Do I have enough?

[Anonymous]

When I was in my 20s and 30s, I worked in the arts and my family lived on 38k annually. On that, we never took a loan on a car, we bought a nice home and we carried no credit card debt while saving 150k. I have never thought the American Dream was all about acquiring stuff. I believed it was about working hard gets you someplace. Based on where I am, I might have turned a wrong corner....

The problem is that American consumerism was sold as necessary to demonstrate your level of success. It is one thing for multi millionaires to own the mansion estate, 100K cars, etc. It is another thing when it takes two incomes at the expense of quality attention to kids, hiring someone else to basically raise your children during their formative years, just to support the mortgage, car payments, credit card debt etc. and to enable you to shop more more crap that you don't need. This industry is full of second income parents whose sole purpose seems to be to pay for the luxurious trips and the unnecessary luxuries.
McMansion in the suburbs, big SUV to keep up with the neighbors, designer shoes, designer clothes, even designer dogs. And the kids grow up to expect all of these things at the beginning of their careers not the end. Sick!!!

 

[Anonymous]

I'm not judging you and feel for you in terms of moving being a pain in the ass and possible family/social responsibilities. However, if things are bad and you have make decisions, you do have options...

Of course, it is an option. There are other options as well to lower our monthly property taxes. I would like to move but when you own a large home and have two family members that will probably move in, you might as well keep it for now. At some point, I am so outta here. However, I hate the state I live in. I work in this state and we know the AZ job is tenuous at best. I think I will wait to see if I can transfer to a nicer state and then unload the big home. Maybe by then my mother will have passed on and my son would come with us. I did the math on a move and we are only about 30k ahead after 8 years and our quality of life would actually go down due to the loss of all the amenities we have close to home and buying another dump to fix. I would also trade driving a long way for work during the week to driving a long way to see my kids and grandkids on the weekend or to see friends and go to the lake. The other option is an apartment and then my son gets left out and I think he would have a nervous breakdown alone. Nope, hanging tight and praying a lot.

 

[Anonymous]

I am 49, and feel the end is here with Pfizer. I have 1.325 million in retirement and owe about 200,000 on a 700,000 home. Otherwise I have no debt. I don't live an extravagant life, and have been a career rep. I have a wife who is stay-at-home, no kids just furry pets. Wondering what the heck I will do when this gig is done. I think in my next life I will just do something I enjoy--maybe owning a small shop or a small business with just one other employee. I am not having too much anxiety, just I want to do something I feel passionate for, just like my first job here 15 years ago. I will also volunteer for underpriveliged folks. Thank you and God bless all you other folks.

How the hell did you get a mortgage for a $700,000 home on a REPS salary??? With a spouse that doesn't work! Sell your stupid big house and downsize, that will put a few extra thousand dollars more in your retirement account; and I don't think the "furry pets" will mind if you downsize. Are you sure you don't work in Marketing...you are almost too stupid to be a rep; and that's tough.

 

[Anonymous]

The problem is that American consumerism was sold as necessary to demonstrate your level of success. It is one thing for multi millionaires to own the mansion estate, 100K cars, etc. It is another thing when it takes two incomes at the expense of quality attention to kids, hiring someone else to basically raise your children during their formative years, just to support the mortgage, car payments, credit card debt etc. and to enable you to shop more more crap that you don't need. This industry is full of second income parents whose sole purpose seems to be to pay for the luxurious trips and the unnecessary luxuries.
McMansion in the suburbs, big SUV to keep up with the neighbors, designer shoes, designer clothes, even designer dogs. And the kids grow up to expect all of these things at the beginning of their careers not the end. Sick!!!

I have seen this too when the kids don't want to leave home because they cannot afford the same lifestyle. Or they go deep into debt to try to have it all before they can afford it not being willing to settle for carpet instead of hardwood floors, or laminate instead of granite. And oh my gosh those ugly white appliances, who could live like that?

 

[Anonymous]

I used to be on that treadmill and almost fell into the American Dream trap created by marketing types and sold to us as the pathway to happiness. It goes something like this:
Get a good college education then get a good job in a company where you can build a career. Get married have a couple of kids and a big house where everyone has their own suite. Dual oven gormet kitchen, granite and stainless steel of course. Then finish the basement with a man cave with a 72" T.V., killer stereo, wet bar. Fill that three or four car garage with a luxury SUV, luxury sedan, and a sports car just for fun. Maybe throw in a motorcyle or a golf cart. Make sure the kids have the latest designer clothes. Fill your own closets to the top with designer labels, $200 designer shoes, $1500 purses and upgrade that diamond to reflect your success. You just have to have that I phone 5s gold of course and one for the spouse and each of the kids. Of course we are on the family plan, unlimited talk, text, and internet access. We have the deluxe Direct T.V. package where we can record up to 10 programs and watch them from any of our seven big screen T.V.s. And it goes on and on. The really sick part is that even people without kids still think they have to have all of this shit to make them happy. Guess what? When it all comes crashing down in the next few months you will find like I did that none of it matters. None of it.[/QUOTE

I know many of my peers who are living on the edge with two incomes so I can only imagine the impact this will have when they lose their jobs and over 50% of the family income. Bye bye big house and trips to the mall.

 

[Anonymous]

y'all are real bitches ya know

 

[Anonymous]

i have one million. can i retire at 46?

 

[Anonymous]

i have one million. can i retire at 46?

Exactly 1 million?
Amazing.
Ya, go ahead. You can retire. You have my permission.

 

[Anonymous]

i actually have about 1.2 million and own house outright. I don't know if I'll be ok but I'm not really that worried

 

[Anonymous]

I used to be on that treadmill and almost fell into the American Dream trap created by marketing types and sold to us as the pathway to happiness. It goes something like this:
Get a good college education then get a good job in a company where you can build a career. Get married have a couple of kids and a big house where everyone has their own suite. Dual oven gormet kitchen, granite and stainless steel of course. Then finish the basement with a man cave with a 72" T.V., killer stereo, wet bar. Fill that three or four car garage with a luxury SUV, luxury sedan, and a sports car just for fun. Maybe throw in a motorcyle or a golf cart. Make sure the kids have the latest designer clothes. Fill your own closets to the top with designer labels, $200 designer shoes, $1500 purses and upgrade that diamond to reflect your success. You just have to have that I phone 5s gold of course and one for the spouse and each of the kids. Of course we are on the family plan, unlimited talk, text, and internet access. We have the deluxe Direct T.V. package where we can record up to 10 programs and watch them from any of our seven big screen T.V.s. And it goes on and on. The really sick part is that even people without kids still think they have to have all of this shit to make them happy. Guess what? When it all comes crashing down in the next few months you will find like I did that none of it matters. None of it.[/QUOTE

I know many of my peers who are living on the edge with two incomes so I can only imagine the impact this will have when they lose their jobs and over 50% of the family income. Bye bye big house and trips to the mall.

As long as they can keep up the smart phone payments so their kids can feed their addiction and update the games on the X Box then at least the kids won't run away from home. How many of you have kids who never talk to you or anyone else because their face and ears are always locked on some electronic device? Are they simply following your example?

 

[Anonymous]

Ironically, I have no idea how most drug reps do financially. The six that I know in my area and our friends do OK. They live pretty ordinary lives, have been through a few layoffs with long periods of unemployment. I know of none of them that are living the high life and most struggle. I do not know what their retirement looks like or if they have 100k or 1M.

What I do know is among my personal friends, who are all ordinary middle class people, they struggle. Most have less than 200k in their 401k. Four have about 150k. They have small homes and do not spend on a lot of stuff but still live paycheck to paycheck. I think the lot of pharma reps who have done it for 15 years-plus get spoiled. They hang with docs and think they are on an equal plane, when nothing could be further from the truth. A doctor or nurse has a guarantee of making 70 to 300k a year for life with lots of options. A pharma rep is an unstable, low skill-level career and anyone who is out buying anything they cannot pay with cash is a fool.

I would highly recommend that any rep with AZ who has more than just their mortgage as debt start to unload stuff and pay it off. Pfizer is going to buy us and the prediction is a 30 percent gut to the U.S. employees just to start. You can bet that two years after the takeover, only 10 percent will still be employed. Pharma jobs are not plentiful and many, many device or supply jobs will NOT EVER hire a pharma rep. Plan B better be lined up and soon. Some of us will never make 90-plus thousand a year again. It will be a rude awakening for many. (All except the chicks that used pharma to fund their next Botox or decorating spree who are married to execs or doctors themselves.) I have known a number of over 50 let go who plowed through their entire retirement after being out of work for 3 to 5 years. Yes. It could happen to you.

 

[Anonymous]

well aren't you a ray of sunshine!

 

[Anonymous]

I think if you enjoy working you don't ever need to retire, so if you haven't saved much there is still time to do so. Find your passion and you will never work again. Be an escort if you like sex, be a chef if you like to cook, be a jockstrap if you like to be an athletic supporter

 

[Anonymous]

Ironically, I have no idea how most drug reps do financially. The six that I know in my area and our friends do OK. They live pretty ordinary lives, have been through a few layoffs with long periods of unemployment. I know of none of them that are living the high life and most struggle. I do not know what their retirement looks like or if they have 100k or 1M.

What I do know is among my personal friends, who are all ordinary middle class people, they struggle. Most have less than 200k in their 401k. Four have about 150k. They have small homes and do not spend on a lot of stuff but still live paycheck to paycheck. I think the lot of pharma reps who have done it for 15 years-plus get spoiled. They hang with docs and think they are on an equal plane, when nothing could be further from the truth. A doctor or nurse has a guarantee of making 70 to 300k a year for life with lots of options. A pharma rep is an unstable, low skill-level career and anyone who is out buying anything they cannot pay with cash is a fool.

I would highly recommend that any rep with AZ who has more than just their mortgage as debt start to unload stuff and pay it off. Pfizer is going to buy us and the prediction is a 30 percent gut to the U.S. employees just to start. You can bet that two years after the takeover, only 10 percent will still be employed. Pharma jobs are not plentiful and many, many device or supply jobs will NOT EVER hire a pharma rep. Plan B better be lined up and soon. Some of us will never make 90-plus thousand a year again. It will be a rude awakening for many. (All except the chicks that used pharma to fund their next Botox or decorating spree who are married to execs or doctors themselves.) I have known a number of over 50 let go who plowed through their entire retirement after being out of work for 3 to 5 years. Yes. It could happen to you.

You are a loser.
Life is not as complicated as you make it, moron.
There are lots of opportunities out there. Who the fuck waits 3 to 5 years before working.

And one more thing, fuck off.

 

[Anonymous]

Ironically, I have no idea how most drug reps do financially. The six that I know in my area and our friends do OK. They live pretty ordinary lives, have been through a few layoffs with long periods of unemployment. I know of none of them that are living the high life and most struggle. I do not know what their retirement looks like or if they have 100k or 1M.

What I do know is among my personal friends, who are all ordinary middle class people, they struggle. Most have less than 200k in their 401k. Four have about 150k. They have small homes and do not spend on a lot of stuff but still live paycheck to paycheck. I think the lot of pharma reps who have done it for 15 years-plus get spoiled. They hang with docs and think they are on an equal plane, when nothing could be further from the truth. A doctor or nurse has a guarantee of making 70 to 300k a year for life with lots of options. A pharma rep is an unstable, low skill-level career and anyone who is out buying anything they cannot pay with cash is a fool.

I would highly recommend that any rep with AZ who has more than just their mortgage as debt start to unload stuff and pay it off. Pfizer is going to buy us and the prediction is a 30 percent gut to the U.S. employees just to start. You can bet that two years after the takeover, only 10 percent will still be employed. Pharma jobs are not plentiful and many, many device or supply jobs will NOT EVER hire a pharma rep. Plan B better be lined up and soon. Some of us will never make 90-plus thousand a year again. It will be a rude awakening for many. (All except the chicks that used pharma to fund their next Botox or decorating spree who are married to execs or doctors themselves.) I have known a number of over 50 let go who plowed through their entire retirement after being out of work for 3 to 5 years. Yes. It could happen to you.

Wow, you must work at a bank to know the financial affairs of your neighbors!

And your lie about not working for 3 to 5 years is too funny, you picture weary loser!

 

[Anonymous]

Hysterical!

 

[Anonymous]

Ironically, I have no idea how most drug reps do financially. The six that I know in my area and our friends do OK. They live pretty ordinary lives, have been through a few layoffs with long periods of unemployment. I know of none of them that are living the high life and most struggle. I do not know what their retirement looks like or if they have 100k or 1M.

What I do know is among my personal friends, who are all ordinary middle class people, they struggle. Most have less than 200k in their 401k. Four have about 150k. They have small homes and do not spend on a lot of stuff but still live paycheck to paycheck. I think the lot of pharma reps who have done it for 15 years-plus get spoiled. They hang with docs and think they are on an equal plane, when nothing could be further from the truth. A doctor or nurse has a guarantee of making 70 to 300k a year for life with lots of options. A pharma rep is an unstable, low skill-level career and anyone who is out buying anything they cannot pay with cash is a fool.

I would highly recommend that any rep with AZ who has more than just their mortgage as debt start to unload stuff and pay it off. Pfizer is going to buy us and the prediction is a 30 percent gut to the U.S. employees just to start. You can bet that two years after the takeover, only 10 percent will still be employed. Pharma jobs are not plentiful and many, many device or supply jobs will NOT EVER hire a pharma rep. Plan B better be lined up and soon. Some of us will never make 90-plus thousand a year again. It will be a rude awakening for many. (All except the chicks that used pharma to fund their next Botox or decorating spree who are married to execs or doctors themselves.) I have known a number of over 50 let go who plowed through their entire retirement after being out of work for 3 to 5 years. Yes. It could happen to you.

D't you have better things to do then lie. If you really have all that information, you should move to NYC and hammer the stock market.

I mean, you are smart enough to know all of your neighbors business. that is so remarka that they would trust a person of your character (negative) with anything.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't think you have enough.

The market could cut that 1.3 million to 600k overnight. Pay off your mortgage and hope Obama doesn't tax you into nonexistence. He wants to transfer the wealth you've earned to people like him, who do nothing except have children, receive government benefit, and vote democrat.

The reason that Pfizer is interested is to shield the tax hit.

Good luck.

Can you explain the meaning of life is less than 3 sentences ?

Thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

Ironically, I have no idea how most drug reps do financially. The six that I know in my area and our friends do OK. They live pretty ordinary lives, have been through a few layoffs with long periods of unemployment. I know of none of them that are living the high life and most struggle. I do not know what their retirement looks like or if they have 100k or 1M.

What I do know is among my personal friends, who are all ordinary middle class people, they struggle. Most have less than 200k in their 401k. Four have about 150k. They have small homes and do not spend on a lot of stuff but still live paycheck to paycheck. I think the lot of pharma reps who have done it for 15 years-plus get spoiled. They hang with docs and think they are on an equal plane, when nothing could be further from the truth. A doctor or nurse has a guarantee of making 70 to 300k a year for life with lots of options. A pharma rep is an unstable, low skill-level career and anyone who is out buying anything they cannot pay with cash is a fool.

I would highly recommend that any rep with AZ who has more than just their mortgage as debt start to unload stuff and pay it off. Pfizer is going to buy us and the prediction is a 30 percent gut to the U.S. employees just to start. You can bet that two years after the takeover, only 10 percent will still be employed. Pharma jobs are not plentiful and many, many device or supply jobs will NOT EVER hire a pharma rep. Plan B better be lined up and soon. Some of us will never make 90-plus thousand a year again. It will be a rude awakening for many. (All except the chicks that used pharma to fund their next Botox or decorating spree who are married to execs or doctors themselves.) I have known a number of over 50 let go who plowed through their entire retirement after being out of work for 3 to 5 years. Yes. It could happen to you.

Never thought I would read something that was so wrong as this in my life.

Where did you come up with this?

 

[Anonymous]

Never thought I would read something that was so wrong as this in my life.

Where did you come up with this?

Where have you been? That story was all fact coming from knowing very personally many in and out of pharma. What I showed you is the real world. Probably hard to fathom if you are one of the posters with 1.3M in your 401 and two BMWs sitting in your four car garage. Not all reps are wealthy. :0. Shocking, I know.