Aibu how did you get rich and successful

[Cupcakeicecream]

Basically I want to just start again. I want to do something with my life that will give me a very good standard of living basically a career that I can work my way up the ladder and get richer as I do. So if you how did you get rich and what has enabled you to do? What career enabled you to dothis.

Hubby reached 6 figures at 28.

He never went to university, after working in a non profit for a few years he retrained as a Business Analyst, got a job in finance, then became an IT consultant and now programme manages IT transformations for international banks. He has no A levels but we believe being white, middle class (and handsome!) probably helped!

I did a chemistry degree at a top 5 Uni and am on £35k in a random unrelated field but I love my job. If I wanted to earn more I would probably dust off my project management qualifications and look for a job in a more lucrative industry then perhaps try and work my way up into a more strategic role. Or as mentioned above think about business development/sales though I don’t think I’d be cut out for it!

Agree that assets/capital is what makes you wealthy. The capital needs to wisely invested/ put to work to yield a decent income.

Having a well paid job is obviously good but inevitably your spending rises with your income unless you are v disciplined. Accumulating assets with your income is the key to long term wealth.

100k would give a take home of 66k per year.

Private school is around £10-20k per year here. So two kids in private school lets estimate an average cost of £15k x 2, so that's £30k.

So that leaves £36k to pay mortgage, bills, savings, clothes, food, holidays, everything else. Or in other words £3k per month. Unless the holidays are a week in Benidorm I can't see it stretching.

I think sometimes low earners forget how much tax higher earners pay. A salary of £100k is a lot but it is not going to give you the things you mention. £34k of it is going to go to the tax man.

@f83mx technology, IT, consulting...selling to businesses not people.

The other thing I’ve noticed about tech is that it seems to have a much better work/life balance. Know a few people who were burnt out after yrs working in finance & the barristers I know work looong hours.

My husband was a corporate lawyer and a high earner. But forget about multiple trips abroad - unless it’s for the company! As others have said to get the big bucks you have to be prepared to not only get the qualifications but put in the hours - at peak career my husband was away from home 120 nights and worked easily 60 hours a week. He died of a heart attack in his 50s.
Many successful people are canny businessmen/women who are very driven. Many did not have much education. But they are ruthless and ambitious and see opportunities that other may not and are risk takers.

Start your own business. DH has his own business and we just about manage the kind of lifestyle you describe. The risk is huge obviously. It could all come undone any day.

Definitely sales. I’ve seen recruitment consultants earn crazy amounts of money

OH has his own construction company and has earned just shy of £140,000 in the last financial year and we still can't afford to privately educate our 3 younger children. It would cost us at least £50,000 a year which we can't afford, we don't live an extravagant life either. We are comfortable with a nice house and have nice holidays but we are not rich.

Teacher earning £125k???

How do you define 'rich'? And 'successful'?

@mightymouses I second this! This is why I moved from the UK to a tax free country. Will love back eventually but not yet!

It's really not that much in the end if you pay more than 40% tax. Especially not if you live in an expensive place like London...

Start your own business (or inherit one).

The only people I know who earn real cash and can afford all the nice stuff and holidays are working for themselves.

Any job where someone else sets the salary you will only get to the top if your face fits and you know the right people.

The way to ensure it is you is to be the one setting the salary (or to be more accurate, the dividends).

Teacher earning £125k

Yes. The Op asked about careers to move up the ladder in. If you can stick teaching then head of school/head/executive head/ceo/LA head school improvement etc

Lots of career progression from a teacher. Have a look at the TES leadership jobs section.

I have inherited wealth (not proud to say) because I’ve never ever had to face any challenges in life, my dads side of the family worked very hard.

I think the key to becoming successful is good education and working very very hard.

Accountant in industry
£100k+ since I was about 35
2 DCs
DH SAHD/occasional freelance

What enabled it?
Good academics (+some privilege: private school, university)
Studying on-the-job for 4 years (60h weeks PLUS college when i was in my mid 20s)
A supportive & equal partner willing to sacrifice his career for mine when the DCs arrived
Securing a senior post before going on mat leave
Sacrificing some luxuries you mention (holidays, eating out) for others (big house, maternity leave*)

DCs are still in preschool but secondary private school might be an option but as other posters have noted it will come at the expense of other luxuries and we'll need to have cleared a whack of the mortgage to do it.

*a luxury in my instance because DH wasn't working

If you have a head for technology, looking into programming / development. Junior developers start on reasonable salaries. No formal academic requirements. Once you're any good, you can contract for flexibility and really quite a lot of money (especially in any major tech cities.)

Sadly my money is my husband's, who has done the above and now works in financial technology. I'm massively more educated than him, but choose to work with children with SEN, which whilst worthwhile and fulfilling, is not making me rich! (Not bitter at all).

but choose to work with children with SEN, which whilst worthwhile and fulfilling, is not making me rich!

Special schools heads can be on £85,000 +

Go self employed. I did part time 17 years ago working working as a lawyer.
I see a gap in the market and went for it. My son now works part-time for me.
Youngest at private school,own house outright, new car ECT, BUT I live up north and your money goes a long way. Still not bad for a single mum, I reckon

Thanks walnut! I didn’t realise teachers could earn so much!

Money isn’t everything. I did have the fancy company car and my own administrator at one point but had to work my butt off day and night. I’m now an academic earning a decent but not amazing salary of £45k but I love love love my job and I’m really good at it. I also have a modest income from consultancy and a tiny flat I bought as a postgrad that I rent out to other postgrads. I have 3 degrees from Russell Group unis including one in IT. My DP left school at 16 and earns more than twice what I earn, but he’s a computing genius in a specialist area and was headhunted by a blue chip company.

IT Project Manager - contractor.

@WalnutCabinet Not a teacher - slightly more removed than that. I'm still (reasonably) early in my career, so expect to move up. But not to the 150k that OP is talking about. Even the head of children's services in my last LA was only on 110k!

@WalnutCabinet have I understood correctly? You are a teacher on £125,000?

@NEtoN10 and you were earning £100,000 in marketing at 28?? In London? For a private organisation?

A friend trained to work in finance then moved into doing IT for a small fashion brand. She was headhunted within 5 years to do IT for one of the biggest fashion names in the UK and went from 28k to 100k+.

The key was that she was one of only a few people in the UK who knew how to program this specific software. She was completely self-taught.