Friday, March 24, 2006

How much money does your neighbor make?

Have you ever wondered what the guy next door is making? In my neighborhood, salary talk never comes up for some reason. You never ask "how's the kids and what kind of money do you make?. " Actually, if someone does automatically provides you with how much money they make, you may look at them in a strange way.

Parade magazine has a great article about this topic. Please read it when you get a chance by clicking on the link.

One of the things this article proves is that education is king. "Education is vital to getting a good job. On average, full-time workers with a high school diploma earn $585 a week; those with a college degree earn $1,029. Men with advanced degrees make $2,887 or more; women make $1,997 or more". In Central Florida, many opportunities are available but without the proper training and education, you can not get these jobs.

A lot of you already work at great companies but feel like you are not getting ahead. Make sure that you take advantage of any in-house training, tuition reimbursement programs or company sponsored training so you can gain the knowledge need to get to the next level. Amazingly, when asked, people claim they don't have the time to do this. Hopefully, the reality of the paycheck and your job satisfaction will be worth the sacrifice.

Here are the medium weekly wages in 2005.

2005 Median Weekly WagesPetroleum
engineers: $1,923
Actuaries: $1,639
Lawyers: $1,609
Economists: $1,569
Chiropractors: $1,531
Aerospace engineers: $1,362
Medical and health-service managers: $1,089
Meeting and convention planners:$912
Loan counselors and officers: $861
Elementary schoolteachers: $826
Funeral directors: $768
Social workers: $700
Pest-control workers: $508
Animal trainers: $482Actors: $481
Child-care workers: $332
Dishwashers: $296

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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