When you save more than 50 per cent of your salary, it’s hard to argue that you’re not being paid enough, because you certainly have enough to meet your wants and needs. Photo: Getty Images
When you save more than 50 per cent of your salary, it’s hard to argue that you’re not being paid enough, because you certainly have enough to meet your wants and needs. Photo: Getty Images
When you save more than 50 per cent of your salary, it’s hard to argue that you’re not being paid enough, because you certainly have enough to meet your wants and needs. Photo: Getty Images
When you save more than 50 per cent of your salary, it’s hard to argue that you’re not being paid enough, because you certainly have enough to meet your wants and needs. Photo: Getty Images

How to tell if you are underpaid or overpaid in your job


  • English
  • Arabic

It happened again this week. Another person trying to be kind and sympathetic told me that it was a crime how little money teachers make.

It went something like this. Tom is a lawyer who makes a high salary. In casual conversation, it came up that I’m a teacher and, as is so often the case, he responded with: “That’s a tough job! I couldn’t handle working with kids and the low salary they pay you is criminal. You are the real heroes.”

I appreciate his sentiment, even if I don’t agree with him. I’ve been teaching for more than 15 years in five different countries, including my home country of the US.

While it was financially difficult to teach in the US, what with taxes, rent, insurance and union dues, it’s a different matter overseas. I don’t need to get into my salary, but I don’t feel underpaid at all. However, I can understand why teachers who make the same amount as me might feel like they are underpaid, and a lot of it comes down to choices.

Let’s take my example versus a friend of mine who makes the same salary, but has a very different perception about being paid adequately or not. I live a simple life. I don’t have kids or pets. I try to keep my expensive habits to a minimum and not live a very consumerist lifestyle.

Consequently, I routinely save about 60 per cent to 80 per cent of my salary each month. When you save that much money, it’s hard to argue that you’re not being paid enough because you certainly have enough to meet your wants and needs as long as you’re not depriving yourself too much.

I never have to worry about one surprising bill derailing my life or losing my apartment

Saving is a key part of this. If you’re saving a large amount, you probably aren’t stressed about money. You feel abundant because you are literally getting more than you need to spend. I never have to worry about a surprise bill derailing my life or losing my apartment.

Now, let’s look at my friend, Jennifer. To be fair, I’ve picked a friend who also doesn’t have kids because that can be a very different conversation. Jennifer, however, does have pets, a dog and a cat. It seems like these animals visit the vet at least every other month and each time, the bill comes to more than Dh1,000. On top of this is the cost of their food, toys and pet-sitting.

Jennifer also loves her spa days and frequently has massages, hair treatments, manicures and other services. This adds another Dh2,000 to Dh3,000 per month to her expenses. Jennifer likes to party more than I do as well, and a normal night out for her can easily run into Dh500 to Dh1,000.

She also took out huge student loans to pay for a pricey private university education in the US, and now pays a nightmare loan instalment every month.

Even on the same salary, Jennifer is constantly stressed about money, putting things on credit cards, even though she knows the compound yearly interest rate is around 45 per cent for a UAE-based credit card.

If Tom had said the same thing to Jennifer, she would have agreed wholeheartedly. She doesn’t feel like she makes enough money because for her lifestyle, she doesn’t. This is why the same wage can be both overpaid and underpaid, depending on who receives the salary.

As long as I can save at least 20 per cent of my salary and not feel deprived, then I’m not being underpaid. Twenty per cent is a good amount of money that I can build enough of a financial cushion to buy assets, fund a strong emergency account and not feel stressed about finances.

Of course, there are other factors involved. If you are constantly stressed and have to work more hours than you want, you may definitely need a higher salary to compensate for those circumstances.

When I was much younger, I worked at a fast-food restaurant and earned a minimum wage. It was tough and I was probably underpaid there, even though I didn’t bring any special skills that made me especially valuable to the job.

I’ve also worked at terrible schools where they could have doubled my salary and I wouldn’t have liked the job any better.

If you are feeling underpaid, try cutting your expenses. Once you do this and build up enough money, you might realise it’s not the lack of salary that’s making you hate your job, but it’s the job itself. At that point, you’ll have enough money saved up that you can afford to quit the job and take the time to get a better one.

Schoolteacher Zach Holz (@HappiestTeach) documents his journey towards financial independence on his personal finance blog The Happiest Teacher

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
MATCH INFO

Manchester United 6 (McTominay 2', 3'; Fernandes 20', 70' pen; Lindelof 37'; James 65')

Leeds United 2 (Cooper 41'; Dallas 73')

Man of the match: Scott McTominay (Manchester United)

Green ambitions
  • Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
  • Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
  • Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
  • Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water 
GAC GS8 Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh149,900

The language of diplomacy in 1853

Treaty of Peace in Perpetuity Agreed Upon by the Chiefs of the Arabian Coast on Behalf of Themselves, Their Heirs and Successors Under the Mediation of the Resident of the Persian Gulf, 1853
(This treaty gave the region the name “Trucial States”.)


We, whose seals are hereunto affixed, Sheikh Sultan bin Suggar, Chief of Rassool-Kheimah, Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon, Chief of Aboo Dhebbee, Sheikh Saeed bin Buyte, Chief of Debay, Sheikh Hamid bin Rashed, Chief of Ejman, Sheikh Abdoola bin Rashed, Chief of Umm-ool-Keiweyn, having experienced for a series of years the benefits and advantages resulting from a maritime truce contracted amongst ourselves under the mediation of the Resident in the Persian Gulf and renewed from time to time up to the present period, and being fully impressed, therefore, with a sense of evil consequence formerly arising, from the prosecution of our feuds at sea, whereby our subjects and dependants were prevented from carrying on the pearl fishery in security, and were exposed to interruption and molestation when passing on their lawful occasions, accordingly, we, as aforesaid have determined, for ourselves, our heirs and successors, to conclude together a lasting and inviolable peace from this time forth in perpetuity.

Taken from Britain and Saudi Arabia, 1925-1939: the Imperial Oasis, by Clive Leatherdale