Originally Posted by
NYC Pilot
How do they figure a 30 year career at UPS or Delta is worth over $12 million? That means one would need to earn an average of $400k a year for 30 years which clearly is NOT the case. Very misleading numbers on the career earnings part.
Have you not heard of "the rule of 72" ? Divide 72 by the applicable annual interest rate (or annual percentage raises in this case), and you'll come up with the number of years required to double your money, or salary.
Since study assumed perpetual 3% raises, today's UPS Captain making ~ $300K "should" start making $600K 24 years from now. Six more years after that should yield a salary of ~ $716K.
Additionally, study considered factors besides just salary such as Profit Sharing (DL), B Fund contributions (both airlines), and A fund contributions (UPS), just to name several. So, the $12M figure isn't too much out of whack.