The construction industry is the best industry in the United States and that tends to be something that people don't realize until they're in the industry for a few years. One of the things about our business is that it's merit-based. You know, when you build something, it is not a mystery. It's not smok and mirrors and, you know, for any contractor that is something that they can take pride in. Obviously they can get paid for it and it's a business that doesn't have a whole lot of politics. And if you look at our industry, in lot of different ways, you'll see this to be a continuing theme.
You know, another part of our industry that I like a lot is that nobody wants to be in it. Now certainly, you're in it and I'm in it but because there's a shortage of people, nobody wants to be in it. Wages tend to be higher, you know, a journeyman is the fourth-highest-paid trade in the country. You know, certainly, we know roughnecks on oil derricks and coalminers are paid more, computer technicians, but we're the fourth-highest paid. So that's good news for people in construction. You will tend to be a little better paid than most.
If you're a contractor, if you actually own a business, you'll be paid better as you get older until you're about 60 to 65 years old. You know, the spike in earnings in most industries is between 45 and 50 and what ends up happening is, you know, at age 45 or 50, you tend to, you know, get on an airplane a lot, you open up branch offices, you bill a lot to your clients, whereas as a construction contractor you continue to have ever-increasing earnings. Why? Because it's people and processes. You don't have to get on airplanes to make money. You just have to pay attention to the people who are part of our business and the process is part of our business. I know many contractors, project managers, superintendents that are continuing to make more money each year because they're just so good at that. So if you look at our industry, if you read my book, the first chapter, you'll see many of the reasons why it's the best industry and I sincerely believe that they're substantial reasons, they're not made up.