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19.1.09

Salaries...

I'm currently enrolled at the El Paso Community College. I will have graduated with my degree in Electrical Engineering in the Spring of 2010 and hopefully start at the University of Texas at El Paso that summer or fall. I've got a general understanding of what I will be making once I finish my bachelors degree courses, but I'm wondering if I should then continue on my education to a Master's degree. Of course I would like to be settled into a company that generally appreciates the contributions that I make to the company before I go back to school again.

So my ultimate goal today is to get a general idea of the payscale difference between an undergraduate with a Bachelors degree and a graduate with a master's degree. Luckily I know that there are a great deal of helpful websites out there that can provide this information for me. The main driving goal in this experiment is to determine my savings budget for each scenario. I'm concerned that I should start saving for retirement, but I can't anticipate my savings contributions based on the salary I am currently making. Planning for your future involves research and goal setting, so this is something that I feel will provide a good gauge for me to begin my goal planning.

Payscale.com: Provides a helpful graphing utility to see the various levels of certification, experience and industries and compare the information. Here is one of the graphs:

This particular graph is by years of experience. I hope to have the opportunity to obtain some experience while I am still in school, but on the chance that doesn't play out for me, its nice to know what individuals that lack experience are making and the goals for which I would like to set for myself while I'm employed.

Engineersalary.com: Had an indepth view of the different routes that one could take and the payscale difference. Salaries in 2007 for new grads: B.S.E.E. received starting offers averaging $57,830; M.S.E.E. grads averaged $69,180; and new Ph.D.'s averaged $86,440. Advanced degrees are in the high demand by both Fortune 500s and start-ups. This information will definitely come in handy when I am deciding what direction I want to take my professional and educational futures.

While this last website was specific for my degree plan, you can find the payscale for your field of interest online easily enough. Payscale.com is not limited to just engineering. The more you know, the more you can plan for.

And its never to early to be thinking about retirement!

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