Young High Earners

dane-katie

Well im a low earner, i cant work due to illness and disability and i survive on benefits alone, totally around £190 a week.

[Deleted User]

It's funny how your mindset changes.. for a few years I was always wondering 'what do i need to do to earn over 30K'. .. now its more like 'I want to earn 50k, what do i have to do to get it'.

Here's one way to earn lots of money - be very good at something that not many other people are good at.. since salary is essentially a case of supply and demand. Oh yes, and get some useful qualifications, they help.

catalunya

I saw this thread in the weekly email and have found it really interesting to read.

Tbh I dont blame leeds lad for asking the question as I often find it a bit of a taboo subject with my friends and you never know if they are gonna over inflate their earnings...

I am 22, have a Masters degree and due to the recession have found it difficult to get a job. When I was younger, I always said I would be a high flyer with the convertible car and flash clothes...

Now I am older I am a lot wiser to what I want and I dont wanna be the person who is never at home, travelling away etc etc.

I have just started a job in business development for a big construction firm only TEN min away from my house and I work 9-5 mon-fri, im only earning 17k to start (will be more hopefully!) but I love it. I love the feeling of routine and knowing what i am doing! I also know that this company will offer me lots of opportunities to progress and go somewhere without really having to go somewhere if you get me!!

Previous to this I was earning 13k working in a retail environment working weekends and lates and allsorts, I hated it!

I do wonder about my friends who commute to London and wonder if they have it better, and then I realise I much prefer waking up at 8am and getting in at 5.15!!

To give you another view, my boyfriend is 23, left school at 16, did an apprenticehsip in engineering and now earns basic 26K and with overtime and bonuses etc earns over 31k. He has his own flat and nice clothes etc, makes you wonder about a University education doesnt it....!

rictus123

Well im 18 and away to go into 4th and final year of apprenticeship. Left school right before i turned 16 and got offered job on 16th bday. Money goes up every year, 1st year was about £7k net - little overtime. This past year has been 13k + as much overtime as i like. This summer to next itl be £18k net + as much overtime as i like. Then next summer its upto £35k but onto shorter hours. Magic Love my job, think its the best 1 out there for me. Turned my life around when i left school.

jessicamb

brokeinwales wrote: »

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!

For getting to 30k in my experience:
- graduate degree then several years studying for professional postgraduate qualification
- moving jobs on a regular basis to move up the career ladder
- have a clear career path in mind - know where the gaps are in your industry where you can earn more money because there are fewer people with the same skills.

If you want to get on then have a look at the next job up to yourself and ask yourself what you need to do to get it. Then when you have it work on getting the next one beyond that.

Certainly in finance there are very few jobs that will take you from a graduate with little experience (£12k - £15k ish) to a qualified chartered accountant (£30k ish for a newly qualified chartered accountant) in one career move.

Mrs_Ryan

The big thing for me has always been wanting to earn over 1k a month. Doesnt sound a lot to some people, but to me it has always been what I was aiming for. I have worked in paid jobs since the age of 17, and until I got my current job I had only ever had 2 months where I cleared over 1k, as i had mainly worked in low-paid jobs.
In my current job, I work horrific hours as a full-time health care assistant in a hospital, and to be honest the conditions arent great... and for that, in this tax year I have earned 16k. My basic is now about 14k (pay rise on April 1) and I go up another increment in August so next tax year I expect to have earned about 18k.(with unsocial hours payments and WTD payments) To me that is a lot of money - I know some people would scoff at that but I'm exceedingly proud of it. i have a friend who is a solicitor and she earns a tremendous amount of cash - she talks of spending in one lunchtime what I earn in a week :eek: however I'm happy with what I get.
My ex-fiance was 21 when I was with him and he earned about 26k+ (and indeed he used to throw money about like... well, I dont know. ) and he used to buy me amazing presents but I got bored of it in the end - money isnt everything!

Fluffi

Melanie747 wrote: »

"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?!

You'd be surprised how many people don't do these things - some people have a attitude that is almost like they are doing their boss a favour by turning up for work in the first place and want overtime pay for working an extra 5 minutes!

Ringo makes a really good point about supply and demand - if you are good at something other people don't want/aren't able to do then good salaries nearly always follow.

valos_mummy

Realistically I don't think I'll ever be earning above 30k. The most I've ever been on is 15.5k, now I'm on just over 14k. Considering I'm 30 it's a bit weak IMO; my OH is 25 and on 22k. Whatever I go to next I'd like to be on at least 18k, then maybe go onto 25k later on.

For what I want to do (financial admin/bookkeeping) I think that's about the right kind of wage, I have taken my ICB exams (and got distinctions too); it's just trying to break into it when they all want experience! Grrr.....

mitchaa

leeds_lad wrote: »

Hi - being the ambitious type, I always like to measure myself against how other people in similar circumstance do for themselves.

I'd be interested to hear if there's anyone out there who has managed to bag a real high paying job at a young age?

I'm 27 and on £35k - probably middle of the road - there anyone who is earning lots more and younger/same age? How did you do it?

A good thread and I've always used my age as a measure of how well I am doing aswell.

At 17 I was earning £13k pa
At 18 I was earning £14k pa
At 19 I was earning £20k pa
At 20 I was earning £22k pa
At 21 i was earning £24k pa
At 22 I was earning £30k pa

Then I became licensed and my aim was to try and achieve a 2x age earning pattern.

At 23 I was earning £40k (FY 06/07)
At 24 I was earning £46k (FY 07/08)
At 25 I was earning £52k (FY 08/09)
At 26 I was earning £55k (FY 09/10)

I am 27 now, and suspect FY 10/11 will be around £58k

I believe I am doing fairly well in terms of salary earned but there are a lot of other 27yr olds out there earning far in excess of what I do. I have never been to university and I live in Aberdeen. (Aircraft Engineer, Oil & Gas)

In terms of average salary, I believe you are around average at £35k for a male in FT work according to ONS data.

mitchaa

Found it..

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_labour/ASHE-2009/2009_work_la.pdf

If you open up table 7.7a and then use the tabs at the bottom to select male full time. (You need excel to view)

The average British male earns a FT salary of £35,877. This is a mean average meaning that you have all the high £100k+ earners skewing the figures, however the median figure (50% above, 50% below) is stated at £28,388

The average British person covering Full and Part time is said to be £26,629 as a mean figure and £21,418 as a median figure.

You are said to be in the countries top 10% with earnings in excess of £46,525 and in the top 20% with earnings in excess of £35,873 so you are around that ballpark of being better off than 4/5 of people around you