You Can Have a Job and Still Get Rich

No need to start a business or be an entrepreneur to build wealth

You see article after article touting entrepreneurship as the only way to build wealth. Anyone with a job is a loser and is destined to be poor. There is even an acronym where job stands for “just over broke.”

Although starting a business or being an entrepreneur can be a way to make more money, it isn’t a guarantee. Having a job has other benefits aside from just collecting a paycheck. You’ll meet like-minded people and be able to bounce ideas off of them. You can learn new skills while being paid. You can keep a roof over your head as you explore different pathways.

The average annual income in the U.S. according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics is $48,672. This is based on a 40-hour workweek. So that means over the course of a 40-year career the average person could have $1,946,880 pass through their hands. How you save, invest, and spend that money is another story.

Let’s also assume you won’t be stuck at the exact same salary year after year. You can work on yourself. You can improve your skills. You can get promoted. You can change entire industries several times over your lifetime. That number could then easily be way higher.

Different Types of Jobs

There are traditional careers like doctor, lawyer, dentist, or accountant. You could be an employee in any one of these traditional careers and easily become a millionaire. I have started my own medical practice and I have also been an employee at different stages in my career. I’m currently an employee and I am willing to take less to be able to enjoy my life. I enjoy keeping balance in my life and leaving the running of the practice to someone else.

When you look at Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, he’s an employee. He didn’t start Apple, but he runs Apple. According to Forbes, his compensation in 2019 was $133,727,869. Not bad for being an employee. Or what about Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft. He didn’t start Microsoft. He’s an employee of Microsoft and his compensation in 2019 was $77,289,149. Again not bad at all.

There are so many different types of jobs out there. The direction you go in really doesn’t matter. You will likely go in several different directions over the course of a lifetime. As long as you keep increasing your value, the sky’s the limit with your earning ability.

Upgrade Your Skills

You should be working on yourself every day. As the wise Jim Rohn once said:

Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.

Just because you start at a certain salary doesn’t mean you need to stay there. Even if you flip burgers for $8 an hour there is always a way to keep increasing your value.

You can also be entrepreneurial in your job and increase your salary. Whenever there is a problem and you come up with a solution that will get people’s attention. People pay top dollar for problems being solved. The bigger the problem the bigger the pay.

You should be reading every day. You should be goal-setting every day. Writing out what you want is important. Where do you want your career to go? Do you want to be the CEO of your company? How much money do you want? Where do you see yourself in 1 year? 5 years? 20 years?

Pick Your Number

Everyone has a number. Whether you say it out loud or keep it to yourself we all have a magic number. Is it 1 million? 5 million? 50 million? The number doesn’t matter. It’s why you want that number and how you plan on getting there is what matters.

At the end of the day, we all want to make more money for one reason. To be happy. There is a famous study from Princeton that was conducted by economist Angus Deaton and psychologist Daniel Kahneman in 2010. The study says that happiness increases with wealth, but peaks around $75,000. Adjust that amount for inflation in today’s dollars. People reported that having any amount over $75,000 didn’t really increase their happiness.

I know there are caveats to this. Living in New York City or San Francisco on $75,000 a year will be different compared to living in North Dakota.

If you know your number and why you’re working hard towards that number, your life will have the meaning as well as direction.

There are so many ways to make money. You can write a book, start a business, create a product, or have a traditional 9 to 5. As long as you save aggressively, keep increasing your earning ability, and invest in yourself you can earn as much as you want.

Entrepreneurship is great and it can make you filthy rich as well as create a lot of jobs for people. I’m just saying it’s not the only way to live a fulfilling life and make a lot of money. You can still have a high-paying job and finish strong in the end.