There are several. Here they are in order of how common they are in the top 1% of income earners:
- Corporate executives : CEOs, VPs, and directors at large companies make a lot of money. Even owners of successful small businesses rake in the cash.
- Medical professionals: Specialized physicians and dentists, especially those who are either self-employed or work in surgical specialties, earn a lot of money. However, this definitely comes at the cost of spending your 20s in school, not earning any money, and accumulating debt.
- Finance professionals: The classic fancy finance jobs like banking, private equity, hedge funds, asset management, private wealth management, venture capital, financial advisory, and sales & trading all pay very well (multiple six figures, with potential to reach seven, and possibly eight figures)
- Lawyers: Lawyers, especially those in corporate law and successful self-employed lawyers, earn a ton of money.
- Engineers: This is one I would not count on, but very successful engineers can make a lot of money. However, the median is tilted toward higher five figures, which certainly won’t make you wealthy.
- Skilled sales professionals: Salespeople who sell complex enterprise software, medical equipment, financial services, real estate, and consulting, have unlimited earning potential, but the norm is six figures. Experienced enterprise software salespeople earn $300–500k+. Medical device salespeople earn closer to $150–200k, but very successful ones earn high six figures ($700k+). Financial services salespeople have enormous income potential, especially those who hold assets under management, and can earn seven figures with a lot of hustle.
- Blue collar workers: This might come as a surprise, but the blue collar professions have enormous potential. The demand for plumbers, electricians, etc. is skyrocketing, and the supply is low. Even employed blue collar workers can earn six figures, and self-employed plumbing/etc. business owners can earn a ton.
…
Bonus! So how do you actually get into each of these careers?
…
Corporate
executive: get a bunch of experience in various areas of the business
you work in, get an MBA, move up from manager to senior manager to
director to senior director to VP to SVP to CEO. This traditionally
takes a bit under 20 years.
Medical
professional: this is perhaps the most linear path. Go to college, get
good grades, take the MCAT, get into medical school, get into residency,
pass your board exams, get a job.
Financial
professional: normally, the ideal route is to go to a “target college”,
network, get good grades, get a job in banking, work a few years there,
get an MBA, transition to private equity/hedge funds/asset management,
and climb the ladder to a senior position.
Lawyer:
go to any college, get amazing grades and LSAT score, go to a top law
school, and either get a job in a BigLaw firm doing corporate law, move
up the ladder, and eventually become partner, or start your own firm.
Engineer:
traditionally, this just involves getting a degree in your specialty of
engineering, maybe a masters degree, and getting to work, becoming an
expert, and either working a in very senior engineering role or
consulting.
Skilled sales professional: it’s
different for every type of sales, but generally, in the example of
software sales, you need a degree and hustle. Then, you move into a
lower-paying position, get promoted, and keep hitting and exceeding your
quota.
Blue collar workers: generally,
you’ll apprentice under a master at your trade for several years, get a
license, work hard, and eventually set up your own shop and hire people.
Good luck! :)