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Original poster

Is 42,000 a good salary?

140 replies

RDW1989 · 09/02/2018 22:47

I’m 28 and currently earn 42,000. This went up from 33000 the previous year as I had a big promotion. I feel like this is pretty good for my age, but everyone in my profession talks about how rubbish the money is, especially given how hard the work is and the log hours we often end up working (although often from home, evenings and weekends etc)

Salary goes up around £1000 a year until £49000, after that I’d need another promotion but due to planning to start a family soon I don’t see this happening for me for a long while!

How does this compare? Do you think this a reasonable salary?

P.s. I know it’s crude to talk about money, hence posting in an anonymous forum Wink

OP posts:
purplelass · 10/02/2018 13:21

I'm nearly twice your age and earn half that!

Depends what you do I guess, I'm sure there's websites that say what you should be earning depending on age, location and role.

JacintaJones · 10/02/2018 13:21

Are you in a clinical position in a pharma company Spades?

jelliebelly · 10/02/2018 13:45

It’s a very good salary for 28 but if you start s family now you’ll probably still be on it at 38 with all chances of promotion gone. Not that high for a main breadwinner with young children and aspirations to move up the housing ladder.

WiseDad · 10/02/2018 13:46

@tdw1989

The one thing I don't see you mention is total compensation, just salary. Get used to thinking in terms of total package value.

You get a final salary pension? This is worth TONS of money. Every pay rise updates your prior accrual. Even if a career average scheme you are still getting loads. Depends on accrual rate and how old you ar (older = more value). Do you get any other benefits? How much holiday? Someone on £42k with four weeks isn't as well paid as someone on £42k with six weeks. Etc etc etc.

People comparing only one aspect of total reward are missing so much extra that it just isn't a useful conversation. Sorry to be blunt.

Our annual pay review and bonus has just been done. My pension accrual is calculated as being 1/3 of my base pay (won't debate finer points of discounting as it really isn't worth quite that much) so you can see the importance.

SantaClauseMightWork · 10/02/2018 13:50

For the kind of work academics are expected to do in universities around UK, YANBU. That is pretty crap pay. Spending ten years in any thee profession will get you far higher pay rises and benefits. In academics, pressure keeps piling up and unpaid level of the work keeps getting higher and higher.

dairymilkmonster · 10/02/2018 13:55

I think its mainly the british who think its crude to talk about money. Some other nationalities are more reasonable about it.

I think you are earning a great salary for your current situation. I think two things depend on whether it will continue to feel 'great':

  1. If you have a partner and if so what they earn
  2. If you have kids, and if so how many and if you have 'free' childcare locally (ie relatives)

I was earning approx £50,000 working full time in medicine when I had ds1. DH was earning similar. GROSS figures. 6 years on, we have two kids and I work part-time (now earning about £33,000 - maternity leave & part-time means I my progress through the promotion levels is slower). DH now earns about £75,000. He is clearly a higher rate tax payer so that works out about £50,000 net. MIne is approx 25,000 net. So on paper we earn fantastic money, but childcare costs (which for us are pretty steep as our jobs are NOT 9-5 - basically my entire salary), mortgage, pension, professional indemnity/courses/essential subscriptions etc means it doesn't stretch nearly as far as I would have expected. You may find if you have kids that working 24/7 is no longer possible.

I would just save what you can now and keep going!

swimster01 · 10/02/2018 16:50

It is a great salary for your age

ZBIsabella · 10/02/2018 16:55

You are being very sensible and doing very well. The decision for your family will be would you move everyone away from famly and friends and husband from his lower paid work in the family business to get much higher pay elsewhere? That is something many of us have done but it means no family babysitting and a lot of things like cleanig and childcare even if you both work full time as we did when babies came.

As your husband earns less there is no reason he would not move to advance your career in due course.

As for whether it is a good salary yes for most people. Not in my area but that's London and a fairly highly paid profession.

milkjetmum · 10/02/2018 17:05

I think you are right in your pp that you need to think about what you would regret most, no children or no chair.

You are doing very well, I'm a science/medicine lecturer on 38k Ft and 10 yr older than you! Had my two DD during post doc years. Aiming for chair during kids secondary school years would like another baby first

Fyi I am very work minded (DH is sahd) and having kids was the best thing I ever did and I was more productive after mat leave with added motivation of working for the DDS future. If I'd known having children was that good I would have done it earlier!

Unfortunately know several people who waited for the permanent job then faced difficulty TTC.

Not all roses of course but love my job and love being a mum.

InDubiousBattle · 10/02/2018 17:07

I'll be honest op, we know lots of academics and I only know of one woman with children who has progressed well (several without dc though)and her dh is a SAHD. Lots seem to go pt, get a string of post docs (so you're already on a better footing there)or cease to be research active and go into solely teaching or something like facilities management.

Sevendown · 10/02/2018 17:13

My lecturers at uni were on 27-35k.

None had phds and felt they weren’t paid well.

titchy · 10/02/2018 17:23

Blimey what subject? A lectureship straight from a PhD is very very very unusual.

Jenijena · 10/02/2018 17:29

I think you’ve done very well, but academia with kids can be a killer. It’s also much less job for life than it used to be.

I’m in HE management/admin at Reader level salary (so, good). But the vast majority people my age in HE admin are on at least £10-15k less.

pigshavecurlytails · 10/02/2018 21:10

Doctors on £100k by 40?! Very very few.

blinkineckmum · 13/02/2018 14:38

It's mine and dh's salaries combined.

coffeeforone · 13/02/2018 15:46

An experienced recruitment agent once told me, as a very general rule of thumb, you should always aim to earn more than your age. So at 28, anything over £28k is a decent salary. So based on that £42k is very good. However, lots of factors need to be taken into account. For a single parent living in London with rent and childcare to pay, £42k wouldn't stretch very far at all, and i'd expect them to struggle to make ends meet. A couple living outside London without kids, earning £42k each would make them very comfortable indeed.

Notreallyhappy · 13/02/2018 17:23

. They paid me the equivalent of my current salary as an intern, and the starting salary would be £60k and can rise to £100k plus

And for this much money you will need to sell your soul to them..
Enjoy what you have now...it can all end so very quickly.

Fustyoldcarcass · 17/02/2018 10:04

For your age, very good. I think you've done really well. It's a salary that is out if reach for most. I've worked in a lot of thankless jobs for crap money and now wish I stayed on studying when I was asked to apply for a funded studentship.

I am in a job I like now which has some prospects, so think I might just get the median wage one day! This job is relatively more secure than academia though.

I think you've got a lot going for you by the sounds of it. I would just enjoy it and stop worrying about having enough. I think deep down you know you're on to a good thing. Make the most of it, because reading other posts elsewhere, your circumstances can change very quickly.

chickenlegscarla · 17/02/2018 19:10

Yes, you earn more than the majority of the population at 28.

I am mid-40s and earn £40k on the outskirts of London.

Flowering21 · 06/10/2019 11:54

Live I. Aberdeen combined 65,000 struggle mostly

flirtygirl · 06/10/2019 13:30

"flowering21* if you live in Aberdeen and struggle on 65k then you need to budget.

Flowering21 · 06/10/2019 14:42

Combined salary that is

Kazzyhoward · 07/10/2019 09:11

Spending ten years in any thee profession will get you far higher pay rises and benefits

Not it won't. There are plenty of chartered accountants with 10 years experience earning less than that out in the regions.

Kazzyhoward · 07/10/2019 09:14

They paid me the equivalent of my current salary as an intern, and the starting salary would be £60k and can rise to £100k plus

But as you say yourself, there's no suitable industry job near where you live.

Industry jobs can easily/quickly disappear if the company goes bankrupt or moves abroad.

At least in academia, you're more likely to have a "job for life" rather than have to travel all over the country/world just to keep a job as your industry firm shuts and you need a different job.

You'll presumably be able to move relatively freely within the UK to other universities should your current position disappear or should you wish to relocate for personal reasons. You can't easily relocate when your industrial plant is the only one in the country!

Blushingm · 07/10/2019 20:31

Yes.......I'm a nurse and unlikely to ever earn that

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