£150k salary aged 35 AMA

[RaeS345]

Mum of 2
Married, 35
AMA

No we don’t in honesty though this is the first year we are debt free. So this is the first year we are no longer paying off credit cards, overdrafts and student loans. It has taken us a long time to clear debts, as we paid for our wedding and house deposit with no family help (both parents don’t have a lot of money).

Household income is very high, £280k total household income between myself and my husband. Outgoings monthly split:

mortgage - £2,400
2 kids in nursery - £2230
bills - £860
savings - £4000
“fun money” per person - £550 each
joint account for kids / food / petrol / days out / weekends - £1100
car finance - £260

It has taken a while to pay off overdrafts, credit cards and our student loans

Are your friends richer than you. Or are they poorer and jealous.

Or poorer and indifferent?

How are your two kids in nursery only £2230?

I pay that for mine each.

I find it super interesting when people post AMA based on wealth, why did you post it?

No! Me and my husband are happy, but we have lots of family problems as both parents have different sets of hardships. Neither of us “come from money” and it is only in the last 3 years that we have both earnt over 100k. So it is a new thing to be a high earner.

My ages and salaries below, this was me working my way up across advertising and marketing (all London jobs below):

age 21 - £20k
age 24 - £27k (new job new company)
age 26 - £32k
age 28 - £50k (promotion in same company)
age 30 - £65k
age 31 - £90k (new job new company)
age 33 - £135k (big promotion)
age 35 - £150k (pay rise)

Do you prefer sweet or savory food?

How long have you been at that salary? And any tips for people who don't to help manage money better. Sounds like you've done well paying debts off... luckily I only have 1 cc with sub £4k on as any debt but monthy spending on bills, food, DS at uni, DD at home etc means mostly money in, then all out again 🤦‍♀️💸 fortunate enough not to want anything though except a family hols yearly!

What did you study and what has your career path been?

Went to Uni, did media and business. Not an Oxbridge uni or anything (Nottingham) but always worked hard and got good grades at school. Knew nobody in the industry, but luckily one day on campus there was an advertising fair and I met a woman at that who told me to look at the Sunday times best companies to work for. Googled that and saw one of them did an apprentice grad scheme, so I applied in my final year.

This grad scheme was an unpaid summer internship. Sofa hopped with my brother who lived in London with his friends. Got a full time job in at that agency after 3 months unpaid, paid £20k a year salary at the age of 21 and felt like the luckiest person in the world! Agency culture was pretty brutal. Long long long hours, pretty much ate and slept at the agency but they had some really good clients and one of them gave me a marketing position (big company) where I then worked my way up.

I’d want more of my own fun money and save a bit less
out joint income is about 120k and we have 650 each monthly which soon goes!

Coming from a family that is almost exclusively public sector workers ( Drs , Nurses, teachers and police officers ) do you do anything that is helpful to society or directly helps other people?

What is the industry? And what is your title? (Envious marketer here!)

Fantastic positioning of moral superiority.

Neither of us are privately educated and we don’t want to pursue this for our kids. I think with our household income many would assume we would go down a private school route, but we both had good experiences at state school and hope for the same for our kids.

we have a big house (5 beds, big garden) but it’s outside of London - never would have been able to afford it in London. Bought for £700k, we had £120k in savings so this was our deposit and stamp duty.

we have one family car, very boring and safe so not really showing our income there.

kids are in nursery 4 days a week.

we do have a cleaner twice a month (6 hours a month) and this is something I do not regret given we both work full time. In fact I think we may up this to every week as opposed to every other week.

holidays we do splurge on, but only abroad once a year. And never spending more than £3-£4k a year.

our main savings goal is to get the mortgage down as much as possible, and to be sensible while we are in these expensive nursery years with both kids in nursery.

I think once the kids are in school we might feel like we can afford to spend a bit more on the house and do the kitchen up.

long way of saying, I don’t think you’d know we earn as much as we do on our lifestyle.

I wonder how OP will take this comment.
I’m a similar background, public sector, as are all my family. Quite underpaid for the level of stress and risk we hold in our roles. It can feel maddening to see these huge paying roles and realise that life really isn’t fair or equitable! Not to undermine your work OP. You seem as if you’ve worked your way up and done long hours, now reaping the reward.
it’s just madness that the people caring for the most vulnerable aren’t valued as highly! This is just my take on the posters question

I'm 10 years older, and had a very similar career/salary trajectory. I've been sat at around £150K (basic, but plus bonus and shares, so nearer £220K p/a) for about 8 years now.

It feels like I've "topped out" on my salary expectations - the only way "up" is to become a Chief Marketing Officer, and I'm neither qualified for, nor interested in that role.

I love my job, but I know I could do "more" (as in, it's very much in my comfort zone) - but there doesn't seem to be a "next step".

Do you plan to keep moving upwards in your career, and if so, what's the plan?

re: ‘life isn’t fair or equitable’ - what’s stopping you getting a job like OPs?

Private companies will pay people based on the value they can generate, the state doesn’t do that in the same way as the services aren’t revenue generating.

OP - what are you treating yourself to with the 550 a month?! ♥️

Where does the £1100 monthly season ticket cost fit in? It isn’t accounted for in your bills?

Public sector here and I agree these numbers seem wild - the huge jumps particularly. In the public sector you can take on SO much more for just 2.8k

I feel this very deeply. Both of my parents are teachers, one retired after 40+ years one still working. My mother in law is a nurse, father in law works for the fire dept. Listing off my friends jobs pretty much all of my friends are public service - nurses, GPs, teachers, NHS psychiatrist, SEND teachers, college careers service, counsellors, police, paramedic.

I don’t have any friends who are in finance. My husband is in a scientific field. So these salaries are way way way bigger than our friends, and I think they would be very shocked at what we earn!

in how I give back, because we’re only a few years into being over 6 figures it is very new to us but we definitely feel conscious of it and talk about it as a couple. We are big on our community and our town. I have also done a lot of volunteering at hospitals, and we have been part of local fundraising. I try and be as generous as I can in lots of small ways, always tip very well, and I always buy people presents.

but I really do hear you, and I have found myself seeking out lots of literature on “working class guilt”. Whilst my mum and dad were not working class they were teachers, we really didn’t have much money growing up and so I struggle with a sense of shame at what I am now earning!

however I am now raising a son and a daughter, and so I try to channel a positive role model of a working woman who is a high achiever in the hope that they see that women can earn a good income just as much as men.

Car finance for £250 is very cheap. How do you manage with just one car?

i paid huge deposit for my one car and am saving money to pay off in full if needed when get to end of my 4 year term

You’re clearly very capable and have made the most of the opportunities that have come your way. 👏👏👏

Rather than being salaried for the rest of your working life, can you envisage a time, perhaps when your children are older, when you set up your own business? Or become a mentor for someone from a disadvantaged background at the start of their career?

If you don’t already, would you consider using your skills to help a cause that you believe in pro bono?

I’m genuinely interested in whether people who work in private industry making money for shareholders ( or whatever ) find fullfilment in that. I used to be a recruitment consultant and was surrounded by people who were only motivated to earn money and I honestly don’t understand it. I then spent 25 years in the public sector and it was pretty shit at time ( and fun at times) but I always knew what my purpose was. What’s the OPs life’s purpose?