Very few careers move in a straight line from start to finish. Many people find their Career options and aspirations change over time. Where ever you are in your career, it must be actively managed and include actions toward increasing your annual income. For example, I know an attorney that is relieved to get out of being a trial attorney and instead trades collectibles on eBay. Another friend who, later in life, is relieved to have switched from journalism to practicing law, later in life. Both are far more satisfied with their careers and both are earning more money, but these transitions do not occur by accident. It is common to seek a career that is fun, fulfilling, and changing the world, with a distant consideration of paying your bills. Scores of people try to become musicians, actors, artists, models, YouTube stars, etc., which is fine. But sooner or later, you need to do more than scratch out a living to support yourself and family. Many people fashion some kind of job or side gig around their passions or hobbies, but too many ignore growing their income until it is very difficult to turn around.
There are two times when career and Financial gaps are glaringly highlighted:
- In their 30s, a growing gap becomes obvious between people who obtain job titles such as supervisor, manager, director, vice president (or a business owner) and people that remain on the bottom rung of a career.
- In the late 50s-early 60s, another gap appears between those able to retire early, in comfort, and those who will never be able to retire.
Let me provide an example from two acquaintances with whom I attended high school. One classmate retired in his late 40s from an empire of trailer parks and he now travels with his family by private jet. Meanwhile, another high-school classmate took a job stocking shelves at a Hardware Store after he graduated. Now in his mid-50s, he is still a stock boy at that same hardware store. He has gone through a bankruptcy and home foreclosure, both of his children are bitter about their childhood in poverty, and he has zero savings for retirement. Even if being a stock boy were his dream job – he made no effort to increase his income to support himself and family (besides a part-time job at Burger King that he quit after 10 days).
Financial stability and a career trajectory are always important, and become more so with a family and kids, along with retirement planning. So it is highly recommended that you put some thought, effort, and execution toward advancing them, alongside life goals along the way.
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