Salary Envy

[IcebergRightAhead]

I know this is self-indulgent and I’m being jealous and unreasonable but I just want to vent.

I’m not a particularly high earner but I’m fairly comfortable. I’m in a career where I am sitting exams for a professional qualification. The exams are notoriously difficult and the pass rates generally very low. This industry always came up as a “top paying” career when I was at university and is difficult to break into. You get a pay rise when passing an exam - but passing an exam is easier said than done.

All around me in my life I’m coming across all sorts of people who are comfortably out-earning me by a large margin, and they make it seem so effortless. I’m not talking about particularly driven or intelligent people, either - just normal people who’ve got jobs after uni in marketing or recruitment or a basic entry-level job and have worked their way up, and the money is rolling in for them.

I feel like I’m doing all the “right” things and struggling and yet others are handing on their feet and having weekends away every month, on top of three week holidays in the summer, driving nice cars and buying themselves large houses.

Does anyone else feel frustrated at their situation? I know jealousy is ugly and comparison is the thief of joy, but I’m really starting to wonder “what’s the point”?

Whether you do well is also largely influenced by your partner's earnings, how many children and when you had them, help from parents (either financial or childcare) etc. Not just the actual job.

Sorry, I disagree.

Choose a job that pays well, that you don’t hate.

I chose my profession almost solely because it’s well paid and there are lots of opportunities for advancement.

I don’t have any particular interest or passion for it but I don’t actively dislike it. I’m reasonably good at it and it pays for a relatively comfortable lifestyle.

I’m senior in my organisation - and my juniors look up to me as they think I must have it all. Well i don’t - I look to others in other sectors or people at the top of my organisation.

they look to CFOs in listed companies

who may look to CEOs

who may look to private equity folks

who may look to CEOs

you get it. Everyone’s poor compared to someone else (other than the richest person in the world)

envy is pointless. If you really want more money then move jobs - but also realise that there is a point when it doesn’t substantially better your life

Actuarial trainee positions are very difficult to come by these days. Actuarial is still a very well paid profession.

I earned a lot when I was younger and spent a lot of it on nonsense like designer clothes or swanky cars and went to expensive places enjoying myself. None of it matters. I am very well paid now, but I don’t squander it. The happiest position to be in is to earn just a little bit more than you need, have a nest egg and retirement fund and stay as low down the career ladder as possible, away from the stress as much as you can! Don’t put yourself in a ‘race’ that you can’t win and would feel hollow if you did.

I like experiences and they, unfortunately, cost money.

There's more to life than salary. We've always earned £50-£75k between us but as we've been working full time for 20 years and live in a cheap area we've got the savings for nice holidays and new bathrooms and a newish car outright without needing it to come in every month. Hopefully be mortgage free in less than a decade.

But you can still do that on a low to medium salary you don't need to be earning over 100k a year to be able to afford experiences

I totally get this. I earn 50k (plus pension & holidays - I’m a teacher - so more like 60k) which my husband constantly reminds me is a great salary, but in comparison to him it’s low. He works in one of those jobs you mentioned, but my goodness me he’s put in a lot of work to get where he is, and wouldn’t have been able to had I not worked part time when our children were small. So I get the feeling of thinking your own salary is meagre compared to others, but comparison is the thief of joy isn’t it!

I also think the OP is studying to be an actuary.

The actuarial profession is still decently paid, but it’s been overtaken by data science and similar fields that don’t require a marathon of exams or impose quite so many restrictions.

For most people, earnings tend to plateau around the £100k mark after qualification (+inflation and minor promotions), unless they're willing to take on significantly more stress, manage very large teams or accept a poor work-life balance.

I think it’s quite shallow to measure yourself in these terms.

Do you have a happy life with good friends and loving people around you?

Do you have good health and hobbies you enjoy?

These things are far more important than salary alone.

I can’t do it on a low salary. Not in London / the SE. Rent alone would eat much of a low salary leaving not much for socialising, dining out, theatre trips, travel, excursions etc

It depends on the experiences, surely? I have a penchant for music festivals around the world and long haul travel, particularly to Asia and Latin America. I would be severely limited in being able to do either if I earned minimum wage, or even the average UK salary (£37k?).

I am not one for “stuff” but I love maximising experiences and seeing the world. Life is for living etc.

You are at least vaguely aware that jealously is ugly. I expect it is your starter if mind talking but you may want to look at your words and think about how they come across. You've described people who are earning more than you as "not particularly driven or intelligent". If it's that easy to earn the money you seem to dream of them why have you not jacked in your current job and gone off to do what they are doing?

It shouldn't come as news to you that different jobs have different salaries. Some industries have better growth than others. Someone can be"just" a dog walker or a nail technician which presumably your would look down upon as not particularly mentally taxing but they can put earn a good chunk of the population by building their own business. And remember plumbers and electricians!

There are lots of very skilled jobs that need degrees that have an earning ceiling. Look at nursing and midwifery for one. That's the way it is.

So if you enjoy your job and don't want to work on any other industry then quit comparing apples and pears, concentrate on your exams and get on with it. If you want to explore another industry then go do it. Life is too short to sit and complain and not do something about it.

Disagree, our salaries aren't too dissimilar, but I don't do that much or anything mentally taxing. My friend, who isn't academic and was earning 40k (ish) for most of his career moved to £100k and now £200k in space of 2 years!

Alot of it is luck and right place right time..

You never really know the details of someone's finances. Maybe they have inheritance.....or lots of debt. Also would you want their job? Many jobs are more stressful than they look or you just wouldn't personally suit them for whatever reason.

I think we can all agree if you choose to live in London you will have no money no matter what you earn

Yeah that is definitely a different sort of hobby you will need to not only need to earn a lot but also have a significant amount of time of work to do. Im on a low wage and we still manage a holiday abroad every year and concerts, days out etc but we spend very little on things like clothes, cars, tech, etc I own nothing designer I have never had a car thats newer then 10 years old I wouldn't dream of just grabbing a starbucks or spending ridiculous amounts of a phone contract. Any spare money is saved for experiences but I am blessed to live in a cheap area so bills are low and nobody is walking around in designer gear.

If its actuarial just wait it out. In 5-10 yrs you will be out earning all the others by a mile.

This is a really excellent post.

My career and the amount of jobs available in it is behind my “choice” to live in London. I wanted to stay in my home town.

But my point is it’s flippant to say you can still enjoy “experiences” on a low salary. Even outside of London I would not be able to because the experiences I like cost more than a minimum salary would allow. Even in a cheaper Northern city.

I don’t have a car, tech nor designer clothes either!

You certainly don’t need a “significant amount of time off work” to travel and go to festivals. Most festivals fall on a weekend and need 1-2 days of annual leave max. Then there’s the remaining 6-7 weeks of annual leave that most people get (including bank holidays) for travel around the world. I manage 5-6 trips a year, of varying lengths (from 3 nights to 3 weeks), with usually 1-2 long haul trips.