‘Getting smashed’: Salary that made 29-year-old leave his corporate job to become a tradie

A young tradie has sparked a considerable debate by revealing his dream salary and the shock he experienced afterwards.

When a young construction worker claimed online that $120,000 isn’t a salary that makes you rich in 2025, it immediately caused a divide.

Jack, 29, went viral for claiming he used to think making $100,000 would mean he was rolling in it, but now all he can do is “buy groceries without flinching” and can’t afford a home.

The responses you’d expect came rolling in; some thought earning more than $100,000 was a rich person’s salary, and others complained it didn’t cut it anymore.

Someone claimed they were only earning $50,000 and doing “fine,” but another argued earning $120,000 as a single person makes you “comfortable” but doesn’t mean you can afford to buy a home.

Someone else said they had a combined income of $145,000 with their partner, so the fact Jack had over $100,000 was “wild” to them.

Another said they used to think $100,000 was good money but now they consider $200,000 “adult money” in 2025.

Someone else said that they don’t know how people “survive” on $100,000, and another claimed that a $100,000 salary does make you “rich,” especially if you can shop at the grocery store without worrying.

Speaking to news.com.au, Jack said he thinks what some people fail to realise is that he feels he is an authority on the topic because he also knows what it is like to live on $50,000 a year.

What has been eye-opening for him is that even now, as he is earning decent money; he certainly isn’t rich.

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Three years ago, after getting an economics degree, Jack was working a corporate job when it dawned on him that he was never going to get ahead financially.

The Melbourne local was in his mid-twenties, earning around $60,000 a year, and getting into debt to cover basic necessities.

On paper, Jack had done everything right: studied hard in high school, been accepted into university to do an economics degree and then snagged a corporate job after graduation, but he felt broke.

“The rubber hit the road for me when I was about 25, and had never made more than $50,000 to $60,000 a year, and I was just getting smashed,” he said.

“I’d be taking $750 home and spending $450 on rent. I’m getting to the end of the week, and all that is gone.”

Jack was working a corporate job when it dawned on him that he was never going to get ahead financially. Picture: TikTok/ jackeetswa

Jack calculated that if he worked hard for years and doubled his income, it would only be an extra $700 weekly. Picture: TikTok/ jackeetswa

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Jack said he was stuck in a cycle of having to whack things on his credit card if an unexpected expense popped up.

At the time, he asked his boss who was retiring how much he was on. He revealed he was earning $120,000.

Jack calculated that if he worked hard for years and doubled his income, it would only be an extra $700 weekly, and that would not greatly change his circumstances.

“He was like, ‘If you work hard you can be on $120,000’ which is an extra $700 a week (is that amount) going to fundamentally change my life? No,” he said.

“It’d make it easier to buy groceries but I didn’t see how earning that was going to allow me to buy a house.”

Jack said he was stuck in a cycle of having to whack things on his credit card if an unexpected expense popped up. Picture: iStock

Jack said it was frustrating because he understood that $120,000 had been enough for his boss to live really well.

“For guys in their sixties $120,000 did get the job done. They raised families on that salary, had vacations and bought homes, and didn’t have to do anything spectacular.”

The 29-year-old argued that if you see a rich person now in their 30s or 40s and ask them what they do, it is never just a 9-5 job.

“They have to do something so far out of the ordinary and they couldn’t just go to university and get a job,” he claimed.

Jack claimed young people now have to do something out of the ordinary to get ahead Picture: TikTok/ jackeetswa

Jack is still working towards being able to buy a home. Picture: TikTok/ jackeetswa

Jack’s life changed, though, when he complained to his uncle about his income. He suggested he leave corporate life if he wanted to make some serious money.

“My uncle told me to get a pair of work boots and a white card and come and jump on a worksite and make $2000 a week,” he said.

His uncle warned him that it wouldn’t be easy work, but it would pay well, putting him in a better income bracket.

Jack was sold.

He said he thought, “Oh my god, I’m going to double my income,” and he was prepared to leave the corporate world behind.

“I will break up pieces of asbestos and throw them in a skip bin if I don’t have to be in debt anymore,” he said.

The young Aussie said it wasn’t a seamless transition into his new work life. At first, it was “embarrassing” to learn alongside teenagers who sometimes already knew more than you, but what kept him coming was his desire to earn more cash.

At first, it was “embarrassing” to learn alongside teenagers who sometimes already knew more than you, but what kept him coming was his desire to earn more cash. Picture: iStock

He has been working on a construction site for over two years, and the money is better now, but he still doesn’t own a home.

Jack said he is earning above $140,000 now but still needs to save up to buy a home and is struggling to scrap together a decent deposit, even with moving to regional Victoria.

It just makes the 29-year-old think the whole system in Australia is broken. If he can’t get ahead who can?

“I’m in the top 10 per cent of income earners, so how screwed is everyone else?” He asked.

The young worker currently pays around $2500 monthly in rent, but if he had to buy where he rents, the mortgage repayments would be over $7000.

“If you work your butt off in Melbourne or Sydney and have a household income of $300,000 and you’re both killing it, and if you’re really lucky, you might be able to buy a home an hour away from where you work,” he argued.

“That is just awful. That is so rough.”