A raise.

[Winger Ed.]

I've seen it several times- People have a business rocking along to one degree or another where if they didn't,
they couldn't hold a job at the local gas station.

[country gent]

We had a shop here the owner built up was all big machines his brag was we can do what few others could. His band saw blades were 1 1/2" thick. Arrogant and self centered no one could be around him. If it wasnt online mail bids and emergency work hed have closed.

[Big Tom]

Well, it does not make a difference for you, but in our company me and the other C-level guys did not take our bonus payments, so we could actually pay the bonus of the rest of the organization. and no, it was not because we already made crazy base salaries. It hurt each of us financially, but it was the right thing to do... Point is, there are still good executives out there

The younger generation will put that in the context of the exponentially increasing pay rates for corporate officers, and then consider that it can be demonstrated that there is no correlation between CEO pay and company performance. Corporate officers are chosen based on social connections more so than competence. Corruption is severe in this world, and much more so for this younger generation.
*
I once received a 10% pay cut to forgo a layoff. Everyone had 10% of their hourly pay cut, except bonuses were not touched. Later, we found out that half of the CEO’s pay was a bonus. 40% of VP pay was bonus. So they lied - the lower you were in pay, the more of a pay cut you received. Corruption is severe in this world.

[Murphy]

Work, some things my father taught me.

"Never quit your job unless you have another one waiting for you"

"Don't worry about what the other guy is making, just take care of yourself"

"The man who brings home a paycheck every Friday, is the winner"

"Never, price yourself out of a job"

I spent 35 years on my last job, then retired. Debt free, 3 good vehicles, and a good home. Ain't rich, ain't poor. And that's about all I got to say about that.


Murphy

[shooterg]

I'm envious of those above that got paid for baling . Growing up on a farm, no pay for us 3 boys - maybe we were victims of child labor abuse ? lol. But we sure ate good ! Black Angus beef, country ham and sausage, homemade bread, lotsa eggs and baked goods/etc. Wouldn't trade the time for anything - but learned I did not want to be a farmer ! Did OK elsewhere - retired at 55(18 years ago) - don't even remember how much the last check was but had house and 80 acres paid for, reloading suppliesstocked and a good wife, great grandson, I'm happy as anyone has a right to be !

[dk17hmr]

Im 37 and work for a dot gov. Some of the biggest complainers about wages are 10-15 years older than me. It really comes down to they didn't save anything and thought their pensions would be enough. Now that they are only a handful of years away from retirement they are asking for advise on investing.

I have moved up rather quickly and am essentially in as high of a position that I can be in and still be able to be in the field. With each raise/promotion I have increased my investments. The dot gov agency I work for doesn't have a structured raise or cost of living increase and it's not uncommon to be 5-7 years between any sort of across the board increase. I just made myself more valuable to the department in that time and got promotions. I often tell my coworkers some days I'm over paid some days I'm underpaid but I almost never complain about my hourly rate.

[john.k]

Once you own your own house and are settled ,you are pretty stable ........young people who cant even think about buying a house,and pay half their pay in rent are permanently angry about everything........it wont end well.

[Idaho45guy]

Five years ago, my wage was pretty good for the area. Then, after the pandemic, Bidenomics, a flood of Californians moving in, and inflation, I am near the bottom of the economic scale. Minimum wage around here is now around $16 an hour and houses cost an average of $450k. Just to maintain my previous buying power, I would need around a $10 an hour raise.