Salary
Average Salary: $35,170
Expected Lifetime Earnings: $1,468,277
If you're cool with spending your time counting other people's money and not earning a whole lot for yourself, then you've found the right career. At between $35,000 and $37,000 a year, bookkeeping provides a livable wage—so long as you don't plan on taking any exotic vacations (source). You also need to not mind living on mac ‘n cheese and ramen noodles.
Of course, add a little advanced learning and an accounting degree into the mix and you'll be looking at about $72,500 a year—more than twice the amount earned by your standard bookkeeper (source).
Regardless of whether or not you get an accounting degree, you can certainly make yourself invaluable to your company or clients as a bringer of order to a sea of chaos. Without you, valuable tax write-offs could go unwritten, savings could evaporate, and fees could pile up.