.45% Employer on amounts over $200.000 = $2990.00

------------
Total = $64030.30 Taxes

Lol, like I said they hardly get taxed anything. I wish I only paid 30% into taxes. Lets not forget that they'll be able to claim those business expenses and get most of what they paid into taxes back..

 

[LAM]

Unless there are special tax considerations for this type of work, I assure you small business owners making 2-300k are getting taxed quite a bit.

If I started a sub-s corp and had a 1099 relationship with a company, and they paid me 300k, I'd be responsible for employer and employee side FICA (7.65+7.65 = 15.3%) just to start. Then I get to deduct business expenses and pay federal income tax at the tax rate for whatever my adjusted gross income is. So if I had 100k in deductions to take my AGI to 200k, I'm still paying a lot. Here's just a basic example assuming someone made 300k gross, had enough deductions to get their FIT taxable income down to 200k:

Assuming Married, with 200000 FIT AGI


FIT Withholding (Annually) = 28457.50 + (200000 - 154700 = 45300*0.28) = $41141.50

FICA Withholding (Annually) - assuming 300k taxable

SSI = 6.2% Employer, 6.2% Employee on first $113,700 = $14098.80


OASDI = 1.45% Employer, 1.45% Employee on first $200,000 = $5800.00
+ 1.54% Employee, 1.45% Employer on amounts over $200.000 = $2990.00

------------
Total = $64030.30 Taxes

sole proprietors don't have to pay taxes as both the employer and employee side and you would only have to pay federal income tax on the net income and possibly some state taxes depending on where you live.

 

[BigWorm]

Its all in how you look at the numbers. At $30/hr and 40 hours a week your at the $62K figure which most people with some disposable income would be very meh towards. However take a salary guy who makes $90k a year but because of the modern world of smart phones and tablets probably puts in closer to 55-60hrs a week and that $90K gets down to around $30 an hour since he is salary and not making anything for those extra hours. Then start mixing in figures like pensions, matching 401K, medical benefits and the guy making $62K could in essence be receiving well over 100K in "compensation." So many factors that are not accounted for which end up making a figure like hourly wage a BS# that doesn't represent/correlate to anything meaningful.

 

[sofargone561]

Well instead of spending so much time trying to get free gearz you could go and hit the books and edumicate yourself for something better

lol well ui love me some free gears! but im young so that helps as wll if i was 40 making what i make now i would off myself and i just started school back up =) im looking forward to huge student loan debts =p

 

[LAM]

either way you look at it you have to look at the purchasing power of the dollar and what it's worth today not what "it used to be worth".

cumulative inflation on the USD is 25% every decade so in 20 years that same dollar buys half as much.