# What were your gross yearly wages (2017)? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 3, 2018, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-gross-yearly-wages-2017/808121 "2018-02-03T21:31:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-gross-yearly-wages-2017/808121/101 "2018-02-08T23:50:30Z")
> [@ZurBob](#): > > (and sad). No pun intended there, **Seriously!** ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-gross-yearly-wages-2017/808121/102 "2018-02-09T00:33:58Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Curious that the OP hasn’t come back to explain why he/she needs our gross income. I suspect a way of finding schmucks in the income level he/she needs to promote a NEW BUSINESS VENTURE, GUARANTEED 500% PROFIT IN THE FIRST YEAR. > > Yeah, nah, not giving out any info like that. > > YMMV of course Pretty darn savvy upon your part! Be afraid… Be \*very,\*_ **VERY,** _ afraid. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-gross-yearly-wages-2017/808121/103 "2018-02-09T03:24:43Z")
> [@ZurBob](#): > > … In the course of these interactions, whether in context or not, it has been my observation that _anything goes,_ with no taboo upon personal revelations… Except wages/salaries. We’ll tell complete strangers _ **ANYTHING** _ about our personal lives, but mention wages/salaries and we shut up tighter than a clam. > > That was the _context_ of my original comment. Not that the OP was a proper, or legitimate, or valid question, but rather how silly we, in the U.S.A. are, concerning our $$$ job valuations. > > I simply find this phenomena interesting (and sad). First, accepting for the sake of discussion your premise as accurate, _why_ do you find that “sad”? I cannot fathom what about that would be sad. Second is to dispute the premise some. In a context in which sharing salary information provides some real benefit, be it emotional support or whatever, I see income information shared here. I just see very few contexts in which sharing salary information provides those benefits, in particular to the one sharing. Asked for context regarding income tax impacts for example exact numbers do not add much to a conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-gross-yearly-wages-2017/808121/104 "2018-02-09T05:26:27Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/l91ISfcuzDw/hqdefault.jpg "1 million dollars") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l91ISfcuzDw) ---
**Author:** ![X.L.Lent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a5b964/32.png) [@X.L.Lent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X.L.Lent)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-gross-yearly-wages-2017/808121/105 "2018-02-09T10:03:50Z")
25 or 6 to 4. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-gross-yearly-wages-2017/808121/106 "2018-02-09T22:59:48Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > First, accepting for the sake of discussion your premise as accurate, _why_ do you find that “sad”? I cannot fathom what about that would be sad. Because many folks tend to place such great emphasis upon their salary as the defining indicator of their non-monetary value as a human being. > [@](#): > > Second is to dispute the premise some. In a context in which sharing salary information provides some real benefit, be it emotional support or whatever, I see income information shared here. I just see very few contexts in which sharing salary information provides those benefits, in particular to the one sharing. > > Asked for context regarding income tax impacts for example exact numbers do not add much to a conversation. So, your take is: as long as proper context is observed, people tend to divulge wage/salary information as freely as other personal information. This has not been my observation in life, therefore I disagree. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-gross-yearly-wages-2017/808121/107 "2018-02-09T23:27:10Z")
> [@ZurBob](#): > > Because many folks tend to place such great emphasis upon their salary as the defining indicator of their non-monetary value as a human being. If I did that I would probably value myself a lot more than I do. Or at the least I’d value myself a concrete, measurable amount. As it is I can’t really find a measuring tape with the right units on it to measure self-worth worth. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-gross-yearly-wages-2017/808121/108 "2018-02-10T03:31:37Z")
> [@ZurBob](#): > > Because many folks tend to place such great emphasis upon their salary as the defining indicator of their non-monetary value as a human being. > So, your take is: as long as proper context is observed, people tend to divulge wage/salary information as freely as other personal information. > > This has not been my observation in life, therefore I disagree. I see absolutely no logical connection that connects a hesitancy to discuss income to thinking of income as the defining indicator of their non-monetary value as a human being. One suspects that your seeing that connection says something about how you think of the meaning of income more than anything else. More likely than not most posters here reluctant to share their income perceive Trump as of little value as a human being and would, upon hearing of her, think of [Malala Yousafzai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malala_Yousafzai) as a human being of great value despite her likely fairly low income and low net worth. There is a family friend on my wife’s side. Before Reagan he was absurdly rich and had lots of fun with what his money could buy. Reagan then opened up the industry his business was in to Free Trade and his business collapsed losing out to competition from much cheaper imports. He sold all the toys for pennies on the dollar and had pretty much nothing. The fact that he still had the same lots of fun without what his money had allowed him to buy raised him up a notch in my estimation of his value as a human being. And okay, your experience varies from mine. I don’t experience much real life casual sharing of much personal information of any sort, salary no less or more than that. On this MB there are few circumstances in which an individual’s specific salary is very meaningful or useful to a conversation but I’ve certainly seen ones [like this one](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=809185) and posts like [this one.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18534536&postcount=17) I experience some proper contexts for sharing some personal information, contexts in which the sharing provides or obtains some emotional support for example. And we’ve some posters on hard times share their income for that reason, but the circumstances in which sharing salary information accomplishes that are few. In general it is information that does not, or minimally should not, matter. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-gross-yearly-wages-2017/808121/109 "2018-02-11T00:52:01Z")
I still have “reported income” as a result of gross ups to due to an international work situation, so on paper, I did very, very well indeed. Actually, I count my blessings, so my real income was pretty nice, too. But to have that reported income instead of the hypothetical? That would be sweet. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-gross-yearly-wages-2017/808121/110 "2018-02-11T03:26:54Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I see absolutely no logical connection that connects a hesitancy to discuss income to thinking of income as the defining indicator of their non-monetary value as a human being. One suspects that your seeing that connection says something about how you think of the meaning of income more than anything else. More likely than not most posters here reluctant to share their income perceive Trump as of little value as a human being and would, upon hearing of her, think of [Malala Yousafzai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malala_Yousafzai) as a human being of great value despite her likely fairly low income and low net worth. > > There is a family friend on my wife’s side. Before Reagan he was absurdly rich and had lots of fun with what his money could buy. Reagan then opened up the industry his business was in to Free Trade and his business collapsed losing out to competition from much cheaper imports. He sold all the toys for pennies on the dollar and had pretty much nothing. The fact that he still had the same lots of fun without what his money had allowed him to buy raised him up a notch in my estimation of his value as a human being. > > And okay, your experience varies from mine. I don’t experience much real life casual sharing of much personal information of any sort, salary no less or more than that. On this MB there are few circumstances in which an individual’s specific salary is very meaningful or useful to a conversation but I’ve certainly seen ones [like this one](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=809185) and posts like [this one.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18534536&postcount=17) > > I experience some proper contexts for sharing some personal information, contexts in which the sharing provides or obtains some emotional support for example. And we’ve some posters on hard times share their income for that reason, but the circumstances in which sharing salary information accomplishes that are few. > > In general it is information that does not, or minimally should not, matter. Yeah, and after all that… Logic and your exceptions to the rule in this matter explain nothing but your exceptions to the rule. I feel people usually act secretively when it comes to money. And _this_ is the “connection” to the “meaning of income” you can take liberty to attribute upon my behalf. Otherwise, there is nothing else at play here than the fact we’re just going to have to agree to disagree. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-gross-yearly-wages-2017/808121/111 "2018-03-01T15:20:59Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > This is only your 2nd post since Aug 1999? That’s got to be some sort of record… That is impressive! ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-gross-yearly-wages-2017/808121/112 "2018-03-24T03:59:31Z")
Holy cow. I mean to start this thread as a test post in ATMB for making a poll. Obviously it got away from me. Sorry guys. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-gross-yearly-wages-2017/808121.md?page=5)