I’ll be working full time as a LEO in the city I’m moving to.
City cops are unionized but pay raises have to be approved by City Council (I think)
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Ya, I’ve only ever heard of guaranteed pay increases with federal jobs. They call them step increases within a given grade. So, for example, if you’re hired as a GS-9 Step 1 at $50k (I’m just making these numbers up), you might get a guaranteed step increase every year for 3-5 years (say $3-$5k/year) and end up a GS-9 Step 5 at $75k.
I’ve never seen/heard such a thing in the private sector or in other public jobs like fire, police, etc… even if they’re unionized.
*It could happen, I don’t analyze employment or anything. I’ve just never seen/heard it anywhere else.
**Out of college I applied for a job at the Defense Contract Audit Agency where the same basic thing was supposed to happen. Starting pay was $45 or $50 and after 3 years I was guaranteed to be at $75k. Fuckers never called me back, though.
GS scale for Boston:
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It’s not uncommon with executive level jobs, but I’ve also never heard of guarenteed pay raises. It’s usually a fine print thing like “guarenteed pay raise of X-Y assuming levy -insert unknown funding process here- passes”
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I could see it worked into a contract at that high a level for sure.
There are a few beat cops in Pittsburgh that work Steeler games, concerts, public events in their off time. The news always does a story on the cops making $165k with all that overtime. What they don’t say is that the city charges those venues for the police. So it doesn’t cost the city anything.
That is until pension time. Pensions are based on an average of your last 3 years of total income per the CBA… and working event overtime is voluntary. So lots of guys work insane overtime for their last three years to get an awesome pension, forever.
Yeah man, I want to have kids when I’m 26 and once my gf graduates for sure. 2-3 of them
Rather not say which agency I will be working for. But I have a really good friend who works there as well, on for 3 years, who hase made 85k YTD. Overtime, differential, educational bonuses (assuming I complete my masters degree by then) all add up. I don’t have this written out in a contract or anything, it’s just what I am predicting I will make due to those factors and base pay increase. I’ve never been one to work 40 hours, I plan on putting in 50-60 a week.
You are right I am probably rushing things at this point. I do know law enforcement who make 6 figures though. My buddy is on track to do it his third year in
Totally understandable though. You slug your way through school, OCS, get your life in gear and you want to start making plans. Just be careful and thoughtful. I’m one and I’m sure there are a TON of guys here that wished they had maybe waited on that first big purchase.
you see that in boston too, lol. interesting article: 245 State Police troopers earned more than $200,000 last year - The Boston Globe
so I make at least 150k (usually more) by myself per year. It’ll be more like 200 this year. my girlfriend is in the 60ish range. The house I just bought was 340, and I can tell you that, although I was willing to go up to around 400, that was absolutely my ceiling. Hopefully that’s a good reference point for you to figure out what you can/should actually spend when you decide to buy. When I was making between 100-150 per year, I bought a house that was 270, and that was about right in terms of being able to comfortably afford it.
I also have zero debt, no car payments, no student loans.
I also have 1 son, and my girlfriend has a daughter.
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damn, how old are you and what’s your profession?
I’m 34, and I own a metal fabrication company in Dallas. We make dust collectors for surface mining drills.
I actually never had student debt, and I’ve never had a car payment. I went to school on a full academic scholarship. My parents helped me out with my first couple apartments, and they bought me my first car. So I got through college debt free. I had my son when I was 30.
I wasn’t thinking totally clearly on my finances though. That’s my mistake. I could afford quite a bit more, but I pay 1200ish in child support every month lol. That’s a pretty substantial debt I wasn’t accounting for.
On the other hand, I benefit from my company in certain ways that I assume you do not. For instance, my truck, which I use as my daily driver, is a company truck. So not only do I not have a car payment, but I don’t pay car insurance, maintenance or gas with personal funds. It all comes out of the company. I probably shouldn’t say this, but I’ve also bought a fair bit of stuff for home with company cards. Trips to home depot often go on company cards, and I’ll buy a handful of things for the company, and a few things for myself that I need.
So basically, I’m saying you could maybe spend a little more than what I initially threw out there, but I wouldn’t adjust it much.
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Awesome brother! Fucking outstanding.
I’m assuming the big plays in south Texas are giving you some business?
I know this is a side note, but how did you get into this sort of industry? It seems like such a specialized and specific niche. I’m always interested how other fellow business owners get into a space such as this. Especially when it comes to anything in the industrial sector. I’m guessing you a have monstrous overhead cost because of machines and warehouse space needed to manufacture these dust collectors?
Not particularly.
So our products don’t really end up in Texas all that much. My biggest customers are Epiroc (was Atlas Copco), Sandvik, and CAT. They are all drill manufacturers, 3 of the biggest in the world. Their drills go out all around the world, but you’ll find them more in like the west virginia, kentucky area, and then some in the northwest… a handful of mines throughout the country. not really concentrated in Texas though. Coal and copper, and a few other things are what my product is used to mine. not like oil and gas.
The reason I am located where I am is because Epiroc is THE biggest drill manufacturer in the word, and their main production site is located about 10 minutes from me.
It is indeed very specific. My grandfather started the company. He was a brilliant engineer, he worked for a company called Gardner Denver many decades ago, where he designed one of the most popular drills to ever be built. Still can be found all over the place today. When he was working there, he designed this dust collector and started a company out of his own garage to produce and sell it. drove it around in his pickup truck to show it off. Turned it into the company it is today. He passed away in '88, and my dad ran the company from that point. I took over the VP role here in '08 when our former VP passed away unexpectedly. I had been saving money for law school, but when that happened, I stayed with the company to keep it in the family. It was a good decision.
Our facility is not small, but we have been in the same one since 1985 I believe. So we didn’t pay a fortune on it. We also keep our machines going for a looooong long time. I believe our shear was made in the 50’s… we actually built our own plasma cutter in the 90’s. Our cnc machine is ancient… our newest thing, aside from some of our welders, is our hydraulic press brake, and that’s probably 20 years old. So overhead, as compared to other companies like ours, is probably less than what you’d expect. Even the electric bill isn’t outrageous, it’s less than 2k per month.
We basically have to do around 80k in sales at a bare minimum to really ‘break even’ every month, and have the number of employees that we want to keep. We can survive on even less in the slowest times, but that requires reducing staff by more than I like to.
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On a side note, my current employer literally just fired me because I’m leaving shortly. So the small amount I have saved will be what I live on for the next few months.
Damn, that sucks
Understood. Thanks
Sorry that happened. Did you put in a respectful two weeks notice like a professional? Or did you say something dumb like “I’m leaving soon, not sure when.”
In corporate murica you never tip your hand that you’re thinking about leaving until you turn in that official two weeks notice in writing. Even good bosses don’t like employees who don’t have their head in the game hanging around.
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