Four years of undergrad and one year of grad completed. At least one more year of my MA work, then 2+ years for my PhD. I'm hoping I get my PhD in 3 years, but some people take 7...I gotta kick some ass and not let that happen!!
Is not. A Lecturer position isn't well paid, but Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Tenured Professor all are - anywhere from $50,000-$150,000 depending on the school.
And if I wanted to go into contract work there are some contract archaeologists who make upwards of $180,000 a year depending on what sort of work they're doing and who they're doing it for. The common salary is around $40-50k though, especially for young'uns.