Has your annual income gone up or down in the last 4 years?

[begin_within]

[yorkiemommie1]

1. DOWN !!!!

and loss of benefits!

[Kierkegaard]

2. Up.

But, so have my income taxes, property taxes and cost of living.

[proud patriot]

3. down every year of bush

[bigwillq]

4. Up slightly.

But everything has gone up so it doesn't really make a difference.

[Liberal Veteran]

5. I was making $16.80 four years ago.....Today $11.00

Sucks....

[Quakerfriend]

6. Down by over 65%.

But, we are doing fine thanks to the Clinton years!

[Mabus]

7. It's Gone Down, Down, Down

And Inflation Went Higher
And It Burns, Burns, Burns
The Ring Of Fire
The Ring Of Fire

w/apologies to June Carter and Merle Kilgore

[LincolnMcGrath]

8. Salary down 30000+ per year

Retirement portfolio (Pensions,401ks,iras,stocks and bonds) down even further!

[MazeRat7]

9. UP

[LeftyMom]

10. Up.

Four years ago I wasn't working at all, as my son was only a few months old.

[cynatnite]

11. Up a little...

still can't keep up with the costs, though.

[NV Whino]

12. Income?

[meganmonkey]

13. Up, slowly and steadily

but mainly because I was finally trying to get stable, longer-term jobs starting about 4 years ago. Before that my work history was a little spotty.

[undeterred]

14. down

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. Up but

so have my health care premiums. So I am bringing home less.

[texpatriot2004]

16. Down from 2 incomes to 1. nm

[Lubernaut]

17. Down. Waaaaaaaaay Down.

The economy and climate haven't been too good for this soon-to-be-starving artist.

[KerryOn]

18. Income has gone up an average of 3% per year ....

... which would amount to about 15% in four years but my cost of living has increased by at LEAST 25%!

[B Calm]

40. I'm glad you mentioned the cost of living factor. In reality you

are earning less than what you were making 4 years ago..

[ncrainbowgrrl]

19. I was in college until spring '02.

So, I guess it went up.

[ikojo]

20. Four years ago I made $41k, last year I made

$37k...the difference is that four years ago I had a job that paid overtime. The job I currently have is considered "exempt" and I do not get paid overtime. I have no decision making ability and still must account for every minute but I do not get paid overtime.

[SheilaT]

30. There are very specific

rules about which jobs can be exempt and which can't.

You might want to contact your state employment board or whatever they call it in your state and discuss this in great detail with them.

[nashbridges]

39. Tech worker?

I'm exempt too.

I'm up, but barely. I was down from 2001-2003, even at 2004, and now I'm back up again about 15K a year. When January rolls around, I'll be up another 10K, but damn did I have to fight for it.

And just like my friend ikojo, there is no overtime, but the hours sure make it look like it is.

[Island Blue]

21. Up, but with the skyrocketing cost of living, who can tell? n/t

[elfin]

22. Net down

due to increased health, energy etc. while total income a bit up before these extra costs.

[FloridaPat]

23. Mostly unemployed because it's good for the economy to send

computer jobs overseas. So my income is way down.

[Botany]

24. up but not enough to match

health insurance, gas, natural gas, property tax, state tax,
and so on .....

can we just give back the 300 now and get the economy back?

[johnnie]

25. In the last four years

I have had a 2.7% increase. That's enough to cover the fumes of gas that escape from my vehicle a day.

[Igel]

26. Up sharply.

Wife got tenure-track job last year, so long post-doc salary. No more breaking even and barely staying out of debt; now we're saving for a house.

Last year's income was even higher. I had a juicy contract that ended last fall. Bought new furniture, commissioned a guitar, bought new car. I was offered a nice in-house staff position this year with the company I contracted with last year, and turned it down.

[Aimah]

27. Up

Merit raise every year and I just changed jobs that added 5,000.

[readmoreoften]

28. WAY down. n/t

[zalinda]

29. My business has been at a stand still

For the first 2 years I was doing fine, and now, even with adding many, many more products, my sales are less than 10% above my second year total. I've had to start advertising just to stay even with last year. I'm working more and expenses just keep going up, I feel I'm barely keeping my head above water.

zalinda

[ThoughtCriminal]

31. Way Down! - but mostly voluntary

Really got sick of wishing that our CEO was only as clueless as Dilbert's boss, so I quit and started my own business. I don't pay myself very well, but I don't worry about being out-sourced (all my former coworkers who decided to hang in there have been).

So sold the big mortgage tract mansion and bought a smaller house for cash with the bubble profit.

The freedom is worth it - I feel great. Biggest draw-back is paying much more for health insurance. Job stress is more of a threat to your health than having crappy insurance. If we ever get a national plan, expect a huge boom in new small companies as people who are slaves to the fear of losing benefits go out on their own.

[Perky]

32. Way up actually

But that is not a measure of much of anything.

[SheilaT]

33. Up, fortunately.

Plus both sons are now off at college (thanks to scholarships and grandparent-funding) and so cost us practically nothing these days.

And I'm getting ready to return to the workforce, once I have my paralegal certificate in December. Lucky us.

[Imalittleteapot]

34. Self employed - Down.

Slowly creeping up, but has a long way to go to get back up to 4 years ago.

[B Calm]

35. 4 years ago I was grossing 52 thousand, now I'm making half that

amount doing the same kind of work.

[Lady President]

36. Up a little

My yearly salary is slightly higher than 4 years ago, but not enough to compensate for the rise in bills. Do I have more disposal income? Hell, no.

[lostnfound]

37. Down -- my whole industry is down since 9/11. nt

[leftofthedial]

38. W-A-Y Down

Hugely.

It's gone down by more than I thought I'd ever earn.

[mikefromwichita]

41. Strong Up

[LittleClarkie]

42. Up, but expenses go up faster

Which sucks through a straw of course.

[we can do it]

43. Down -

Pay down, health insurance and everything else up.

[B Calm]

44. Pay down, health insurance and everything else up is in the Bush

Economic Plan (DISASTER)...

[kweerwolf]

45. Since I'm currently unemployed in *'s amerika, I'd have to say 'DOWN'