Young High Earners

leeds_lad_3

MissTingle wrote: »

Hi Leeds_Lad

I'm 24 and earn £38 500- i'm very proud of myself as i'm quite successful in my field however *sometimes* I feel like i'm in the wrong career and now trapped as I don't know if we would manage if I took a pay cut. I love being able to live comfortably but I don't know if it the money is worth the 'what if' feeling.

Sorry to hear you're not quite sure- what is it you do?

MissTingle

I'm a teacher but with extra responsibilities, hence the pay. The perks definitely outweigh any problems. I can't complain!

Not sure why you got stick for asking this question, seems perfectly reasonably.

terra_ferma

leeds_lad wrote: »

Many thanks - not sure why that person just got a loads of replies in response to their question and I got a load of complaints, but I'll take my interest there.

Don't take it personally, sometimes it looks like some people feel the need to be controversial/rude to attract attention and feel important. It happens quite a lot unfortunately.

jimboban

jdturk wrote: »

The question is have you put a figure on this or are you just going year by year, if its the latter its easy to get into the rut

Ah - I'm definitely in the latter category...I'll know when I get there

Save, save and keep saving :-)

simonvaughan

I'm 28 and work as a financial adviser, my average earnings are £60K. I've been doing it for less than 5 years, moved from a £15K call centre into a FA trainee job and never looked back.

SV

Skillz2

.............Bump

squirrelchops

Reds-on-Sea wrote: »

I guess I always feel as though I've "underperformed" so to speak - made bad education/career choices along the way, and felt that in principle I could and should have earned a lot more. I suppose I've always felt that the "Earn your age" was a good marker for me, i.e £30k at age 30 etc...I'm 30 next month so fingers crossed.

.

I was just thinking this as I read your post reds-on-sea. When I was in my 20s I though ok 30k at 30 years would do me. Thing is at 25 I changed job to become a care worker and went down from £16.5k to £10.5k!! However I loved this job.

Now in 5 years I was lucky (or maybe not but I'll come to that) to get promoted twice plus the company restructured all of it's pay. Add silly overtime to that too and I earnt £32,000 one year......rmember this is working in the notoriously under paid care sector but was a private company so pay was better.

However, I ended up off work with stress and anxiety and basically had a breakdown. This led to me leaving work to go to Uni. So apart from summer jobs I have been on very low pay for 3 years.

BUT the upside is I am qualifying in a job I love and my starting salary is £26k (I have accepted a job to start in 4 months time). The best thing I ever did was leave my last job and not be a slave to the wage!!!

My OH too, he has NO qualifications. He earnt £5,000 last month gross. However this is through doing night shifts......it is killing him, so he has now asked to move to days. Yes a lot less money but you can't see money as a measure when you aren't enjoying life or having the opportunity to spend it on nice things because you feel carp all the time.

OP - you are in debt though. Yes you may be earning decent money but you are still in debt. Student loan AND 10k .......I would be addressing this more rather than worry what you are earning to be honest.

squashy

I'm 32 and earn around £24k (pro rata, as I'm termtime only so works out at around £21k) as a school bursar. I do like my job although it is very high pressure due to how busy it always is in school and the inability to predict what will happen that day! I have the potential to earn around 35k as there are different levels of bursar, I am at the lower and because I also do lots of other things on the school admin side too. Different schools have different needs and I'm about to start a vocational qualification as a school business manager which should help me step up the ladder.

I am very happy, I have had three children and was a stay at home mum for a while, and I get to be home during the holidays which is worth its weight in gold. A little extra cash would be nice- I could go all-year-round for example as a quick fix, but the value of my homelife is also something I seriously take into account. I am definitely ambitious and I strive to do my job well and move the school forward constantly.

jessicamb

Finance is a pretty well paid industry. The good side is you still have plenty of earnings potential in you too - you could easily double your salary over the next five to ten years if you worked your way up. If you wanted more money I'd have said get into investment banking or actuarial, both exceptionally high paid.

Fluffi

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?

In my group of friends some of us are earning a lot more than the others despite similar levels of education, the difference is the levels of effort and commitment we have to our jobs and our willingness to take on extra responsibilities..

One of my friends has refused training opportunities and doesn't work late ever so unsurprisingly she hasn't had a pay rise in several years because she doesn't seem that committed to her job. On the other hand I rarely work only my contracted hours, do extra reading and studying in my own time to improve my skills and made sure my boss knew that I wanted to take on extra responsibilities when the opportunities arose! My average pay increases have been way above inflation every year for the past few years though because I've been rewarded for taking on more responsibilities and for getting my work done without complaining!

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.