Hi all,

I have questions to people who is earning 5 figure salary or close to 5 fig. I may have type my sentence abit too short but i m expecting to read your experience on the point pertaining below. I appreciate your time for this.

1) As we are all experiencing throughout our career, started off from 2-3k freshie to 5 figure salary, what makes you push to this far?

2) Does money makes you happier? more fulfilling in your daily life? what do you aim to achieve?

3) What is the difference of your life earning RM8k that time and now maybe RM15K? what changes before and after?

4) What do you get from earning RM8k [before] than RM15k [now]? eg: new BMW or Mercedes. What is your point or goal in your life?

Thank you.

This post has been edited by demetry: Jul 3 2017, 05:29 PM

higher pay higher responbility = more stress given

agreed

now wan to get "weekend" also hard

the replies

keep it short and easy, when your salary reach certain figure, expectation and demand will also rise to different level, what make you push is the stress of losing it as you couldn't afford to lose those figure so you keep on alert about either maintain it or rising it.

I guess chasing salary is limited, chasing passive salary only will become limitless. The goal is to create income without working

Usually people that earns a lot but working for people, they only will notice how rich they are when the time they retired because they don't even have time to spend their money by working day and night.

More money doeant mean happiness. But it affotds u comfort, and confidence.

sky, how are you coping with ur daily work and your life quality when earning 5 fig? Are you enjoying your daily life?

Thanatos, are you an anon in forum? if yes, then appreciate your contribution.

1. Burden is the main cause, when you grow older, the responsibility become greater, such as family, loan, etc. which push you to have the desire to get higher pay

2. Not really, the only positive thing that I get is confidence, for example, when you at 2-3k salary, you will avoid mid- high end restaurant, but it become different when you are at 10k range

3. More money = less time, trying to protect your own personal time and family time, but the chances of failure become higher and higher

4. Maintain the living quality, not going for higher level, the extra you get every month goes to investment, to make sure you can have a better retirement life compare to others. For example, I afford to buy a 300k car, but i go for 30k car, save the extra and invest into other place

1) As we are all experiencing throughout our career, started off from 2-3k freshie to 5 figure salary, what makes you push to this far?
comfort of life, early retirement, so that can be trully YOLO style, need a house for new family.

2) Does money makes you happier? more fulfilling in your daily life? what do you aim to achieve?
depending on what i spent on, most of it make me happier except those forcefully needed to pay like government tax which i am unhappy with it... lol

3) What is the difference of your life earning RM8k that time and now maybe RM15K? what changes before and after?
willing to live more flexibly, need higher self control, need to prepare a budget more than ever so you will not spend over your income limit.

4) What do you get from earning RM8k [before] than RM15k [now]? chasing salary is limitless. What is your point or goal in your life?
early retirement, travel around the world with passive income.

i have problem enjoying my daily life even with acceptable salary. So i presume getting 5 fig will not make me any happier other than getting confidence, able to afford material, roof for family, etc. Future planning, i m still lack of it. I think i need positivity in life.

Not really. you will get stray away from life even you have massive passive income that you no longer need to work. You will be lost.

depends on how lifeless you are after u get to achieve passive income, and how u spend your life as well. Well, its kinda true for those who worked very hard day and night without a concrete target in future, when they reli achieved passive income dream, they gt lost in their life subsequently, and join back the workforce to work to death....

as for me now, its more to provide a decent financial for me and my future family when the time comes and up to date i still have alot of balance between my works and my personal life time management...

so let me tell you upfront. You have massive passive income, you party crazy, xxx with super hot chicks. etc, do whatever you want for few months or maximum 1 year. You will left wondering wtf are you doing with your time. That is your incoming problem.

good to hear bro.

Adui .. low salary also gt prob .. high salary also got prob

Just maintain some sense in work life and non work life cukup la ..

Just dont be moderate in everything and things will be fine ...

yea, thats the issue here, even you having a good job now, u will be thinking, why the fuck i sold my life to some ppl's company just to earn money that i dont know how to spend it or even better u are a business owner, throw all your time to grow your business, in the end you gt alot of cash with no target except to continue to grow your business til u die...

alot of dilemma there bro, hard to achieve a balance, maybe in the end... is all about your own happiness... some ppl dont feel happy with 5 figures income... some damn happy and satisfied with their 5k per mth income

life quality? don't talk about life quality when you earning such a figure working for people

enjoy or not enjoy depends on individual, if this amount of money are used to spend on family , surely you will enjoy because you hope for the best for them
but if only on your own-self, sometimes you will ask yourself back why you work so hard unless your hobby / interest needed such amount of money to support then you will very enjoy

most of the people around me that earning 5 or 6 figures , majority of the work they need to cope is about making decision / provide solution and developing diplomacy skill.

Comparing with those operational work and paper work , the gap is huge but this is expected. Great power comes with great responsibilities right

I like this reply.

1) Desire to provide for family and to make a name for myself. I want to reach a point where everyone in the company/business would know my name. I'm halfway there as people in about 30 countries where we conduct our business already knows my name. And it's not really pushing per se. It's just that our career advance as we go along (gain more experience, able to handle higher workload effectively etc). In this sense, money really is secondary.

2) No. Franky speaking.. My life is probably more miserable than when I was earning my fresh grad salary. I spend less time with family and friends now with increased work responsibilities and scope.

3) No changes. I still eat mixed rice for lunch, still don't spend on luxuries. Only thing that is different is I can give more to my family. And occasionally buy friends a meal.

4) This question is pretty similar to 1) and 3). There's no increased in satisfaction when I increase in terms of salary if that's what you're asking. Goal in life is to maybe retire early to spend my remaining time with people I care about.

P.S. My confidence is not tied to my pay. That's just sad.

This post has been edited by lostsoulx: Jul 3 2017, 05:20 PM

Its not tied to it, but it sure helps boost it
(Its like knowing your market value is at a certain level)

Well maybe in the beginning... There are always these aunties like to compare my pay with their kids pay. Always find that annoying just because they are earning 5 figures when I just graduated. These days, I stopped getting those questions which is good.

Frankly, im now more stressed by workload, politics and managing your own team. The higher u are, higher expectation placed on u.

Hehe, thats good. I still got a few more big steps to go.

1. Necessity, requirements and ambition. I feel that at the very least I should be a to provide my children with the same level of comfort and lifestyle that my father was able to provide me.

2. Yes. Basically you can indulge more. If you have hobbies, you can indulge more in your hobbies. If you like food and like eating, you can indulge more in that, etc.

3. At 5k it's hard to afford anything, except a car. More money allows you to buy a (proper) house, own several cars, provide for your children plus if you have good money management, you can invest the remaining and make even more.

4. Goal is to have enough where I no longer have to worry about money, or about being able to provide for children, or being able to afford healthcare/treatment for my family plus some extra luxuries like should be able to fly First Class whenever I want to without having to consider the cost.

1. I always try to do my best in my work. I didn't aim for my salary. In fact, when I first reached 10k+ about 6 years ago in a previous job, I took a 40+% pay cut to join a uni as a lecturer. I like to teach and research, but sadly, you don't really have time for both. Most of our time is spent on doing administrative work. And the lower salary also forced me to take up part-time consultancy work, but the uni took a 20% cut from the fees and I was working 80 hour weeks. I got disillusioned with giving my best and being treated like a fool. I had already resigned when the current company called with a huge offer.

2. I must say it's made me calmer and less calculative. I think I'm happier. Less worries. I can spend when I want to as opposed to previously where I needed to be much more thrifty since I had to support my family. I miss research work, though. Current work pays well and I'm not over loaded, but I'm getting a bit bored.

3. Difference is probably I can afford to bring my family for holidays and meals if I want to. I don't think I'm spending much more though. Biggest change is I'm saving 7-8k a month, not including EPF. I can spend it if I want or need to. That in itself is very reassuring.

4. I bought a new car for double how much I would have spent previously because I was planning to have kids. Other than that, I haven't upgraded most of my tech tools besides my desktop that I use for my work. I hope to have saved enough to get a go at working on stuff that interests me more.

1. I found my calling and excelled in it. I view money as part of my equity, what people were willing to pay for what I bring to the table. It has never drove my career decisions.

2. Happier? No, not really. Less unhappy? Definitely. But it's simply because you remove an aspect of life's stress, but not all. It's like if we decided to eat expensive food when we are out, there is not worry that we might not afford it.

Or instead of only being able to travel to Indonesia because it's cheaper, we can do Japan or Europe. But, that doesn't automatically translate into happiness nor equates to any higher meaning.

I aim to go further in my career, and with that, my compensation will follow suit.

3) Not much, unless you are looking to announce that you earn big baller pay. If you have a certain lifestyle, I doubt it will change overnight. You get to save more, invest more, spend bit more but if you are prudent, you won't be any more different.

4) I could afford a house that my SO loved, a car that I like and I get to indulge more in my hobbies though not too much. If you want an answer that somehow points towards my goal in life being having more stuff, than you will be disappointed.

I mean, getting a new BMW or Merc is not an issue, but I have no interest in cars at all, so my trusty Saga is still with me, getting the occasion neighborhood run. I'm sure same goes to others, I doubt many associates material wealth with their personal ego / image / confidence.

bersusah susah dahulu, senang kemudian?

according to Buddhism, life itself is "suffering". no matter high salary or low salary. (not talking abt poverty level) If its not same problem, it is different problem. Life cannot run away from suffering because life itself for human is suffering until you find enlightenment.

Higher Salary, and higher responsibility and accountability. However this does not mean I work 80hours a week. In fact I work less hours now as I have people doing the work for me. But if things screw then I am responsible and accountable. Simple as.

When I reached 5 figures a few years back I also bought a more expensive apartment more for security reason and also to chill out after work. At that time I have a cheap cheap car.
Of course now moving to HK things are different. I earn much much more, but then things are so much more expensive. Expectation is also higher especially for my family. Instead of going to a local school, I send my kid to an international school. And I dont own a car!

wat, you moved to HK?? that place is not for human to live even you stay in high-end condo or landed. the city is cold and congested with human.

but then you must have big baller salary to move to HK.

hahaha.....just arrived after a few years in Tokyo and still stuck in a hotel. There are still nice places like Discovery Bay where a golf cart is much more expensive than a BMW.

People here are actually not that bad and are very friendly actually. Though unlike Malayisia, work is work and your colleague seldom can be your good friend. Anyway, where I work, I think 30% are non Hongkies.

Posting as throwaway... I'm entering 27 this year, my total monthly salary is above 5 figures, also I'm doing freelancing that's also giving me extra monthly income (around 10k top), also I'm doing side project which I hope will generate revenue soon.

1) As we are all experiencing throughout our career, started off from 2-3k freshie to 5 figure salary, what makes you push to this far?

Around 6 years ago when I got my first job after graduating, with salary 2.5k I was jumping out of happiness because that money was good when I was still single. Fast forward 4 years later I have a wife who will give birth in a few months time, at the same time my growth at the company is already stopped as I have "mastered" and handled all aspects of my job scope, I even do my bosses's tasks. So I got bored and out of nowhere I just browsed JobStreet and apply to a new company. To my surprise I got accepted with salary just touching 5 figures. I again jumping out of happiness because of this "unexpected" outcome. As a side note I also played a bit with JobStreet application to make sure I can get the top bracket of the salary range (the company hide it so I have to guess accurately). In short: I was bored and just trying my luck.

2) Does money makes you happier? more fulfilling in your daily life? what do you aim to achieve?

Yes, now that I learned about how to manage money better, it does makes me happy when I know I have proper emergency fund, investment, etc. When you stopped worrying about how you gonna survive on daily/weekly/monthly basis, you'll start doing things that are more fulfilling in life. For me I'm just an average family man and I just want to make sure my wife and kids are covered financially, I'm still getting there.

3) What is the difference of your life earning RM8k that time and now maybe RM15K? what changes before and after?

After I learned about personal finance, there was a point where my lifestyle doesn't change relative to my salary. I think that was around 7k. So no lifestyle change, I just save more and diversify through investing and doing freelancing / side project.

4) What do you get from earning RM8k [before] than RM15k [now]? eg: new BMW or Mercedes. What is your point or goal in your life?

Nothing much, I still drive second hand car. But I do occasionally spend on my hobbies esp PC gaming: I buy new hardware and games. As for hardware, I sell them off quickly when I stopped using them. My goal in life is that I have diversified source of income, preferably passive, as well as growing assets (property, ventures, etc).

Consider my story is 30% hardwork and 70% luck. Because even with all these I don't have huge workload. I work 9 to 6 and still have few hours to spent browsing facebook/youtube in the office. My freelance work is so light and it pays well (although not frequent), and I still have time for a side project that I'm starting since last year, as well as PC gaming / family time.

1) my friend all earn higher than me that time.
2) Of course. It is life changing. Last time u will think 3 -4 times b4 buying aomething now just buy because u realize u have extra money. Things in house changes, u have a lot of different things u never thought about buying previously.
3) same like 2) isnt it? Last time only look at vios but now u wouldnt even consider japnis car because u are actually payong for 5 star safety features. Last time was about how much u can save but now is aboit safety for you yourself and family.
4)i dunno aboit 15k because i earn way more than that. Now only mercedes for me. Lifestyle change also because u emphasize more on health and healthbfor family. ( very weird when u are poor u spend things that harm ur body, eg drinking smoking late night etc) now totally different life style, eat healthy ( cox no worry to buy organic food and healthy food etc). Total life change.

The very 1st step to get the desire or so-called positive way - get a girlfriend \ boyfriend, then you will know what to do next and rest of your life

haiya money never enough one la

by the time you earn more, you want more. get more big ticket items, get yourself into higher debts.

I have more responsibilities but not more stress. Just need to know how to handle the situations that you are dealt with. So far, haven't run into unsolvable problems yet.

for me, i think more for the future, for example, maybe we earn 5 figures at the moment, but we dont know what happen in the future,
better late than never, save me, save more

dont be like "the more you earn, the ,more you spend", it will destroy your life later on.

money management very important no matter how much money you gonna have...

everyone grows up and have different expectation as they age. even priorities in life changes. you dont expect to stay stagnant throughout your life right?

in the end, everyone wants to have a comfortable life and maybe i say maybe a family of their own. so in order to that, you just have to find ways to make that money.

money is never enough. you will always strive to have the best eventhough you know you dont need it. that is human nature. that will stop when you really reach a stage when you feel that all those are no longer necessary.

give you a clearer example. maybe at the age of 20, you feel content for having a wira but as you reach 30, your will realized perhaps a civic is more suitable for you. then when you reach 40 you will think that a bmw would suit you even more but when you reach 50 you realized whatever car is just the same as long as it is comfortable, safe and reasonable.

so some people really feel content at earlier age but some don't. so it really depends who you are referring too but that is just life.

1) As we are all experiencing throughout our career, started off from 2-3k freshie to 5 figure salary, what makes you push to this far? Experience, education, knowledge, health, luck & willing to excel further.

2) Does money makes you happier? more fulfilling in your daily life? what do you aim to achieve?
Happier in living comfortable life.. but not necessarily in relationship

3) What is the difference of your life earning RM8k that time and now maybe RM15K? what changes before and after? From small car to bigger one. Need to donate more to the needy

4) What do you get from earning RM8k [before] than RM15k [now]? chasing salary is limitless. What is your point or goal in your life?
Still get the same attitude of 2k salary. Remember that it is not going to be sunny all the time

Good thread.
OP never forget the basic rules of compound interest even though your earnings might never reach the levels you hoped for! So SAVE!
Yes money is not everything but it does allow you more choices - it's amazing how so called "smart people" can make poor choices on business strategy, investment and life partners!
If you are earning a high salary- whether from someone else or your own company - the risk is always high that it can come crashing down at any time ........business changes, technology, layoffs etc. so getting back to where you were will take time (years.....if ever) and requires as much faith and passion as got you there in the first place.

1) Want to be rich, want good future
2) Honestly 2-3k more happy ..... i also dunno what i want to achieve now
3) before drive waja, eat chap fan. Now subaru, korean lunch and massage alot

Like earn money for massage only ... damn ... what is life ? Btw still single .... who said ada wang ada amoi ?

1. ive worked for 3 different banks in the last 12 years. got headhunted each time. timing plays an important role i guess.

my current boss, he gave me a solid increment n bonus after i brought over a relatively big account.
be close to your boss and let him know you constantly do a great job in exceeding his expectations.

2. money motivates most people. apart from that, I'm driven by other things as well, mastering a skillset, sense of purpose, full autonomy to manage my own books, recognition, making my boss look good in the eyes of our ceo...

3. nobody will complain if they are getting paid more money. but the saying about spending more when one makes more money is true. manage your finances carefully, no matter how much u make a month. ask yourself a simple question before u swipe that card or click checkout; is it a need or want?

4. everyone has different goals in life. mine was towards making usd100k at the very start and traveling. whats yours?

more mani more honey

1) 5 figures in Malaysia kinda hard unless u are 35++.. If u wan to earn 5 figures, choose o&g or company that need u to work overseas.
2) u earn 2k u hope for 5k, u earn 10k u hope for 20k and so on... more money make u spend more on unnecessary items..
3) Nothing change, still can't save money
4) 15k still not enough for BMW/Mercs.. 15K at most get u a accord/cammry...

Very deep and agree...
Having higher number in your salary helps to ease through life but does not guarantee a happy one..

Thanks for all for replying. this is very useful for me to see if it is worth fighting to go higher. The thing is, if one lifestyle remain the same, even one is earning much much more, it is more or less worthless for one to pursue higher income. of coz this is very subjective and depending on individual whether they are providing to the family than their ownself. (i can see alot of noble father here)

one thing can confirm is, money cannot make one happy but it will make one to get fulfillment, confidence and make others happy. (sadly cannot guarantee yourself to be truly happier).

No time for family......

I don't really understand why people say this. Doesn't being fulfilled make you happy at least to some degree? If so then you're happier versus if you had less money and couldn't be as fulfilled.

Doesn't having more confidence make you happy? The opposite being low confidence (which often leads to unhappiness/depression)
Doesn't making others happy make you feel happy too?

Happyness is relative I suppose, so I guess the question is does having more money make you happier than if you had no money. If being poor or being broke can make you unhappy, then it makes sense that the opposite should be true as well.

This post has been edited by silic0sis: Jul 6 2017, 06:40 PM

If you want more money, there must be something you will need to sacrifice, example time and health...

Just FYI, I'm not there yet, but maybe halfway through.

1) Financial independence. In other word, I can do what I want without the fear of no money to eat, literally.

2) No. Money cannot be the sole purpose, and it shouldn't be the sole purpose. But money help lay the foundation for your higher achieving life.

3) Not much. Your capability grew along as you push through your career path. Even though workload, stress etc become bigger in relative term, so do your ability to coup with them.

4) Again, do not measure your wealth with items in your life, go get some experience, like never before.

i think what we meant when we mention "money cannot make you happy" is in literal term.

Have a bundle (or a whole suit) of cold hard cash would not make you any happier.

Money will only worth it's value when you able to utilize it for personal fulfillment, to improve your confidence etc.

more debt.

This is a very good thread for me.

change ur lifestyle?

I'm having a bit different experience, I'm here answering this as a 95s

1) As we are all experiencing throughout our career, started off from 2-3k freshie to 5 figure salary, what makes you push to this far?
I've never worked for a company as a employee, I did work with company as a freelance. We're living in a realistic capitalism world, so I'm just gonna be honest, I wanted to have luxurious life, as well as granting my dad an earlier retirement.

2) Does money makes you happier? more fulfilling in your daily life? what do you aim to achieve?
It gave me a better quality lifestyle, I was able to travel more, to see more, so yeah I could say it make me happier.

3) What is the difference of your life earning RM8k that time and now maybe RM15K? what changes before and after?
Overall living quality improvement, but nothing much changes to be honest, at least RM15k isn't a stop-changing point for me.

4) What do you get from earning RM8k [before] than RM15k [now]? eg: new BMW or Mercedes. What is your point or goal in your life?
Do you ever dream you have this or that? Luxurious lifestyle, 3 Star Michelin restaurant, luxurious car, but you got hit with the reality you can't afford it?
Well go get it if you really WANT. That's my philosophy.

i am in 5 figure bracket income, so i would like to share and respond to your post.

1) its all hard work and opportunity + luck.

2) makes me happy + more fulfilling. of course more and more increment or jump more than current earning.

3) not much changes, basically big income, big plate, big appetite. Basically when you earning 5 figure, some item that probably cost thousand doesnt seem hard to get. like for example, buying new TV, or high end gadgets. funny thing, i always planned if i get more and more income, i want to save more, unfortunately, it didnt work for me. my discpline in handling money is terrible at that part. but normally i increase like my insurance coverange and income protection just in case something bad happen to me, my family wont have fall down like rock. it will help to protect my family with current income if i gone.

4. i used to have a lot of debts, earning more really help me to pay more debts. I dont really target luxuries life, my aim is to control my finances, especially my debts. if possible, i want to live with current earning or more without debts. that my plan i think, but in future, it might change. well, who knows right.

is 10k even considered high in today's term?
You do realize that 10k is equivalent to say 5ksgd. Is it great?

10k myr = 5k sgd? Can I trade with you? I'll take as much sgd as u have.

Depends. Can't compare to sgd directly. Cost of living differs. I'd say 10k is plenty for the average family in Malaysia.

no need convert la... whats the point where spending in SG also different from msia.... SG most of the living expenses is consider affordable if u earning SGD except room renting.... in Msia except room renting... everything is more expensive in RM term also.... lol

i never said same. I said equivalent.
5ksgd would still have better spending power then say 10kMYR.

This post has been edited by sylar111: Jul 8 2017, 01:09 PM

1) As we are all experiencing throughout our career, started off from 2-3k freshie to 5 figure salary, what makes you push to this far?

Yes started low but its all about luck, joining right company and knowing right people.

2) Does money makes you happier? more fulfilling in your daily life? what do you aim to achieve?
50/50. Happy when saving skyrocket but less happy cuz travel alot.

3) What is the difference of your life earning RM8k that time and now maybe RM15K? what changes before and after?
Not much difference cuz more salary means more to FD.

I dont see difference in lifestyle when my income 5k or income 25k. Only fd balloon up fast.

4) What do you get from earning RM8k [before] than RM15k [now]? eg: new BMW or Mercedes.

Still same myvi car. Good income will not be forever. Saving and spending prudently are the keys.

On my way to reach 5 figure.

1) Yes, to be honest it might be wanting to be better for me, as in a progress in career.

2) Yes and no. Yes because i increase my housing loan repayment and no because i did not change my lifestyle overnight.

3) Over my last few years of working, i've focused more on savings and some investments. Did not splurge on anything expensive.

4) A bit itchy here to get a project car but it's not much. Point is to achieve financial freedom but still working towards it.

More Stressed like everyone else. But unlike in my 20s i have a clearer goal now both career and personal wise so i'll bear with it. Plus job makes me travel so that's a plus.

I did pick-up some bad habits financially when there was a big jump in salary when i made a career move 2 years back but it's kept under control (mostly spend on silly things like watches and superbikes).

Also have aging parents so since i'm an only child it's my turn to take care of them. I don't mind splurging on them by taking them travelling since they did the same when i was younger.

The only regret i have is not finding a life-partner so being 35 i'm already past my expiry date haha.

3) more money means less stress on expenditure...can go makan makan, buy some toy and still got some savings at the end of the month...if earn less, will have problem even for putting food on table

guy value will appreciate
dont worry