I have lived in the ORD suburbs for 25+ years. All of the obscene taxes, home prices, etc. associated with a large Metro area are definitely in play here.
Very rarely have I exceeded 6 figures in a 30 + year airline career.
I have owned two homes in two very decent suburbs, saved for a retirement, raised a Son, payed his Mother 20% of my income for 15 years, have driven decent cars, taken vacations, seen the World, and generally partied like a Rock Star when necessary.
My "First Retirement", when a previous Employer failed, was at age 50. Out of sheer boredom after 2.3 years I went back to flying.
Looks like my next "Retirement" ( Medical ) started about 18 months ago at age 57.
If I don't get back to flying I'm okay til' about age 90 financially. And, this is calculated using my money, not insurance/disability etc. Hmmm. Impossible isn't it ?
And, NO...I don't eat Ramen, or Mac and Cheese (unless I feel like it ) nor do I eat fast food/processed garbage. Mostly just fresh chicken, beef, pork, fish and veggies thank you.
"Per Diem is not compensation"...30 years of hearing THIS Stupid Argument.( ! )
That's funny.. I have a nice six figure (plus) account that I have built almost SOLELY on depositing Per Diem checks over the last 25 years. Per Diem IS compensation and it's MUCH BETTER than regular income because ... It's Tax EFFIN' Free for Christ's Sake!
Unfortunately, as this thread clearly illustrates, many Pilots are basically illiterate, both financially and functionally.
A friend of mine ( not a pilot ) came out of bankruptcy and luckily got a raise from his employer from 70k to about 90k. He said " Not bad, Huh !? A guy can live pretty well on that kind of money, right?! "
I smiled and explained " Well, if you can't make it on 70 grand a year, you certainly can't make it on 90. "
TRUE DAT.
Love,
Stimpy