Given my previous occupation and current businesses, I get to see people's payslips everyday. Sometimes I meet three or four clients in a day, all of whom are seeking mortgages, ASB Financing, PL, for all sorts of purposes including buying their houses, refinancing them for cash, investments, emergency funds, standby capital, etc.

When applying for these facilities, they have to attach their income statements and for those who are new at their employment, their LO which would spell out their exact remunerations.

Here are the list of surprisingly high income for those in the first 10 years of their careers. If you get into these lines, you would be set for a while until you decide your own path through your mid 30s. The list in not in order nor is it exhaustive:

1. Pilots 

a) In their mid to late 20s they easily beat everyone else in the list. They have the flexibility of setting their own hours, and their pay is largely supplemented by their allowances. I know of a least-dedicated (redacted) pilot that I have seen, as he prefers running his side businesses (trading, maintenance/servicing, self-service laundry, etc.) over flying. He made use of his high-paying job to generate capital that he would in turn pump into his business. This rather under-dedicated pilot was clearing RM20,000 a month doing the bare minimum flying hours as required by his company. 

b) Another young pilot in his early 20s from (redacted) was earning about 10k busting his ass, but I am sure he will eventually get to the RM40k mark as what I have seen a few (redacted) commanders in their late 30s are bringing back home.

c) I remember a (redacted) captain in his early 40s that was also making RM40k, but he seemed very busy with flights all over the world.

2. Upstream oil-and-gas, first-tier

a) I was informed and this was corroborated by a few executives about the three-tier systems, not unlike a caste, on the pay and responsibilities of upstream O&G employees. For those who have been following me would be familiar with this kid who graduated from UiTM with a degree in EE, who got a job in an O&G company before he even completed his degree. His first job right out of college would net him RM5,000, born in 1997, he would start his job next year at the age of 23.



b) There is another geophysicist who was 35 when I met him for his financing application. He was earning RM20,000, having already worked in recognized O&G companies like (redacted), (redacted), and some companies in the UK.

c) There is another executive that I know of that got posted to Vietnam to oversee some fields development a few years ago, he was 29 and was being paid USD7,000, with all other expenses paid

3. IT, MNC companies

a) I have had the pleasure of meeting a number of IT executives working in shared-services (support) based in (redacted). These people are being paid handsomely, perhaps scaled according to USD as they are supporting their centers located globally. At 28, an IT-support (of sorts) executive was earning RM9,000 gross

b) (redacted), (redacted), (redacted) and other IT/business consultancy firm executives are also making big bucks, with their fresh/young executives earning more than RM5,000 right off college and would comfortably climb the ladder going forward

4. Auditors (managers)

Admittedly, I have only met a handful of them, but given that their ACCA may be completed in three, if not two years time, they tend to start working as auditors at a very young age, especially compared to their peers from other industries. By their mid to late 20s, if they persist working as a junior auditor from early mornings to late nights, they may end up being a manager overseeing their other young auditors. Pay starts at RM10,000 with all allowances and benefits included

5. Actuarist

a) I have only met like ten of them throughout my career. The one I met most recently was 29 this year, his gross pay was RM18,000

b) His spouse, also in the same industry albeit perhaps a different capacity was making RM8,000.

c) Another fellow that I helped with was called into working in HK that he had to cancel his property purchase in Malaysia. He was in his early 30s a few years ago, but was already making more than RM20,000 while working here. He would have made more than that in HK.

All three are/were working for insurance companies

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All of the comments above were plucked from the back of my head, without much, if any data analysis. They are simply a recollection of a group of people whom I noticed and remember due to their above-average income given their age.
 
Before you guys ask: In general, very few people make more than RM20,000 a month. And for those who do, never seem to be active posters on this forum - perhaps they are busy sorting and going through their life. While they may have initially found me here, they are generally silent readers who would get in touch with me directly through PM or Whatsap. However, keep in mind that my sample is not random as they are simply a collection of my clients that thought I was good enough to help them with their financial needs. There may be others who earn a lot but I was not lucky enough to work with them on their finances.