I’m 27 and went from making $18 an hour to now making $51 an hour as a lab tech

When you’re new to working, it’s not unusual to earn a minimal wage. That doesn’t mean you’re earning the minimum wage. Rather, your income may not be much to write home about.

But you should know that if you put in the time and effort, eventually, you might manage to work your way up into a better paying job. And that’s precisely what this Reddit poster did.

Here, we have someone who started off making $18 an hour. Based on a 40-hour workweek and 50 weeks of work per year, that’s an annual wage of $36,000. And frankly, that’s not a whole lot of money to live on.

But now, they have a job as a lab tech where they’re able to bring in $51 an hour. Assuming the same 40 hours a week and 50 weeks per year, that’s an annual income of $102,000, which is pretty darn impressive. But it’s important to manage that higher income wisely rather than risk letting it go to waste.

Managing a big bump in pay

The Reddit poster here didn’t go from making $18 an hour to $51 an hour overnight. Rather, they say it took them a few years to land a job at a good company that offered up a higher wage.

But whenever your income rises notably, there’s the risk of you getting into the habit of spending it all rather than using it to set yourself up for a stable and secure future. So I’d caution this Reddit poster to get into the habit of budgeting, even though money isn’t as tight as it once was. And I also think they should establish some financial priorities.

For example, it may be that they weren’t able to save much money for emergencies or retirement on $18 an hour. And that’s understandable.

But now that they’re earning $51 an hour, which adds up to a six-figure income, they have a prime opportunity to build a strong emergency fund and make steady contributions to an IRA or 401(k) plan for retirement. They can also choose to hold investments in a taxable brokerage account, which means forgoing the tax benefits of an IRA or 401(k) but getting more flexibility as far as contributions and withdrawals go.

It’s good to get help when your income takes off

Another thing I’d suggest that this poster do is find a qualified financial advisor to consult with. A financial advisor can help them figure out how to make their paycheck work for them and strike a balance between enjoying that money and using it to attain long-term financial stability.

A lot of people whose earnings take off inevitably fall victim to lifestyle creep. They take on large expenses that monopolize their income and end up without savings because of it. And sometimes, they end up loaded with debt that they struggle to pay off.

I wouldn’t want to see this hard-working poster end up in a similar boat. So I’d definitely encourage them to work with a financial advisor to take a grounded approach to their much higher income than before.