When you’re fairly young, you may be inclined to take any old job you can get to collect a paycheck. But you might soon realize that accepting a lower-paying job isn’t going to cut it on a long-term basis.
If you’re 19 years old working as an auto mechanic, you may be making a decent wage, but it might not necessarily lead to a high enough net worth or comfortable lifestyle. Indeed puts the average hourly auto mechanic wage at about $28, which amounts to about $1,120 per week for a 40-hour schedule. Multiply that by 52 weeks, and you’ve got an annual income of just over $58,000.
Now that income actually isn’t so far off from the median weekly U.S. wage of $1,192 as of the fourth quarter of 2024. Someone earning that wage working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year is looking at an annual income of nearly $62,000.
But you may be looking to aim higher. And if you’re young, it means you have plenty of opportunity to pivot into a career that may be more lucrative and rewarding. Here’s how to go about it.
It’s not just a myth that going to college can lead to higher earnings. The Social Security Administration reports that men with bachelor’s degrees earn approximately $900,000 more in median lifetime income than those who only have high school diplomas. For women, the difference is $630,000 in median lifetime income.
At the same time, there are huge costs associated with going to college. U.S. News & World Report puts the average cost of public, in-state college at $11,011 for the 2024-2025 academic year. But that’s just for tuition and fees, not including room and board. And if you go to a public out-of-state college or a private one, your costs could rise even more.
So while college may be a good option for you in the context of growing your career, you’ll need to decide if it’s worth the investment. The average American today with federal student loan debt owes almost $38,000, as per the Education Data Initiative, which also says it may take borrowers almost 20 years to pay off their student loans.
If you’re more interested in trade work, as opposed to corporate America, then it could make sense to skip college and go with a required training or apprenticeship program instead. But if you can picture yourself working your way up the ladder at a big corporation, then it could pay to invest in a degree.
