The average annual income for people in the United States was $50,939 as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2014 (U.S. Census). The median annual income was just over $40k per year, which means half of all Americans earned less than this amount while only one-tenth made above it. There are even fewer who make six figures or higher. In fact, there were only 3 million American families with incomes exceeding $100k per year at any given time between 2013 to 2015 (CNN Money). Only 1% of those earners earn above $5m annually!
If you're looking into making big bucks like these high earner supermodels do, then you probably want to know how much money someone can make if they work their way up from within an organization. You also may be wondering why some celebrities end up earning so much when most folks don't. If you've ever wondered how many figures your paycheck should come up on before you start feeling comfortable, read on.
It turns out that $500k sounds pretty good right now but it won't last forever. As we mentioned earlier, the current national average annual income for American households is roughly $50k, but the median household has an income of around $41k. This makes sense since the lower 50 percent of households have very little disposable income compared to the upper 20 percent. So let's say you get hired somewhere where you'll be making $30k per year -- not bad considering it's the median annual income level. But once again, this isn't going to be enough to retire on comfortably without outside help. Let's look at another example. Say you got hired at Google doing data entry or customer service in 2017. Your base salary would likely be close to $28k but after taxes it'd drop down to $22k. That doesn't leave you with anything extra for retirement savings or vacations. It's hard to retire on $22k/year, especially because it's only 37% of the national median annual income ($46k) and you could probably find better paying job elsewhere too.
So what happens when you hit the magic number of $90k? Well, that's when you become a "high earner." A high earner typically earns well above the national median annual income level, usually anywhere from $80k-$120k depending on location and industry. When you reach this threshold, you enter the realm of the ultra wealthy. According to CNBC, the top 0.1% of earners in America take home nearly 70% of total US wages! To put things into perspective, this group alone is worth approximately 5 times the entire country of Sweden. In addition to being extremely rich, this group includes professional athletes, actors, CEOs, etc., thus explaining why there aren't more supermodel types working their way up to $90k per year.
Now that you understand what a 9-figure salary looks like, let's talk about exactly how much such salaries cost.
Forbes Magazine defines a millionaire as anyone whose net worth exceeds $2Million dollars. However, according to Forbes' list of the richest Americans, Bill Gates tops the chart with a fortune currently valued at $79B. Oprah Winfrey comes second place with her own estimated wealth of $3.6 Billion, and Warren Buffet ranks third with his personal fortune of $62 billion. Even though they haven't reached billionaire status yet, these three individuals still fall under the definition of millionaires based purely on assets.
A 9-figure salary refers to a person who makes $9M+ during a single year. Most companies hire employees through contracts rather than full-time positions. Salaries vary widely across industries with tech workers pulling down the highest hourly rates followed by healthcare professionals. For instance, an IT manager might pull in $110k per year while a nurse practitioner in the same field can easily pull in $60k annually. One thing to note here is that although nurses tend to earn significantly more than computer technicians, doctors actually make considerably more overall due to the prestige of the profession. Another interesting detail is that women generally make slightly less than men in general.
In terms of specific occupations, software engineers pull in the biggest yearly salaries, averaging $140k per year. Software developers rank next with an average annual salary of $130k, followed closely by nursing ($125k), sales ($124k), and engineering managers ($123k). Other lucrative careers include attorneys ($118k), physicians ($116k), real estate agents ($115k), and teachers ($114k). While software engineer salaries remain among the best in the nation, other career paths offer significant raises as well. Take stock brokers, for example. They often make upwards of $200k per year, which is double the national average wage rate.
When thinking about whether you can afford to pursue certain fields, keep in mind that your salary alone does not determine success. After all, plenty of people manage to live off $10k per month despite having no degree whatsoever. On the flip side however, it's important to consider education requirements, debt levels, and experience when deciding upon your career path.
There are basically two ways to increase your earnings potential beyond $90k or $9M. First, you can try finding another position at your current company. Second, you can go freelance. Many self-employed people choose to focus on a particular area but never achieve superstar status due to lack of consistent effort and passion. Here are some key points to remember regarding either route:
Your main goal should be to grow your business instead of getting paid for hours worked. Ideally, you need to generate passive income streams that provide residual benefits.
You must build credibility and brand yourself to attract clients. Remember, word travels fast online, and potential customers will use social media sites to research products and services before committing.
Most importantly, you should always strive to improve your skillsets every day. By constantly learning new tricks and techniques, you will eventually develop expertise in various areas. Eventually, you'll begin attracting large projects as long as you stay ahead of competition.
As far as I'm concerned, a nine-figure number describes a person who earns $99M or greater per year. These kinds of numbers represent true superstars. Such salaries require lots of luck and persistence along with exceptional talent, knowledge, and drive. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people cannot attain these heights simply by chance.
To qualify for a nine-figure salary, you must first receive a promotion within an established company. Once promoted, you must excel quickly to avoid losing momentum. Next, you must consistently outperform peers at both your previous role and newly acquired responsibilities. Finally, you must continue improving steadily throughout your tenure until your value reaches its peak.
Another factor to consider when pursuing a nine-figure salary is that it requires a lot of capital investment upfront. Although this seems counterintuitive, think of investing as buying property for cheap and renting it back out. Because landlords tend to charge more rent than actual ownership costs, investors reap huge returns by taking advantage of low rental prices. Likewise, entrepreneurs invest heavily in startups to secure future profits and maximize return on investments. Some successful businessmen started with nothing except guts and determination. Others began building businesses from scratch using ideas and resources borrowed from family members, friends, neighbors, and others. Either way, it takes perseverance and patience to succeed.
While achieving a nine-figure salary may seem unattainable, it certainly shouldn't deter anyone from trying. All it really takes is commitment, dedication, and a strong desire to succeed. Never forget that great fortunes didn't happen overnight, but took years of hard work, sacrifice, and diligence. With proper planning and smart decisions, you can accomplish anything you set your sights on today.
In the world of business there are different types of earnings ranges. A few years ago it was common to hear people talk about earning $10 an hour or making "six figures." As time went on we heard about six figure salaries. Nowadays, if someone says they make "a million dollars," most people would understand them to be talking about their annual income. In this article, we'll take a look at how these terms have evolved over time. We'll also see who really earns a nine figure salary.
Let's start with seven figures. Seven figures refers to annual income starting around $350,000 up to around $700,00 (depending upon location). For example, for 2009, The New York Times estimated the average compensation for chief executive officers as being between $1.2 million and $4.3 million per year. This means that CEOs can earn anywhere from five to thirteen figures annually. So where did this number come from? According to Forbes magazine, the CEO of Apple earned $44 million last year, which puts him in the top twenty highest paid executives in America -- not exactly a humble man! However, even his modest lifestyle requires a mansion worth millions, so he probably doesn't fall into our definition of a seven figure earner. If we say he made $7 million then we're referring to his total compensation rather than just his yearly salary. But why stop at seven figures? Let's keep going...
The next step up is eight figures, roughly $800,000 to $1.6 million per year according to Forbes Magazine. Eight figure earners may work in high profile positions like hedge fund managers or investment bankers. They might also run large corporations such as AT&T or Comcast. Or they could be entrepreneurs who founded companies like Google. One thing is clear when looking at eight figure earners -- they tend to live very well. Many own multiple homes or luxury cars. Some travel extensively. Since many of these individuals are running huge businesses, they often don't personally do any actual labor themselves. Instead they hire other people to handle all aspects of managing their company. In fact, some of these successful businessmen use assistants to help with everything from hiring employees to answering phone calls.
So, why go past seven figures? Because sometimes big success comes from a lot of hard work and smart strategy. If you've built your fortune by creating new products or services, or through savvy investments, you want to reward yourself and share your wealth. You might consider giving away part of your assets to charity, but this isn't always possible without violating tax laws. To avoid paying taxes on capital gains, some wealthy people set aside assets within trusts called private foundations. These foundations aren't legally required to distribute funds to anyone else, but since they were established specifically for charitable purposes, donors can choose to donate to certain organizations instead of distributing directly to heirs. Donors must still file IRS Form 5283 every three years to report donations. Read more about private foundations here.
Now let's move on to bigger numbers...
Nine figures refer to annual income ranging from $1.67 million to $8.5+ million per year. Nine figure earners are typically celebrities, athletes or politicians. Of course, not everyone in the entertainment industry actually gets close to those kinds of incomes. Most actors and actresses only make small amounts each year. Movie stars generally receive hundreds of thousands of dollars per film while singers get less than $100K per album release. At the same time, sports heroes can become multimillionaires. Michael Jordan retired after 20 seasons as basketball star, but today he nets somewhere between $20M and $30M per year playing golf. It certainly helps that he has endorsements worth another $50M or so. Athletes who win championships usually end up getting contracts guaranteeing lots of cash for several years. Winning games can bring prize purses of tens of thousand of dollars. Political candidates also need to raise sizable sums of money to compete financially against opponents. Once elected, members of Congress and state legislatures can easily pull down around $200k per year. On the downside, public service tends to require long hours of standing before audiences and pushing legislation through committees.
So, who really pulls down the biggest paycheck? What happens when one person controls billions of dollars in assets? Find out on the following page...
When Warren Buffet started investing in stocks back in the 1920s, fortunes were pretty easy to build. He eventually became the third wealthiest American ever, amassing a personal net worth of around $60 billion in 2008. Today, Buffet continues to invest his money wisely and now owns 60% percent of Berkshire Hathaway stock. His holdings include major industries including retail stores, home improvement supplies and food manufacturers. Buffett himself receives no direct payment from the firm, but holds board seats at various subsidiaries. Although Buffet is known for avoiding publicity, he occasionally gives interviews and once sold 25 shares of Class B Common Stock for $1 each to Bill Gates. That's right, Microsoft founder Steve Ballmer bought 1/25th of a single share of Buffett's stock, valued at nearly $500,000 at the time. Not bad for a guy who dropped out of college to pursue software engineering.
Achieving 9 figures takes careful planning and skillful management. After accumulating a massive amount of assets, billionaires must decide how best to distribute their riches among family members. Sometimes, families establish separate trust departments to manage inheritances and financial affairs. Other times, wealthy people simply give their children a lump sum of cash and tell them to figure things out. Either way, having tons of money brings plenty of opportunities for conflict.
Forbes estimates that Charles Koch of Koch Industries is currently pulling down a nine figure salary of $11.9M. Billionaire investor George Soros earned $8.6M in 2007 -- although he had to sell half of his shares during market turbulence earlier this year. Both men control vast fortunes and influence global economies. Their careers show us that becoming filthy rich doesn't necessarily guarantee happiness or good health. There are downsides to living on a mega scale too.
To learn more about salaries and related topics, visit the links on the following page.
According to Forbes' list of richest Americans compiled in 2006, Donald Trump ranked first with a net worth of $4.7B. Former President Obama came in second place with $3.6B.
It isn't uncommon for people to hear the phrase "I want to make $9 figures" or even "$10 figures." But what exactly are these types of salaries? In this article we'll explain how large amounts of money can be measured by comparing them with other common numbers like six-, seven-, eight-, and nine-figured sums. We'll also discuss some common misconceptions about earning big bucks, as well as explore some specific job titles that may earn you a 9-figure salary.
Let's start with an important question: What does it mean when someone says they're making "7 figures"? This term refers to earnings above $7 million per year in annual income. For example, if your yearly take home was $3 million at your current job, then you'd say you were making a 7-figure salary because your total compensation would exceed $7 million annually. The same concept applies to other number ranges such as 6-figures ($6 mill) and 8-figures (8x$6=).
So let’s get down to business! Here are several popular questions and answers surrounding each range of high incomes:
A person who makes over $7 million dollars per year in gross revenue earned from their primary occupation is said to have a 7-figure salary. To put things into perspective, Forbes Magazine reports that Warren Buffet made approximately $80 billion during 2017 -- which equates to roughly $7 billion every single month. That being said, there are plenty of others ways to define success -- so don't feel bad if you aren't reaching those lofty goals yet. There are many factors that influence one's ability to achieve financial freedom, including but not limited to career choice, investment strategies, lifestyle choices, etc.
The highest paying field within most industries tends to vary greatly based on location, education level, experience, industry, and sector. Some general estimates show that top earners tend to work in positions such as finance/accounting, sales, marketing, consulting, technology, manufacturing, engineering, healthcare, law, medicine, management, publishing, media, entertainment, real estate development, construction, transportation, hospitality, food service, retail, agriculture, wholesale trade, transport, supply chain logistics, human resources, public relations, insurance, accounting, advertising, banking, government, non-profit organizations, academia, communications, sports, oil & gas exploration, mining, energy production, environmental services, research & analysis, software programming, teaching, and small businesses.
Some careers with higher than average salaries include acting, model, actor, professional athlete, author, film director, producer, screenwriter, television presenter, radio host, fashion designer, entrepreneur, journalist, lawyer, doctor, engineer, nurse, veterinarian, architect, teacher, social worker, psychologist, and CEO.
If you plan to pursue a career outside of traditional fields, consider gaining additional training or certification in order to increase your chances of landing the type of position where you could reach a 7-figure salary. If you already hold a degree, see if any employers in your desired field offer tuition reimbursement programs. Also look up information regarding local colleges and universities offering specialized degrees in your area of interest. You should also check out online courses offered via platforms such as Coursera, Udemy, Khan Academy, SkillShare, Open2Study, MITOpenCourseWare, EdX, etc. These options often provide free access to premium content without having to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on course materials.
Keep in mind that while a lot of people strive to become wealthy, only around 1% ever actually do. So instead focus on building a successful company or team. Or simply enjoy life and appreciate all of its blessings.
An individual whose annual income exceeds $8 million is considered to have achieved an 'eight' figure salary. While similar to the previous category, this amount represents considerably greater wealth.
According to CNBC, Bill Gates alone has reportedly been worth close to $100 billion since he began his philanthropic pursuits in 1988. Other notable individuals who've reached or surpassed the 8-figure mark include Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, Sergey Brin, Michael Bloomberg, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, Carlos Slim Helu, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Richard Branson, Ashton Kutcher, George Soros, Paul Allen, Peter Thiel, Oprah Winfrey, Jack Ma, James Dyson, John Legend, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Robert F. Smith Jr., Oprah Winfrey, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Jay Z, Mariah Carey, Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Kim Kardashian West, Adele Idowu, Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, Kanye West, Drake, Harry Styles, Chris Martin, Coldplay, Madonna, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, David Beckham, Karl Lagerfeld, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lopez, Catherine Middleton, Carrie Underwood, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Keanu Reeves, Russell Crowe, Natalie Portman, Emma Stone, Daniel Radcliffe, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Hugh Grant, Tom Cruise, Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bradley Cooper, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L Jackson, Adam Sandler, Kevin Hart, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sean Connery, Denzel Washington, Nicolas Cage, Will Ferrell, Anne Hathaway, Helen Mirren, Liam Neeson, Julia Roberts, Jessica Chastain, Rachel McAdams, Channing Tatum, Ryan Gosling, Matthew McConaughey, Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Orlando Bloom, Gerard Butler, Zac Efron, Jake Gyllenhaal, Johnny Depp, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Jerry Seinfeld, Amy Schumer, Seth Rogen, Scarlett Johansson, Charlize Theron, Florence Pugh, Brie Larson, Mindy Kaling, Kate McKinnon, Lin Manuel Miranda, Sarah Silverman, Kristen Bell, Zooey Deschanel, Alicia Vikander, Jason Statham, Meryl Streep, Gal Gadot, Saoirse Ronan, Carla Bruni, Sofia Vergara, Alec Baldwin, Penelope Cruz, Reese Witherspoon, Steve Carell, Jon Hamm, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tim Cook, Angela Ahrendts, Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Meg Whitman, Sheryl Sandberg, Elisabeth Moss, Susan Sarandon, Mary Barra, Rosario Dawson, Blake Shelton, Chrissy Teigen, Hilary Swank, Nicole Kidman, Ashley Judd, Katie Holmes, Cameron Diaz, Sandra Bullock, Diane Kruger, Jada Pinkett Smith, Marion Cotillard, Lucy Liu, Monica Lewinsky, Jenna Dewan Tatum, Katherine Heigl, Anna Kendrick, Julianne Moore, Gwyneth Paltrow, Christina Hendricks, Demi Lovato, Amber Heard, Dakota Fanning, Selena Gomez, Jennifer Lawrence, Amanda Peyerimhoff, Laura Prepon, Felicity Huffman, Emily Blunt, Kerry Washington, Elizabeth Banks, Zoe Kazan, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Melissa McCarthy, Lupita Nyong'o, Olivia Colman, Ansel Elgort, Emilia Clarke, Rebecca Hall, Lily Collins, Alison Janney, Helena Bonham Carter, Gretchen Mol, Sienna Miller, Vanessa Hudgen, Sasha Lane, Isabelle Huppert, Chloe Sevigny, Octavia Spencer, Lena Waithe, Minnie Driver, Gemma Arterton, Rooney Mara, Sally Field, Judi Dench, Ellen Burstyn, Kathy Bates, Jane Alexander, Judy Davis, Judith Light, Goldie Hawn, Betty White, Glenn Close, Frances McDormand, Helen Hunt, Margaret Thatcher, Queen Latifah, Rita Wilson, Shirley MacLaine, Barbara Walters, Katharine Graham, Condoleezza Rice, Carol Burnett, Lauren Bacall, Sally Ride, Ann Landers, Debbie Reynolds, Rosemary Clooney, Joan Rivers, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Wright Penn, Loretta Lynn, Mary Tyler Moore, Faith Hill, Candice Bergen, Geena Davis, Bette Midler, Elaine May, Nancy Reagan, Oprah Winfrey, Paulette Goddard, Sharon Stone, Diana Ross, Peggy Lee, Barbra Streisand, Katharine Hepburn, Renee Zellwegger, Liv Tyler, Brooke Shields, Daryl Hannah, Shonda Rhimes, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Sigourney Weaver, Martha Stewart, Melanie Griffith, Gabriel Byrne, Jean Reno, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Alan Alda, Christopher Walken, Marilyn Monroe, Barry Gibb, Cher, Stevie Wonder, Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford, Charlize Theron, Billy Crystal, Geoffrey Rush, Morgan Freeman, Forest Whitaker, Al Pacino, Laurence Fishburne, Samuel L. Jackson, Jackie Gleason, Jim Belushi, Patrick Dempsey, Timothy Dalton, William Hurt, Bruce Willis, Alec Baldwin, Don Cheadle, Ralph Fiennes, Mia Farrow, Woody Harrelson, Dennis Hopper, Elijah Wood, Ethan Hawke, Jude Law, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Eli Wallach, Anthony LaPaglia,
Just follow our battle-tested guidelines and rake in the profits.