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.

six figures*

I would definitely recommend a career in coding if you're that way inclined because from what I can see, young kids straight out of uni can be on ridiculous salaries depending on how big your employer is and keep getting headhunted by rival huge companies. Everyone wants a great tech kid and are prepared to pay for them. My brother also gets ridiculous bonuses and perks (like rent paid) his new employers always pay for his move (if a move is required) and just generally try to entice him in any way possible. I'm a Solicitor and it's definitely not my experience with law firms (although of course the earning potential is very high as well).

A first in postgraduate degrees? I’ve never heard of that, neither my masters or DH’s doctorate hade classes.

Are you sure?

He did a Masters Comp Science at Cambridge and definitely had all firsts including in his dissertation. I'm pretty sure there were exams as well as dissertation

I can ask what he took as not 100% sure

Either way someone who apparently studied to a high level at the most famously exclusive university here in the UK then the most famously exclusive university in America is a far cry from someone who got onto a midwifery degree through an access to HE course (not looking down, I’ve done one myself) and decided not to do law as it’s ‘too boring’ and they just want to get rich.

Exactly. All these large salaries people are talking about, it's someone they know earning that. But they don't really know many details, except the illusive 6 figures or 100k for just coding. They are also sketchy on how they got there but they were really clever.

These details are so vague it makes me ask if this is really true. How much is it rounded up? Was it a good bonus year or base salary?

When some one shares their example then they started on £39k and went up a bit in 5 years. That's the reality for most people.

As it happens I'm on a good salary in computing. But did it after 10 years at university studying with years of industrial experience, managing a well paid specialism in a well paid industry. This isn't a good example to follow as is more likely that if my goal was to have just done coding I'd be stuck on £60k ish after several years experience. I think I could get been paid more for the investment I put in but I also feel like I got lucky in my field.

I don't usually post on salary threads but this might be useful for someone so I've nc'd for this... I earn £150k base plus bonus- usually £50-£75k per annum. I left school at 17 with GCSEs. I work in finance and it took 20 years but this is how I did it:

• Got a job in RBS as a cashier earning £12k
• Worked hard, learnt as much as possible, got promoted and worked my way through different roles in the branches for around 5 years- personal banker, assistant manager, branch manager. Lots of unpaid overtime.
• Applied for a promotion into business banking, still in RBS probably earning about £25k by this point. Learnt as much as possible, lots of unpaid overtime.
• After another 5 years left RBS to go to an international bank- big leap into a new area for me. Was recruited at a junior level for £45k.
• Learnt as much as possible, worked hard and got promoted after 12 months up to £60k.
• Took on more responsibility, after 18 months went up to £80k- probably working 50-60 hours a week at this point.
• This trend continued and my last increase was in 2019 to £150k base.

I've not taken any additional responsibility since then and am happy to stay at the level of seniority that I am. I've had two kids in this time and definitely had to sacrifice time with them to achieve this but I have a fairly decent work life balance now. It was hardest when they were very young. So in summary, target finance - it's the highest paying industry, be prepared to work extremely long hours and take every opportunity to learn along the way and don't expect it to happen quickly.

This is awesome. Sounds like you made some great choices, worked really hard and deserve what you have achieved. Well done.

I appreciate you sharing that it was tough. I think this is realistic and super important to share for people to come at it with their eyes open.

Do you think it's still possible today? Do you feel like there are many who did this same path?

@SophieIsHereToday thanks! I have worked hard and am proud of what I've achieved. I used to think I had just been lucky but looking back I realised I always sought out extra projects, always did a bit more than was expected and rarely said no to any requests from bosses etc.

My route is not typical at all but a lot of people work their way up. I think it would be harder now as a degree seems to be a minimum expectation for almost any role but not impossible as you get to a point where work experience becomes more valuable/ relevant and compensates for having that missing. I think it just takes longer.

Someone once said to me "to succeed you need to either be the smartest person in the room or the hardest working" and it resonated with me as I've never been the smartest person there but frequently have been the hardest working.

No, I believe that the grades are Merit, Distinction and Pass for masters at Cambridge.

You're young so you have plenty of time.

I'm wealthy by owning a tech company.

I can highly recommend tech for making a lot of money.
Are you willing to move country?

Others that have been mentioned are investment banking, finance, sales, senior management, law

Connections are important and you'll make plenty at uni and grad school
Once you make a decent salary, it'll be all about investments. Connections will have tips and VC for your projects. Your investment in someone's startup and it takes off, you'll be looking at millions.

There's more to it of course but that's the gist of it.

I think "lucky" people make their own luck. You have to be working hard to be in with a chance of doing well.

I believe it's also quite important to be pushy but not act/feel entitled, so your sense that it was luck probably helped you. This is because mentorship and sponsorship is often helpful and no one wants to help the entitled person who thinks that every effort should lead to a reward for them.

Did you find people who supported and promoted you? Was that important for your success?

Well, it's my brother, so I know him pretty well 😂I know how postgrad grades work as I also have an LLM (albeit with Merit) and I actually teach at a university at the moment. By "Firsts in undergrad and postgrad level" I of course meant a First in undergrad and Distinction in postgrad. He did an electric engineering undergraduate degree and a Masters in computer science. He was then offered to do a fully-paid PhD at Harvard (research and teaching).

I also know exactly how he got to earn six figures. He did a summer internship at a huge American bank and was offered a job there straight out of university. The starting salaries are 100K plus perks and bonuses. He then left to another American financial institution and then to a tech giant. So the salaries are huge because of the size/nature of the companies he works for.

Exactly this.
New grads starting at Google 230k TC, Netflix 260k all cash
Just 2 examples.

Which country did he get the job in?

I don't tell my brother how much I earn. Never have done. He could guess.

Yes yes, US right?

He started in UK but with a view that he would then work in the US (it takes time to sort US working visa and he had to work for a year in London and then moved to the US). He is now actually back in London but will again be moving to the US. All the banks/companies he has worked for were US companies.

I don't tell my brother how much I earn. Never have done. He could guess.

Neither do I, but my parents always tell me my brother's salaries 😂especially as he's much younger than me. He's the golden child. I can't argue with that though 😜and am super proud of him.

My team is global and we pay double for the same role in the US. As that's the market rate. There wage growth has been so much better, or it might be the weakening £ that's affected the UK.

So OP, perhaps the learning is, do tech, go to America. Expect to pay more on cost of living but you should still be better off

After reading a few more threads around the work it rakes to become a higher earner, I felt it was apt to state that was also my path. It took looks of hard work and unpaid extra hours. I also said I had a master in my subject of computer science and then went via software into consulting. However, a lot of people get into the tech area of consulting through business systems projects they were involved in. e.g. an accountant or finance person or HR (maybe without a degree) then gets involved in a project as an Subject matter expert and works on the project then acquires the systems skills and as a consequence becomes highly valuable and moves into consultancy. Finance I agree is probably the most lucrative but its not an overnight get rich quick.

A lot of people in my profession come into the technology without a degree. In fact the people I initially worked with then set up their own consultancy and became millionaires when they sold out to a much larger corporation.
They still worked massively hard.

I think the best starting salaries I have seen are law graduates at magic circle with starting salaries of 150k but you still have to work hard to get the degree and further exams /articles to qualify and even get in there.

My cousin makes over £100k a year now and she started as a midwife. She did a prescribing course and then opened her own aesthetics clinic a few years ago. It’s well regarded in a wealthy area and she is booked months in advance. She also still picks up some bank midwifery shifts as she loves it. Aesthetics is very profitable at the moment although you may be a bit late to the game as I assume many now have a trusted practitioner they return to.