'I didn't go to college, and I'm making six figures': People Over 30 Without Degrees Spill the Beans on How Life’s Going

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    r/AskReddit 19 hr. ago ● Cabra_Andina People over 30 without a degree, how's life going?
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    Perfect-Cockroach - 18 hr. ago Same as all my friends with a degree. We all work, we all struggle sometimes. And we all have back pain after reaching 40yo :) 8.0k Reply Share
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    anachronistika - 18 hr. ago Tough. Takes more effort to keep up with peers professionally. On my way up, I've passed a lot of people with degrees though; it's not a magic ticket. 4.3k Reply Share
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    igotadillpickle - 16 hr. ago I have a degree. My husband doesn't. He earns way more than I ever could. You can really move up in the trades if you know what you're doing. I got into the wrong field apparently lol. 1.2k Reply Share
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    OrdinaryNameOfMe - 17 hr. ago No degree, but I was in a workforce development program being around 24 or so. It was a year long and they got me an internship with a fortune 500 that turned into a legit job. Been with the company about 6 years, now I'm 30, and I've gone up 1 role while being here too. Make about $100K a year. Tl:dr, a lot better than I expected at this stage without a degree.
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    Solid-Rate-309 - 17 hr. ago 35 and I quit school after my associates which I've never used. I started a skilled trade and after 2 years opened my own business. I make decent money for my age, work about 30 hours a week, looking to expand my business, and I love my job. If I stayed on the track I was in school I would likely of never made this much money and I would have been stuck working 40+ hours a week until retirement.
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    My partner stayed in school when I quit and she is about to finish her PhD. She will out- earn me most likely because she chose a better degree and she is very good at what she does. Without my income the last 6 years we would have seriously struggled though. I am as happy I changed my career path as I am that she didn't. I couldn't do what she does and she couldn't do what I do. Reply Share 481
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    Phlurble 17 hr. ago 6 figures a year, no debt and almost half my monthly salary goes into savings every month. Can't complain. I mean, I will complain but I shouldn't. ↑ 797 ↓ Reply Share
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    Odyle_ruled - 15 hr. ago I found a wealthy spouse. Literally the only thing that's saved me. It was pure luck. Reply Share 130 Ordinary-Move5705 - 14 hr. ago Sprinkle, sprinkle ↑ 53 ↓ Reply Share
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    BlackSwann0316 - 17 hr. ago Great! My husband and I both have good paying WFH jobs, own a beautiful house, no kids, no student loans, hefty savings account. No complaints. ↑ 1.1k ↓ Reply Share
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    Sinjian1 15 hr. ago No kids, the key to being rich. Reply Share 808 Mountain Mantologist 15 hr. ago Seriously. Not having kids is like a personal finance cheat code. Source: have three kids and no money, used to have no kids and three money 287 Reply Share
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    Head-Drag-1440 · 18 hr. ago . My husband doesn't have a degree and started a government job last year. He has had 2 raises, get 21% into 401k because they match, and $300/month onto his HSA card among the many other benefits he pays almost nothing for. And he gets paid well, knowing his wages will only increase over time. 379 ↓ Reply Share
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    PunchBeard 16 hr. ago I'm 50 but I got my degree when I was 38. I'll say this about getting my degree later in life: within 5 years I had earned more money working with a degree than I had working from the age of about 15, when I had my first babysitting job, until I got my degree. It's not even close. 67 ↓ Reply Share
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    aecarol1 17 hr. ago Doing very well without a degree. I'm in a senior software engineering position in a very large company. I have a high school diploma. While in the Air Force, doing mainframe computer maintenance, I was extremely fortunate that I fell into a very interesting software project that was a pet project of the general (this was the late 80's). I wrote software that plotted near real time radar
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    data, as well as data sourced from the Army and Navy onto maps for decision makes to make tactical decisions. They had planned to do it on $60K DEC workstations. DEC was a year late and way over budget. I showed how they could do it on $2000 Mac II's and I wrote the 1st generation software for the Mac II myself. A colonel I worked with, retired and came to work at this company in a senior postion. He made me an offer I could not refuse. He's long since passed, but I've been here for 28 years.
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    BlazeSaber 18 hr. ago I have no degree, and life is hard. My boyfriend has a degree, and he's the same. At least i don't have a large lone to pay. 393 Reply Share govshutdown 17 hr. ago At least you aren't aloan. 606 Reply Share
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    lealduarte 17 hr. ago Im working in the same field as people with a degree, but I've got the years of experience they spent in college in advance to them Reply Share 158
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    UltimateThrowawayNam 17 hr. ago I'll be straight forward and say it's good but I've also got to admit, while I'm not a trust fund baby, my family has enough to smooth over issues that would be difficult for people from poorer backgrounds. My first car was my dad's old car and not a beater, for example. So while I'm not swimming in a completely unearned lifestyle, the evidence of my background is there. And without knowing everyone else's backgrounds here, the snapshot of where people are now is
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    I could say I have a house, wife and kid. A job that makes me happy but I don't earn a lot. It's satisfying but I'm concerned about retirement. How much is what I made for myself, how much is my background? Or what if this is my life story and those things are inseparable but I'm self aware enough to acknowledge it and wish to help others. Because it's a dice roll. 80 Reply Share
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    Horrors PersistSoDoI · 16 hr. ago Software developer here. Not even a Bachelor's degree, and I am earning wayyy above the average salary in my country. 40 ↓ Reply Share
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    infincedes 17 hr. ago Way better than I expected really. If you show a passion for what you do paired with a great work ethic, thats all that matters in the real world. You'll soon make a great reputation for yourself. My lack of degree has never come up in my 20 years of being in the professional world.
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    If you sit there and pin your lack of quality earning on your lack of a degree, I hope I'm not the first to tell you that it's not the lack of a $100k piece of paper that no one cares about outside of entry level. 22 Reply Share

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