Earnings Targets As A Man
As a man, you are probably wondering how much money you should make. This is a very reasonable question given the expectations men have to make money and provide for a family.
This post will outline how much money men should make based on factors such as race, age, and stage of life. I will also discuss how men can make the most money possible given their unique situation.
Being a man can be challenging and most of us want to get it right. As men, we are tasked with building careers, making money, finding a suitable mate, and living up to a wide range societal expectations. These things can impose a lot of pressure on us guys, but they do become easier as a man begins to make more money.
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Does A Man Really Need To Make $400K Per Year?
Does a man need to make $400,000 a year in to really be a man and not a loser? This is absolutely the case according to real estate mogul and social media influencer Grant Cardone.
Let’s hear directly from Cardone on how much money a man should make.
If I made $400 grand a year, I would be embarrassed with myself as a husband, a father, basically as a human being.
These strong words from Cardone are what inspired me to write this article. Given his influential status with more than 5 million followers across Instagram and Twitter, Cardone’s opinion likely caused a lot of angst among the 99% of men in the world who aren’t living up to these lofty standards.
How Much Money Men Make Based On Race & Age
It should go without saying that every man is capable of some amazing things regardless of where they come from. As true as that may be, race, age, education level, and many other factors still play a role in how much money the average man makes.
For example, when we consider both race and age – we see that Asian men earn substantially more than men of all other races from ages 30 – 49. Then, at age 50, white men overtake Asian men by a very slight margin. At the same time, black and hispanic men earn substantially lower than their White and Asian counterparts at all age levels.
At my current age of 35, Asian men make the most money with a median income of $78,100. White men are a distant second at the same age with a median income of $57,200. Following behind white and Asian men are Hispanic men and black men with median incomes of $38,100 and $34,000 respectively.
How Much A Man Should Make Is Not About Race Or Age
With respect to the realities driving this data, I still believe how much a man should make is up to each individual. Sure, every man will face unique challenges, but making money doesn’t boil solely down to race or age.
Instead, how much a man makes comes down to his skill, ingenuity, work ethic, and determination. Of these, work ethic and determination are things that any man can cultivate. Therefore, most men are already on the cusp of substantial earnings whether they know it or not.
How Much Men Should Make At Each Stage Of Life
A better approach for gauging how much a man should make would be from a perspective of typical life stages all men go through. Most men will mature at generally the same rate, encounter similar life situations, and be tasked with making decisions across a pretty standard set of dimensions. Because of this, we can reasonably estimate how much men should make at each stage.
| Stage of Life | Age | How Much A Man Should Make |
|---|---|---|
|
Very Young Men |
12 & Under |
$500 – $10,000 |
|
Teenage Men |
13 – 19 |
$3000 – $600,000 |
|
Early Adulthood |
20 – 27 |
$6,000 – $1,000,000,000 |
|
Middle Aged Men |
28 – 45 |
$52,000 – $97,000,000,000 |
|
Older Men |
46 – 62 |
$66,000 – $206,000,000,000 |
You’ll notice that my middle and older stages occur at relatively young ages. This is because we are considering how much men should make and are therefore using the standard working ages of 22 – 62 as our range for analysis. Granted, many men will continue to actively earn far beyond age 62, but many more will go into a wealth decumulation phase in retirement.
A Very Young Man Should Make $500 - $10,000
One unique thing about many of the uber rich is they have very well developed knacks for making money which many of them cultivated from very young ages. One famous example is Warren Buffet who went to the public library to study investing as early as age 11. Similarly, the richest guy I personally know has been devising ways to make money since the day we met in the 6th grade.
Few men will ever become millionaires (or billionaires), but I still believe each man should have early opportunities to learn how to actually make money.
That said, I’m not suggesting that parents send their children to the salt mines to earn wages. Instead, I believe that all parents should look for creative ways to challenge their young men to create incomes. For example, a parent could compensate their young boys for taking on extra home responsibilities or help the most ambitious young men plan and launch businesses – even if they have low odds of succeeding.
With so many men refusing to work and make money nowadays, this level of intentionality alone could help establish a baseline for financial success in most men.
Teenage Men Should Make $3,000 - $600,000
During the teen years, men progress from being in middle school to college students. Therefore, a lot of change takes place during this time. And whether they realize it or not, men at this age are typically laying the early foundation for the rest of their lives.
In terms of earnings, a man at this stage should be able to easily make at least $3,000 per year.
The methodology for this earnings target is based on the federal minimum wage and working age. By and large, the minimum working age is 14 years in most states. Each state sets its own minimum wage, but I went with the federal minimum which is currently $7.25/hr.
On the low end of the range, a teen of 14 years could make approximately $3,000 with only two 4 hour shifts per week at the federal minimum wage. And while seemingly ridiculous, the high end of the range was set based on the highest teen earnings that I’m aware of. I’m sure there are other earnings unicorns out there also.
Again, this recommendation is based on the belief that young men should cultivate at least a small level of work ethic and drive for making money. Sure, we may want to shield our young from the hardships of life – but a better approach would be to actually expose them to challenges so they can cultivate skills and self-efficacy.
Men In Early Adulthood Should Make $6,000 - $1,000,000,000
A good amount of variance is happening for men in this stage of life. On the younger end of the range, men are either halfway through college or several years into some form of paid work. At the same time, the older men in this range are several years into established careers.
That said, the methodology for this range starts at the same point as the last with the federal minimum wage and goes up from there.
On the low end, a man at this stage of life should make at least $6,000. This target is based on a minimum wage earner working two 8 hour shifts which is realistic for those who are busy in college. From there, the earnings potential is the sky as we’ve seen young men such as Austin Russell become self-made billionaires before turning 28 (25 to be precise).
Middle Aged Men Should Make $52,000 - $97,000,000,000
By 28, men should be past earning minimum wage and on to bigger and better in life. Most men will be well established in their chosen careers or are using time as their friend to find a job that really fits. Also in this group are men that are my age of 35 who are really beginning to hone in on making money.
I would say this is the most exciting time for most men as they are coming into their own as a man. They are starting families and businesses, progressing in their careers, and establishing the foundations of long term legacies.
In terms of the methodology, the low end of this earnings range is based on a median earnings of $50,752 for men who are 25 – 34 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Further, the upper end is established based on the richest man in this cohort – Mark Zuckerberg.
Older Men Should Make $66,000 - $206,000,000,000
This is the stage of life where most men can expect to make the most money of their lives. In general, the average man will see peak earnings sometime in the years between 44 – 55. But this doesn’t have to be the case as a large portion of men make ever more money with each passing year.
Similar to the previous cohort, the low end of this range is established based on median earnings from the Bureau of Labor Statistics report. Further, the upper end is established by the richest man of this group who happens to be Elon Musk.
Wide Variance In How Much Men Should Make
As you can see, there is a wide degree of variance in how much a man should make. Given that, the majority of men will fall toward the lower ends of each ranges and there will be progressively fewer men as income levels rise.
This is due to what is known as a normal distribution which essentially says that most observations of a given sample will fall close to the middle, with fewer observations at either pole. In our case, each individual man would serve as a single data point or observation and most will fall toward the median – which is the low end of the ranges presented above.
How Much A Man Should Make Depends On His Needs
While the numbers above are good on aggregate, a better answer for how much a man should make would be that each man should earn based on his personal needs, the needs of his family, and according to his wildest dreams.
Enough To Cover His Basic Needs
For starters, a man should make enough to provide for himself the basics of food, shelter, and transportation. These are known as the big 3 in the personal finance world because they constitute the biggest line items in most people’s budgets.
In addition to food, shelter, and transportation – a man should also make enough money to cover smaller recurring expenses such as toiletries, gym memberships, and continuing education without putting himself in the red. Any man who can’t cover these expenses by himself has to do the work to ensure that he eventually can.
Enough To Support His Family
Most men will eventually meet a partner and establish a family. Once this happens, a man should make enough money to be able to support his family. This doesn’t mean that the man is expected to carry the families’ entire financial burden on his own, but he should be able to make enough money to ensure his family is comfortable and safe.
Enough To Satisfy Wildest Dreams
Beyond making enough to cover his basic needs and those of his family, a man should aim to make enough money to satisfy his wildest dreams. These dreams will differ per man, but some ideas may include exotic vacations, nice homes and cars, and cool new toys.
Regardless of the desire, a man should eventually make enough money to satisfy these dreams – or at least strive to do so with absolute resolve.
How A Man Can Make The Most Money Possible
There isn’t a one size fits all recipe for making money, so each man will have to devise his own unique plan based on the realities of his life. Differences notwithstanding, I believe there are some universal strategies that all men can leverage to make more money no matter where they are currently.
A Man Can Make More Money By Doing More Work
Oftentimes, making money comes down to a simple function of doing more work for greater periods of time. A man can make time his friend in the process of making money by spending more time on his job rather than away from it. This can be quite a simple proposition for many men as they are paid by the hour for their labor, which means they can simply work additional hours to make more money.
On the other hand, another large proportion of men are paid a set salary which does not increase based on the number of hours committed. These men can still make more money by doing more work since the hardest working and most dedicated professionals are usually the ones who make the most money. Stepping up for additional projects and assignments usually pays off in the long run with promotions, bonuses, and raises.
Beyond doing work at his day job, a man looking to make the absolute most money possible should spend time working and creating income from their own endeavors. This could include building businesses, finding alternative investments, or establishing passive income streams.
Whatever the case, work outside of a day job always has a greater earnings potential because of scale – which brings us to our next point.
A Man Can Make More Money With Scale
While working more is the most direct path to earning more money, it is not necessarily the best. That’s because we are all limited to just 24 hours each day and cannot create additional time no matter how hard we try. In addition to having limited time, we also have limitations in terms of energy, attention span, expertise, and hands.
Fortunately, there are ways to overcome these limitations thanks to what is known in the business world as scale.
In simple terms, scale is the process of exponentially multiplying money making inputs to receive exponential monetary returns. For example, a plumber could exponentially increase his income by hiring additional plumbers to service more customers each week.
This is exactly how most millionaires and billionaires earn their money, and the strategy is available to other men as well.
To accomplish scale, a man must look for an opportunity to do so. This can look different for each man depending on his skills, interests, and resources. The opportunities are out there and are yours for the taking.
A Man Can Maximize The Money He Makes With Frugality
No matter the income, frugality is a necessary component to any prudent financial strategy. Working more and achieving scale are great, but will be for nothing if a man constantly spends everything he earns.
Frugality is what allows a man to save and grow his money over time. And ironically, having more money usually results in even greater future earnings since capital is often needed to take advantage of opportunities.
Though frugality gets a bad name, it is actually one of the wisest money making strategies to deploy.
In Conclusion
The goal of this post was to really show that there is no definitive amount of money a man should make. Instead, how much a man can expect to make comes down to many factors such as race, age, environment, skill set, work ethic, and plain ‘ol luck.
This should come as great new for most men since this means we have a lot of control over how much we will make. One direct strategy is to simply work more and another is to do something that scales to even greater earnings.
No matter the approach, a man should believe that he can make as much money as he sets his mind to making and backing this intention up with dedicated effort.
So with that gentleman, I bid you happy earnings!