Do you think 31k is a good salary?

[GOODORBAD]

It's for a senior-ish admin role in outer London.

For context, I'm 33 and have worked for eleven years in the public sector. I have a bachelor's degree in a humanities subject.

@CaroloftheBalls I think that's a reason rule of thumb. But some professions ain't ever gonna keep up salary-wise with your age.

My mate is a senior firefighter, he's 40 next year and on less than £35k. That's disgusting, he's risking his life. His choice I know, but still.

IchWill same I currently earn £50k (pro rata 30k) I could earn at least double as a contractor but I like steady hours and working part time. As long as you have enough to cover your bills comfortably you earn enough. To answer the OP it’s all relative really as to whether it’s a good or bad salary. The question is it good enough for you?

I'm a senior nurse with post grad qualifications, working in a very challenging,often risky environment. I earn 28.5k. I'd be happy with your salary!

I have no specialist or in-demand skills. I know they're struggling to recruit though so to be honest I think they'd be grateful to have anyone reliable, conscientious and reasonably efficient.

That's the full time salary but four days a week would be an option.

I suppose by mentioning my degree I might have confused things a bit. The point is I'm not sure I want a graduate role and all the stress it brings with it anymore.

In 1992, when I left my ‘professional’ job I earned just over 32k. I’m now 58, divorced, kids left home and independent and live very happily alone in a mortgage free home and I live very comfortably indeed

Um, in the nicest way ... how is this level of smugness helping? I really wanted to stop with 'do fuck off' when you posted this, but then I realised you may not have any idea how you sound.

So you earned 32k in 1992, which in today's money is probably around 75-80 k. Bully for you. And you are now very happy.

What exactly was your point here?

I think earning £20k at 20, £30k at 30, £40k at 40 is a good rule of thumb. It doesn't work over a lifetime. £60k when I was 60 - fair enough - but if I'd been earning £21k at 21, that £21k would have been equivalent to a £200k salary in the year when I was 60 when you take inflation into account.

In other words someone actually earning "£20k at 20, £30k at 30, £40k at 40" would have been suffering a severe loss of real income over those years.

It's 18k more than I earn in a specialised secretarial role. I'm also a graduate, mid 40s and I've been doing my job for over 20 years with no pay rise for 16 years. It's a salary I can only dream of.

“My rule of thumb is that your salary should match your age.”

That’s ridiculous.

A few people I went to school with have standard admin or PA jobs in and around London, no real qualifications, that salary is around average, there are much better paid admin jobs out there especially if you do additional qualifications (eg legal secretarial or high status PA roles). I did fixed term maternity cover for a PA on my gap year in great London, for a choreographer/dance school chain owner, that was 2002-2003 and was 32k per annum, I had zero experience and only A levels at the time. You say you don't want stress but will you get bored?

My rule of thumb is that your salary should match your age.”
That's not a decent salary until you hit middle age!!

@PaintBySticker Why?

@PaintBySticker
you’re ridiculous 😉

@NameChanger22 It's 18k more than I earn in a specialised secretarial role. I'm also a graduate, mid 40s and I've been doing my job for over 20 years. You earn 13k full time for two decades of experience in a specialiat role??? You need to look elsewhere they don't value your loyalty or skills.

You say you don't want stress but will you get bored?

That's what everyone says Honestly, I don't think I'd mind being bored at work right now. I just feel like there is so much to think about at home that I don't have the mental energy for a "stimulating" job anymore.

I don't know if that's short-sighted though and if I will change my mind in a few years.

Earn your age 😂😂😂
I earned 50k in my mid 20’s
20k in my 30’s and
Now 16k in my 40’s.
Happier than ever!!!!

It depends where you live IME. London, nope. Surrey, probably not. Kent, yes. North, probably.
For eg, as a legal secretary in London I could earn 45-50k, Surrey max 30-32k and in east Kent max 21k.

LRD I’m very sorry if that came over as smug, it absolutely wasn’t meant that way. I was just trying to say, what others may have expressed better, is that if your salary allows you a work/life balance you are happy with then it doesn’t really matter whether 30k is a “good” salary or not. My neighbour earns 80k+ a year and is miserable as she never sees her child and is knackered but is unwilling to give up the “lifestyle” the money allows her. The OP has said she’s not sure she wants the stress a graduate role brings with it and if a job with less money reduces the stress and she’s still able to pay the bills - well, I think that’s absolutely fine.

It's more than someone with a BSc, MSc, PhD and 2 years of postdoctoral research experience could earn at many UK universities, for instance - so yes, that's a good salary!

“Why?”

Well, I’d expect some correlation with age in that as your career progresses you’re likely to earn more. But many people’s careers plateau at some point so that correlation would no longer apply. And different careers have very different start points and very different earnings potential (eg nurse vs investment banker).

That’s why.

I'm sorry, I expect I snapped!

I'm having a rotten day. And I do take your point you're making here, absolutely.

But, I also stand by my point that, in 1992, that was a big salary!

Have you checked salaries on Glassdoor?
It usually gives a good idea of the average per role:
www.glassdoor.co.uk/Salaries/london-administrator-salary-SRCH_IL.0,6_IM1035_KO7,20.htm

No worries LRD and yes, it was a great salary!

I think you tend to be paid for responsibility, managing a budget or staff.
It's a reasonable amount compared to average wage but you need to know what other people on your level get, are there perks like good holidays or pension, job security.

Midwife here, two lives in my hands and it's roughly what I earn.

I'm going to stick up for @CaroloftheBall here. That was always my aim too. I'm mid 40's now and nicely over, but when I was young that was a good rule of thumb for me too.