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.

I would be happy earning that, maybe one day.

Not if it was in say 10 years and it had not risen with inflation.

MERE what rate of inflation are you using there to get from 20k to 200k in 40 years?! Can I have some of those inflation based pay rises

I'm 26 and earn 35k, 'unskilled' in the sense I have no degree etc however I'm in an Account Management role (so essentially sales). I consider my wage extremely good for what I do but I have a northern city centre location so nowhere near London, I also agree with PPs in the sense I do not have lots of disposable income after childcare, rent, bills etc. But I'm happy with it.

Unsure if that helps in any way at all.

Suppose if you're happy and some what comfortable on it then it's not an issue but if you're feeling underpaid I also agree with PPs to check on glass door to see if similar roles are paying the same!

I have just offered jobs to 2 people, both about 25 and have about 3 years work experience each plus graduate level education.

It's a public sector role. Starting salary c£35k.

By your age, their potential earning will be at least 10k more.

But they have specific skills and the salary reflects that.

Well I have 4 degrees including a doctorate in my chosen field. I am 45, am making decisions that literally change people's lives every day and I am on £23k.

By your age, their potential earning will be at least 10k more.

See...my current earnings are (more than) 10k more...but I'm fed up of it all

I think maybe I asked the wrong question. Hmmm.

Edwinchester... what doing?

I so need to advise my kids better than i was. I feel for the work hard, study hard, get a good degree and all will be well!!

My goodness I despise braggards. How very sad. Is 33k a good salary. Why would you feel the need to even type that? Self importance and just generally very sad. Sorry.

I used the salary/age match as a guide when I was younger.

It worked when I was in my mid-late 20s but has fallen back and never caught up.

Well the average UK salary is around 24k and you are in around the top 30% of earners.

One in five people earn less than the national living wage.

I was earning nearly 40k a couple of years ago in the City. Now earning half of that working in a university! But the south-west has the lowest UK pay apparently.

My new job as a health and safety advisor (Civil Service) pays nearly £26k which is a really good salary for where I live. It’s made me determined to get a NEBOSH diploma so I don’t get stuck doing admin jobs.

@GOODORBAD

If the question is, I can afford it, should I take a salary cut for an easier role with less stress?

Then I would say yes.

I go probably earn more but my job is flexible, and works nicely for me. So I'm happy.

Work/life balance is important. If it gives you some of that back and you can take the hit, I say jump for it.

• I could

It’s my pro rate salary for a masters qualification professional role at a 5/6 part time post.

Suits me because I’m old enough to be financially stable and the hours and workplace are flexible. It’s a local government job, and I could earn oodles more in the private sector but I wouldn’t get the same job satisfaction and freedom. I’d be paid more but I would be “owned” by the company rather than being a ‘public servant’.

It is more than me with honours degree and 20yr experience in a specialised professional role.

It's all relative really.

£31k would be a fortune to me but I earn £8.50 an hour and have no qualifications.

What do you do Jan?

I need a new job but feel I need to requalify. It seems so hard with a sahm record!

I’m a town planner. I love it, but might be seen by some as a bit ‘dry’. I’m just very nosy and enjoy dealing with planning applications/site visits/plans/architectural drawings.

Op are you trying to say that you currently work in a job now that earns more than 31k but finds it stressful and so is wondering about taking an admin role with a pay cut of 31k to address your work life balance?

I'm another one mentioning the importance of work/life balance. I earned 36k plus bonus, taking me to over 50k plus company car in my early 30's. I had no life and was diagnosed with work related stress and anxiety. This carried on for years, even when I earned less in a similar role in a different industry. I'm now 45 and as I said in a previous post, earn less than half my age. I earn the same as I did when I was 25. I have my mental health and am happy. Looking back, what I earned was good money for a job, but wasn't a fair exchange for my whole life, with my mental health as an extra.

I adapted the earn your age rule for my profession (software engineering), and think of it like this.

Average engineer/poor negotiator - earns age.

Better than average negotiator/slightly better than average engineer 1.5x age to start, dropping the ratio after 40

Excellent engineer/v good negotiator - quickly rises to 2 x age, and stays there till 45 unless they move into management, after which it's likely capped at 90k for all but the very best/contracting.

This will change with inflation but has been relevant in the times of salary stagnation.

Fwiw my salary only started going up very fast nearing 40, when I became much more mercenary.

MERE what rate of inflation are you using there to get from 20k to 200k in 40 years?! Average 5.8%. If you are old enough to have been earning £60k at 60 then that's a reflection of the high rates of inflation in your earlier years. It's only in recent years that inflation has been wobbling around 2%.
www.inflation.eu/inflation-rates/great-britain/historic-inflation/cpi-inflation-great-britain.aspx

www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator

Op are you trying to say that you currently work in a job now that earns more than 31k but finds it stressful and so is wondering about taking an admin role with a pay cut of 31k to address your work life balance?

Yes exactly, except it's a pay cut to a role paying 31k (rather than losing 31k)

The work/life balance issue is less about hours (although they would definitely improve) and more about having manageable tasks and being able to leave work behind at the end of the day rather than spending my free time worrying about it.