[quote=sdrealtor]Yes real estate is subsidized? Yes I make more omn each transaction because of that? I also make less as a realtor than I did in anything else I have done in the last 20 years and do this for the lifestyle it affords me not the income. Most realtors make minimum wage or less for the time they put in. Not complaint just stating a fact. Not whining either as I love my life and giving up making more money for having more control over my time is a choice I have happily made.
OK back to where we were. Public servants do a very noble thing. They serve us and for that I am grateful. Am I grateful enough that they should earn in the top 1 to 2 percent of wage earners in this country while having full health benefits and a mid 6 figure pension to look forward to in their 50’s? Probably not. I like them, I respect them, I don’t want their jobs or lifestyles. Does that mean I can’t consider them over compensated? That I don’t understand.[/quote]
You (and everyone else) are absolutely entitled to think they are overcompensated, just as you (and everyone else) are absolutely entitled to think realtors, athletes, entertainers, salespeople, executives, plumbers, electricians, [insert “every other job but my own” here] are overcompensated, too.
You do realize that the vast majority of public sector workers are earning **nowhere near** the top 1-2% (not even close, even for dual-income households with lots of overtime!!!), and don’t have six-figure pensions to look forward to, right?
You were talking about a two-income couple, at least one of whom had a graduate degree and worked in healthcare, the other probably worked in public safety. You claimed to know that they didn’t work any overtime for that pay, but I can tell you for a fact that reviewing their tax returns (nor year-end pay stubs, based on everything I’ve ever seen) won’t give you that information (as others have already pointed out…why in the world would they share that information with a realtor they are interviewing for a short sale???).
