The 5 year plan to £50k

[Freefaller]

I've always had this odd goal in my mind to be on 75k by the time I'm 30. Seemed very unrealistic without a uni degree.

I'm getting there and reached the magic 50k+ at 26yo without a degree. It's just me I guess, trying to prove my point to my mum and stepdad who said I won't achieve much without a uni degree

We'll see how the next 3 and a bit years workout.

Good for you dude

That's more than I was earning at 26! Didn't start tickling those figures till early 30s. Keep at it dude, you'll smash it.

What's your goal after that? Join the 6 figure club?! Or have a family, and kiss all of it away!

 

[Tunney]

Official job title doesn't actually represent my work but very much a devops role.

You'll easily make £75k soon as a DevOps engineer in London if you're at all competent!

Congrats.

 

[randomshenans]

Love hearing about the people that have made this happen. I still earn the same, but contracting, so to me that's a bonus as rates can always go up and down. My own company is progressing, albeit slower than I'd like but I think we're beginning to see some good progress.

 

[The IPB]

I've always had the modest earning goal of 30k, which I achieved this year.

I'm not a paper chaser and this should do me for life really, i'm on a scale and will reach the dizzy heights of 35k eventually

Maybe I'll reach higher in the future, but for now i'm set.

 

[haz_pro]

Interesting thread.

I'm doing "okay" relative to my school peers, but would like more.

Currently 26, earning just under 40k a year. This time next year I should hopefully be closer to 50k, with a 10% car allowance - we'll see!

 

[Freefaller]

Love hearing about the people that have made this happen. I still earn the same, but contracting, so to me that's a bonus as rates can always go up and down. My own company is progressing, albeit slower than I'd like but I think we're beginning to see some good progress.

Agreed - it's nice to see people succeeding.

Progress is progress, and you seem pretty happy.

 

[Sui]

Interesting thread.

I'm doing "okay" relative to my school peers, but would like more.

Currently 26, earning just under 40k a year. This time next year I should hopefully be closer to 50k, with a 10% car allowance - we'll see!

Just under 40k at 26 is more than okay!

 

[grudas]

Good for you dude

That's more than I was earning at 26! Didn't start tickling those figures till early 30s. Keep at it dude, you'll smash it.

What's your goal after that? Join the 6 figure club?! Or have a family, and kiss all of it away!

Thanks right now my main goal is to get that house deposit down and get my own roof over the head. It's fine paying rent but I want my own thing that I'm fully in charge of. 6 figures might be doable on a contract but for that I'd need a decent gold fund in case things go wrong which can happen at any time. No plans as far as family goes haha, I want two dogs, decent house with my girlfriend and two nice cars! Aim high eh... We'll see how things pan out for me over the years!

You'll easily make £75k soon as a DevOps engineer in London if you're at all competent!

Congrats.

Yeah seems to be very achievable. I'm just building up that experience and making contacts as you do. Thanks! I'll report back in two years haha.

 

[SpeedFreak]

A lot of hard work involved, but if people find it motivational I will share some rough bands:

25 - low 20s
30 - low 30s
35 - Approaching 3 figures

 

[Freefaller]

Just under 40k at 26 is more than okay!

Indeed - it's bloody good going! Keep it up! (if you want to....)

Thanks right now my main goal is to get that house deposit down and get my own roof over the head. It's fine paying rent but I want my own thing that I'm fully in charge of. 6 figures might be doable on a contract but for that I'd need a decent gold fund in case things go wrong which can happen at any time. No plans as far as family goes haha, I want two dogs, decent house with my girlfriend and two nice cars! Aim high eh... We'll see how things pan out for me over the years!
.

That's a sensible and good goal to have - stick at it. You'll get there, and clearly you're doing well, and being sensible.

 

[Dup]

I'm 32 and earning £23k.... bah. I'm a web developer but relatively new to it full time, was doing web design prior.

I feel the only way to be earning any real money in a way that I would be comfortable with is to start my own business which I will hopefully do one day once I have a few things out the way.

 

[badgeruk]

....

That's good going. I thought I was doing alright at 27 earning just over 30k with a masters but then I know I could earn more I just love my job too much. Which is worth its weight in gold to me.

 

[toshj]

I took a commission-heavy role out of university (2006). I always find the prospect if not being in control of my remuneration quite unnerving - to the point whereby I've turned down significantly higher base salaries with discretionary bonuses in favour of much lower salaries and a % formula. I took a significantly hefty salary cut in 2009 on the basis that it might work out for me (comp-wise) dependent on a strong personal performance.

Now I work for myself, so I pay myself a much smaller figure than I've been on previously, but I have the company bank account as my insurance.

I do recall that upon leaving university, I was hoping to be on £50k by the time I was 30 years old. Now I believe that working hard, working honestly and working smartly will see you benefit financially throughout the entirety of your career.

 

[FoxEye]

Well as depressing as it is, I'll indulge those who asked for an update.

The cat doesn't "hate" me No idea where that came from! Bella is one of the few rays of sunshine in my life.

But you guys want to know about my job progression. Well....

....I'm currently unemployed Spent a few months temping, doing 2nd line & app packaging roles, for £20k p.a. pro-rata. Thought contractors were supposed to earn more, but I was getting £10k less than the perms doing the same job :/ That finished a couple months ago.

Still want to move out of 2nd line and into something more interesting, but at 37 the major problem is people expect me to have progressed a lot further in my chosen field, with experience to match. If they want to train someone from scratch they want a 20-year-old.

So... for the time being, I guess I'll update my LinkedIn and see if I get any bites from that.

Tbh I still don't know what to learn about/teach myself at home, because I don't know which doors are open to me and which aren't. As said, it seems a number of doors are closed now because of age. I'm not sure if it's worth starting out as X, Y or Z, if by the time I'm any good at any of them I'll be 45

At this point I'm wondering if I've left it all too late. Like I said, it's depressing just thinking about it.

 

[sigma]

At this point I'm wondering if I've left it all too late. Like I said, it's depressing just thinking about it.

Not at all. The problem is you're indecisive and appear to want the answer to come to you.

Most people who earn a good wedge have usually started in a similar scenario - taken a low level job and worked their way up, trying out different things as they go along.

A lot of high earners also haven't been afraid to move or make other sacrifices. Nothing worth doing is easy.

Don't blame age/circumstance/other things - don't look backwards, look forward... pick some thing and just go for it, make a sacrifice(s) if needs be...

What people might pick up on your history is probably a lack of drive. I'm not sure what you can do about that, other than try to change it now.

You still have 2 years left from the 5 you set at the start of the thread. Do you really want to look back in 2 years time as you are today?

Having said that, I don't believe in saying I want to be earning X by the time I'm Y. That just reeks of keeping up with the neighbours - just be happy/comfortable in what you're doing and where you're going, there is more to life than a pay cheque.

 

[ruffneck]

Interesting thread, I'll chip in;

Currently 33 earning 54k + 10% car allowance and bonus (paid quarterly), bonus is between 13-15k a year. I don't have a degree and I work in cyber security. My background is essentially all things IT infrastructure which gave me a solid background to move into cyber security 4 years ago. My job requires a fair amount of travel however.

 

[bJN]

Many different routes to earning money!

I left Sixth Form after messing up my A levels and university entry and worked retail just over minimum wage full time. From there I jumped to IT contracting at the NHS for the best part of a year which worked out to just under £30k at 19/20. I then went permanent staff before being placed at risk under a restructure so I quit and started an apprenticeship. Earned pennies for the first year, second year not much better or the third year with my fourth year pay being around £18k at 24. Didn't get the job that the apprenticeship should have led onto but still got a job I was trained for, bumping up to £37k for the last year. As of the start of this month I've had a bump up in job title which should take me to over £40k at 25, so not doing too bad in the grand scheme of things - just an awful lot of fuel expenditure for commuting! Fingers crossed I can continue onwards and upwards!

 

[sigma]

My job requires a fair amount of travel however.

This is why there shouldn't be just a focus on just the salary figure, there are so many other factors that most people would take a lower/higher salary for.

 

[FoxEye]

Most people who earn a good wedge have usually started in a similar scenario - taken a low level job and worked their way up, trying out different things as they go along.

I think that's becoming less and less the norm tho, isn't it? With the global marketplace and ready access to fully qualified workers from all over the world, more and more UK companies are not giving their staff the opportunity to work their way up the ladder - instead simply hiring ready-made, experienced candidates, from Europe or India or wherever.

A few years ago I spoke to one potential employer, who candidly told me, "We don't train anyone. If you accept this job, that's the only job you'll ever have with us. If we need someone for another role, we'll hire externally." Now whilst that might not be representative of every UK company, it's not exactly uncommon, is it?

All the advice I've received thus far is that I'll need to get a degree, or train myself up in my own time, at home. Because employer training is becoming a rarity.

 

[sigma]

I think that's becoming less and less the norm tho, isn't it? With the global marketplace and ready access to fully qualified workers from all over the world, more and more UK companies are not giving their staff the opportunity to work their way up the ladder - instead simply hiring ready-made, experienced candidates, from Europe or India or wherever.
A few years ago I spoke to one potential employer, who candidly told me, "We don't train anyone. If you accept this job, that's the only job you'll ever have with us. If we need someone for another role, we'll hire externally." Now whilst that might not be representative of every UK company, it's not exactly uncommon, is it?

Then move to another company and focus on obtaining a role that won't be off-shored.

All the advice I've received thus far is that I'll need to get a degree, or train myself up in my own time, at home. Because employer training is becoming a rarity.

A degree will get you in the door for some roles but if you don't have one you'll have to go in lower and work your way up. You need the drive and determination along with a bit of fortune but fortune favours those who take risks.