You Are Your Greatest Asset

I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend.

Today’s post is an “add on” from my previous post regarding your salary and how you should try to get a higher starting salary at your new job. I want everyone to understand that you are your greatest asset. In order to buy a house, a car, travel, raise a family, etc, you need money. You get that money from your job. The higher the salary you get, the better off you will be. This is why it is important to get your bachelor’s degree and even an advanced degree or designation. All of this increases your salary exponentially. The typical annual salary for a person with a high school degree is roughly $33,000/year. For a person with a bachelor’s degree, the median annual salary is just over $53,000/year. And a person with an advanced degree, the median salary is $69,000/year.

Over 40 years of employment, lifetime earnings break down like this:

High School Education: $1,320,000
College Education: $2,120,000
Graduate Education: $2,760,000

By getting a good education and working hard at your job, you will earn more and get larger raises (assuming you ask for larger raises). If you want to retire rich or even comfortably, you need to earn as much as you possibly can. Of course other factors play a role as well, including keeping your expenses low regardless of your income, but there is no other way to get rich or retire comfortably without earning as much as you can. Investing in the stock market helps, but you need money to invest in the first place. Enter a higher salary. The more you make, the more you can save, the more your money grows. If you start a business, you need money. You get that money by making and saving as much as you can so you can start your own business.

It all comes back to your salary. Earn as much as you can. If you have your bachelor’s degree, see if an advanced degree is appropriate for your career. If it is, there is a good chance your company will help you pay for it. While you are at work, act professionally with everyone: co-workers and outside clients. Word travels fast. Find ways of improving current processes, or recommend getting rid of processes that no longer serve a purpose. Document all of this so that you can present them to your boss. Don’t wait for your annual review either. By then it is too late. Salary increases have already been budgeted for. Whenever your review is, schedule a meeting 3-4 months before with your boss. Show them how valuable you are and tell him/her that you would like an “X%” raise come review time. This way your boss knows what you have done, knows what you are looking for, and can “go to bat” for you to get you a better raise. There is no guarantee you will get it, but you have a much better chance this way than by waiting to bring this up during your review.

You are your greatest asset. Invest in yourself. You will pay huge rewards by doing so.