High salary jobs for current teens

[Yoollyball]

On the back of the then and now salary thread it got me thinking.

What is different now? Can we predict what jobs will give our current teens the best opportunities, if they want to, to make a very good salary. What will pay well in 10 years time?

My dd is 13 and is thinking about exam choices so this a part of our family discussions atm. She is clever and wants up have a well paid job so she can travel and live well.

Doctors earn the most overall 5 years out of university. Followed by Economists who went to the very best universities for the subject. Bankers, Company finance directors, City Lawyers and Commercial Barristers and City Analysts will do well. Look at research by the Institute of Fiscal studies about 2 years ago regarding top degrees, universities and jobs. I suspect all these jobs will be going in 15 years time. There are shortages in Engineering and many other jobs where work will be guaranteed without hitting the high earning levels so much. Might have more time to travel though. Also be an entrepreneur. Do your own thing. Being successful at that definitely earns plenty.

I'd suggest that she should make sure it's not just about the salary but where she can do the job too, ie try not to tie herself to a job that only exists in London, because then she might find herself being one of the 'I earn £100k but feel poor because rent (and childcare if relevant) is so expensive and I can't afford to buy a house' people that you see so many of on here.

Plus the hours are brutal and employers pretty much expect to own you, for the first few years of your career at least.

I wouldn't count paying the vast majority of your salary on housing/commuting/childcare and spending your life at work as 'living well'.

I would agree with @barbaraofsevillie, you only need about 50-60k per year to feel well off if you choose to live north of about Oxford. Still needs a bit of planning but not in ‘top salary’ bracket.

I find it hard to advise my teens.

Me too @Oblomov19
If my ds could follow his heart then he’d be a marine zoologist, focussing on conservation. Jobs in that field are quite rare and low paid.

Medicine, project management, accountancy

Not necessarily the career, but industry. Sales roles in big tech companies can have decent base salary + huge bonus. A friend is on ~40k base + 20% bonus + up to 200% exceptional bonus. They took 120% of that last year. 2 years out of uni.

Accountants rule the world....surprised no-one has mentioned actuaries yet.

Yes - I think we need to get more into industries and the types of roles tgat pay very well. I can't see her as a doctor but what i can see is an international type role. Travel and culture- but that uses her clever mathematical and inquisitive brain!

(They did business management with computer science)

Things that are practical like doctors and advanced nursing. I think for personal things people will see want to see an individual. A lot of legal work is getting more automated with more blue collar jobs taken over by IT, I can imagine that stretching into corporate law.

Advertising may still exist as again it’s hard for an algorithm to work out what’s funny/touching.

I can’t believe that someone earning a 100k can’t afford to buy a house.

No clue on GCSEs or A-levels! I did economics & Spanish at university, now work for an investment bank and make about 90k a year including my bonus at 29. I would say the cryptocurrency & fintech sector are the way to go? Just my personal opinion.

My teen wants to earn a lot of money and I’m encouraging it, I don’t want him to struggle. He’s considering accountancy, management consulting and banking, he’s not sure which aspect yet but knows he wants to work in finance. Plan is 3 good A levels including economics, a RG degree with a preference for Bristol, work experience which we are in a position to help him with, and hopefully a summer programme during university

IT, Engineering

Get a maths based degree and masters and get a first. Straight out of uni in an international bank on 60k - well that’s what my son done 7 years ago

I thought that computer science graduates earned the most a couple of years ago. As DS says though, you don't know what jobs will come along in the future.

The professions will still be a safe bet (law, accountancy, medicine etc) for a comfortable living although not necessarily mega bucks. That would depend on the specifics - Corporate law vs high Street solicitors.

We've been having a similar discussion with our DD (16) as school is looking at careers.

She wants a similar lifestyle to ours and was horrified to learn how much she'd need to earn nowadays to achieve that.

Don’t encourage them into medicine for money. It is a phenomenally exhausting career and it takes a long time to get to the point of being well paid, with a lot of expensive exams along the way! You have to want to do it as a vocation in my opinion

Actuary is misguided, the exams are some of the hardest and it can take a LONG time to actually pass them.

I did a History degree and I am now an Economist (and a Chartered Accountant) at 25. I earn far more than my friends who are doctors and older (on track to be a consultant). The main issue with being a doctor is that, unless you're a gynae/paedes, having a child will harm your career. It's just the way it is, my friend is 31, had her first baby, earliest she will now make consultant is 40.

I did Maths, Physics, History and Religious Studies. This equipped me for my degree and finance.

Take a proper science degree, I did maths.

Data is where it’s at. That and accountancy.

Interestingly the big firms were taking maths grads over accounting grads on their grad schemes.

I remember talking to an engineer once and he said that if he’d realised that nothing was more ‘important’ than being in control of money, he’d have gone into finance and accountancy.

I am a nurse on 55k but I work my full time job and one agency shift a week. So only have one day off a week but my realm of nursing (mental health) is not exactly taxing

My ss has been offered a carpentry job at 18 for £1000 a week ! I know that after tax and ni and pensions that drops quite a bit but I still think that's a pretty amazing salary but I guess it depends on what you see as a good salary. To me £55k would be unimaginable but if you want £100k then it's not. It's all relative.