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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:
Remy7 · 14/04/2021 20:51

@FartleBarfle
I suppose it is very different, like you say different benefits and opportunities.
At the end of the day as long as we're all happy I don't think it matters too much 😊

ChronicallyCurious · 14/04/2021 20:51

Ive just graduated from my MA so quite far away but realistically around 90-120k for me and 45-50k for DP.

goodbyeyellowbrick · 14/04/2021 20:51

I'd be happy with 40k - hell I'd be happy at 35k at the moment. I'm in my 3rd year at uni and still another 3 years to go. Can't wait to start earning some money.

TheMotherlode · 14/04/2021 20:52

In my profession, £80k feels like the highest I could go salary wise whilst maintaining some sort of work-life balance and not having to completely sell my soul.
DH is happy to work the ridiculously long weeks though, so I’ll him shoot for the 6 figure salary.

MrTumbleTumble · 14/04/2021 20:53

I'm 32 and earning £30k for 4 days per week. My career has stagnated for the last 5 years due to TTC / young DC but if I were to keep progressing I could get to £80k+.

I couldn't be less interested in progressing and am working towards qualifications for a different career. I'll take a pay drop for a few years while training, then I'll probably max out at about £35k.

I'm definitely all about the work / life balance and if I can pay my bills and do something I enjoy I'll be happy.

DP earns £40k so family income is comfortable and we're happy. (Not London!)

Capital76 · 14/04/2021 21:08

My current goal is 60k. Dh would then go down to 4 days a week. I earn 45k at the minute and am going for promotion which would get me to the 60+ bracket

Overall though the sky is the limit

As a household now we earn 100k and have a brilliant lifestyle but I really want to progress in my career so will keep going till im happy with my role and seniority

Ohhgreat · 14/04/2021 21:08

I don't have a goal salary - its about the lifestyle. 50k in Central London will buy a very different lifestyle to 50k in Cornwall!
At the moment I don't want to do the next step up the career ladder, as it would mean never being able to shut the door on work and that would really impact our family life. But maybe I'll do that step once the kids are older and don't want to hang out with mum!

Toomanyradishes · 14/04/2021 21:09

My top earning potential for my career is currently about 130k (I am at the start of the career) i would be happy to get to about half that as i dont want the pressure that comes with thr higher salary

Harrystylesismyjam · 14/04/2021 21:16

Probably about 75k. Which sounds like an insane salary to me of just a few years ago. I’m just about to start a role that should see me progress to that assuming I stay with the organisation.

With this job DH and I will hit the 100k family income mark which was a personal goal of mine.

NameChangeforMoneyThings · 14/04/2021 21:17

I earn 53k currently. I can afford a nice little house and then luxurious things like not worrying about food bills or the car service, and a gym membership and holidays, as well as still being able to save.

In an ideal world I would like a bit more house than I currently have, which I could do but I'm not prepared to compromise on not having to worry about money as that adds a huge amount to my quality of life. So I guess in an ideal world I would have an income that supported a bigger house without other consequences, and I think I'd need to earn £75k for that to be feasible. Assuming I stay reasonably committed to my career I should earn that, and if I commit myself properly it would probably be nearer 150k given inflation in the decade I would need to get myself there. I just don't know if I can face that level of responsibility, my job keeps me awake at night as it is.

user1471523870 · 14/04/2021 21:18

@user1471523870

I am on £85k at 46 and predicting to get to around £100k by 50 if I stay in the same role. But I am working towards a promotion in the next few years and hope to end up around £120-130k by then. Target is £150 by (early) retirement.
To answer the questions about how do you get to earn this type of salaries. I have two university degrees and started with a modest salary of £17 in an entry level position (international debt collector, as I speak several languages). I gained more experience, moved jobs a few times and eventually got one in a big American company with a UK headquarter. I have been working for them for over a decade now and gone from a salary of £20 to my current one, gaining more experience, getting promoted, then moving department, promoted again then going into management. Hoping now to go into senior management. It's been a slow process. I am not in London but not far. And I probably the highest earner amongst my circle of friends. The biggest difference between being an individual contributor and a manager is how you manage your diary. I do have deadlines and endless meetings but I am pretty much in charge of my diary. However, the people I manage don't magically disappear overnight or during the weekend just because they shut their laptops.
NameChangeforMoneyThings · 14/04/2021 21:20

PS, I know I am incredibly lucky. I grew up with really not very much money at all and the sick feeling in the pit of your stomach from that never left me. I am supremely grateful to be broadly financially secure and although I specifically chose my career on that basis, I recognise that my ability to make that decision makes me lucky without accounting for any other factors.

GoWalkabout · 14/04/2021 21:21

£41k I am within a whisker of it. It was the top of the salary band when I got my last job. Seemed like a very satisfying amount especially full time after years of pro rata part time salary.

IfOnlyIKnewThen · 14/04/2021 21:22

I'm in my early 40s and earn £69k which I am satisfied with as I have no money worries and can cope with unexpected emergencies. However, I would be very happy with £80k and hope to get there before I am 50. Having said that, the role I'd ultimately like to progress to pays £95k +. For me achieving this would be more about the status than the money.

Rowofducks · 14/04/2021 21:25

I’m 38 and currently on 12k (term time only) I’ve never earned over 20k so anything over that I would be happy with. To be honest I’d like to have just enough to not worry about bills anymore. I’m a single mum of three so using this time to get as much training as I can so when the kids grow up I can hopefully find something that pays better.

Ldnmum7 · 14/04/2021 21:30

When I started my career, I was desperate to earn 30k (this was in London). Then I got there and decided I wanted to get to 40k...and then I made it to 40k and decided that wasn't enough and I needed the promotion that would get me 50k... you can see where I'm going with this.
My salary before I left my career to be a SAHM was just shy of 100k (inc bonus etc). I still wanted more and was never satisfied with what I was earning. Ironic now given I earn zero!

Ohpulltheotherone · 14/04/2021 21:33

Early 40s earn 45k, took a pay cut recently to change roles. With bonuses factored in I have taken a cut of about 10k a year on average.

I’m middle management level, a senior role would see me more around 60k in the same (public) sector but potentially up to around 75k in private.

I would like to get to director level circa 80-100k within 10-15 years.

I didn’t start my actual “career” until mid to late 20s though as I travelled and did other things. So losing those 6/7 years has cost me, I see peers my age in higher positions. I think it will equal out in time and I have 20-25 working years left. Plenty of earning potential left!

Schoolpickup · 14/04/2021 21:38

6 years ago in mid 20s I quit my post grad course and got a very low paid admin job at £14k pa (in London!) then worked my way to better job somewhere else and kept changing employer every 2 years to jump across to a higher salary and more responsibility.

It was a lot of risk but I feel my 20s was the time to take risks and go for what I wanted. I'm now earning £45k in a job with the right amount of feeling accomplished and power. I'm quite happy to stay at this level in the same company for a few years because I like it here and I've worked my arse off from nothing to get to a position where I own a house (mortgage) and have a decent work life balance.

I know I need to start thinking about next steps but honestly I wouldn't be upset if I was still doing this role two years from now.

nanbread · 14/04/2021 21:41

@idontlikealdi

The salary on qualification in my firm is 71 exc bonuses and we are far from the highest paying.

I would expect to earn 150 + bonus in the end.

Is this law?
ElephantsNest · 14/04/2021 21:42

Well I’m out of the other side and peaked at £120K but now I’d settle for £20K! It depends on what you want to achieve. Coasted for a while when I had a baby, worked like a dog for seven years, then quit to do something much less well remunerated but more satisfying once I’d paid off the mortgage and built up some savings.

speakout · 14/04/2021 21:44

I measure life success in terms of happiness, not earnings.

MaverickDanger · 14/04/2021 21:44

50k in next couple of years & ultimately I want to be on around 70k by 40 (8 years time).

Although I do have an interview for a job paying 65-70 next week, but ideally it would be 70k working a 4 day week.

DH is on 75k so I want to start catching him up!

cjpark · 14/04/2021 21:45

I'm early 40's and earn £55k for working 3 days a week. I obviously could work more and earn more but I am more than happy with what I have and feel fortunate enough to be able to spend time doing things that I enjoy rather than having to work full time

MaverickDanger · 14/04/2021 21:47

Forgot to mention that DH actually took a significant cut to take his current role. At his peak, he was earning about 130k & all our living costs were covered.

We decided that moving around, living abroad & working a 70 hour week wasn’t sustainable, particularly as we wanted a family.

Although we now have a mortgage to pay etc, it means that he gets a full weekend, time in the evening with us & we are guaranteed to be in one place for more than two years!

DrunkBetch · 14/04/2021 21:54

Our household goal is around 120k. My career is only really just getting off the ground as I took a break when I had my kids. So a little way off that yet and DH will move to freelancing when they are older too so that will help.