For most of the general public of the United States, climbing the corporate ladder is not a top priority in life. To them, there are more important things to take care of first. As long as their quality of life is good, and there is enough money put into a bank account to ensure monthly expenses are taken care of, then why worry?
But what if climbing the corporate ladder meant that both of those things would be improved? Wouldn’t it be a good idea to spend some time working on those career goals and better one’s finances within the foreseeable future? By implementing a few behaviors on a daily basis, rising through the workplace ranks doesn’t have to be particularly time consuming (actually, it probably would take less time than you think). The benefits are outstanding, too. The first thing is that you get to take home more money (and thus more to provide for your family members too), as your annual income will be increased. Secondly, you will have a little more left over for emergencies, and beyond that there are a myriad of different ways that you stand to gain from other workplace benefits and perks too. These are just the basics, and there will be more on these benefits later.
Take the first step.
Remember, the first step is to have a reasonable expectation—a promotion isn’t going to happen overnight. There is no easy way to the top, and there are a few important steps that you must take along the way. Everyone will have a different starting point, and will have their own preferences as to how they make changes to their working lives. This is a good thing, as it shows that you have unique strengths and individual qualities to play to, and shine amongst your teammates.
The next step is recognizing that there is no such thing as cons to career progression, and only pros. There are fewer risks to trying to put yourself out there and showing that you are worthy of that promotion. Failure may not be rewarded if you fall short, but on these occasions it isn’t punished either. The fact that you made such an effort is commendable and memorable, and your contributions to the workplace compared to recent years will not be unnoticed by higher-ups. That is probably the most important thing to take away from the experience. Just because you didn’t succeed the first time, does not mean you won’t on the next. The best way forward is to be tenacious, and don’t give up—that effort was not for nothing.
So, whilst you are putting the goal of career progression into your timeline, and making this current year the last as an “average worker,” lets take a look at some other benefits of climbing the corporate ladder.
Your credit score will go up.
Credit scores are probably the most frustrating aspect of anyones personal finance, but they are incredibly important. Credit reports act almost as a gateway to many purchases, from car loans to credit cards. They’re not a type of investment themselves, and in truth are really just a part of the big picture of your financial stability. Your credit score increases so long as you continue to stay on top of debt, so avoid credit card debt completely, continue paying back any obligations, such as student loans or rent, and don’t fall into arrears or short of any of your minimum monthly outgoings. There are many ways to improve your financial situation, outside of earning more money. It all falls upon how you manage your finances, and your expenses.
What can I do with a better credit score?
One major difference that a better credit report will make to you is within the buying process of a new home. With a better income, the price range for you to buy that perfect home will open up significantly. If you have never been a homeowner before, then better finances will ensure that the mortgage application will be a smoother process. First time buyers would do well to contact a real estate agent who specializes with new family clients. They will go through whether you should pursue a home equity loan, or a home equity line of credit and get the best interest rates, thus helping you determine how best to manage your finances through your real estate. If you are a living with a partner, or a recently married couple, you may have already applied to have a joint income, in which case the credit report will be run on the both of you.
The type of home you are looking to become a potential buyer of, plays a part here too. A fixer-upper’s down payment won’t cost you as much money than a newly built property would, since more will be spent on a renovator or upgrades. You may be considering purchasing a plot of land and then building a multi-bedroom house upon that, based on your design. Just make sure that you have the right people behind you, and an emergency fund just in case. With a step or two up the corporate ladder, the house hunt can therefore commence, and you can get started on finding a dream home!
Investments and investment advisors.
Something that might help you with your higher income and knowing what best to do with it, is enlisting the services of a financial advisor. This will be particularly useful if you are planning of getting involved with investment opportunities and providing a little venture capital to a new startup business entity or two.
You may have already been looking at a smaller type of investment, or even started to build your investment portfolios with them. But now that you have a little more leverage in terms of your financial situation then you can start looking into bigger ideas. An investment advisor would also be best suited to helping you understand the new ways that you can get the best dollar amount for your investment.
Alternatively, you might have a few niche ideas that you prefer, which are outside of the typical investor choices. You may prefer to become an investor of art, or park and residential developments on commercial real estate that mean something more to you as an individual. If you are wanting to see a company thrive, instead of purchasing shares, you may consider making a private equity investment. These are all ideas of alternative investments, and are often considered to be riskier opportunities.
Since Regulation D of the Securities Act of 1933 was introduced, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have made it a necessity that a new investor is knowledgeable enough to make these riskier investments. As such, they would have to become an accredited investor first. This is done by looking at the individuals gross income (or if applying as a married couple, the joint income), and checking that is above the $200k threshold pre-tax over the previous two tax years (or $300k as a couple.) The assumption is that if you have made that amount over the previous two years, then you are most likely to do so during the current year also. The other way to become an accredited investor is to have a net worth of over $1M. The same amount applies as a joint net worth, if you are applying as a couple.
So becoming an accredited investor will not be a quick process, and you will need to be bringing home that higher paycheck for a little longer first. But until then, you can check out alternative investment platform Yieldstreet, and see the kinds of investments that you might be interested to be a part of. Also, it is worth checking out their site as they provide more details on the definition of an accredited investor, and how Regulation D can help you you can become one too. Most importantly, however, speak to a broker or investment advisor first to better understand how investments change as you climb the corporate ladder.
Better physical health, and more sustainable habits.
This may come as a surprise to you, but one of the bigger benefits of career growth is how your health and wellness with improve. It’s not the most ideal of reasons, but health care costs will become much more affordable, and the extra income can do towards any physical activity tools like exercise bikes or treadmills, or even gym memberships.
But there is another way that you can attain better physical health and improve employee health for your workplace overall. This may even help you gain a step in the right direction on that corporate ladder as well. Consider introducing employee wellness programs for the workplace. By helping to introduce a better healthy lifestyle for everyone, through creating a relaxing environment and implementing a few wellness ideas, you can help everyone with their own wellbeing. This will prevent them from incurring healthcare costs of their own, as well as ensuring less absenteeism amongst colleagues and preventing burnout.
Introducing a program doesn’t have to be too taxing. Simply pick a day of the week, replace the confectionary snacks with healthy snacks, and offer some physical activities during the day. You can even turn them into competitions and provide gift cards for massages or spa-days to those who have improved their physical wellbeing or met their goals by the end of the month.
If you want more wellness activities what can be practiced within the office, check out Wellable’s blog for some very practical, and fun, suggestions.
Climbing the corporate ladder has some surprising benefits, and these are just a few of them. You can go at your own pace or set a new one as an incentive, but either way it happens faster and simpler than you probably thought. At the end of the day, a bigger sum on your bank statement will always look better than having less money to spend on your wish list. But, hopefully this list will have shown you that there are more benefits, and get you on that roadmap to success sooner. Today is the best time to start!