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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask what your goal salary is?

601 replies

SmokeyApo · 14/04/2021 14:40

Hi all, just being nosey here Grin

I have been thinking a lot about career progression and asking for a raise lately, and that got me thinking about what my goal salary is. As in, the salary that I would like to earn at the peak of my career (let's say between age 40 and 50).

So I will ask: what would your goal salary be?

I won't share mine for now just because I don't want to influence the answers, but I will happily share it later on.

OP posts:
Shoxfordian · 14/04/2021 14:42

Probably in excess of 100k

Whammyyammy · 14/04/2021 14:44

£45k used to be my goal, with a combined of £100k between me an DH. Were currently £97k combined , both not going to get a raise this year, so will not meet goal.

LadyDanburysHat · 14/04/2021 14:45

I am in my 40s but only started earning reasonable money in the past few years. I worked p/t when my kids were little and you don't progress that way. I don't really have a goal salary. I have a next step I'd like to make it to. I think if I ended on £60k I'd be happy

pixietinkdust · 14/04/2021 14:45

I’d say I would be happy with around 75k if I got there. I’m not sure I’d want the —hassle— responsibility I feel would be associated with any higher than that.

For reference I’m currently 29 and on 55k base. I have yet to have children but I’d expect in the next few years I will have and know that it’s likely to slow my career progression as I’ll have higher priorities than work then.

WonkyCactus · 14/04/2021 14:47

I don't really have one. Just want to earn enough to pay the bills, go on holiday and save for my old age. I'm on £29k just now and that's plenty for me.

aibutohavethisusername · 14/04/2021 14:48

Well I work PT and earn less than 15,000 so I guess I’m not aspiring enough.

cariadlet · 14/04/2021 14:48

I'm in my early 50s and at the peak of my earning potential. I'm a teacher and at the top of the payscale for a classroom teacher. I've never applied for promotion because it would take me out of the classroom. I went into the job to teach and not to be a manager.

I earn about £40K (never remember to check my payslip since they went online so not sure if it's a bit lower or a bit higher).

I feel very well off. I certainly earn more than my friends, don't worry about paying the bills and can afford a couple of holidays a year in normal times.

If the young me had known what I would end up earning and what my current lifestyle is, then I would have been very happy.

Heysiriyouknob · 14/04/2021 14:50

@aibutohavethisusername

Well I work PT and earn less than 15,000 so I guess I’m not aspiring enough.
My highest wage ever was 16k, two years ago at 39. For me it was amazing but I got laughed at by a couple people.
InTheNightWeWillWish · 14/04/2021 14:51

Probably about £40K but that is based on current bills and factoring in that bills rise faster than wages, it would probably be closer to £55K. I’m early 30s so I’ve got a while to reach the peak of my career, hopefully.

I’m not built for the corporate world, so I’m never going to be earning £100K+! This is also taking into account a probable career change in the next few years but I don’t think I’ll ever work in a high earning industry.

TheQueenIsDeaf · 14/04/2021 14:51

I don't think I have one. I'm 35 and would be on ~70k full-time, but currently part-time on £63k. I wouldn't want to earn more if it meant taking on a more stressful job. We are comfortable.

JensonsAcolyte · 14/04/2021 14:51

I’d always had £100k joint in my head as some magical threshold where we’d feel rich beyond our wildest dreams.

We reached it this year. DH does the heavy lifting as I earn £23k to his £80k. I’m afraid I’ve joined the ranks of awful people who say it’s not enough to feel wealthy on. God, how I used to judge those people.

I think whatever you earn will never feel quite enough.

DancingInTheDaffodils · 14/04/2021 14:52

Without sounding worthy I just want to earn enough to not have to do the food shop and worry about what I'm spending.

Now the DCs are older, I'm full time and I have achieved this goal. I cannot tell you how pleased I am.

MeadowHay · 14/04/2021 14:52

£40k as FTE. I don't intend to work FT at that age and I'm training in my profession a good while later in life than most. I think I should meet that target, possibly exceed it by 50. It probably depends more on how much I want to work and chase career goals vs how much I want to spend with my family instead rather than whether I strictly could or could not earn more. I'm going into a career that has the potential for much much higher wages but realistically I know that means long hours and graft and climbing a career ladder and I'm not interested in any of that really.

Love51 · 14/04/2021 14:52

My goal salary is to do a job where I earn what I earn now, but am happy.
Can't even cry at work when I'm WFH, it would upset DH.

nanbread · 14/04/2021 14:54

I would want to earn more than £40k, which I do.

In my industry, to earn a meaningful amount more eg £70k+ I'd have to take on a LOT more managerial responsibility and that's just doesn't interest me.

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 14/04/2021 14:55

Dh and I are relatively low earners (around the 20k mark each full time).

I'm aiming for our joint salary - DHS wont increase much due to the role, mine can with additional quals.

Then the amount dh brings in is just purely fun money.

gwenneh · 14/04/2021 14:56

I'm at £100k now, and ~20 or so years to go before retirement. I expect my next career jump to take me to £120k and that might be the final leap forward, after which I'd expect increases to be in line with performance and market conditions. There is at least one additional lucrative jump I could make in my career but that comes with more strings attached (time commitments, business engagements, etc) than I currently envision myself as able to take on, so I would say that £120k + increases over time is m goal.

user1493413286 · 14/04/2021 14:56

Probably about £45k, in my industry I can’t do much beyond that without going into upper management and I’m really not interested in that

ashmts · 14/04/2021 14:57

@cariadlet If the young me had known what I would end up earning and what my current lifestyle is, then I would have been very happy.

This is so true and such a good way to think about it. I have to keep reminding myself of this when the green-eyed monster strikes.

I'm public sector in an area with constant cuts so progression feels unlikely. If I go up one grade I'd get to 50k so I'd be happy with that. Tbh I'm happy with my current salary, I'm in a two income household in a cheaper area of the country. We have a very good standard of living, which I think is more important than take home pay.

VanGoghsDog · 14/04/2021 14:58

I think whatever you earn will never feel quite enough.

That's not true for me at all. I earn £75k, put 35% of that into pension, take home £3k and only spend about half of it. So mine certainly feels enough.
I would put more in pension if I could but I can't.

My salary is lower now than it had been until last year. I don't aspire to it being higher again though. My aim is to get my pension and savings to a point where my retirement is covered and then retrain to do a more useful job, probably on less than half the pay, but without having to make pension contributions any more.

outtill10pm · 14/04/2021 14:58

30k, as it would mean taking home 2k a month after tax and that would feel amazing!

Mayorquimby2 · 14/04/2021 14:59

120-160k

CatCup · 14/04/2021 14:59

75k would be good. Just shy of 60k currently.

JeanClaudeVanDammit · 14/04/2021 14:59

The top rung of my job as it is now would be about £120k but I’m not sure I want that hassle. Next rung down would be more like £90k and I think I’d be happier with that. However I’m already mid 30s and that’s at least 2 promotions away so whether I’ll get there in my 40s I don’t know. I’m happy coasting right now for work life balance with small DC.

Drunkenmonkey · 14/04/2021 15:01

I'm career changing into a less lucrative role. I currently earn about 53k (if I was to work full time but I work 3 days but the job is soulless and I don't want to do it forever. I'd be very happy with 30k (if that) in the new role I'm changing to.

I don't want to get to the end of my life and think that I just worked and worked at something I had no interest in just to earn more money.
I want to have done different things and have stories to tell and have continued to learn and follow my passions.
I actually think people focus too much on 'progression' not everyone is cut out for senior jobs in the corporate world and this idea that you fail if you stop progressing is unhealthy.