To ask what your goal salary is?

[SmokeyApo]

Hi all, just being nosey here

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.

I'm on £35k now, I used to dream of earning £50k but now I am happy on my salary and I wouldn't want any additional stress work wise as I have DC now so I can't see myself pushing to enhance any further in my career for a long time, if ever.

Above £100k, but that's at least 15 years away and I'm early 20's now. Realistic goal in my future career

Plus matched 5% pension

That would be a drawback for me, I'd need to be very happy with the salary to stay in a job with that pension.

5% is rubbish. It's literally the legal minimum now. I get 15%.

Phone and laptop aren't benefits. They are a burden. I mean, they are simply tools of the job.

@VanGoghsDog

5% is rubbish. It's literally the legal minimum now. I get 15%.

Phone and laptop aren't benefits. They are a burden. I mean, they are simply tools of the job.

Legal minimum is 3% for an employer, 4% from an employee and 1% from tax relief giving you a total of 8%. Of course the employer can choose to add more but 5% is still more that the legal minimum and as an employee you can choose to add more too.

Would you prefer to get 15% extra in your salary or 15% extra in pension contributions? In my view it's better to give the employee the choice - we aren't their parents - they are grown up enough to make decision that suit them.

I agree I don't see laptop and phone as benefits and none of our employees want a car - so wouldn't see that as a perk either.

Wow!! So many answers!! Thank you all for your kind contributions. I am really happy to hear that this thread has been as useful to others as it has been for me.

I promised I was going to share my salary goal too, so here you go!

I started my career in the UK at 25 on £22k. Within 4 years I managed to bring it up to £40k through sheer luck and a bit of work.

I then took the chance to relocate to Switzerland through work, and here salaries are much higher than in the UK. I now make CHF 160k, which I guess translates to £100k or so. My job is very stressful though and I work long hours on a regular basis.

My salary goal is CHF 200k, which I think translates to £150k in terms of actual purchasing power. I am hoping to be able to retire from the corporate world in roughly 20 years with a good chunk of savings and find an easier and less paid job for the last chapter of my career.

I'm a nurse in the NHS and I'm 27 currently on £41k. I'm quite happy where I am but £50k would be awesome. I think being happy in your role is more important than salary!

Would you prefer to get 15% extra in your salary or 15% extra in pension contributions? In my view it's better to give the employee the choice - we aren't their parents - they are grown up enough to make decision that suit them.

I'd prefer it in my pension thank you. If the employer pays by salary sacrifice then there is an NI saving for employee as well as employer. And as a higher rate tax payer the tax benefit is far more than 1% for me.

My employer puts in 15%, I put in 35%.

I've never worked anywhere that paid less than 5%!

I work in the arts and have been at top of scale at 55k for the last few years and don't think I'll get beyond that. In this sector (theatres, galleries etc) there are only a small percentage of positions above that salary.

I love what I do but it's frustrating to see people in other sectors, with only 5 years experience, making more.

I may have hit my peak, what's also great is the drop off in childcare costs, the last child will leave nursery in the summer and I can't wait.

@VanGoghsDog

Would you prefer to get 15% extra in your salary or 15% extra in pension contributions? In my view it's better to give the employee the choice - we aren't their parents - they are grown up enough to make decision that suit them.

I'd prefer it in my pension thank you. If the employer pays by salary sacrifice then there is an NI saving for employee as well as employer. And as a higher rate tax payer the tax benefit is far more than 1% for me.

My employer puts in 15%, I put in 35%.

I've never worked anywhere that paid less than 5%!

Dh hit his lifetime pension allowance too early - anymore payments into his pension costs him more in tax than he gets in benefit- you want to be careful you're not over doing it!

you want to be careful you're not over doing it!

I am aware of how pensions work. I only have about £300k in my pension, there's no way on earth I'll ever be troubled by the lifetime allowance. Especially as I intend to stop paying into it in a couple of years (aged 55) when I take a lower paid job.

Dh hit his lifetime pension allowance too early

I don't know what you mean by 'hit it too early' - just fill up your pension then stop paying in.

@VanGoghsDog

you want to be careful you're not over doing it!

I am aware of how pensions work. I only have about £300k in my pension, there's no way on earth I'll ever be troubled by the lifetime allowance. Especially as I intend to stop paying into it in a couple of years (aged 55) when I take a lower paid job.

Dh hit his lifetime pension allowance too early

I don't know what you mean by 'hit it too early' - just fill up your pension then stop paying in.

If your employer pays into your pension as a perk at 15% - you want to have that rather than not, so if you have voluntarily filled up your pot too soon and you need to opt out to avoid punitive tax - you lose out on 15% payments. We give our employees the choice - they can have 15% or 3% (or any number in between or more) - it's up to them but we'll never profit from salary sacrifice - they get our NI savings - they get to choose because we think they know how to organise their finances better than we do - they are grown ups!

@CommandoDog but what's the most you match?

Most places I have worked have given people the option to take cash (pay, obviously) instead of pension contributions if they have hit the LTA.

This is not an issue that troubles your average person though.

@VanGoghsDog

Most places I have worked have given people the option to take cash (pay, obviously) instead of pension contributions if they have hit the LTA.

This is not an issue that troubles your average person though.

Negotiate a package - understand whether it's where you want your money to go or not, declaring that 5% is not good enough is nonsense - the whole package is what you should agree with.

@CommandoDog the point is it's an odd "perk" to list when it's not a particularly good perk with plenty of other employers having higher contribution rates. I agree that you can't look at pension in isolation and said as much when stating I'd need to be very happy with the salary to accept such a low employer contribution.

Thanks for coming back original poster with the information about Switzerland etc. I think some of us who have moved for work find that helps salary to rise and moving jobs if each time you move you can get a pay rise.

On perks they have never been material to me and I am not in work where you might get £100k+ bonus once a year (yes there are some in financial services) which feels like the only perk really worth it. However at one stage my older son went to the prep school where his father taught - age 4 - 12 we only paid 15% of the school fees - that was a good perk. We knew a teacher couple with 3 children and they went to the same prep school again where a parent taught and at 13+ to the private boarding school again virtually free of charge where the other parent worked AND the parent was a housemaster so they had free housing too - I think those were probably very valuable teaching perks. (not all private schools only ask you to pay 15% of fees - the "Pepper v Hart" case amount they regard as the marginal cost of an extra pupil and thus tax free..... some give parents just about nothing off the fees)

[quote marshyindigo]@CommandoDog the point is it's an odd "perk" to list when it's not a particularly good perk with plenty of other employers having higher contribution rates. I agree that you can't look at pension in isolation and said as much when stating I'd need to be very happy with the salary to accept such a low employer contribution.[/quote]
It's all in a package - we aren't daft - we know how much we pay for an employee in total - they can have the money what ever way they choose - it's all just wrapping paper.

Goal is £200k or at least 200k-250k hh income.

@CommandoDog it's not as simple as that when weighing up several jobs, each employer is different and it simply doesn't work like that in the public sector. I stand by what I say 5% contribution rate is shite in the single context of pensions, whatever else you've negotiated, it's not something I'd say "I got 5% contribution rate!" To, I'd have to say "I got 5% contribution rate BUT I'm paid X amount".

Negotiate a package - understand whether it's where you want your money to go or not, declaring that 5% is not good enough is nonsense - the whole package is what you should agree with

I get 15%, I've never needed to negotiate on the basis I've never worked for an employer that paid less than 5%. And I want my money in the pension, as I've said.

Also, you're living in cloud cuckoo land if you think even a very small number of people can "negotiate their package". I work in the public sector, they pay what they pay in band, the pension is the pension. Noone gets anything different. Even C level get the same.

You have a very odd understanding of how most jobs work.

@VanGoghsDog

Negotiate a package - understand whether it's where you want your money to go or not, declaring that 5% is not good enough is nonsense - the whole package is what you should agree with

I get 15%, I've never needed to negotiate on the basis I've never worked for an employer that paid less than 5%. And I want my money in the pension, as I've said.

Also, you're living in cloud cuckoo land if you think even a very small number of people can "negotiate their package". I work in the public sector, they pay what they pay in band, the pension is the pension. Noone gets anything different. Even C level get the same.

You have a very odd understanding of how most jobs work.

Public sector says it all! People do negotiate their package (even in the public sector), just because you haven't. You dismiss companies who don't pay 15% pensions - you might find they pay much bigger salaries and allow their team to be grown up enough to organise their own financial futures. I'm glad you are happy with your package but you are wrong - people can and should negotiate their package.

I don't have a goal salary. I'm currently on 45k and waiting for the next promotion mainly because I'm a bit bored and there are a lot more things I'd like to be doing. It hopefully should be happening soon. But really it's about doing something I love first and foremost. I only care about the money insofar as it allows me to give my children a nice lifestyle.

My DH is much more likely to increase his earning tho may never be a real top earner as, like me, he's not really that corporate in his mindset and focuses on doing something meaningful for him. He's currently on 73k and on the way up overall.

My goal is for him to earn enough (whilst doing something he enjoys) so that I can go freelance and not care about what I earn. What is 'enough' will depend on the kids I suppose but I expect in the next 10yrs he should be on 100-120k at least and allow me to consider my options.

Public sector says it all! People do negotiate their package (even in the public sector), just because you haven't. You dismiss companies who don't pay 15% pensions - you might find they pay much bigger salaries and allow their team to be grown up enough to organise their own financial futures. I'm glad you are happy with your package but you are wrong - people can and should negotiate their package.

Actually this is my first public sector job. I do contract work, I've worked for banks, builders, IT companies, cleaners, pharmacies, retail.......
This job is a year, it was originally 6m but they have extended me.

I'm a senior HR person, I work with the team that makes the offers, so I know full well what negotiations are possible and what happen. The only negotiation is on salary. No discussion about the rest of the package. Same in my last two roles.

I also run my own consultancy, none of my clients allow negotiation of pension payments.

And yes, of course I have negotiated salary before. But pension is never up for discussion.

I never said I "dismiss companies who don't pay 15%", stop making things up. I've never managed to work for a company with a shit pension offering, even small companies pay more than 5%. The one three contracts ago had 65 staff and we paid 8%. I put in place the policy of allowing people to convert to cash if they had reached the LTA. I also introduced using salary sacrifice and paying the employer's NI into the employee scheme.

I've plenty of experience of packages and how they are negotiated.