Understanding how the two are related can help you make better choices
Published in · 7 min read · Jan 22, 2024
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Given my PhD, my salary was far lower than it should have been, for years. As a postdoc in West Texas, my salary started at $31k, and took 16 years and several “promotions” to get to $60k as a research scientist in Maryland.
Accounting for inflation, that was an underwhelming 1.7% average annual increase. Considering the 47% higher cost of living in Maryland compared to Lubbock, it was an average purchasing power decrease of 0.7% annually.
Not the most inspiring income track record.
Then, I left academia and got my first job in a company (my only such job, because I started my own company when I was laid off two years later). For the first time, my salary breached the sought-after “6-figure” status.
That’s when you might have thought I’d “made it,” financially. Surely, I was now rich, right?!
Does a High Income Translate to Wealth (or High Net Worth)?
Given how many of us strive for that 6-figure income, you’d think that (a) it’s a high income, and (b) it makes you wealthy, or at least financially independent.
