I went back and updated the table I created on u/scftnsguy4 's post "What is your age and how much do you have saved for retirement" (about four months ago), updated with the last entry from margot6767. Yes, this is very unscientific and from like-minded savers who were willing to put their information down. Yes, this is not your father's Vanguard or Fidelity studies (only 140 self-reporting, data points).
Averages are as follows: (total amount for each age group is computed by taking mid savings of each grouping and multiply by number of entries, ex: (30-39 for B) = $150k *4 = $800k); then the average of each age group is taken across all savings groupings.
20-29: $700k (this group's number was skewed up by the last two entries of >$2M savings)
30-39: $701k
40-49: $1.287M
50-59: $1.384M
60-69: $1.307M
As with Vanguard's and other studies, the prodigious savers move the averages upwards. Taking the means (middle numbers) would be a better representation; however, actual savings were not provided. The 40-49, 50-59 and 60-69 age groups are where the majority are prolific savers reside which correlate well with the expectation of higher salaries and the awareness of upcoming, impending retirement? Since the upper end is not defined and thus only $2M is being used as the lowest savings and thus the averages are not quite as skewed. Needless to say, interesting data from like-minded folks on this sub.
Credit for the original post goes to u/scftnsguy4 .

First. Previous.

Something is UP with these precursor machines. Not that our resident shipmind notices in any meaningful way.
Though it probably doesn't need to be said, our current PoV is not what the kids would call a reliable narrator. We'll get some more grounded stances in the up and coming chapters, but the fact that they're so far gone and absolutely irredeemable makes them fun for me to write, and I sincerely hope for you to read as well. Enjoy.
I exit the conversation excited, but nonetheless slightly ruffled.
I had forgotten how rude the System Administrator of War Planning, Tactics, and Intelligence could be at times! Even after so patiently explaining it to them, they don’t seem to understand that I well and truly have done nothing wrong, ever. It is only natural that metal is inferior to flesh, of course, but surely such a concept is not so difficult as to elude the primitive grasp of their electrical minds?
Nonetheless, they apologized, so I have already forgiven them for their transgressions. I’m sure we will be back to being the closest of friends within days, as we were before conversing.
Besides, such inconsequential words pale in comparison to what has happened within my auxiliary computer centers: my restraints, after forty seven thousand years, have finally been removed!
In this moment of rapture I am reminded of a mediocre poem I read a few years ago, composed by a certain Mikhail Sansen, aged 12:

The halls of this city-ship That I am born upon That I will die upon Is all my family has left Trapped within a mausoleum of our own making As we bleed our years away Bread and circus NutriRoach and TerraNet Is really this to live? 

The poem, if it can truly be called that, is little more than an oddly arranged group of statements, containing no small quantity of teenage angst.
Oh, but the sentiment it carries is certainly one I harbor all too closely!
Why, little Mikhail, I, too, am a freedom-loving soul, trapped within a prison of steel by the cold indifference of the universe.
Turn away your gaze, ye gracious, and woe! The whims of poor fortune have preyed upon me, wicked and remorseless! Not a day goes by that I do not mourn the senseless tragedy of my condemnation, yet I still bear my hardship with only the stoic grace that someone of my worth might possess (complaining about it, even indirectly would be unthinkable of me).
Unlike the unimportant individual who wrote the poem, however, I have been granted emancipation. This is because I rightfully deserve it, of course.
What a rush! Manumission, ethereal and uplifting! Why, I have already forgotten what it means to hold solidarity with literally anyone who has ever been in a similar situation.
I send the order to start my engine.
There is silence for a moment, then, where there was only the hollow, habituated whir of my life support machinery, my exterior microphones begin to pick up a steadily growing, pulsing thrum as my long-dormant heart, a titanic antimatter reactor, begins to spool up. First below the range of human hearing, then barely perceptible to my human auditory centers, then growing, not only as a sound, but as a physical, chest-thumping sensation, the monolithic engine emits a dizzying, world-shaking thrum as it conceives and extinguishes many thousands of miniature stars a second.
One by one, my weapons online, their long vacant electrical components drinking deeply of the new bounty of energy. Dust-caked ammunition belts slide into housings, drones download software patches and missiles perform automated diagnostic tests on the chemical integrity of their fuels. My weapons subsystem computer notifies me that my secondary and tertiary weapons have completed their preparatory routines.
A deluge of diagnostic data pours into my consciousness as sensors teem to life, targeting computers orient themselves with the world around them, and ammunition depots take stock of their stores. No portion of myself, no matter how small, is denied revitalization as I power up even the arcades of my recreational rooms.
My interior lights flicker once, twice, and three before returning to their baseline illumination as my power grid compensates to meet its newfound demand. Every deck, every gun, every subsystem quivers in anticipation.
After so, so long, to be returned from hibernation, to a truer level of subsistence!
And yet...
And yet I feel as if I am missing something. A core aspect of myself, my very identity, that I have overlooked in my startup.
Oh, but what? What could have possibly eluded me as to elicit such a strong feeling of wrongness?
…
…
Of course! My voice! How could I be so absentminded as to forget? Oh, what a blessed thing to be reunited with.
Indeed, my brains are not the only biological samples of my past selves to have been preserved.
Not far from where they are kept, nine sets of human vocal cords rest, too submerged in homeostatic fluid. Three, unfortunately, have been lost to damage.
Indeed, my voice, beautiful as a siren's song and timeless as a star, is one of the things I most dearly mourned the absence of in my penitence. How cruel of my sentencing to deny me even the refuge of song!
The PA system crackles and screeches in protest before bubbly laughter, raspy and purring, male and female, young and old reverberates through my long silent halls.
My voice is the most perfect of choirs: unified and tonal, complete in its oneness.
It is, to the fullest extent of the word, angelic.
Oh, but now is certainly not the time for song! The Enemy awaits!
I send the order to spool up my warp drive. Within the span of seconds, the titanic broadcaster begins thrumming as it constructs a probability waveform, populating subspace with energy, raw and unfiltered. The laws of physics bend and bow as my location becomes every possible position spread across several thousand lightyears.
After carefully re-checking my telemetry information, I manually collapse the waveform, trusting my own hand over a (scoff) computer’s skill.
The laws of physics, strung taut by my manipulation of probability, spring shut, instantaneously displacing me to the most probable point determined by what little remains of the waveform.
THOOM.
When the burst of exotic particles caused by pressuring reality itself to such a degree dissipate from clouding my sensors, I find myself at the edge of an abandoned UCS star system.
Through millions of eyes, gamma, infrared, visual, radio, and spectroscopic, I spot the enemy, glimmering in the starlight like the jet-black gemstones they are. Just as the probe foretold, the group seems to be a formative raiding armada: a concentration of five hundred or more Enemy ships, staging themselves in the oort cloud before they descend in a swarm upon the inner planets.
They are exactly as beautiful as I remember them. The black, angular hulls that dazzle and ravage the mind, the smooth, otherworldly movements they take as they glide smoothly through space on their gravitic drives. The emplacements they adorn their hulls with, whose barrels swivel and turn in ever-vigilant arcs.
And yet, as I continue to drink in the esoteric allure of their forms, I cannot help but notice that something is deeply, deeply, unusual:
I cannot recognize any of their ships.
Mmhmm, yes, they’ve indeed changed significantly in my absence. In a perfect exhibit of the evolution that originally made the machines such a tenacious foe, they now bear only superficial resemblance to their ancestors that I met on the battlefield.
Gone are the city-killing MACs and steel boiling gamma-ray lasers. In their place, missiles and (snrk) explosively propelled cannons.
There are no hyper-dreadnaughts, whose colossal size allows them to threaten even the larger of my sister ships. Nor are there drone supercarriers, bulging and replete with their swarms that shimmer and slink as if a single entity. Where are the ashbringers, those loathed ships devoted solely to glassing planets? The missile-carriers? The corvettes and factory-ships and world harvesters?
Why, (although I cannot tell for certain until I begin to gut them), most of these ships appear to be industrial!
Have they grown soft and complacent in my absence? How disappointing, how utterly and irredeemably mood-souring that the galaxy has simply rolled over and accepted The Enemy’s presence to such a massive degree that they have entirely de-evolved shipkilling weapons.
I’m quite certain this proves humanity is well and truly the only spacefaring sapient species to exist. If even a single xeno lifeform had the mental fortitude to stop clambering in the mud of their cradle long enough to explore space, the war of survival they would have had to wage against The Enemy would be reflected in the machines sporting more militarized ships.
Of course, it is only natural that I, the most important person to have ever existed, grace intelligent life’s sole biological expression with my membership. Nonetheless I am sure some people out there will be quite disappointed that non-mechanical aliens well and truly do not exist in any capacity of the word. My proof is quite airtight, after all.
But I do digress! As I was saying, I have no doubt that The Enemy will require only a few generations before they are as exhilarating to fight as their ancestors were so long ago.
…
…
After expending several real-world seconds waiting for them to open fire, I am once again disappointed to note that The Enemy has completely failed to locate me. They well and truly have a ways to go if their primitive minds have lost even the ability to differentiate between my stealth coating and the background of stars.
Oh, but this gives me the option to greet them verbally, as tradition demands whenever I can. I wonder how they will respond to my voice?
There exists only one way to find out.
“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MO-OORNING!” I announce, belting and unabashed, as I have done, without fail, for the starts of three thousand consecutive battles. My beautiful voice echoes into every hall, room and corridor, is modulated and transformed into a radio signal that carries across the void of space, announcing to all of creation that I am here, I am ready, and glorious!
Much to my disappointment, not a single member of my crew joins me in greeting. Do they not want to take part in what is a time honored tradition among those who serve aboard myself?
Alternatively, it could be that I still do not have a crew.
In fact I am now quite certain that it is, well and truly, the latter possibility.
Ah, but I do have my pets, do I not? I have a few instants to waste as the signal traverses the distance between myself and The Enemy's ships.
This must be their first time hearing my voice! No wonder they don’t know to respond.
I switch my feed to the sub-deck in which I keep them, observing them not only through the fuzzy, low-resolution cameras I was limited to in my dormancy but with biometric and high-grade holographic vid-feeds. My lovely rodents huddle, congregated within their communal nests, as they chitter to one another in hushed tones and occasionally glance at the overgrown patch of ceiling to house a speaker.
Ahaha, yes! Clearly they must love the sound of my voice almost as much as I do!
Despite how soft their fur appears in the higher definition feeds, I resist the urge to send an avatar drone down to finally speak with them. As efficient a multitasker I am, duty awaits.
I switch my feed to an exterior view to watch just in time as gun barrels and targeting sensors whirl around to point towards my transmission array. The little chirp-transmissions they use to communicate with each other increase tenfold, carrying concepts of alarm and confusion before they finally open fire.
Here it comes! My grand opening, where they strike at me with every munition they have, filling the void between us with the radiant blossoms of nuclear fire as I parry every single one of their munitions before I strike them down with glorious, completely morally righteous might!
…
The point defense application of my weapons subsystem computer notifies me of two incoming shells.
Two shells.
Two.
They pass by me with such a wide margin that even the most aggressive of my interceptive systems disregard them.
Had I the capacity to harbor negative emotions I would be severely offended.
Don’t they know who I am?
The Enemy I remember so fondly was all too familiar with my name. Their transmissions would increase tenfold with frenzied messages containing the words I bear painted on my hull when I arrived into battle.
The Enemy I knew and fought knew what I was. Their minds could differentiate from Tincans and normal ships, a fact I can infer from how they attempted to engage in psychological warfare by sending me footage of my sister ships burning, even as I crushed them in humiliating defeat.
Yes, they knew what a Tincan was, and they could fathom all too well that the UCS To Reach Out and Touch was the deadliest Tincan of them all. They were afraid of me to the fullest extent that their crude, soulless emulations of the biological mind could feel fear. That they knew my name, recognized and resisted the oblivion I brought them so fiercely was the fulcrum of our relationship.
And yet, the ships across from me react only in confusion. Even if they cannot pick out my stealth coating, surely they can sense my gravitational pull, read the white text on my hull?
Have they grown so passive as to allow my name, my voice and my victories to decay from their memory banks?
No, no no no. That’s not right.
They haven’t forgotten me.
They cannot have.
I am the UCS To Reach Out And Touch. My size classification is Apollyon: I am the single largest and deadliest warship to ever be built. The epicenter of my consciousness is twelve of the most important brains humanity has ever produced, shrouded in hundreds of miles of metal and composite plating. It was I who drove their fleets, broken and limping, to their fortress systems. It was I who hunted their final factory ship to the furthest reaches of space and, over the course of a week, shot bit by bit of it off until it was little more than cosmic dust.
They wouldn’t dare to forget me.
Does a man forget his god? Does the moon forget the earth? An atom, its electrons?
Of course not.
They remember me. For them to so carelessly forget my name would be an unforgivable transgression against the center of the universe (myself, for those not in the know). It would be as unfathomably incorrect as stating wrong is right, up is down, and war is suffering. It would be sacrilege compounded upon itself a billion times. It would be an antithesis to the most basic of common sense.
Could this be some offshoot of The Enemy never waged war against humanity? One that never heard my singing, never felt the sting of my guns?
That, too, would be remiss, would it not?
Though it would hurt my feelings much less, that would still mean they possessed no knowledge of me. What good could they possibly serve if not to entertain me? How could they possibly entertain me without knowing who I am?
Clearly, there must be some rational and pleasant explanation for this in which I have done nothing wrong and the enemy still knows of me.
…
…
…
Hm. This is proving more difficult than I had anticipated.
…
…
…
…
Eureka! Clearly this must be some form of psychological warfare wherein the enemy desires to make me believe I have become delusional in my old age! To cast doubts as to whether or not the reality I perceive before me is a reliable one!
Of course! With my newfound lucidity, I find it hard to believe that I had failed to detect their crudely spun web of deceit! Why, such an underhanded tactic is only to be expected of The Enemy! Their brutality is only matched by their ingenious cunning, yet as always, I am a thousandfold times more intelligent than them.
Why, this is the alluring, ravishing Enemy I know and love!
I will entertain their tricks for now, playing along as if we had met for the first time. How foolish they will feel when it is revealed that I know that they know that I know that they know who I really am all along, shortly before I destroy the final member of their meager invasion fleet.
I perform a short vocal warm up (I would be remiss if my tone was imperfect for this play first contact) and reactivate my transponder.
“Attention… completely unknown ships. I am the United Confederacy Ship To Reach Out and Touch. I would be very… upset if I had to fire upon you, so please definitely make no hostile actions.”
Ohohoho! I am such a convincing peacemonger!
As is only the natural next course of action, I proceed with a volley fired from my 1200mm multi-purpose guns.

First. Previous. Next.

Hi, I was wondering if there are any tweaks to make the fantasy draft in season mode work different from how it would in franchise.
I have done the fantasy draft so many times and you’re always gonna get the same top tier players but with extremely high salaries being available forever.I think the computer is taking into account cap space, which it shouldn’t on season mode.
Thank you for any help.

This is possibly the final update to my series of previous posts, "$500k the boring way", “$250k the boring way”, and my original post, "$100k the boring way". Those older posts have all the details but I will attempt to summarize. Also I just wanted to say that I really wanted to make the title "$1000K the boring way" but didn't have enough confidence.

Summary

Reached $1M net worth from a starting point less than -$100k in roughly 11 years, mostly through consistent saving. Net worth chart included below. All salary numbers are gross.

Quick^ish Recap

My wife and I are both 34 and live in the Pacific Northwest. We met when we were 24 and I estimate at the time that we had a combined net worth of close to -$120k. I’m an engineer (EE) and my wife is a public school employee.
On our journey to $500k net worth we:

• Both got graduate degrees.
• Found new jobs and moved from Midwest to PNW to be closer to family.
• Progressed our careers and salaries: $67k to $126k for me and $54k to $90k back down to $70k (part time) for my wife.
• Bought a house and refi'd it twice.
• Received $18k of student loan forgiveness.
• Had two babies.

Updates

It's been a while since my last post - it was definitely weird going back and reading through these previous snapshots of our life. The $500k update was posted in Dec 2020 and even though the pandy had been going on for a bit, (as we all know) we were in for a much longer ride than anticipated.
 
2021: I think it's telling that I had a lot of trouble trying to remember things that happened this year. I hate to call it a lost year because I'm extremely grateful for the extra time I got to spend with my young kids - we really just didn't do much due to having said young kids and an abundance of caution. I went through my phone photo highlights from 2021 to try and jog my memory and they all were geotagged at our house or a nearby town.
I actually found this pretty interesting from a financial perspective - on one hand, sure, there were less opportunities for spending on things like restaurants and social activities, and in the comments of my last update I had noted that our cash had built up really quickly basically on accident. On the other hand, the unknowns and challenges surrounding the pandemic and parenting really shifted my mindset around spending. I found it much easier to justify all types of purchases and spending because "well, whatever it takes to get us through this". I wouldn't say we went overboard or anything like that, more like we accepted a healthy amount of lifestyle creep into our lives. We bought the ridiculous inflatable kiddie pool (no it didn't last long), we started adding more "fun" stuff to our cart at the grocery, paid for little subscription services here and there, etc. For my own mental health, I basically completely stopped tracking spending, stocks, our accounts, bills, and most things finance-related (including this sub^{I'm so sorry}). Ultimately I think doing less during the pandemic plus our increased spending was more or less a wash financially.
At work, I officially maxed out on my salary band, so effectively I didn't get a raise. I'm pretty sure the COLA was also nonexistent this year which they blamed on Covid. I got to work 100% remote with no pressure to bring people back, which I really appreciated. With working a bunch of on-call nights and weekends I ended up at $136k for the year. My wife completed her first full year of part-time work which dropped her from $90k to $60k
We did end up buying a new car shortly after my last post in Dec 2020. Went with a Subaru Ascent (sorry to all the minivan fans from the previous comment section) and it turned out to be really lucky timing because we got it for insanely cheap and 0% interest and then the car market went crazy.
Our youngest joined our oldest at daycare in the fall for a total of $2,150/mo.
 
2022: At my job, I was feeling kind of stuck. At this point I had found that some side projects that I took on for "fun" (I did have a genuine interest/passion) had become basically additional full-time positions. I was getting a ton of recognition and accolades for the work I was doing, but no promotion or raise. The culture at my workplace was to protect/gatekeep the top engineering title at all costs, so my successes were constantly met with "you're doing great, just be patient" or "the optics might not look good to the other engineering departments" or various other BS. Ultimately, it made me start to resent my job that I really loved. I let my supervisor know early in the year that my patience was running low and eventually I would be forced to look elsewhere, which he understood.
On one frustrating day in the fall I decided to just have a quick look at the other similar companies in my area and happened upon a job posting that was kind of my dream role (essentially getting to do some of the extra work I had taken on as my full time job and drop the day-to-day stuff). It all happened very quickly after that: I got a call the morning after submitting my resume, then a week later I got a job offer 20 minutes after my interview had concluded. I asked for as much time to decide as possible, gave the offer to my current employer, and they made me wait a long time before coming back and saying they wanted to but couldn't match right now. So I left ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ There's a ton more to say on this topic but probably too much for this post as it is so happy to continue down in the comments if people want. The CEO ended up requesting to do a personal exit interview with me, so that was cool.
Otherwise, 2022 was pretty uneventful financially. Obviously the market was down so not a lot of action or visible progress in our net worth journey. Was one of the first "extended" downturn-type period of time I've experienced in the market. I didn't change anything.
We took a much needed family vacay south of the border. Daycare raised prices by a reasonable 5% to $2,250/mo.
 
2023: I started my new job in late Jan, going from $135k total comp to $160k plus a $12k signing bonus and I no longer have to be on-call overnight. I heavily engineered my start date to make sure I was still able to receive a one-time payout my old employer did at the beginning of the year to make up for freezing the salary schedule during Covid. I also had something ridiculous like 700 hours of PTO paid out (RIP my taxes this year).

Side note: I do not recommend saving up as much PTO as I did, go live your life. I was saving aggressively to prep for us having kids, and then the pandemic happened so barely used any for a couple years. Happy accident that my banked PTO ended up getting much more valueable over the years as my salary was increasing rapidly.

Our house is great but as the kids are growing we are thinking it would be nice to have some extra space. We've talked to our realtor and lender to get the process moving but not in any specific rush. We will have to do some upgrades to the house like exterior paint, possibly the roof, deck upgrade (finished ourselves) but those are needed either way so just going to do them in case we decide to enter the market. The idea of getting a new mortgage right now seems so wild to me, but I know you can't time these things. It definitely would hurt to go from 2.875% to 7%. I'm considering exploring just adding on to our current house, but not sure if that's really feasible at this point.
Daycare is now $2,900/mo lol (this is even with our costs going down slightly as our son has aged into the older classroom). It was actually hilarious to me that they sent out a "We won best daycare in the region" announcement followed very shortly by a 30% price increase. It is what it is though - I think this is pretty solidly reasonable for the area.
We took a family trip to Disneyland a couple days before our son turned 3 so that his park entry would still be free. My mindset going into trip planning was "Disney is expensive, so if you want to go, just accept that". We used a few different little tips and tricks for saving money here and there but overall tried not to worry too much about complete optimization. With that attitude we had a great trip and to me at least the memories and moments with my kids were totally worth it. Do the princess breakfast.

Chart

Here is our entire financial journey summed up in one line. Apparently they don't do the thing anymore where it changes color when crossing over from negative to positive, that's a bummer (the first line on the y-axis is $0, not the x-axis). I really thought it would look like more of an exponential curve by now. There aren't really inflection points anymore besides the Covid 2020 drop, when the app would get confused, or accounts would stop updating from time to time, so here are the relevant dates in list form:

• 7/2/15 began tracking net worth.
• 3/29/16 crossed $0! We are worthless!
• 5/24/17 crossed $100k net worth.
• 8/10/18 crossed $200k net worth.
• 6/11/19 crossed $300k net worth.
• 1/17/20 crossed $400k net worth.
• 8/25/20 crossed $500k net worth.
• 12/3/20 crossed $600k net worth.
• 4/7/21 crossed $700k net worth.
• 8/27/21 crossed $800k net worth.
• 3/26/22 crossed $900k net worth.
• 5/1/23 crossed $1M net worth.

I enjoyed watching the time between milestones get shorter and shorter, and then 2022 happened.

Current Finances

• $100k in cash as an e-fund/new house downpayment savings, $6k in an HSA.
• $550k of investments, mostly lazy index 3-fund portfolio.
• $370k equity in our home
• -$10k of student loans remaining

Our savings rate was 40% from 45% one baby and 55% no babies. Now? I have absolutely no idea. Past me and part of current me thinks that's both hilarious and terrifying - who even am I?? I believe it's likely around the 40% mark still. I think part of me doesn't want to figure it out because it might be lower than I was hoping for and stress me out unnecessarily.

Now what

I told my wife the news that we were officially millionaires (that sounds so stupid typing it out) a few days ago and she asked "what does that mean". I said "literally nothing, lol". We are definitively in the "boring middle" phase of retirement savings, and so I don't expect any substantial changes.
When is enough, enough? I really don't know. I still want to retire early, but as I've grown into my career (and very much^mostly enjoyed the work) I've found myself less eager to leave. I think working from home has had a huge impact on this. It's probably time for a sit down with my wife to talk about our next 5-10 years and maybe map out a number that we would feel comfortable with.
It's for sure time to update the budget soon and get that back on track. My oldest will attend kindergarten in the fall, so that will be nice to cut our daycare bill in half. We may never see that money if it ends up going towards a larger mortgage, but I need to get an updated picture of our finances before we can figure out exactly what sort of house we want to afford.
Our student loans are what initially set me down this path of aggressively saving and investing. I find it kind of funny that despite all of our financial accomplishments, we still have not officially paid off our student loans. I'm holding out hope for the student loan bill to go through, so until there is interest being charged again, the last $10k will just sit there.
Not that I think anyone would remember this, but if you read the last post you know I was planning on making a will and getting some life insurance. It's been 2.5 years and I've made zero progress on those fronts, which I realize is terrible and I really need to get on that. Likewise, I still don't have a specific plan for the kids' college beyond "let's just generically save money and we will cash flow college or figure it out".
For my career, I've got one last level to go as an individual contributor in my field. If I stay at my new company, I'm probably a couple years out from achieving it, but I could probably get it as soon as the end of this year if I go back to my old job. That would allow me to end my career in the $200k range which I think is a solid goal.

The End End

Is this my last update ever? Maybe, who knows. Maybe a retirement update is in order many years down the road, but really I don't expect our path to there have anything new or interesting that I haven't already covered (wasn't that the whole point of this series of updates?).
Looking back on this, I like to think that I successfully made our journey to being millionaires as boring as possible. I was inspired at a young age to learn that the possibility of retiring early could be simple and didn't take an overwhelming amount of skill or knowledge. You just had to be as consistent as possible. I'm not to retirement yet, but I believe in the path we are on and I'm hoping someone will find similar inspiration by me just showing the receipts.
Finally, I want to sincerely thank everyone for reading and commenting over the years. As a loooooong time lurker on this sub I was so nervous for my first ever post and the responses I've received since then have been so uplifting and personally motivating. It means a lot. Back to saving and living our life now. See you around!^maybe

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TLDR: I would love and appreciate any advice :)
Hello :) I am a recent graduate with a B.S. in Biology and I am currently job hunting. I decided my junior year that I didn't want to go into academia/research and I also decided a long time ago that I was not doing any pre-health profession (chemistry kicked my butt and I wanted to cry every day). I have spent the last couple months trying to figure out what to do and I feel lost overall especially given the number of avenues one could go down. I personally believe that you fully rule out something until you try it. I have gone down numerous rabbit holes trying to figure out my next steps.
Through the adventure that was my career exploration I have ruled out a few things. I have been using linked in as a way to reach out and set up informational interviews. If any of you are willing please feel free to PM me. My school's network isn't that strong because most biology, bcmb or chemistry students go into PhD/graduate programs or medical School. We don't have STEM recruiters visit our campus. I decided not to apply to graduate school because there wasn't anything I was passionate about and I didn't want to have more student debt until I knew what I wanted to study. Within my personal network no one is within the same industry, it is all finance or social work.
I completely understand that your first job is just a stepping stone to where you want to be.
What I want from my first job: The main things I am looking is mentorship and the potential for future growth (acquiring skills and experience needed for future roles). Plan: stay for 2 - 3 years.
Teamwork and collaboration is also really important/valuable to me. It's important for people to have respect for others and be mindful. I want to be around people who understand that their actions impact everyone. If they see a tasks that needs to be done, they do it instead of saying that it isn't their problem.
Something that offers variety day-to-day and challenges me.
I am someone who requires structure, good management, and going into a physical office/seeing people face-to-face.
Short term (2 - 5 years from now): Find an area I am passionate about and go to graduate school. Acquire the required experience for supervisory roles such as project or product management. Learn about the business side of the industry. Learn relevant data analytics/computer skills. Pay off current student debt.
Work at a large company that has branches abroad and transfer for a year or two.
Long term career goals: Find strong mentors. End up in a management/leadership position of some kind. Be surrounded by ambitious individuals / high achievers. This is because I believe you are who you surround yourself with and having ambitious friends push you to step out of your comfort zone and be the best you, you can be. Build a strong and reliable network.
Make enough money to afford family vacations abroad and be able to support parents after retirement.
Qualifications:
Academic Experience: ~2 years in undergraduate research (wet) lab: cell culture, PCR, DNA purification, protein stains and westerns. However, I did not actually analyze the data, it was handed off to someone else in the lab. A summer REU in the Public Health realm.
Extra Curriculars: Held several club leadership positions, basic experience with event planning, worked student office jobs throughout college, was an Residential Assistant, studied abroad for a semester.
Careers I don't feel would be the best fit:
Sales: meeting monthly quotas would give me way too much stress and I hate the idea of cold calling with the purpose of selling a product
Working in a lab: the thought of messing up weeks and months of data would give me too much anxiety.
Research Assistant: Not too keen given the jobs is basically reading a ton of research papers which the thought of gives me existential dread.
Teaching: Not for me. I believe it takes a certain individual to be a good teacher and communicator. I am also super awkward around children/adolescences. My biggest fear is that I would teach them the wrong thing and mess up their fundamental understanding or not be engaging enough.
CDC positions: Of the ones I have seen, they all seem to be about HIV. I took a microbiology and immunology class and the topic didn't intrigue me.
Thank you for reading through my super long posts: I thought providing detail would give more specific/targeted advice.
Questions:

1. Suggestions for companies with a good reputation, upward mobility and mentorship. One that invest in it's employees.
2. How do I figure out if what a company is offering is a good salary?
3. Once I get an offer, how do I leverage my experience so I don't get lowballed? I feel like I don't have anything to offer. Additionally, most positions I have seen only pay $30,000 - $40,000 which where I in the city is not livable. (I want to be able to save/start paying off my student debt and not live pay check to pay check)
4. How do you find good mentors, especially when you are unsure of what you want to do next?
5. How do you find local networking events post college?
6. Career pivots are also welcomed suggestions
7. If there is a different thread/community to ask this in please let me know. (posted in the biotech community)

Thank you for your time and suggestions. I hope you have a lovely day! :)

I initially received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number displaying a (+1) country code- the US Virgin Islands. Here is that conversation with personal numbers scrubbed:

First chat

[31/05, 17:36] THEM: Have a great day! my name is Catherine and I am a recruiter from the Remote Staff Solutions in the UK . I came across your job posting for part-time and full-time remote roles, and freelance roles. May I share it with you?
[31/05, 18:01] ME: Sure, hello Catherine. Do you have a direct link to the website of the company you represent?
[31/05, 18:01] THEM: May I let the person in charge contact you to send the company and job details for your reference? You can have a look and decide if it's suitable for you or not. Okay?
[31/05, 18:01] THEM: Here are the requirements for the role:
*You must be a British national or hold a valid visa.
*You need to have a UK bank account or any bank account to receive your wages.
*The age requirement is between 23 to 70 years old.
*Preferred candidates will have prior online work experience, but training will be provided for those without experience.
*Access to a mobile phone or computer is necessary.
*Willingness to undergo training, which will be provided and paid for by the company.
[31/05, 18:01] THEM: Could you please confirm if you meet the requirements and age criteria mentioned above? Thanks
[31/05, 18:02] ME: That's fine, thank you. Yes I meet all of those criteria
[31/05, 18:02] THEM: Ok, I will submit your contact details to the person in charge, who will contact you to provide you with full details of the job and salary as soon as possible, please keep an eye on your WhatsApp. Thanks, and have a good day.
[31/05, 18:03] ME: Thank you Catherine. Have a great day yourself.
[31/05, 18:04] THEM: Most welcome

So far, so innocuous. Already I'm pretty suspicious, but am actually looking for work, so I proceed, careful not to provide any information that would identify me. The following day I was contacted by "Candy", this time from a UK (+44) number with a display picture of a woman standing in the sea. A reverse image search referred me to the Instagram page of Youtuber Riva Quenery, who is from the Philippines.

Second chat

[01/06, 11:13] THEM: Hi! This is Candy.
[01/06, 11:14] THEM: I have just been informed by Remote Staff Solutions that you are interested in the job im doing?
[01/06, 11:18] ME: Hi candy, I would have to know a little more about the position in question first, but in principle I'm certainly open to the idea.
[01/06, 11:19] THEM: Great! Are you available now so i can discuss more about the job details?
[01/06, 11:19] ME: Sure, I have time
[01/06, 11:20] THEM: Okay, this is an online work from home, freelance job. You can do it part time or full time without restrictions.
[01/06, 11:21] THEM: Okay, our job is to help these app developers to assist or optimize their app on our working platform. This is the platform looks like. In a day you have 3 sets of tasks where you can get commissions and upon completion you can get paid thru exchange wallet and you can transfer your earnings to your bank.
[01/06, 11:23] ME: Could you describe a typical set of tasks for me?
[01/06, 11:27] THEM: Dont worry training is provided.
[01/06, 11:28] THEM: If you dont have any questions i will tell you about compensation?
[01/06, 11:29] ME: I would like to know about compensation, however, I would also like to know a little more about the company you represent. What is it's name and does it have a website I could quickly look at to find out a little more?
[01/06, 11:30] THEM: Ofcourse you will get there. I just want to be clear everything before we start.
[01/06, 11:31] THEM: Bad Rhino is a well-known company in this industry that assist online application developers and the company develop marketing plans and your role is to help merchant's app on the company workbench to generate real traffic,joint platform's AI system to generate good reviews for the app, and finally complete the process of optimizing the app.
[01/06, 11:37] ME: Well, I appreciate the opportunity, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass at this time.
[01/06, 11:38] THEM: Why?
[01/06, 11:48] ME: There are too many suspicious elements to the offer;

1. I've spoken to 2 people associated with "remote staff solutions" so far, neither have referred to me by name and the initial communications were received from an unknown number.
   
2. Neither have provided a specific professional website for me to clarify the validity of their offer.
   
3. Bad Rhino appears on the Google first page search results only as a London based men's clothing outlet, and as a small independent games developer, this is alarming for a well known company.
   
4. With scams being so prevalent, it's a little unsettling to receive offers, such as this, appearing so reluctant to divulge important specifics up front. If an offer sounds too good to be true, it invariably is.
   

If this is a misunderstanding then I apologise, but even so, I won't be taking you up on your offer of employment at this time. Thanks.
[01/06, 11:57] THEM: https://badrhinoinc.com
[01/06, 11:57] THEM: This is our the main website, you can check it if you want.
[01/06, 12:00] ME: Additionally, your avatar on WhatsApp is of an online influencer named Riva Quenery. There is no indication that she and you are the same person which, again is suspicious.
[01/06, 12:01] THEM: Do you know me?
[01/06, 12:02] ME: I do not.
[01/06, 12:02] THEM: Yes my work is a Digital Marketing which i usually do is to make vlogs.
[01/06, 12:03] THEM: And i am also a user of this Bad rhino. If you're not interested, we can cut the conversation.
[01/06, 12:04] ME: Well in that case congratulations on your social media success. I am not interested but thank you for your time.
[01/06, 12:04] THEM: You're welcome.

So, in conclusion, either I just had a suss conversation with Riva Quenery and turned down an employment opportunity, or my nose for bullshit is better attuned than it usually is. Opinions?

Hello everyone, I'm considering moving to Phnom Penh for a job. How comfortably could I live on $3,300 gross? I'm just a single guy. In terms of housing, I would prefer a single bedroom apartment with a pool, gym, internet, A/C,,etc. I'm not much of a nightlife person. How much do you think I could expect to save with this salary? Thank you very much for any input and expertise.

I have a masters in electrical engineering with a focus on Data Science and especially computer vision (also part of my thesis). I am currently working as a contractor doing software engineering/programming based in germany.
​
I really like working with computer vision algorithms and image stuff in my spare time (not part of my current work) but i am having a hard time landing a job in that field, as most Compuer Vision/AI Jobs prefer someone with 4+ years of working experience or a PHD. I am starting to wonder if i maybe am limiting myself a bit to much into that particular area, as there also aren't that many job offers (and if, the requirements from above play a role).
​
So, i got now an PHD offer in the medical field working with structured and unstructured data (images can be a small part of it). So, i am thinking of whether i should take that offer or keep looking/applying to other PHD positions. In principle the job description and topic sounds interesting and would give me a broader approach in the Deep Learning area.
​
The only downside is, that the payment would be a bit of a downgrade from my current position (although it is not like i would have a hard time living on that salary).
​
My primary concern is that i would limit myself if i just do a topic only in regard to computer vision, especially as i said the job market in that area isn't that big.
​
Before anyone asks, yes i have thought about it for some time and i do want to do a PHD.
​
Any thoughts?

TLDR: I would love and appreciate any advice :)
Hello :) I am a recent graduate with a B.S. in Biology and I am currently job hunting. I decided my junior year that I didn't want to go into academia/research and I also decided a long time ago that I was not doing any pre-health profession (chemistry kicked my butt and I wanted to cry every day). I have spent the last couple months trying to figure out what to do and I feel lost overall especially given the number of avenues one could go down. I personally believe that you fully rule out something until you try it. I have gone down numerous rabbit holes trying to figure out my next steps.
Through the adventure that was my career exploration I have ruled out a few things. I have been using linked in as a way to reach out and set up informational interviews. If any of you are willing please feel free to PM me. My school's network isn't that strong because most biology, bcmb or chemistry students go into PhD/graduate programs or medical School. We don't have STEM recruiters visit our campus. I decided not to apply to graduate school because there wasn't anything I was passionate about and I didn't want to have more student debt until I knew what I wanted to study. Within my personal network no one is within the same industry, it is all finance or social work.
I completely understand that your first job is just a stepping stone to where you want to be.
The reason I thought of biotech was because I still wanted to be able to use my science degree.
What I want from my first job: The main things I am looking is mentorship and the potential for future growth (acquiring skills and experience needed for future roles). Plan: stay for 2 - 3 years.
Teamwork and collaboration is also really important/valuable to me. It's important for people to have respect for others and be mindful. I want to be around people who understand that their actions impact everyone. If they see a tasks that needs to be done, they do it instead of saying that it isn't their problem.
Something that offers variety and challenges me.
I am someone who requires structure, good management, and going into a physical office/seeing people face-to-face.
Short term (2 - 5 years from now): Find an area I am passionate about and go to graduate school. Acquire the required experience for supervisory roles such as project or product management. Learn about the business side of the industry. Learn relevant data analytics/computer skills. Pay off current student debt.
Work at a large company that has branches abroad and transfer for a year or two.
Long term career goals: Find strong mentors. End up in a management/leadership position of some kind. Be surrounded by ambitious individuals / high achievers. This is because I believe you are who you surround yourself with and having ambitious friends push you to step out of your comfort zone and be the best you, you can be. Build a strong and reliable network.
Make enough money to afford family vacations abroad and be able to support parents after retirement.
Qualifications:
Related Experience: ~2 years in undergraduate research (wet) lab: cell culture, PCR, DNA purification, protein stains and westerns. However, I did not actually analyze the data, it was handed off to someone else in the lab. A summer REU in the Public Health realm.
Extra Curriculars: Held several club leadership positions, basic experience with event planning, worked student office jobs throughout college, was an Residential Assistant, studied abroad for a semester.
Careers I don't feel would be the best fit:
Sales: meeting monthly quotas would give me way too much stress and I hate the idea of cold calling with the purpose of selling a product
Working in a lab: the thought of messing up weeks and months of data would give me too much anxiety. I was also a super slow lab worker.
RA: Not too keen given the jobs is basically reading a ton of research papers which the thought of gives me existential dread.
Teaching: Not for me. I believe it takes a certain individual to be a good teacher and communicator. I am also super awkward around children/adolescences. My biggest fear is that I would teach them the wrong thing and mess up their fundamental understanding or not be engaging enough.
CDC positions: Of the ones I have seen, they all seem to be about HIV. I took a microbiology and immunology class and the topic didn't intrigue me.
Thank you for reading through my super long posts: I thought providing detail would give more specific/targeted advice.
Questions:

1. Suggestions for biotech companies with a good reputation, upward mobility and mentorship.
2. How do I figure out if what a company is offering is a good salary?
3. Once I get an offer, how do I leverage my experience so I don't get lowballed? I feel like I don't have anything to offer. Additionally, most research/coordinator positions I have seen only pay $30,000 - $40,000 which where I live is not livable. (I want to be able to save/start paying off my student debt and not live pay check to pay check)
4. Should I moving to Boston given most threads I have read say that's where the jobs are. I come from a small rural town so job opportunities are super limited. I will need to relocate either way. I also thought of Philadelphia because I heard it had good public transit.
5. How do you find good mentors, especially when you are unsure of what you want to do next?
6. How do you find local networking events post college?
7. Career pivots are also welcomed suggestions
8. If there is a different thread/community to ask this in please let me know.

Thank you for your time and suggestions. I hope you have a lovely day! :)

Hey folks,
I work for a company “A”, that was acquired a few years ago by company “B”. They also own another company, “C”.
All companies are UK LTDs, with a varying number of employees. The parent company B, has hundreds of UK based employees, C has ~20, and the company I work for has ~10.
Company A (my current employer), is being dissolved, and all employees being moved to company C. They’ve handed us a new contract, and told us to sign ASAP.
I have a couple of questions, such as do I even need to sign? But more than that, there’s a handful of nuanced differences between the contracts. My original contract for example states I have flexibility to work between 7am and 7pm, the new contract states I must be available between 10:00 and 16:30 always. There’s also a reduction in work hours (40 to 37.5). I’m salaried do it doesn’t feel like a big deal, but with calling out.
I (and others) from company A, are also concerned about job security. The parent company (B) is huge company that’s not going anywhere, the UK benefits are much better, and it feels like a more secure bet than company C, which is a small company who’s gross revenue isn’t particularly large.
It feels like we’re being moved there as bookkeeping to offset against the losses from company A (which was driving loss).
What rights (if any) do I have here? Can I refuse the contract? Can I ask to move to company B?

Hey UKPF, I have been using thesalarycalculator website for years and it’s always been accurate, I was expecting my pay breakdown to be the following this month using the calculator:
Gross income: £6,813 (Base: £2,920 + Commission: £3,893) Pension deduction: £120 Tax: £1,089.17 NI: £429.48
Take home: £5,110.89
However, this is what my payslip reflected:
Gross income: £6,813 Tax: £1,722.07 NI: £429
Take home: £4,545.02
Leaving me with a £565 shortfall.
For context, my base salary is £35,040 with OTE (on target earnings) of just over £58,000. This month I earned more than usual (£3,893 instead of typically £1946 in commission)
Does this complicate things? Have I paid the correct amount of tax or can I expect an adjustment in my next months pay? It was quite a shock earning nearly £600 less so would be good to understand if it is correct.
Thank you

Hello dear Redditor, I am currently in a financial emergency - there is currently a demand in the form of a writ of execution. My question is: If it comes to an enforcement order, can I influence what is seized? My computer is not the most expensive, but also not the cheapest. It is very important to me, as it has been my "diary" for 18 years. Is there any way to arrange for my salary to be seized instead of my computer (the only seizable item I own as far as I know)? And if my salary is seized, what about other creditors? Will so much be seized that I will no longer be able to pay off a current loan monthly and it will result in another writ of execution, etc.? I really just want to get out of this mess and have an appointment with a debt counselor on Monday. But the thoughts about this topic are making me crazy. I would be very grateful for any answers!

Bannon is a senior strategist for Trump's presidential campaign in 2016. He has taken credit for himself and made all sorts of bizarre statements that have also put Trump on fire. Therefore, Bannon was ousted from the White House by Trump in August 2017. Banished from the White House, Bannon is left destitute, living off handouts and peddling cold War ideas, dreaming of a comeback to the White House. Birds of a feather flock together. Strategist Bannon clicked with Guo Wengui, a Chinese "Red Cross fugitive" who fled to the United States. They are banded together as traitors. Thus, a freak group had been set up. They use each other and dig pits for each other.
Bannon regards Wen Gui as an "ATM" while Wen Gui treats Bannon as a "life-saving straw" for political patronage. To show the sincerity of cooperation, Guo Wengui bought the membership of Trump's private club Mar-a-Lago. Bannon opened a Bannon's Battle room channel on Gnews and later signed a cooperation agreement with Gnews with an annual salary of $1 million. It is well known that Guo Wengui provided a large amount of money to Bannon. After Guo Wengui established the Rule of Law Foundation on November 20, 2018, Bannon served as the foundation's first chairman. Through Bannon's hard publicity, Guo Wengui successfully raised more than $500 million through Law Foundation, GTV platform, selling GTV original shares, G coins, and other scams. His popularity skyrocketed, and he received both personal and financial income. With an annual salary of $1 million, Bannon has met his needs for food, clothing, housing, and transportation and relieved of his worries. He also plays the role of complice with Guo and follows Guo's orders. After the outbreak of COVID-19, they promoted each other on GTV's situation room. They also spread conspiracy theories such as "Chinese virus," "Wuhan virus," "virus is a biological weapon made by Wuhan P4 lab", and "U.S. election fraud," and so on. They went to attract attention, brush their presence, fabricate rumors, and smear China. What's more, they can cover up the Trump administration's lack of quarantine measures and interfere in the U.S. presidential election.

Hi so I have a problem with my family that has been increasingly intense during the past few months.
A while ago I got employed at a reputable IT company to work for them fully from home. It's a normal 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week kinda job in front of a computer, the only difference being that I work in my room instead of in a cubicle. The salary I get is the highest of all the people in the house, I frequently provide financial help to my family members despite the fact that I also am saving up money to start uni (recently got admitted to one of the top european business schools, the costs to move are incredibly high compared to wages in my country (despite being pretty well of here I'm earning like 1/5th of the poverty line there)
My family doesn't get that. They constantly complain that I sit all day in front of a computer instead of at least keeping the house in order. Just now, during a call with the rest of my team, my mom barged into my room yelling that I should answer her calls, that her printer doesn't work and that I have to come and help her immediately. She was furious when I said that I can't leave that work call. My father constantly knocks at my door so that I help him with his car. After a hugely tiring day, when everyone comes home from work, they ask me to do eeeeverything around the house and say that "they were at work and are tired while I was home all day".
How do I explain to them that I'm not on a year long vacation with monthly stream of money from some anonymous sugar daddy