Career. what a thing to think about 6 months into work

Today, I had a discussion with my boss. It's part of this 6 month review thing because I just started work. Anyway, my boss is really a fantastic guy, in the sense that he does care very much for us subordinates' well-being both in the short term and in our careers. So he took the time to describe to me the various qualities that I would be rated on throughout my career, the concept behind CEP and what I could expect.

Basically, if I proceed like an average average MX, I can probably expect to be earning about 9k a month when I'm 38 to 40. And maybe 16k when I'm 50 through to retirement.

Is that alright / enough for me? I don't know. It's not a fantastic amount compared to what private sector could pay.. but of course it's an unbelievably stable (for the nonce) rice bowl. And a family could get by comfortably on that salary, if not fantastically. So... how? I enjoy my job... I just don't know if at the end of it I'll be happy with the compensation... It's not that I'll be unhappy. Just that I don't know. Well... 5 years is a long time, I'll know more soon.

Dinner today was at this union event. I was attending cos I need to research, but anyway, I'm discovering more and more that I can be a very reserved person... As in, I can interact easily with a fun bunch of people, but with older people, authority figures or just people I don't generally see as fun, I tend to clam up. Not a very good thing for networking. Maybe I would be better off in an academic setting? heh.. something to consider in the future.