AMA Income over £500k

[AMAIncomeRelated]

Following the thread on the disadvantages of earning just over £50k, it got me thinking that if some people think that is a huge amount to earn, what do they think of my life.

We live in North London. Husband earns a lot, over £500k most years. We live in a big house, with a huge mortgage, 3 children at private school, 3 dogs, own a ski chalet which is let out as well as for our use. I don't work, I did try a part time job 5 years ago and whilst I loved it, it cause too much stress at home because my husband is used to me doing everything.

We obviously live very comfortably, but also there are lots of things we'd like to do but can't afford the big projects at the moment. My husbands job is very stressful.

AMA. I am absolutely not gloating, I know only too well how fortunate we are.

@AMAIncomeRelated Super interesting thread, your replies and the varied responses.
I've a few friends in your position, as a single parent of now 2 grown up children They were always v thoughtful of my financial position and never left me out/ organised events I couldn't afford.
The few things they have in common
Rich Girl Hair! Swishy, bouncy and shiny
Great Shoes
Amazing kitchens
So.. my q are
Where do you get your hair done
Favourite shoes
What make cooker/oven do you use
Thanks 😊

Do you think growing up in a privilege-bubble has any negative effects on your children or how do you prevent that? I have a wealthy family member with several children, half his kids are normal and down-to-earth, half are snooty watsits.

Are you not tempted to have a more normal house and lifestyle now, so your husband could retire earlier?

What job does your husband do? Can you suggest some career paths for people that want to earn same as you do? What areas are best to go into? I’m thinking of my young DC

Very similar lifestyle to OP and what I would say is this.

There is a reason why I changed my username a while back to what it is now. In my life I have found that true wealth is time. I think most people who have more money than they need eventually work it out. We buy people do gardening for us, clean, house keep, out source jobs, we buy time.

So does money make you happy, no I don’t think it does. But it does allow you to have more time to spend doing other things. Which I think is probably invaluable.

Why? Some people are simply here for their kids / husband, and in OP’s case ski chalet and running the home. And yes. That’s fine if that’s her. Why isn’t it enough?

Mu husband earns a lot of money in investment banking (alas I don’t comparatively speaking despite being senior in ed..) but we both agree we’d hate our DC to go into the industry as he works crazy hours. I hope my children do something they love which will also give them a happy life, even if not an extravagant one.

They said ‘take home’, which would not be £1m after tax

My husband was given a bonus of £130k on top of an annual bonus just because he’s done a particularly good job on a particular project. It was 3x more than I earned working.
I gave up working. It made our lives easier in many ways.

However, I would add a slight warning to the OP. Burn out is real. To earn over 500k companies expect their pound of flesh. When this happened to us I’m very grateful that we could afford to for my DH to have a break and that the mortgage was paid.

Have a plan b.

And yes, paying 300k a year in tax means I don’t feel guilty about not contributing to society. Although I also volunteer my time.

What will you do when your husband admits an affair and leaves you?

The op,is able to comment on marriage to rich man but not on maintaining rich,or experience of carrying the sole responsibility of huge family outgoing . I’d be interested in the husband account of carrying the sole financial responsibility and maintaining hos career whilst stressed

But why don’t you give to charity? Volunteering is lovely (though private school parent volunteering really doesn’t count) and good on you for that…but isn’t that also just a way to spend your time when your children are at school?

With two huge pensions pots overflowing so much you can no longer pay into one of them, a whole ski chalet overseas that you presumably make extra money from, an entire self contained “spare” property in your back garden that you earn income from and money over spilling into investments just to have something to do with it all, both from very financially comfortable backgrounds (so a large element of generationally inherited privilege on top of it all)…can’t you commit much more financially to helping those far less lucky than you?

Would you consider perhaps donating all your Air BnB rental income to charitable causes, for example? That would be a lovely thing to do.

Before I started reading I honestly thought this was going to be an "I'm not gloating (but I am really)" thread but @AMAIncomeRelated I'm glad I stayed and have been reading the questions and your answers with interest (I am a self confessed totally nosey person anyway).....I just can't think of any questions.....I read someone's question and think ooh yes, good one ... Then enjoy the answers 🤣🤣🤣
So I guess that means I'm lurking in the corner with my mug of tea and chocolate biscuit ❤️😆

I don't even look at the prices and I earn less than a tenth of what OP's husband does 🤔

I would hope, given that OP was the higher earner before child 3, that as a condition of her giving up work they would have entered into a pretty iron-clad legal agreement about what would happen if they were to split. A “post-nup” type arrangement.

You have no idea what the OP donates to charity.

Why don’t you donate part of your earnings to charity, that would be a lovely idea.

Hi OP, thank you for posting, I have found it really interesting. We are in the top 1% and I don’t know anyone in real life who comes anywhere near to our financial situation, so it can be quite isolating and I have no one to compare against.

• How much did your house cost and what is the square footage?
• How much would you spend on a holiday?
• Which hotels would you recommend going to?
• Do you help out family members financially and how?

The LTA is being removed. Surely anyone at that level would know?

This is such a brag post.

No, I am not jealous. I have a very high income but wouldn’t dream of doing this. Doubly so if I was bragging about my husband earning, not me.

Sorry if this has been asked before but what does your husband do?

Yes, because this is definitely inevitable. 🙄

😂

I had one child privately, which was consultant led and ended in a c section. I felt like I was on his timetable tbh and he acted like I was a naughty school girl when I didn’t go in for my induction when he told me to. Second time round I wanted the mid-wife led team, which was on the nhs. Preferred it tbh. I did miss my lovely private room the second time round though

Did you and your DH work in exactly the same job/industry? If yes, do you think it helps that you understand exactly what he does at work, rather than being a SAHP who has very little idea what their partner does all day and can’t really offer advice on career matters? And do you enjoy the vicarious connection to your former industry?

Can I have some?

I think I’ve found Kate!

The removal of the LTA is probably not the issue. Above a certain income, somewhere over £200000, it is not advantageous tax wise to put anymore into a pension so money has to be invested differently.