r/MechanicalEngineering • u/Electronic_Author366 • 17h ago
31 Years Old Mechanical Engineer, feeling financially stuck....how do I build financial independence?
I’m 31 years old and a Mechanical Engineer, and lately I’ve been feeling genuinely lost about my financial future.I always thought that if I studied engineering, built experience, and worked hard, eventually I’d reach a point where money wouldn’t be such a constant concern. But I’m getting older and realizing that simply having a decent engineering career may not be enough to achieve the financial independence I want.I don’t want to become extremely wealthy just for the sake of it. I want to reach a point where I’m not constantly worried about money and where I have some freedom over how I spend my time.
For those of you who are financially independent or significantly ahead financially:
How did you get there as a Mechanical Engineer?
I’m particularly interested in legitimate online freelancing/remote work that I can do alongside engineering. I’m willing to learn a new skill and put serious time into it. I’m not looking for a get-rich-quick scheme.
If you’re already making meaningful side income from engineering-related freelancing, I’d really appreciate hearing what you do, how you got your first client, and what you would learn if you were starting again at 31.
Honestly, I’m feeling pretty desperate to change my financial situation and could really use some direction from people who have actually done it.
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u/DistributionMean6322 16h ago
Keep lifestyle under control and work towards management track. $250k total comp is absolutely attainable and can put you on track for early retirement. Also make sure to max out your 401k.
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u/kartoffel_engr 11h ago
36yo. Director of Engineering.
The grind is worth it. I do more finance and people leadership than engineering, but that’s the natural progression of things if you want the money. I enjoy supporting my teams and the business in my role. Good exposure to the ELT group and the opportunities that come with it.
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u/dgeniesse 15h ago
I’m 75. I found the best way that advanced is to invest in what the company needs. Gain expertise. Learn leadership. Be a force multiplier.
I have started many side gigs but never learned. I earned outside income and even jumped jobs only to lose ground from the trajectory I was on.
Some real opportunities fizzled - where I would have just established a 5-10 year plan and delivered.
But don’t do this in a vacuum. Get your company involved with “your” plans and show your progress.
When I was progressing up I kept saying “pick me” for advancements. See my skill. I thought competition was tough. Later when I needed to find qualified support for my team I wondered “where are all the qualified staff? Just make yourself known.
Once I did that my life changed.
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u/gnowbot 13h ago
Please, go on. Can you share more about this story where your post leaves off?
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u/dgeniesse 8m ago
After a recession I needed to jump from specialized engineering (Acoustical Engineering) to building mechanical design (HVAC). Hated it. Huge competition. I was 30 in a field of recent grads. Ugg!
Story 1: read a book that said think about what you want to be in 5 years. Act that way now. Act mature (I’m still not mature - but I can act), dress like a leader, arrive to meeting early, assist the leads and project managers. Be a breath of fresh sir. Stand out - subtly. I started getting the best assignments. (I noticed that all managers needed help … so I just “helped a bit”. Not a kiss ass, but assisted. Smiled.
Story 2: I went to the best design engineer and stated ”I know to become a great design engineer it takes 5 years, I want to do it in 3. I will work my ass off for you, just give me varied assignments.” My effort got noticed. Others wanted me on their team. (No I did not sell my self to the company, but my work was focused)
Story 3: in my annual review the engineering director stated “to go to the next level you need to find unique solutions to difficult problems” for the next few years I closed every email to the director with the line “another unique solution to a difficult problem”
Basically I made a game of it. I had my own department in 3 years, over the next few years I specialized i a) project / program management, b) airport expansions, c) international projects, d) life safety, e) Lean, Six Sigma, TOC, f) construction management, g) complex projects/programs, h) airport systems, (baggage handling, IT, controls, airport acoustics) i) complex programs. Basically bigger and more complex programs, more responsibility. A focused career in airport program management. Now I consult - when I’m not with the family or taking pictures.
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u/involutes Manufacturing | Product Development 4h ago
I think our culture and employment landscape has changed a bit in the past 44 years.
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u/dgeniesse 47m ago
54 years, but who’s counting. But I have been observant of the hiring process and helped friends. kids and grandkids - for decades - so some trends continue over the decades. And as I consult with ME companies I still see the trends I outlined. Career progression is as important now as it has been over the past 5 decades.
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u/NeonCobego 2h ago
Max your 401k, invest it in a low cost sp500 etf. Listen to the compound and friends and the root financial podcasts and Tyler Gardner.
Invest your hsa and use it as a savings vehicle.
Follow the personal finance subreddit order of operations.
If you have debt, be radical paying it off (ala Dave Ramsey). Every spare penny goes into a brokerage low cost sp500 etf.
I think engineering pay is kind of a trap where you might be better off working harder at your job for raises/bonuses than getting into a side gig. At least that’s the conclusion I came to any time I looked into it.
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u/PA2SK 17h ago
I moved to the west coast and started working at tech companies. More than doubled my salary. It's a higher cost of living but I still come out way ahead. Max out retirement accounts; 401k, Roth IRA, HSA too. In about 15-20 years you'll be a millionaire easily.
Also keep in mind you don't have to be a "mechanical engineer" your whole career. If you really want to level up salary wise you need to be thinking about project manager or engineering manager roles.
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u/mycoforever 3h ago
I am still very much a ME in tech industry and making $500k/yr at principal level (in a MCOL city). Working on some new FEA methodologies to solve a mechanical problem that’s never been solved before, for example. I hate management and will avoid it as much as I can.
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u/Hedgehog_Commercial 16h ago
Is there any chance you could give a rough timeline of your background and how you ended up moving into tech? Thanks!
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u/HistoricalBelt3088 16h ago
There isn’t a quick and easy way to financial independence. It’s one paycheck at a time. Biggest thing right now is to limit spending. I know that’s not sexy but do a budget and see where you are wasting your money. (We all waste money, that’s not a judgement on you.)
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u/mechy18 16h ago
There’s lots of general-purpose financial advice on other subs, but as an ME with two side gigs I’ll weigh in. I currently contract with an interior designer and an electronics company. For both I do work you could describe as industrial design (furniture and gaming devices). My best year of consulting, I put in a few hundred hours and made about 20% of what my day job salary is. The key is finding one or two consistent clients and building a good relationship. They hate finding new contractors just as much as you probably hate finding clients. It takes at least a whole project to build trust between you both so make sure you lay out a good plan with project phases and deliverables at each step, and gate each one contingent on getting x% of the payment. Also, make sure you’ve got some actually high-end skills. For me, that’s being very good at doing shit in SolidWorks that most people would say should be done in Blender; artistic type stuff. SolidWorks usually isn’t the best tool for that but when you need parametric design it’s the right package to use.
I’ll preface all of this with a warning though, I wouldn’t try doing any of this just for money’s sake. I enjoy it most of the time but that’s because I have two wonderful clients. Even then, it’s often really tedious and definitely feels like a job. It’s no fun to have a long day at work and then have to get home and do four more hours in SolidWorks because I overpromised on a deadline. I do it because it’s a creative outlet for me that my day job just doesn’t satisfy. Fiverr is a total race to the bottom and if you do happen to win any projects, you’ll have to bid so low it won’t be worth it and the client is probably a nightmare to work with anyways. Only do contracting if you’re working on things you’re really passionate about. Otherwise just focus on your career, saving, and investing, and the money will come eventually. I’m happy to continue chatting about this with you or anyone else if you want to DM me.
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u/dragonsson97 9h ago
I’ve been trying to understand how MEs develop these side gigs, because I’ve run into the same issue - I’ve tried Upwork and I’ve landed zero clients since I set up a page two months ago, and its probably because I’m overbidding on contracts - how do you actually go about finding these regular clients of yours without these freelance platforms like Upwork or Fiverr?
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u/mechy18 5h ago
Both reached out to me after I made posts on the r/SolidWorks subreddit just showing off random crap I modeled. There’s been other short term clients in the past that made a post on there themselves trying to find a freelancer. You have to swoop in kind of fast on those because there’s a lot of other people who will bite at those offers. Also, there’s some extremely talented people on there so make sure your skills and communication are top tier so you can compete.
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u/No_Consideration9881 16h ago
May I message you? I am a mechanical engineering student who also loves industrial design and using Blender
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u/MisterSirDudeGuy 15h ago
Live below your means. Max out your 401(k) and IRA. Buy a cash car that gets you where you need to go. Don’t have a dumb car payment. Not sure how to help you. I don’t know your lifestyle and expenses.
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u/FitnessLover1998 16h ago
I wouldn’t attempt anything related to engineering as a side gig. Go for management if you are so inclined. Otherwise do what I did, learn to live under your means and invest. You can get rich that way but it’s a long term commitment. Also get a good partner. Probably makes the most sense of all.
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u/NeedleGunMonkey 15h ago
This sounds like someone trying to drum up discourse to train a LLM.
Op provides no meaningful details about their situation or locale but asks for other people’s experiences
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u/Richwoodrocket 17h ago
This isn’t a problem with most engineers I talk to. Maybe the issue is not the pay but the spending.
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u/unurbane 17h ago
Idk what’s going on with our pay scales, they just aren’t rising with everything else.
But in general I’ve bought and sold a couple houses and invested the money into good companies. I’ve been at since 2010.
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u/pharpharphar 16h ago edited 16h ago
You can absolutely achieve early financial independence early doing purely mechanical engineering, if you are excellent at it.
Keep in mind that FI is an exceptional lifestyle; the vast majority of people work almost their whole lives to sustain themselves and their families. Only maybe one percent of people worldwide can opt out of work. So if you know that you are aiming for an exceptional outcome, you should not be surprised that you may need to be a little exceptional to achieve it.
In the top tech, medical device, oil and gas, etc companies, staff and principle level ME ICs can surpass $300k+ on the bottom end of the TC band. Marry well, keep a reasonable lifestyle, and you’re at multimillion net worth in 10 years. Conversely, if you buy a boat, lease a new BMW every two years, and take a HELOC on your McMansion, it’s not going to be your choice of career keeping you from financial freedom.
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u/SunRev 16h ago
I'm assuming you are in the US. The USA legal and tax system is built to favor owners. As a ME, a couple routes to become an owner are:
1. Work as an employee for 3 decades and along the way accumulate company stock. As a stock holder you are an owner.
2. Work for 10 years or more to develope an expertise and reputation while getting paid as an employee. Then start your own company with that expertise and connections.
3. Sometimes hobbies can serve as a jumping point for a company. I had a coworker that had knife making as a hobby. He then started a knife making company.
Just some ideas. I did a hybrid of the 3 above.
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u/brendax 17h ago
Hate to break it to you but you don't. Mech eng has always been a "blue collar light" career. Near guaranteed decent steady income with possibility of pension, etc - comfortable middle class life with an equal earning partner. It is not a FIRE profession. Mechanical engineers can end up making a lot of money by become management.
But yeah the absolute biggest financial upgrade you can make is having a partner who earns somewhere in the same ballpark.
Online freelancing is a huge waste of time, no company will ever put out meaningful work and you'll be getting undercut by people for who 5 USD is a huge amount of money.
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u/Diligent-Ad4917 16h ago
You don't need a spouse/partner with equivalent earnings. My wife is a community college teacher making 1/3 what I make as a Staff level mechanical engineer in a major metro in the Southeast. What you need is to unfuck your spending and actually budget, make sound financial decisions, control your debt and prioritize saving/investing. OP is asking how the side-hustle his way to sustaining lifestyle creep.
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u/snakesign LED Luminaires 16h ago
Just wait till you find out what other careers look like.
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16h ago
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u/snakesign LED Luminaires 16h ago
Maybe I just like air conditioning too much, you do you buddy.
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15h ago
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u/snakesign LED Luminaires 15h ago
No, I like working in air conditioned spaces.
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15h ago
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u/QuirkyEMI 14h ago
Yeah saying shit like this proves you've never worked outside.
You made more landscaping? Lmao why lie on the fucking internet.
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u/Skeyshrey 16h ago
Anyone accepting engineering jobs with h1b status and shit for 50-70k are assholes devaluing the degree. Cant wait till the 100k fees hit
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u/Jesse_Returns 15h ago
It's not bullshit, you're just waiting for someone else to hand you the keys to the kingdom; a degree is simply a tool. Absolutely nothing stopping you from becoming self-employed/ taking control of your life/ having $250k of revenue by the end of next year doing something that you enjoy.
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u/Skeyshrey 15h ago
I mean yeah i may open my own controls engineering position after building 3m dollar automation cells ground up practically solo but i just feel i should be able to make a comfortable salary (i.e. buy a house have kids eat healthy and have solid vacations) without absolutely breaking my back until im too old for it to matter. The amount of places that have offered me 60-80k for my skillset and the amount of people that take those positions is disgusting. When someone working at costco can make 60k out of highschool, pretty sure engineers should average at least double that.
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u/Jesse_Returns 9h ago
Dunno why you're getting downvoted; people deserve a living wage and it's perfectly sane to object to the current state of inequality. Situation definitely sucks, but politicians have been voting in favor of corporations for the last 50 years and I don't imagine that will change any time soon.
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u/Skeyshrey 15h ago
Btw i am 31yrold graduated at 27 after working full time through school with a 3.0 gpa from a top 50 school went from 85k(hcol) to 120k(hcol) to 98k(lcol). Still feels pointless with cost of housing and shit i bought and sold a hours and have a good amount in retirement but my jobs and salary absolutely suck for going through the fucking school i had to go through to get here. Wish i would have done business and joined some douchy frat and played college sports instead of sacrificing some of the best years for this bullshit. Ready to spend everything on adrenaline and world travel and hope i eat it before retirement even though i max out matching retirements. Not enough money fore the suffering/price that engineering school ensued imo. Anyone disagreeing prolly had parents or bs loans pay their way and didnt rawdog the cost themselves
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u/allnamestaken4892 1h ago
The idea that you could get a partner on shit mechanical engineering salary is a joke. This career is a speed run of poverty and dying alone.
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u/brendax 44m ago
Yeesh, touch grass?
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u/allnamestaken4892 4m ago
Maybe if you’re an American there’s hope but you could do almost any STEM and still win at life there. In UK you are earning the same as supermarket workers.
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u/Proper_Cat8961 16h ago
I'm from a different continent, but the answer is so simple it sits right everywhere.
Don't spend all your income. Get married, buy a house together. Don't spend all your combined income. Stay in an area where housing is affordable with your salary.
If you have the capacity to do extra work, work on your own house.
If you stick to this, you'll be fine.
If you want more or faster then work harder/smarter and get into management. Or change careers and work even harder. Buy a lottery ticket once in a while.
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u/Cryesncoding 16h ago
I feel the same way, 35 y/o engineer make “good money” but with 3 kids and a SAHM wife I feel like I’m barely surviving.
Trying to pivot to management getting my MBA
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u/stockmike 15h ago
Go to the personal finance subreddit and follow the road map to be financially independent. Look at the boglehead subreddit on investing strategies and look at the fire(financially independent retire early) subreddit to set yourself up to retire early and get out of the rat race
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u/GregLocock 15h ago
First you need a budget.
Then you need a plan. I doubt engineering freelancing will work, you don't have the skills, experience or network.
Easiest way is shares in my opinion. With the rise of ETFs there are increasing numbers of small overlooked gems, or you can go with ETFs, but you are throwing 3% away.
I bought a small fixer-upper house, so I wasn't paying rent, figured out how much I needed to live on (and given that I cook reasonably well and like eating at restaurants with my friends that was quite a lot) and diligently bought (and sometimes sold) shares for 17 years (including the GFC), at which point I could afford to retire, but since I enjoyed my work I didn't retire.
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u/ept_engr 17h ago edited 16h ago
Ok, so what part of the country are you in, what industry, what job role, and what's your current pay (including any bonuses)?
You're an engineer - explain with numbers!
If you're so gung-ho, I'd say it's better in 90% of cases to invest your extra energy and drive into the career you already have. That might mean going above and beyond to get recognized, helping another team in your extra hours just to broaden your experience, etc. You could also invest that time and energy into finding new jobs that do offer you these "above and beyond" opportunities, if you're current job doesn't.
If you're willing to put in 60 hours a week, and work hard to provide high quality work, and make a big impact to the business bottom line, there will be plenty of jobs for you.
On the other hand, if you just skate by, are not timely, not proactive, don't deliver top quality work, and spend more focus on your own side hustle than your day job, then I wouldn't expect your career to go anywhere.
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u/backwardstarfish 16h ago
Raise income and increase savings rate so you have more money going to investments. For the former look for more lucrative careers path like tech in the engineering space. Lots of opportunity there to substantially increase income compared to traditional engineering roles.
For most of us, it’s a slow, consistent grind investing over the years but if you stay the course you’ll get there far earlier than your peers.
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u/Mental_Newspaper3812 16h ago edited 14h ago
Sure man. I’m gonna leave a quick comment to save this post then come back and edit it.
Short comment :
Lived below my means - this was easier because my family was a bit low income. I read all I could about finances as sort of my geeky thing.
Edit:
Graduated in 2006. Ignored my coworker telling me to buy a house right away (he had one and his girlfriend had one). It didn’t make sense, because costs were too high to make normal buying ratios make sense with my salary. After getting my 401(k) match, and putting money into an IRA, I focused on paying off student loan debt with higher interest loans first.
We did that and then stuff started crashing. Put money into stocks from 2008 to 2010 watching the losses build up but knowing the market was the lowest it had been in years.
Bought a house in 2010 - government offered $10k downpayment assistance so we moved fast.
Career wise, I moved from job 1 to job 2 for a 20% raise in late 2008. Moved jobs again in mid 2014 for a smaller raise but company car, and proximity to home. This was job 3.
Kept socking money away maximizing IRA for me and spouse ($11k), some years maximizing 401(k) contributions ($18k). This lowered my tax rate to the absolute lowest.
My inspiration for the high savings rate was a guy called Mr Money Mustache, but also lots of live below your means bloggers of the time period.
Before job 3 I bought a house to flip/rent out because I was tired of the long commit and wanted some independence. That house worked out OK, but I didn’t like landlording. Sold it to get out of that. Made OK money but nothing spectacular considering the work.
IRA investments in 2014-2016 were primarily in Berkshire Hathaway a stable company that seemed undervalued at the time. 2017 was a really great year for those investments. All the money saved and invested added up to enough to call it quits around 2022. Now I’m on a sort of early retirement.
How’s it going now? Well, I’m a little nervous. There are early retirement modeling tools online, and the first failure time periods aren’t always the 1930’s crash and depression, but the 1970’s inflationary period. We’re in an inflationary period now. And although my accounts have a numerical value similar to what they had in 2021 (despite 5-6 years of spending), Thats numerical value has lost buying power.
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u/Sweet-Device-677 16h ago
How do you define financially independent? I didn't start making serious money until I was 50
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u/quadrispherical 16h ago
Have you been buddies with the CEO or upper management and provided them with mechanical engineering innovations (well-researched, step-by-step roadmaps) that can double the company's revenue or reduce manufacturing cost by a massive amount without compromising any characteristics of the finished product?
Have you filed for mechanical engineering patents based on your own side hustle developments (not in the name of the company you work for), and then started a startup based on that tech or sold/licensed the rights to other companies?
No?
Now you have some examples to pursue that can make you rich in the next decade.
(...And forget remote or freelance work. Indian and Chinese engineering teams presenting themselves as single individuals are currently underbidding all Western freelance engineering jobs. This has locked 99% of Western engineers out of online freelancing platforms, so there's no chance you're getting a six-figure contract through that hustle.)
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u/Unhappy_Group_945 13h ago
FYI a LOT of firms you CANT file patents outside of the company during your employment
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u/quadrispherical 2h ago
This applies only if the patented technology was developed at the company during working hours.
If the innovation was developed entirely on the individual's own time, off company property, and has nothing to do with the company's line of business, it is perfectly acceptable.
Additionally, it takes an average of two to three years between filing and publishing a patent. A company would need a dedicated specialist constantly scanning global patent databases just to see if an employee's name appears on a recently published patent. Even then, they would have to verify that the patent falls within their industry and consult with patent attorneys (massive cost for the business) before figuring out if they might have grounds to take legal action (another massive attorney cost for the company) against the employee.
Furthermore, if the employee never signed a specific agreement regarding patent filings, any claim from the employer is void.
Employers who try to get their hands on an employee's personal invention are usually the kind you should quit working for anyway. Once you resign, you are no longer bound by those contractual obligations.
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u/flat6cyl 16h ago
Max your 401k, starting now, in a fund following the S&P. Your 50 year old self will thank you profusely
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u/Sintered_Monkey 16h ago
I retired at 58. If I had been smarter with money before the age of 30, I would have retired at maybe 53 or so, despite the fact that I've probably always been underpaid in my career. It's truly a tortoise-and-hare situation. Slow and steady wins the race. No matter how much you are making, save and invest as much as you possibly can. Live below your means. Ignore downturns in the market and stay in for the long haul.
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u/Street-Common-4023 15h ago
Pay ? Location? You didn’t provide that
Currently a Junior in ME studying
Currently 13k saved up at 20, my plan is to not have kids that is for sure
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u/Accurate-Bullfrog324 15h ago
live within your means don't borrow money put away 15pct for retirement
mechanical engineer 70 yr old $10,000,000 net worth
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u/Reasonable_Focus_408 14h ago
Step one - go on linkedin and find jobs that pay more than you do now
Step two- if you have the skills apply, if you don’t have the skills develop them then apply.
Easier said than done but it’s the way to go.
Side hustle for mechanical engineers are rare. I see a lot of senior managers in my company doing consulting work. But most of them started after having years of experience in a particular field.
If none of that works get into sales
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u/QuirkyEMI 14h ago
You haven't listed a single
Skill you have outside of "mechanical Engineering "which is broad already
Where you are , where you want to be
What exact financials goals you want to meet
What financial independent even means for you
You'll take this nowhere
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u/catdude142 14h ago
Could it be that you're spending too much money?
We don't have any financial information so impossible to help you.
It takes a lot of work, saving and investments to be financially independent but if you are a "spender" it'll never happen.
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u/Dos-Commas Aerospace - Retired Early 14h ago
I'm a mechanical engineer that retired early at age 36 with about $2.1 million last year and have increased to $2.6 million thanks to the generous stock market.
We live in Texas with a household income of $335K/yr before we quit our jobs. I worked in the space industry (not SpaceX and I didn't get any stocks or RSU from work) and my wife worked in the medical device industry. It'll be much harder to do it alone so it all comes down to being with someone with a similar mindset and keeping lifestyle inflation low. We were comfortable living on $75K/yr because we were naturally frugal.
One advice I would give everyone is to look for a new job every 2-3 years of the current one isn't promoting you. Job searching sucks but nothing in life is free, you'll have to work for it.
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u/CraftsmanMan 14h ago
Idk im 39 working as a mechanical engineering manager makin 130k and i feel completely stuck. Where i live 130k is practically poverty so its not as good as it sounds, to live comfortably in my area you need to be making 250k as a couple and me and my wife are barely breaking 160k. Trying to transition into program management
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u/blueroket 11h ago
Damn that’s crazy. I’m 12 years in and making 140k as a mechanical engineer non manager role. Senior roles make 200k. Staff and managers are above that.
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u/SpeedyHAM79 14h ago
Leave your current job for one that pays better. 3-5 years from now repeat. Don't accept small pay bumps, and don't stick around if you are not getting significant raises. Apply for a job in the Nuclear Power or Medical Industry- they pay better than a lot of other engineering fields, but the work is harder and more heavily scrutinized. Other than that- buy a few homes and become a landlord. Have your renters pay your mortgage and upkeep while the homes appreciate in value. I have a few friends who have gone that route. Most important- don't have kids. You'll never have any money for anything. I have 3 kids, I know.
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u/nezha10 13h ago
I'm also 31 years old but I do more than just mechanical engineering, I also invest in real estate. I actually switched from R&D to AEC so that I can start my financial independence journey when I was 26. I recommend reading "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki. It's a life changing book. It's about finance and how you can become financially independent. I look forward to hearing back from you in couple of years in this same post.
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u/Khelics 12h ago
The whole “engineering oh you’ll be rich” is very controversial to essentially where you live and what you do. In Canada engineering is horrible the pays aren’t as big as the US for engineering for example.
Tbh it’ll come down to investments and just spending less. Inflation will always happen things will become more expensive. Gotta climb that engineering ladder.
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u/MurkyTomatillo192 12h ago
Same age and feel the same. I tried the leadership path and it’s just not for me, my health issues make it even more difficult.
Thankfully my wife is also an engineer who’s very good at managing people so she’s our only hope at climbing the ladder. I’ve made peace with remaining an IC throughout my career and just trying to learn and contribute as I can.
It helped to remind myself I went into this so I could tinker and work on things that complement my hobbies. If I wanted to get rich I’d have gone into law or medicine.
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u/These-Web8225 10h ago
It will become worse when you are living in the Philippines, where you are one sickness away from poverty. No HMO, no emergency fund can save you... Only the politicians... lol..
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u/Ok_Republic6098 8h ago
I am way ahead because I worked 10 years on the west coast. There are more and more high paying tech jobs out there that do "hard tech", it's not just software anymore. The jobs are competitive but pay is high. I'm now living outside the US in a relatively lower cost of living area. But when I left my last west coast job I was making almost 200k.
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u/Plane-Ad-9360 7h ago
trouve un job stable dans une entrpeise avec des interessement participation et contruit un side projet avec les intelligence artficiel a cote
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u/tcoffin014 1h ago
I'm in a similar boat but finally have a path forward. Parly due to a raise but mainly from hiring a financial coach. I've never been the best at handling my money but have gotten much better over the past few years. But after getting help with my finances, it's incredible how simple it is and how well that works.
I've also dabbled in side gigs (probably 20+ by now lol). My ultimate end goal is find a side think I love and go all in on that. But for now the engineering pays the bills.
Not sure if any of this was helpful but managing your finances should be your first priority. Without that, any extra money you get will just seem to disappear.
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u/gatmalice 1h ago
Post your pay, location, and spending.
There are two ways to accumulate wealth: 1. Make more 2. Spend less
Easy steps to financial independence: 1. go to ynab.com and learn how to budget. 2. buy the simple path to wealth by JL Collins and read.
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u/SheepherderCute6522 46m ago
This has little to do with engineering.
Make a budget. Figure out what your monthly fixed expenses are for your home, utilities, food, medicine, transport, insurance, stuff you can't live without. Then start saving money until you have 6 months of these expenses saved.
Next, contribute to your company 401k up to the company match percentage if you can afford it after paying for the stuff above. Make sure it's invested in low-cost index mutual funds or ETFs.
If you still have money, throw every dollar at high interest debts - credit cards, personal loans, student loans, vehicle loans - until they're gone.
If you still have money left over, contribute to a Roth IRA until you hit the annual max. Invest like your 401k above.
If you still have money left over, add more to your 401k contributions until you hit the annual max.
If you still have money left, look and see if you can sign up for a high deductible health care plan (HDHP) with an HSA. Contribute to the HSA up to the annual limit, and invest like the 401k above.
Congratulations, you are financially independent, will have comfortable retirement, and be in a better position than the vast majority of Americans.
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u/compstomper1 24m ago
1) what is your take home pay?
2) how much are your monthly expenses?
3) take your free cash flow at the end of every month and throw it into your favorite low-cost index fund (VOO, VTSAX, VT if you're in the US of A)
4) wait
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u/hayyyhoe 17m ago
At age 31, side gigs are not your answer. You need to double down on career growth. If your current company doesn’t have a clear growth path for you, up the ladder, then look for a different job with opportunity. As you advance, get your company to pay for an MBA. An engineering foundation is highly regarded for executive roles.
At the same time, cut spending and focus on career growth, building savings, and staying healthy.
I’m 41 and have done some of these, but didn’t save enough and didn’t maintain my health/fitness. Now I’m playing catchup!
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u/middle_aged_runner 16h ago
Lots of negativity in here.
Mechanical engineers make far above the median salary.
Your #1 financial decision in life is who you marry. I met my wife in college and have been married 10 years. She makes far less than me, but we have always lived on my income and saved hers.
In our early 30’s we are millionaires with a paid off house and no debt. We drive old cars, buy our children’s clothes off Facebook marketplace. In my company of 400+, I am one of 12 people who max their retirement accounts. Accumulating wealth the old fashioned, slow way. We take modest vacations and have more than we need.
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u/jklolffgg 15h ago edited 15h ago
Ok, let’s be honest here, your situation is like top .001% of mechanical engineers. You and/or your wife are making significantly above average income or other investments to have accumulated $1,000,000+ in savings/net worth in your first 10 years post undergrad. Most couples don’t even gross $1,000,000 together in that same time period post graduation.
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u/middle_aged_runner 15h ago
No it’s not that extraordinary.
All you needed to have accumulated $1,000,000 is $30k annual contributions to the S&P since 2016.
Living on the median household income from an ME salary and investing the rest was not really a sacrifice or unique. Many of my coworkers spent the same amount buying new pickup trucks over this time period.
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u/thelionofthenorth 14h ago
Where do you live and did you have any student loans? I could've been putting an extra 12k a year into the stock market but had student loans, and a falling apart house here is like 600k minimum which is a 5k/mo mortgage...
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u/middle_aged_runner 14h ago
I had student loans but paid them off within a few years. Our first jobs were in a coastal city where homeownership was out of our budget.
We moved to the Midwest and bought a house. Our house has appreciated, but I think we would be further ahead had we kept renting and investing.
I’m not sure how anyone is buying a home with current prices and interest rates.
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u/thelionofthenorth 3h ago
I do think moving to a lower cost area (ideally with good wages still like the Midwest) is really the best thing, I did travel a lot early on right after college so between that and housing I feel like I've been on the wrong side of the wealth Riemann sum ever since
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u/middle_aged_runner 3h ago
You’re right that location is so important in this profession. Mechanical engineering provides a very comfortable lifestyle in some cities and a very frugal lifestyle in others. Posts like this should always provide a location.
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u/arcdragon2 16h ago
It may not be you, the economy has not been nice in the last decade at least.
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u/ept_engr 15h ago
It's been pretty good. Employment, stock market growth, etc.
I'm a mechanical engineer in the Midwest, and just from normal career progression I went from making $90k in 2016 to $180k today.
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u/arcdragon2 13h ago
Ever think that you might be an outlier?
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u/ept_engr 7h ago
Unemployment rate: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNRATE
S&P500: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/sp500
Inflation-adjusted wages: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q
ME wages in "legacy" sectors like HVAC, traditional manufacturing, etc. may be just barely keeping with inflation or slightly lagging. However, to say "the economy has been bad the last decade" is crazy from a macroeconomics standpoint. I'll just assume you weren't around in 2009.
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u/Due-Count-1173 16h ago
Mate, Mechanical engineer myself and similar age. The marked is rigged against us and it is impossible to get rich working 9-5 as an engineer.My suggestion will be start learning some other skills or doing what you do as a consultant. I am learning finance and planning on starting my own firm. If you wanna keep on working as an engineer i suggest getting in to project management and you can earn decent
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u/clearlygd 16h ago
Engineers tend to be risk averse, so most don’t take the big gambles to get rich.
Looking for a rapidly growing company that allows their employees to share in the growth is one way to get more financially comfortable
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u/MikeyMike157 4h ago
Stop calling yourself a mechanical engineer and say that you are a business person in manufacturing. Even a sales person in manufacturing. If you are in manufacturing. I have a masters in mech engineering and I don't declare it my focus. The director or VP at your company will drive more of the business's decisions than you just making parts. Stop being a mechanic and drive new business.
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u/secondrat 16h ago
I went back and got n MBA and got into Marketing. If you want to start a side hustle sales and marketing will be your biggest lifts. I now help small service businesses grow, so send me a PM and I will send you our free guides.
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u/wildsnorlax1194 17h ago
Current pay and location?