I read a salary survey recently for people in my career field. It was broken up into lots of different categories, by age, by education, by size of company, by region, by number of employees supervised, by number of professional certifications. It was just a little discouraging. I read that I just entered the decade where I should be earning my highest lifetime salary. (Age does have some benefits.) I was a little low in many of the categories, but fairly high for my region of the country. You can drive yourself crazy measuring yourself against those things. What matters is happiness, we all know that.
Still, I was pretty happy with my really good salary at my last job. I knew I was taking a bit of a pay cut when I switched jobs, despite taking a step up in position and responsibility, but I figured it would pay off over time. I would build my skills, and the raises would come. I didn't have to be the top earner in the state. What I didn't count on was the company being sold just as it was time for annual reviews and raises, and the new company taking well over a year before instituting annual reviews and raises. That means I have gone over 2 years with a stagnant salary and it will probably be another 6 months before I can even hope for a raise. In this economy I am very glad to have a job, but gas and food are up, college tuition is up, our aging house and cars are demanding repairs, our aging bodies and pets demand health care, and that all costs more than it used to.
Is there ever a day when you have enough money? We make more than average. Do we want more than average? It doesn't feel like it. We are able to pay our bills, send our kids to college, get the health care we need, repair our older cars when they break, but we certainly can't do everything we want, including replace the cars or take that much-wished-for trip to Europe. Still, those definitely fall in the "want" category.
So I'm left in that curious position of knowing I'm darn lucky to have a good job, a good salary, everything I need and then some, yet wanting more and feeling guilty for wanting it. It's not acceptable to want more when you're middle-aged, it seems. We are supposed to count our blessings, be the example, be thankful, and be happy. WellI do, I am, I very much am, and I am. But I still want more and I strive for more and I will get more.
It's OK to pursue the American dream our whole lives, as long as we keep things in perspective. I still give to charity, donate time, money and energy to many different causes, work hard, and I still expect more out of life.
Many empty nesters are down-sizing and simplifying their lives. Not me--my nest is still being built. I'm not finished yet. We just refinanced our house and had to pay a chunk of money to get the terms we wanted; I think that is why money is on my mind. However, we cut 9 years and more than 2% interest off of our loan. There, I feel better already. The belt may be tight today but tomorrow is another day. Europe will still be there when I'm ready to go.
