There are a lot of varibles out there that effect their wages such as if they are a union/non-union shop or working residential construction/commercial construction. One thing to remember is that all construction projects end, which means you don’t have a steady paycheck and benefits. A good residential plumber should never be out of work but commercial projects are subject to the down turns in the economy...Because of that, when I was in the trade, all of the old timers always tried to tell us young guys the same thing...SAVE YOUR MONEY
One last thing. When I first got into the Plumbers& Pipefitters union in 1979 our hourly wage was $16.64/hr and I would claim single and zero on my taxes. My weekly take home pay was $341 and my tax total was $324, but then that was under the Peanut farmers reign...