Your lifetime earnings likely determined in your 20s

Ah, your 20s: A decade of self-discovery, smartphone dating and shopping for IKEA coffee tables – right? A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York sends a more sobering message to millennials: Your first 10 years in the labor market likely shape your lifetime earning potential. Here’s a breakdown:

38%

The amount pay swells for the average worker between 25 and 55. Most of that growth happens in the first decade, when the learning curve is steeper.

Zero

Average earnings growth for the 35-to-55 set.

5 million

The number of workers whose career paths were studied over a nearly 40-year period for the study.

230%

Average pay increase for workers in the 95th percentile from age 25 to 55. For those in the 99th – the doctors and lawyers and engineers – earnings grow a whopping 1,450 percent. The bottom fifth of American workers? Income actually declines from age 25 to 55 because those jobs typically are physically demanding and harder to do as workers age.

The takeaway: Unless you plan to become Zuckerberg-ian wealthy, the lesson is clear: Chase the proverbial carrot while you’re young. Save your money while it’s coming in. Or ask for that raise – sooner, rather than later.