Welcome to Wallet Voyeur, the podcast that will make you feel a little bit naughty as it reveals exactly how much money regular folks make at regular jobs around the world. This show interviews tax clerks in Kansas making $19.88/hour, healthcare salespersons in Los Angeles making $130,000/year, scientists in Melbourne making $85,000 AUD/year, comedians in Bethlehem, PA who sometimes make nothing at all, and everyone in between. Listen as we explore why money is still such a taboo subject even though it's arguably the most important thing to consider when making the majority of our decisions.
We generally believe that salary and prestige go hand-in-hand. Usually, the more a job pays, the more prestigious it is. But what happens when you take a pay cut to take a better job? Can prestige be more important than salary?
30 Aug 2020
$105,000 AUD/Year in Melbourne
Today's episode features a university employee in Melbourne, by way of Edmonton, who makes $105,000 AUD/year who also gets an additional 17% for his super-annuation (a pension, to you and me). He was introduced to financial planning in 7th grade by his teacher, encountered resistance about discussing money from his family, but also had the good fortune of having several high-paying construction jobs in his late teens to help set him on his way.
16 Aug 2020
$68,000 CAD/Year In Thunder Bay, ON
Let's hear from a Thunder Bay, ON science outreacher who manages budgets, people, and large projects. She makes $68,000 CAD/year but is often on-edge, worried that her staff possibly feels disdain toward her because of how much she earns. We also discuss her life in an area with a moderate cost of living that has afforded her and her husband to purchase a home, raise a child, and even have an electric car and a camper.
10 Aug 2020
$70,000/Year For A Biology Professor
Let's hear from an assistant professor of biology who makes $70,000/year - which you could have found out yourself since the salaries of all staff at public universities are published. We'll hear about how he thought he was rich when he got a fellowship for $30,000, what it was like to purchase a home a suddenly be $128,000 in debt (hint: it wasn't so bad compared to renting), and how he and his wife share household finances.
6 Aug 2020
$116,000/Year In Louisville
This episode features a corporate marketing professional who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in small town Eastern Connecticut who once made $14/hour as a janitor at 14 and just recently took a pay cut down to $116,000/year to relocate to Louisville. Let's hear about what it's like to have more than $125,000 in student loan debt, purchasing a 2,000-square-foot home for $37,000 after once living in a $2,400/month Manhattan apartment, being told by your HR department to specifically not discuss your salary, and the culture shock of going from a poor town to a fancy New York City college full of rich kids. And whatever you do, don't ask your teachers how much they make, even when doing an assignment about choosing a career.
2 Aug 2020
$85,000 AUD/Year In Melbourne
Hear from an Australian science researcher who openly talks about money with all of his friends -- which he recognizes is unusual. He earns $85,000 AUD each year plus 12% superannuation to be put toward retirement. We'll learn that he and his friends aren't shy, how his willingness to talk about money directly led to him helping a coworker negotiate a raise at her new job, and why he believes that investing in real estate in expensive markets like Melbourne may not make sense for millennials any more.
30 Jul 2020
$19.88/Hour In Kansas
Today we hear from a tax clerk in Lawrence, KS who makes $19.88/hour, and only five people on Earth know how much she earns (well, until now). We'll learn how she tries to save a bit of money each month while still managing to spend $50 every six weeks on meal worms to to feed her chickens and duck.
26 Jul 2020
My Financial Planner Only Makes $30,000!?!
Many people assume that financial planners cater exclusively to wealthy individuals, and therefore, the wealthy often assume their planners are in their same tax bracket. But sometimes they aren't even close. In this episode, a financial planner starts a cooperative planning company, shares revenue with his staff, and usually finishes the year with about $30,000. In Austin. Where the cost-of-living is soaring. But he explains how people making $30,000/year have much more in common with those making $300,000/year, and how many of us can easily adjust to a sudden change in our income, whether for the better or the worse.
23 Jul 2020
$30,000/Year Is Nothing To Laugh At
Glen Tickle is a working comedian. He's not a total unknown but he's certainly not in the same atmosphere as Sarah Silverman or Chris Rock either. So how does an artist make a living? Last year he made $30,000 but in others he made far less, and he's been paid as little as $20 for a gig. This episodes explores how artists negotiate the promise of a potentially large career with the constant turmoil of sometimes not knowing from where your next check will come or for how much it will even be.
20 Jul 2020
$54,100/Year In Texas
How do you navigate the quickly increasing cost-of-living in Austin while making $54,100 annually? How do you slyly ask co-workers about their salaries to help a colleague overcome income inequality? How do you fondly remember your Depression-era grandmother who liked nice things? This episode of Wallet Voyeur explores a woman's life in Texas's non-profit world, revealing how much she earns, how she's trying to purchase a home with a less-educated friend who earns as much as she does, and what it was like to find out a peer colleague was earning 40% less than she was for doing essentially the same job - and help her.
20 Jul 2020
$130,000/Year Vs. Your Soul
When is $50,000 greater than $130,000? Apparently when your true-self is at stake. Let's hear from a woman who felt richer (in her soul, at least) when she was making $50,000/year at a non-profit in New York than when she was earning $130,000/year at a healthcare company in Los Angeles -- where it took a 30% pay cut at a new organization to feel like herself again.
15 Jul 2020
Wallet Voyeur: Trailer
Welcome to Wallet Voyeur, the podcast that will make you feel a little bit naughty as it reveals exactly how much money regular folks at regular jobs around the world make. This show interviews tax clerks in Kansas making $19.88/hour, healthcare salespersons in Los Angeles making $130,000/year, comedians in Bethlehem, PA who sometimes don't make anything at all, and everyone in between. Why is money still such a taboo subject even though it's arguably the most important thing to consider when making the majority of our decisions? Beyond knowing a few salaries of our favorite sports stars and how much minimum wage is in our local area, almost none of us know how much our friends, family members, or coworkers make - and we bet you never talk about your exact pay rate or salary with them either. Our own money shouldn't be so secretive! We need to openly talk about our own paychecks, rent or mortgage payments, credit cards, student loans, car payments, and what we spend for fun in order to better understand basic personal finance, budgeting, and how much money you should expect from your current or possible new job. And so much more. Let's talk openly about our money! Series begins July 20, 2020.
14 Jul 2020
$51,984/Year In Memphis
From slinging ice cream at Baskin Robbins for $7.35/hour to becoming an ESL teacher at a public high school making $51,984/year, learn from a Memphis, TN man who realized a full-time salary isn't a solution to one's financial problems, especially if you've racked-up $85,000 in student loan and credit card debt which causes you move back in with your parents.
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