Young High Earners

onlineo

As someone who is unemployed at 27 this has been quite an inspiring read.

When I was 26 I was working as an assistant to a few IT project managers, getting some training and the prospect of actually working as a project manager and a £5-10k pay rise 6 months away. However I detested the job, found it insanely dull and although I loved the people I worked with my attitude was not so great. So instead of promotions I was first inline when the redundancies came. Over 1 year of unemployment and I really wish my attitude had not stunk so bad, although I realise that the job I did was not for me.

foxwales

I am 27 years of age and on a salary of £30,000 and I work from home doing remote ICT Consultancy for a large national organisation.

I live in South Wales, so this wage is quite high for my age group in this location, I do see it as a sense of achievement but my life is no better with more money, I still have to budget with all the bills and watch my spending, I don't go out drinking or anything like that and I don't buy expensive clothes, I honestly do not know where it goes.

What used to bug me was that the government would always come out saying the national average wage is around £26k which is probably more so in London, but no so in Wales.

stphnstevey

I can understand why you asked, but you could possibly of made it less personal by asking people what salary band their profession pays, rather than their specific salary.

People don't like talking about their salary as it's taboo - employers have made it that way so nobody knows what anyone else is on and can't then ask for a raise.

You want to aim for your own business, rather than working for someone else's, that way your not limited by salary alone - eg dividends, shares, property etc are unlimited and uncapped. Also, when you retire a business can continue to grow, be passed onto your children.

Many fool themselves into thinking they have that through self-employment, but as they are the business, as soon as they stop working, so does the money stop.

[Deleted User]

I've found it can often be quite rough discussing your earnings.. you can go from thinking you're doing ok, to wondering why aren't you doing better. I'm 30 and earning ok (i'm an IT Consultant (job title is Architect.. but i don't build houses so i don't normally use it).. however, i've got friends and family of the age earning significantly less and far more (like they're effected by the new 50% tax rate)

Whilst its good to be aspirational, try not to compare yourself too much. Different areas of the country and different industries pay a range of salaries for the same job.

bendix

I've always been bemused by the prissiness of us English about what we earn. When I lived in Asia, questions about salary and relative wealth were perfectly normal. It seems even more prissy on an anonymous webforum devoted to the discussion about money.

I got attacked a few months ago for stating my salary on a thread entitled "What is your job and how much do you earn". I simply put my salary down but, because it was larger than others in the thread, I was accused of boasting?

!!!!!! . . i am an anonymous poster. How could that be boasting.

Kudos on the OP in this thread, and shame on those who question his motives.

sims22

I'm not currently working but before I was made redundant I was on £44,000 and I'm 31 years old. I probably won't get that salary again though, at least not right away. I often worked 12-14 hours a day and occasional weekends without extra pay and the job was very stressful.

My husband is 30 and earns about £60,000 plus bonuses which have been around £40,000 in the last two years. He was earning £25,000 at the age of 21 plus had a company car. He also works long hours and is often on call in the early hours of the morning. On the plus side for him though, he really does love his job. I think job satisfaction is more important than the salary.

Melanie747

I am 25 and earning (officially) £15k, I am currently getting an honorarium which tops me up to about £17k. I live in Devon, I have a first class honours degree and loads of excellent qualifications, I have worked part time (full time during holidays) since I was 15 and full time since I was 21. I want to know how I can earn more money because I have done everything right yet for some reason I am earning a lot less than most people I know, with fewer qualifications and less experience!

Melanie747

Oh and I work for the local council and work about 45 hours per week (if I hadn't shown willngness to work hard I wouldn't have been given my honorarium),

Melanie747

"My advice would be work hard, deliver on time (without complaining), show enthusiasm to take on more responsibilities and be continually improving your skills/qualifications in your own time."I do all this already!!Is it just because I live in Devon?!

brokeinwales

OK slightly off-topic, but what do you have to do to earn the kind of money referred to by the young high earners on this thread?

I'm 29 - though I'd love to be earning £30k plus I've never imagined I had any hope of doing so, definetly not in my twenties (I would actually consider anything over £20k to be a "high" wage).

Seriously - what's the secret - I feel like I'm missing something!