TheNegotiator

VP of Sales

How much money is "good money" to you? (right now)

Call me philosophical, but bear with me. I'm going somewhere with this..

I feel like this happens to most of us as we move through sales/business/life. Most of us are money motivated. I definitely am. I love and enjoy how my perception of money evolves as I make more of it. I value it more and less in different ways, and I think it has a lot to teach me about life and about other people.

3 years ago I thought 'X' was "good money". Now I make 3.5X, and I don't consider "good money" to be anything less than about 6X - and then I wonder why I’m selling myself short. I feel like fallen behind where I ‘should be’, with every intent to catch up and exceed my targets, which change and increase over time.

Interestingly, tech. Sales has given me the opportunity to travel and network with people all over the US/CAN/MX/EU. I find it fascinating how our local lenses blur our perception of money. Someone who makes 0.5X feels wealthier than me because of their local cost of living being so low. Someone who makes 10X and feels like they barely scrape by, under the circumstances of their environment. I sometimes find myself looking back my past self, and berating myself for thinking so small.

So my question to all of you today is, how much money is “good money” to you today, right now… “If I could just make [BLANK] a year, I would be so happy”

And please, be true to yourselves. I just want to gauge the room. We’re all at different stages in life and we all grow at our own pace.

in USD/year

Attached poll

$0 - $40,000 USD/year $40,000 - $75,000 USD/year $75,000 - $100,000 USD/year $100,000 - $140,000 USD/year $140,000 - $200,000 USD/year $200,000 - $450,000 USD/year $450,000 - $750,000 USD/year $750,000+ USD/year

*Voting in this poll no longer yields commission.

💰 Compensation

💆‍♂ Mindset

💴 Money Management

28

39 comments

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Gyro25

Notorious Answer

10

Account Executive

$100- 140k given my current saving/investing goals. I plan on buying up property, then leasing it for residual income. Need more capital to do that, so the plan is to make my money work for me down the line.

1nbatopshotfan

Politicker

6

Sales

It’s interesting, my wife and I are considering downsizing and moving to a less expensive metro area and our idea of “good money” is morphing pretty quickly. The cost housing difference is what drives most of our “good money” versus “work harder and make more” discussions.

TheNegotiator

Arsonist

2

VP of Sales

Ironic you say that. I’m moving cross country and looking at places downtown. They’re obscenely expensive, but I just realized I can afford what I want and it made me delightfully happy… and that’s what prompted my post.

JC10X

Politicker

0

Senior Sales Manager

Interesting but very wise!

goose

Politicker

4

Sales Executive

Money, you may find, has very little to do with happiness.

SaaSam

Politicker

9

Account Executive

While money may not buy happiness, poverty breeds misery.

JC10X

Politicker

1

Senior Sales Manager

Poverty is selfish!

TheNegotiator

Arsonist

2

VP of Sales

Haha, I can hear Grant speaking through you.

EatingPandas

Opinionated

7

AE

Money, you also may find, has everything to do with happiness.

FlintIronstag

Notorious Answer

0

Chief Marketing Officer

Ilu @eatingpandas lol

goose

Politicker

2

Sales Executive

I'd recommend reading The Algebra of Happiness by Scott Galloway. It's an interesting, quick read.

EatingPandas

Opinionated

1

AE

I’ll check it out!

EatingPandas

Opinionated

1

AE

@goose, I read the book! Solid recommendation. I’ll definitely spend more time with my parents in old age now haha

goose

Politicker

1

Sales Executive

Talk about a mindset reset. That book hit close to home.

TheRealPezDog

Notable Contributor

2

Account Manager

But it has Everything to do with freedom

goose

Politicker

1

Sales Executive

Yeah, I get that. No shit. But there is a flip side here. I know people that make a lot of money and have two $1,200 car payments and two mortgages to pay for private school for the kids because the wife spends $4,000 per month at the spa. Don't get me started on the country club membership.

I've always believed that two things can be correct at the same time.

pretengineer

Politicker

4

Head of the crumpets

Came into this thread nonchalant, left feeling inspired

privateryan

Politicker

4

Director of Sales

Awesome post. It’s also interesting what social media can do to change that. 6 months ago, I’d have told people I’m fairly compensated for my work. Since there’s a bit of openness about this, I’ll just say I’m at about 200-250 a year. However, seeing people in sales on here at 350-650 has made me realize there’s a lot more to be earned in sales and I want more because I feel I’m worth it to my business partners. At the same time, after reading this and sitting back and reflecting, I have a sense of gratitude, not anguish, over my compensation soooo guess I’ll just rock on

CuriousFox

WR Officer

5

🦊

This is exactly how I feel. I could be making more, and I will, but I am not going to go nuts over it. Mental health is important too, as well as heart health. Stress kills.

GDO

Politicker

1

BDM

Exactly! I took a big step back pay wise but my mental health is a lot better.

FromaBlankPerspective

Politicker

2

District Manager

So, this is an interesting question because obviously my mind went to the next $$$ tier over what I am making now, but scientifically that's not actually true. I took that free Yale course the Science of Well-being and they touch on this. The research actually shows that after making $75K (which on average in the US is the amount of money where you aren't worrying about feeding yourself, etc), happiness plateaus. Your perception would tell you that making more money makes you happier, but in reality you just adjust to that lifestyle and want more. And, as they say, mo' money, mo' problems.

Kirby

Politicker

1

Sales Representative

I came here to say this. After being taken care of, money doesn't automatically equate more happiness. But my guess is there are ways you could spend that money (giving to others, creating unique experiences) that would continue to create more happiness.

FromaBlankPerspective

Politicker

1

District Manager

Yes, definitely. They touch on that a little bit actually, and it’s pretty much what you would expect - experiences > things

Hoopnip

Politicker

2

Commercial AE

Wife and I make around $400k a year in the Bay Area. I still don’t feel it’s enough to really get to retirement quicker given we have 2 kids w/ a Bay Area mortgage & taxes / nanny & daycare / general cost of living. We still live comfortably however an extra $150+ a year would help us achieve our savings / investment goals

Panda4489

Politicker

1

Head of Some Shit

It's crazy out here bro

Gyro25

Notorious Answer

1

Account Executive

That's insane. Makes me glad I'm remote and working for a company in the Bay and don't have to live there.

alecabral

Arsonist

1

Director - Digital Sales Transformation

This a fantastic post, love your insights and how you explained them. Thanks for posting it @TheNegotiator ! Already voted!

Upper_Class_SaaS

Politicker

1

Account Executive

I need 200+ a year to feel like I am in a good spot

HoddyBomb

Opinionated

1

Account Executive

Money is very important but there are a lot of miserable millionaires. Feel like especial in sales people are valuing time over money once you hit a reasonable salary.

countingmyinterest

Politicker

1

Account Executive

Money is important obviously. I didn't get into sales to run a charity (although it might be a future career path once I have money).

Money is a tool for financial freedom so you can accomplish whatever you want to after.

$200k+/year is my number at least, granted it might not feel that way when I'm actually making that $.

GDO

Politicker

1

BDM

75-100k would get you a long way in the EU.

maybe a bit higher in Belgium because we pay over 50% taxes on labour and even more on commission.

Blackwargreymon

Politicker

1

MDR

$100- 140k given my current saving/investing goals. I plan on buying up property, then leasing it for residual income. Need more capital to do that, so the plan is to make my money work for me down the line.

Clashingsoulsspell

Politicker

1

ISR

It’s interesting, my wife and I are considering downsizing and moving to a less expensive metro area and our idea of “good money” is morphing pretty quickly.

revenuehunter

Executive

0

Global Enterprise Sales

One of the things that I look at while looking at Money as a motivating/driving factor is - Where and When do I want to retire? And how much do I need to sustain the same lifestyle I have. (Provided if you are content with what you have right now, if not now - mental maps of where you'd want to in terms of lifestyle). And how big a corpus I need to create to be able to do that. This is a longer term goal.

Short Term - Goals could include buying a Buggati Chiron, Living in Beverly Hills and king size. I look at the next two years - where do I want to send my kids to school, what should I be seen driving after two years and be able to afford a nice vacation every year. I'm not adding buying a house, since I have two of them.

Budgeting for all the above, and be able to save 20% of my income every year after taking care of everything above and regular expenses.

And for every one to achieve the above 3 - the amount he/she might want to earn would vary on where they currently are, and where do they want to be. $750K/Year with a family of 4 in San Francisco might just be right, but $750K/Year in Idaho might just help the guy retire in 5 years time. I'd say you can't quantify this number unless you put conditions in your question - Location, Industry etc. Without that it's all subjective.

MR.StretchISR

Politicker

0

ISR

$100- 140k given my current saving/investing goals. I plan on buying up property, then leasing it for residual income. Need more capital to do that, so the plan is to make my money work for me down the line.

Mr.Floaty

Politicker

0

BDR

*Dr. Fauci starts peeing his pants*

Cyberjarre

Politicker

0

BDR

*Dr. Fauci starts peeing his pants*

TechSalesQueen

Executive

-4

Sr. Enterprise Account Executive

Under $250k dont bother

TheNegotiator

Arsonist

3

VP of Sales

That’s a lot of money to a lot of people. We’re a fortunate bunch in here to be talking about numbers that are higher.

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