£150k salary aged 35 AMA

[RaeS345]

Mum of 2
Married, 35
AMA

It’s a very basic model and make! 5 years old, still got about 2 years left.

because I commute I tend to be on the train most days, and husband walks to nursery for pick up and drop off so we only really use the car for weekend trips or if it’s tipping it down

We probably earn the most, but we don’t really flash it at all. Our house is probably the biggest of our friends, so maybe in that sense it is obvious. But lifestyle wise feel the same

Up north, both 4 days a week, elder one gets sibling discount and 15 hours a week

@RaeS345 in your shoes I’d consider bunging more in pension while you can (as salary sacrifice if poss).

My nephew got 60k for a 10 week internship while still at uni and will start work on 220k. Do you feel you could be earning more?

Do you think AI could impact your job negatively?

I think because I read a lot about “high earners” on here and often cannot relate to their expenditure at all. So I wondered if there were other “high earners” like me who don’t have a very flashy life, and haven’t come from money. I think 10 years ago if someone had asked me “what do you have to do to earn £150k a year” I’d have said “work in finance on Canary Wharf and be a man!” So I was hoping me earning this at my age as a woman who started out on 20k would show that it isn’t impossible as I would have been made to believe

Most public sector jobs don’t have some higher moral purpose.

You’re assuming working for a private business is just ‘making money for shareholders’ while working for the public sector is ‘giving something back’ - when of course, it’s far more complex and nuanced than that.

If your only private sector experience is in recruitment, that is probably a particularly aggressive sales environment in which people are purely in it for money. Some people find that motivating.

Do you feel you make a positive difference to the world with your work? And if not, does it bother you?

You're making a mistake of thinking that people need to find purpose or fulfillment in their working life. Some of us like to do a job that we hopefully enjoy or at least get satisfaction of doing it well, and then use that money to do other things that we enjoy. There doesn't have to be a higher meaning to it @Divebar2021

Interesting. I think I am going to struggle with this, because I really don’t want to tip my work life balance in a way that I can’t get back.

i think if I were to try and progress to CMO level it really would be at the expense of seeing my kids. At the level I’m at now, I have my evenings and weekends and yes I’m busy and have to work hard / long commute etc, but I know that I can switch off. I worry if I progress more and more, I will be taking work home with me.

but then I can’t imagine stagnating completely at this level, so I don’t know really what I’ll do! I think once the kids are in school and not in nursery it might be time for a new era

Are you a saver or a spender? Do you buy anything you want or watch money cautiously?

Do you ever shop at Aldi?

thanks for articulating that better than I would have!

I definitely had a bit of a morality crisis when I was in the advertising industry, realising I was just trying to get people to buy things. This then led me to a charity sector, and I thought that would give me real purpose as it was working with kids. It definitely did for a few years, but creatively I did find I wanted more. I now work in an industry that does impact people’s lives in a really meaningful way (think similar to TV and music) and gives people a real enjoyment. But I don’t feel I necessarily need to be working in a public service to be able to sleep at night.

I do think if I worked for an investment company or a big 4 bank, that I might struggle with the feeling of selling my soul sort of thing. But as my industry is creative and brings people a lot of joy, I find a way to justify why I am doing what I’m doing.

Yes long commute in, but only in the office 3-4 days a week so work from home 1/2 days. Nursery means our hours are covered, but when the kids are in school they will do after school clubs. I think I will struggle not being home on the evenings (sometimes get in post 7pm) when they’re at school, and I’m missing things like homework. So maybe I will need to rethink the job in a few years time.

@RaeS345 I think 10 years ago if someone had asked me “what do you have to do to earn £150k a year” I’d have said “work in finance on Canary Wharf and be a man!”

Why do you think that being a man is a prerequisite for a high salary when your own existence contradicts that?

Why do marketing jobs pay so highly?

not that fun really! I do £37 a month on nails. Too much on posh coffees / barista coffee which I need to cut back on!

if I’m really treating myself I might do a £60 massage.

this month I bought a Dyson airwrap for £160 on eBay as couldn’t justify spending a full £400 on it new!

I think it’s great to see women achieving at a high level (at her pretty young age). I have a couple of friends who do work in finance in the city but they don’t discuss their income so it’s not something I can discuss. It’s not a dig at the OP who I see answered my question before my second post. My most fulfilling stint was probably in child protection and I can be confident about what I was trying to achieve and it wasn’t about the money. Maybe I should ask Doctors why they do that rather than taking their brains to where the big money is.

If this is all you have to do in your spare time can I suggest a hobby or a good book?

It’s certainly true that theory often trickles down into culture in strange ways. But if postmodernism has taught us anything, it’s that language can obscure as much as it reveals — especially when it’s used to keep women second-guessing their place in conversations they’re already qualified to lead.

defo salty!

If you work in London but your kids are at nursery up north, how do you manage childcare? Do you stay in London for part of the week?! How often do you go to London? Id find that level of commute really stressful with such young kids.

I honestly cannot fathom what you do that earns that amount, or the pp who said 220k!
For marketing?!

Good for you OP

I'm working class
Single parent
Grew up in poverty
Last year I made over 160 k and I just think wow!!!!

We are so fortunate
I never ever had money so it's all a bit insane for me I must say

Well done on your achievements

You said your husband is in scientific field, could you please detail his job and how he got there? I have a daughter who loves science - she’s still in school! But I want to know what high paying jobs science could lead to. All the people I know who did science in uni ended up teaching or just very low paying jobs. Teaching was actually paid more

It’s a high salary. And one I could only dream of as I always worked in safeguarding so my average salary was about 25k.
Do you feel you deserve a high wage like that for what you do?

I have a sibling who earns a 7 figure salary. To me THAT is a truly incredible income.