A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York sends a worrying message to anyone over 30. Your first 10 years in the labour market are likely shape your lifetime earning potential.

Across the board, the bulk of earnings growth happens during the first decade,” wrote economists Fatih Guvenen, Fatih Karahan, Serdar Ozkan and Jae Song, who studied the career paths of about 5 million workers over nearly 40 years. Earnings for most, stagnate after the first 10 years of a career.

So if you’re past thirty, and your career  hasn’t progressed to where you think it should be, the chances are that it will never end up where you’d like. The solution, seems pretty clear – strike out on your own and there are no age restrictions on progress. Many entrepreneurs achieve financial success in their middle and later years. Age is no barrier when you do it yourself.