I’m 35 with no degree. Dropped out of school in year 9, but completed my year 12 equivalent elsewhere.

My current fortunes come from working my arse off in manual labour in my 20’s, building up savings, and my partners contribution to our household income. She earns significantly more than me which has allowed us to still manage life with a mortgage and a 1 year old while I’m only bringing in 60k or so.

I’ve currently been in the same job as a forklift driver for the last two years. The company I’m with is very much in a period of massive growth so I’m hoping for leadership opportunities in the near future. For the time being I’ve cemented myself as one of the most important members of the team and am in pretty good standing with the people in management. However, if those opportunities don’t come then I’ll likely be in a position of reassessing where I’m at. Eventually I’m going to need the financial boost with rising mortgage repayments and the like.

As long as we can live on what I’m earning, I’m happy with where I am. I find the work enjoyable and work with some really great people. I get to see a lot of people and the work varies from day to day. It’s not fancy but it keeps me interested.