Is it possible to earn £50k pa without a degree?

[whatnoooow]

I'm reaching my 40s and nowhere near where I'd like to be, financially.

My current salary is £30k pa and I work in financial services, with qualifications in my industry, but I don't have a degree. I think I'd probably have to stay in financial services.

I'm really struggling to know where to go from here, or how to get there.

Does anybody work in financial services who would be comfortable discussing what they do for a living and if the salary is anywhere near £50k?

Thanks you x

You may need to take a side step or slight decrease first though.

I know older people earning more without degrees but most of people my age have degrees or professional qualifications.

I don't know if they are hiring at the moment but have a look at John Charcol - when I was there (from 1987-1995!) they were a brilliant firm to work for and paid well for hard work.

Dh as a hgv driver earned between 60k - 70k pa.

I work for a large financial institution and am on 54k with no degree.

I worked my way up from being an advisor on the phones to a team leader to leading an area.

I've stayed with the same company for years and worked part time when my kids were at school so only decided I was ready to be a team leader in 2019. Got my current job after three years.

It's totally possible x x

I do. I earn better now than I have ever done. Bit too late as I am 5 years off retirement.

I have two friends who work as PAs in finance who earn more than 50k with no degrees.
I know a few project managers who earn more than this and have no degree.
I know lots of people in digital marketing who earn more than this with no degree.
I earn over 100k as a tech consultant and have a degree, but noone has ever asked me abouy my degree or asked to see certifications.

Have you thought of high end estate agency/property broker? My friend worked for a big name and earned an absolute ton. Your mortgage experience could be very interesting to them

Yep- I'm on £42k and can work my way further up the ladder, no degree required. Civil service.

As someone who earns £32K with a Master's degree, this thread is depressing! I have tried a few different avenues but obviously keep doing it wrong
I hope you find something that suits you OP!

That's how I feel. Like I'm doing something seriously wrong but I have no idea what, or who to get assistance from.

I'm a hard worker, loyal, reliable and a people pleaser. I'm the perfect employee!

I'm 45, an electrician and passed by £50K many years ago, don't know any trades who earn less than £50K after tax and pension, most are on much, much more, most busy RGI's (registered gas installers) take time off to avoid crossing the £100k threshold for loosing the tax free allowance. I got worryingly close last year after a big contract so took march off😁

However counter that with the fact that to become a master tradesman, what we now call a qualifying supervisor takes a good 10 years and a lot of graft.

I have a level 6, so not actually a degree. I didn’t go to uni. I earned £520k last year. Also in financial services.

My DH hasn't got 1 GCSE let alone a Degree, but is by far from stupid.... 100K a year

Wow!!

Are you an IFA?

I earn £80k and did not go to college or uni. I'm late 40s

Become an Member of Parliament.

'40% of MPs have a postgraduate qualification, whilst 10% did not attend university at all.'

My HR friend has done 5 and is doing 7. You are doing mortgages, have CIPD 3, are you going to do 5 and 7?
This a totally different area to CIMA.

CIPD Level 3 :

• Equivalent to: A-Levels 

• Ideal for: People new to HR, such as HR Assistants or L&D Practitioners.

@Oblomov25 I did the CIPD around 8 years ago when I was an executive assistant with HR duties included in my role

I don't have any desire to return to HR exclusively, but the qualification and experience is transferable to other industries.

Sorry OP, i have been in senior management for anlong time and you have just said out loud exactly what you are doing wrong, it is blindingly obvious to me here :

Hard working - work smart not hard, find the ways to do things faster or better and more efficiently, this is a key skill to either be able to make time to learn more skills and broaden your role and definitely a key skill for management or leadership roles Or even higher paid roles doing what you are doing.

Loyal - don't be loyal, demand better pay, higher wages for yourself and if your current employer won't give it to you then jump ship. Noone is loyal anymore.

People pleaser- a sure fire green light to be passed over by your employer for promotion as you won't complain. And you won't be earmarked for improvements in salary or given fast track to leadership type roles.

Reliable- actually you got this one right, but don't be reliable to your own detriment noone cares if the top performer takes a week of sick and still delivers the results.

OP can you afford a career coach. You clearly have a lot of skills and experience and probably just need someone to work with you to push you forward if pushing forward doesnt come naturally but you want to. Some people are happy doing the same thing forever but it seems you have decided thats not enough and good for you.

I earn around 90,000 per year
25-30 hours a week

No degree but two a levels which have absolutely nothing to do with my career.

£30k seems quite low to me for a mortgage adviser, where do you live? Would you want to move over to an IFA and take your exams to be a paraplanner or an adviser? Or maybe a compliance role? Like other people have said you may need to move to a big firm to open up other opportunities but after a number of years working not having a degree shouldn't stop you moving up the ladder in most places.
In response to your question, I know people without degrees earning a lot of money but they are in London, so it may be your location that is limiting you.

I was going to say exactly the same thing - the fastest way to earn more is to move on to a higher-paying role once you’ve learned/achieved whatever you can in your current role (preferably within 2-3 years). When I’m recruiting, I want to see that the person hasn’t job-hopped (e.g. never stays more than a year or so) but is also on a trajectory - anyone who’s been doing the same job for several years comes across as being complacent and uninterested in their development.

Is there a qualification that you could work towards in your spare time, something that would signal your interest in the area that you want to move to?

@Crazybaby123 I can't thank you enough for that feedback. You're 100% right that I need someone to help me to push on forward.

I suppose I've still got that old school thinking of loyalty and hard work means progression.