How do You Get the Money You Deserve
How do you get the money you deserve. Are you worth more than you are paid? Do you get the money you should get?
How do You Calculate What You are Worth?
There are many theories on this. This is my basic, rule of thumb. To understand the principles I use, we need to look at education first.
Education
In the UK and most western countries, education is free until you are 18. After that you will have to start paying. There are grants, bursaries etc etc but it is no longer free for most people.
The time you spend educating yourself is therefore a cost in your lifetime. If you are studying, you are not earning money. That study time and the costs involved must be added to your value.
Remember also that you can keep studying and keep learning all through your life. This increases your value and what you are worth becomes more.
Life has become faster paced and changes occur more rapidly. We all need to keep up, especially with modern technology.
We humans were born curious so learning is a natural thing for us to do.
If you have a problem learning new things, it is probably because someone once told you that you were “useless,” or “will never come to anything.” Ignore them. Everyone can enjoy picking up new skills if they want to. There are many things to learn and many ways of learning, they do not have to be from books or at universities.
There are internet courses both paid for and free. Have a look at the OU and search for “Free Courses.”
Of course, after school, education and acquiring new skills can cost money. Have a look at this:
| Basic Calculation to Find the Cost of Getting an Education after School | ||||||
| Minimum wage | £7.50 | |||||
| Hours worked per year | 1976 | Assuming a 52 week year with 38 working hours/week average | ||||
| Course Studied | Degree | IT Course | Summary | |||
| years | 3 | 1 | ||||
| Months | 24 | 11 | ||||
| Days | 480 | 220 | ||||
| Hours Calc’d | 3840 | 1760 | ||||
| at minimum wage | £28,800 | £13,200 | A. | £42,000 | This gives you a ball-park figure for loss of earnings while studying. | |
| Cost of course | ||||||
| Pr year | ||||||
| Pr Semester (term) | £3,000.00 | £2,000.00 | ||||
| No of semesters | 12 | 3 | ||||
| Total Cost over whole course | £36,000 | £6,000 | B. | £42,000 | This is a rough idea of the cost of courses. | |
| They can be cheaper and also more expensive. | ||||||
| Lost wages | £44,460.00 | £14,820.00 | What you could have earned if working instead of studying | |||
| Income from part-time jobs | £8,000.00 | £3,000.00 | What you actually earned working holidays or evenings/weekends. | |||
| Total loss in wages | £36,460 | £11,820 | C. | £48,280 | Your loss in earnings for the study periods. | |
| There are several assumptions here. | You can see how A. and C. are very similar | |||||
| Assume a minimum UK wage of £7.50 / hour. | Using the lower figure: A + B = | |||||
| Assuming you would only earn a minimum wage. | £84,000 | |||||
| Assuming average costs of courses. These can vary. | This is the minimum it has cost you to get a qualification. | |||||
| Assuming a working week of 38 hours over 52 weeks. | ||||||
| Assuming 20 days/month attendance at full-time courses. | ||||||
If you are to get this money back over 5 years you need your minimum salary plus the costs of your qualification.
I will save you the calculation; it is an extra £8.50 per hour for every hour for 5 years.
Remember this is on top of your normal salary.
Add a minimum wage of £7.50 an hour and you are up to £16 per hour for the next 5 years, before you begin to reap the benefits.
| Recoup over 5 years | £8.50 |
| wage | £7.50 |
| Total/hr | £16.00 |
| Per year | £31,620 |
Reality is that this is unlikely to be a starting salary, so it may take you some time to earn what you are worth.
Any experience or qualifications, which are relevant to what you do, are an increase in value of your time.
How Do I Put this into Practice
First of all, your own idea of what you are worth needs to increase and match these basic criteria.
- Many people earn below their value because they value themselves too low.
- Set up a spreadsheet with your study time evaluated, loss of earnings and study costs.
- Write out a list of what you can do that is relevant to your job.
- Assess what you think you are worth and add 10% because you are too modest.
- Now look around at similar jobs to yours, or even jobs you would like to do, and see what they earn in salary.
If you are unhappy with your earnings, perhaps you need to find another job which better suits your skills. You might also consider setting up a business.
Be Your Own Boss
Here you can decide what you want to earn yourself and design your business to produce that money for you.
Starting your own business is not for the faint-hearted although there are so many opportunities through the internet that there may well be something that suits you.
The number of people becoming self-employed in the UK and US is growing year by year.
Whatever you do, you are probably worth more than you think however we have to be realistic these days and an employer will pay the least he can to get the skills he wants. This does not stop you creating a good CV and seeing what else is out there.
Have a folder with your CV and a list of your skills and experience in it. Congratulate yourself with what you know and decide what else you want to learn to improve your situation.
Look at it from time to time to remind yourself of what you are worth. How do you get the money you deserve. It is more than you think.
I’ve always heard wealthy people say that if you don’t find a way to earn money in your sleep then you’ll always be broke. Trading your time for money is a disaster because you’ll never be paid what you truly deserve. I like the part you mentioned about being your own boss.
When you’re working for someone else you’ll be working hard to make others rich, but when you’re your own boss you’re working hard to make yourself rich. The more effort you put in the more it benefits yourself directly. That’s why this whole going to college, getting a 9 to 5 job, and working for a company is definitely not my plan. I want to build my own business and work hard to earn the money that I know I’m worth.
Kent, you are already on the right path, I see.
I would point out that this self-employed path is not for everyone. Some people just want to go to work and be told what to do, do it and go home. And that is OK for some people.
I am with you; I enjoy putting in the work, knowing that if it fails or succeeds, it is my responsibility and my gain.
Good Luck with your projects.
It is really hard to be paid the money we all deserve.
But, learning is important, it is an investment in yourself. As you have in your image “Knowledge is power”. In those countries with free education until 18, the state makes the investment in young people and certainly society needs a reciprocity, a service for the community.
To be self-employed is good, very good, but it is needed a large staff to make our life safe and enjoyable. Each one has to make a good selection about what to study, if not, it is wasted time and money.
Hi Maria and thanks for your comment.
We go through life investing in ourselves, I believe.
I understand your point about reciprocity, but if a young person grows up to be honest, responsible and helps their family and friends, are they not contributing to a good society. I do feel that our investment in the young with their education, is like saving money in a bank, but we are investing in humanity.
Maria, self employment is changing rapidly.
You can set up your own company on the internet with no employees and the minimum of investment and there is no limit to how much money you can make. It will depend on how hard you want to work.
If you go the link in my article about a free trial of a training course and business, join the absolutely free community of over a million people. You can pop your bank card back in your pocket, not needed.
You can learn how to build a website and find a niche to market and promote other companies products.
The first 10 courses are free and you can see what it is all about.
You could have a look and see how you feel. No employees, I guarantee.
Hi Happy.
You certainly did an in depth study of the cost of an education. I agree , it would take a long time to earn back the money you spend on the average degree style education. Some people never earn in back in their lifetime.
I know that I spent many years with a debt from completing a university course way back in the seventies, it took me many years to pay it off and I never really recovered.
Unfortunately it seems to be getting worse today. I feel for the younger generation that are told that an education is everything, unless they have wealthy parents to help them through their university years, there’s no real guarantee they will ever be paid what their worth. But it’s a changing world and there are more and more opportunities for people to work from home, particularly within the online business’s.
I’m in my mid sixties and even at my age I believe I can make a substantial living by working from home and being my own boss. What do you think?
All the best . Jim
Thanks Jim. You have made a couple of very important points there:
An education is not necessarily the only way forward for people. I do believe that the prime purpose of education is to teach us how to think. That was once the sole purpose of schools and universities. Now, with the advent of the internet and YouTube etc, self education is within people’s own grasp and control.
The sole domain of institutions is being undermined by the growth of the information tsunami. (Yikes, that looks nerdy as hell.)
I still believe that we need to learn how to think, how to enquire and how to organise knowledge, so I can see many uses of education institutions, but I do believe they will have to adapt to the world we are living in.
As for age constraining learning and activity; come back in 25 years and tell me you are struggling to learn and maybe I will not laugh.
Spring chicken, you are. Of course it is possible and I would add that at our age, we play a better long game than urgent 20 year olds. Making a living on the internet or any other business is a long game if you do it honestly and sustainably.
Hey Happy, how are you?
What a powerfull blog. I have one question:
Are there many opportunities of jobs for people just graduated from school?
If they want to open their own new business, is there help from the goverment or institution to make little easy the process of start ups?
I agree with you that “not everyone is born to be a boss and not everyone is born to be an employee.”
I am of the opinion that if you don’t got the money you deserve, go after it and you will find the right person to give a value or open your own business.
Good contents, cheers to your success
Telma
Thanks Telma.
I am not sure about your first question about jobs for school leavers. That is not really what this article is about.
If you mean: “Can school leavers get work or start their own businesses?” Yes, of course.
Support from government will depend on which country you live in and your local government as well. I am not an expert in that.
I do believe that the future growth area, where there is a lot of work is the internet.
You can get some free courses at Wealthy Affiliate if you click on the link in my article.
These are completely free and you only need an internet connection to do them.
You can learn how to build a website and how to find ways of making money from that website.
There is no time limit for the free courses. You do not need a credit card etc.
Sometimes we have to help ourselves in this life, as you say.
Good luck with your future.
Thank you so much Happy. Yes, that was the question, I am sorry if I wasn’t very clear when I asked, but you got it, thank you.
Telma
You are welcome Telma. Happy to be of help.
I hope things work out well for you.
Hey HappyB, I loved your post. Your post reminds me of a certain destiny that I always felt the powers that be had in mind for me, and that’s to be my own boss. You’re right on about something else too, people are getting paid too little and they’re definitely not getting paid what they’re worth.
That’s why I’m happy that I joined WA because I feel like I can have true financial independence working on my business. Your post is helpful in so many way, I’m going to revisit it when I cross paths with someone whose interested in starting their own business. Great job!
Thanks RJ
Sometimes I feel like we often undervalue ourselves. Modesty and reticence are part of most humans and to stand up and “I am worth more than this,” can be difficult.
Being self employed is not the easiest path to take but we can at least earn what we are worth and get something back for all the effort we put in.
An in depth calculation of time and study costs was great! In my experience , employment never pays you the money you deserve. Even if you change jobs and you get a big jump in salary, your employer is sure to double your responsibility and you will start working overtime , so you would wonder “do I actually make more money?” If you want to earn the money you deserve, you have to be self employed and willing to take the risks of self employment.
Thanks Priya. It is certainly one option, to become self-employed and certainly suits me.
I feel that, for some people, being an employee is preferable, though. Some people just want to turn up for work, get their instructions for the day and do their job. that is fine for many.
You are right about the risks. People have to balance out the “rewards” with the “risks” to make a decision about what they are prepared to do to make money.
And then there are the dreamers.