To ask how I can become "rich"?

[raincabin]

I know this sounds ridiculous.

I would like to be a high earner, I grew up working class and my knowledge in this area is lacking. I have tried to do my own research but found it difficult, with a lot of opposing answers and many sites/people just trying to sell!

I am doing a midwifery degree, I have always been academic and considered law but I knew I would find it boring.

What can I/should I do so that I can become a high earner?

I dream of nice cars, holidays and not having to worry about stretching until the end of the month. I'd also love to be able to send DC to private school.

I am open to anything.

Have you thought about using your degree in midwifery and maybe going into public health or commissioning? There are more opportunities to go into the band 8+ roles in the nhs but would likely need a masters. Also look into becoming a Mummy MOT practionner and working from home and setting up baby classes or training to do private tongue tie release. Mummy MOT appointments are about £80 for an hour so you can earn well working from home doing that sort of work. Maybe not quite as high ad £80k but considerably more than a midwife.

I found your response offensive too, because you called the OP a troll and made fun of her.

£80k is top 10% household income in areas like the North East - the OP has said their area is not an expensive one.

If you earn a salary of £80k/yr in an area with low costs, you are going to be doing very well comparitively. It doesn't matter what people earn in London/SE if you are not in London/SE because you also do not have the living costs to go along with it.

I agree that private school fees are unlikely to be achievable on £80k/yr, but if the OP can afford their life on £30k/yr then everything after that is disposable income - which will give a lot of choice.

My DH earns £95k (I am a SAHM at the moment) 3 DC
Whilst I wouldn’t say we are ‘rich’ I think it very much depends on your definition of rich.
We can’t afford nice cars. We take UK holidays mostly once a year with the rare abroad holiday thrown in.
BUT
We can afford for me to be a SAHM. We can afford for the kids to do quite a few clubs, if they need a costume or clothes or something we can buy it without too much thought.
If I want to go out for a meal or lunch or coffee with friends I can- whenever.
If I want to take the kids out I can and often do- lots of trips and experiences.
we don’t often have to worry about money stretching until the end of the month but often we need to ‘wait until next month’ to buy something or do something.
i would say we are comfortable but not rich.

grr *comparatively

Hi @raincabin , firstly some practical pointers.

If you are at college / uni they will probably have a free careers service - get yourself an appointment and have a chat with them. Tell them what you've told us and they will be able to have a deeper conversation with you & give some pointers to sectors or surveys that might be helpful. You may need to push for this as the assumption will be you will automatically go into midwifery due to your course

Do a few surveys on what motivates you - is it money, power, work/life balance, recognition, autonomy helping others ......................... It's quite interesting, I thought I would come out as money and power (they do come out quite high) but actually autonomy has always been first throughout my career. Also be aware that these can change over time - at the moment for me with 2 primary aged DC it's all about autonomy and work/life balance.

Go onto Glassdoor.co.uk and michael page - have a look at the sectors that consistently pay well. With your course could pharma / medical sales be an option?

The people I know in my life who earn the most are management consultants, lawyers, accountants, data / IT / CRM scientists (essentially big data), people who work in petrochemicals (traders and scientists), Medical consultants, hedge fund managers.

The people who earn the most have set up their own very, very successful companies - work all hours

Lastly, all the above is fine and dandy but remember as long as you earn 'enough' and love what you do, that's worth its weight in gold. You need to find something that suits you and doesn't exacerbate your mental health.

I'm sorry but leaving a degree because you are transferring to another is not going to make a dent in anyone's CV. Most young people today start with one degree and finish with another. Employers don't give a crap to that, they want, specially when you are very young and just out of Uni, a person who was committed to get the degree. Even having a degree, as an example in journalism, doesn't mean your working life is going to be a journalist. You can end up being employed as an event's organiser in a million dollar project.

I think it's important for the OP to finish her degree, not because she can't transfer to another degree and employers will look at it as a mark against her, but because with a small child she'll struggle and pay a high personal price even if she has a network offering full support to her and her child.

I agree switching degree is not a problem at this age, in fact it shows awareness and thoughtfulness.

However there is a question if proceedingt o the end and then converting somehow is a better option.

I think a straightforward career to transfer into is finance/accounting because there is a whole route to qualification outside of university. You could start doing additional finance qualifications alongside your current degree if you wanted to. I am aware that getting good financially qualified people is often difficult in our sector, but it would take a long time to get up to £80k (£60k is more achievable IMO).

Most young people today start with one degree and finish with another.

Most? Really? I can see your general point, that changing doesn't necessarily matter, but most young people change their degrees? Colour me skeptical.

I have a saying in my family that nobody has become wealthy while working for someone else. Anyone wealthy in my area either have family money, had a well paying profession at a time when your money went further (i.e, bought a property after the 90's housing market crash) or have their own business. It is much harder now thanks to the pound being on its arse.

I would also learn about social and economic cycles so you know when the dips are and can buy assets will go up in value when the economy starts to thrive again, so make you money without doing much. I wouldn't start right now as I don't think we are anywhere near the bottom yet.

It was on mumsnet that I first learned that some people use the word "rich" to describe a high income. I suppose now that this usage is widespread enough that I have to accept it, but the pedant in me is forced to point out that "rich" means wealthy, a high asset balance, it has nothing to do with your level of income.

I like "Gary's Economics" Youtube channel, hopefully some readers of this thread will enjoy this link. where he discusses the difference between income and wealth.

If you’re on course for a 2:1 or better, have you considered applying for postgraduate medicine? You could train in Obstetrics and stay in the field you love. It’s a long, hard slog to get through training, and you’d be working nights and weekends for the rest of your career, but if you love it then that goes a long way!

DH and I are both doctors, neither in O&G, but we earn within your target income, and as a double income it definitely buys the lifestyle you’re after outside of London.

Ha ha brilliant.

Here is the job advert OP:

Both my oldest begun degrees, switching after a year, and many of their friends did the same. There are some stats if you want to google, how often kids in Uni switch degrees these days. It's common.

I'm from the Netherlands where healthcare is private (although there is a social insurance system) and midwives run their own businesses independent of hospital trusts. Not saying it's a goldmine but you'd be earning considerably more than you would in the NHS. So if you're keen on midwifery you could look into relocation. Obviously complicated by Brexit but given that it's a skilled profession there should be a way.

"Gary Economics" also has this video that addresses precisely the question in the OP, what you need to do to get the top jobs.

I think that you dont understand how little academics earn.

Anyway, I work in Communications and earn a good wage but I also have more than 12 years experience as do all of my peers. So you probably won’t walk into a high wage straight away. Usually you start out and work your way up as you become more experienced.

I also thought of communications. In the UK, you could earn 80k in 3-4 years in house if you're good and earning potential much higher freelancing.

You must leave you'll have to go...to Las Vegas or Monaco
and win a fortune in a game, your life will never be the same.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

It was on mumsnet that I first learned that some people use the word "rich" to describe a high income.

This is a different issue. Too many people won't ever consider themselves as "working class" even if they need an income, higher or lower, to survive without it.

Rich means someone that can live without income of any kind. People on $200,000 a year can lose their jobs and struggle if they don't find another position in a similar wage to pay for their expenditure.

We all know who are rich. Banking CEOs and CEOs of multinationals in commerce, arms, oil, gas and trade with golden parachutes. Anyone else on a high salary is not rich but has a good life.

@Getoff yeah it's weird. I earn a lot but it could stop tomorrow and then I'd have absolutely fuck all, so I'm not sure how it makes me rich either. Piketty had the right idea.

To be properly rich over your whole life you need an actual profession. Like law, medicine, accountancy, IT. But they all take training and studying, there’s no quick route. If there was, everyone would do it and those professions would pay less.

Good luck op.

I think you might have to earn considerably more than 80k to send your dc to private school. Concentrate on getting a mortgage first, then see how it goes. That’s more important imo. If you can, buy close to good schools. That’s a better use of limited money, rather than sacrificing everything for private schooling.

I would qualify but also be thinking about ideas to use that qualification and knowledge to start a business or a website that had potential to earn you money in the future. I'd also start paying in to a really good pension and thinking about owning a decent property so you are looking to a comfortable life later on.

Frankly, Netherlands health care is the last system I want to be in. As you say, it's private and with Covid, it was clear how little people matter. I prefer the Spanish system of care or the hybrid in Australia.

There is the opportunity in nursing and midwifery to specialise and go private with your own business. You can earn lot more in that area.