Covid budget cuts have seen marketers endure a torrid 18 months but they can at least console themselves with the fact that marketing is now in the top five professions when it comes to early retirement, with the potential to hang up your boots aged 47.
So says a new analysis from pension specialists Our Life Plan, designed to get a better understanding of the professions that are best for early retirement.
By analysing various metrics, such as how much a pension pot grows over the years for 40 different careers, and how much can be saved for retirement, the firm claims it is able to determine which professions are most likely to be able to give ditch the daily grind way before they are old and grey.
The study shows that commercial managers, construction managers, product managers and, perhaps less surprisingly, taxation experts, come out on top, with the possibility of retiring at 46.
This is closely followed by professionals working in marketing, project management and IT management, who can retire at 47. All of these jobs have the advantage of requiring no formal qualifications, so a career can begin straight after school and workers can start saving for their pension as early as 18 years old, Our Life Plan reckons.
Travel agents come in last for the ranking, only being able to go into early retirement at the age of 56 with savings of £140,040, due to their low starting salary of £18,126 and a slow average salary progression at each stage of their career of only £523. They are followed by librarians and finance officers.
But professions that take much longer to qualify for – doctors (9 years), psychologists (8), architects (7) and lawyers and solicitors (6) – start with a higher starting salary so there is room to save for early retirement. Doctors still manage to retire at 49, psychologists and architects at 51, lawyers at 49 and solicitors at 50.
Even so, the marketing industry hands out highest average salary increases across the board, the study shows, with a £13,475 rise at each career stage.
Interestingly, marketing is on the lower end when it comes to starting salaries (£18,561), but, because of the steep increases, marketers can end up with a salary of £72,460 after 20 years working.
Ricky Lee, chief executive of money management app Sync, said: “The retirement age keeps going up in the UK, so you need to make serious plans if you want to retire before you hit 60.
“The most important thing is to stay debt-free or pay off any debts as a priority. Then focus on buying a property and paying off your mortgage as quickly as possible. Early retirement is only realistic if you don’t need to pay rent or your mortgage any more.”
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