If you earn £80k or more, what do you do?

[wheresmymojo]

Following on from another thread.

Partly because I'm nosey and partly because I'd love a career change but I'm the breadwinner so would still need to earn £££ to keep our current lifestyle.

I think we may decide in time to dial the lifestyle down so I don't have to work in a job I hate but for now debt means that's impossible.

So what do those on here who are high earners (£80k+) do?

AnyMinuteNow of course there are far far right richer people who have not got the academic qualifications (Branson notoriously) and who achieved in other ways. Some had a head start undoubtedly but....if you tell yourself it’s all about silver spoons and luck then you’re not likely to leave the starting blocks are you?

How many of the people who are saying they got to where they are through sheer hard work went to a Private school? Just curious

I didn’t. Came from a farming background so money just didn’t exist for this. Went to the local primary, and secondary in the next town over. Lovely schools, but under-funded.

I was the first of my family to get to university. Unfortunately, I had to drop out in my first year as my family faced a severe financial set-back, so I left university and started working full-time to contribute.

I’ve been working fulltime since I was 17.

How many of the people who are saying they got to where they are through sheer hard work went to a Private school? Just curious

I won a full scholarship to private school in Year 7. I begged my parents to let me take the entrance exam for months. I got it. Despite that, my parents couldn’t afford the uniform so I wrote begging letters to local companies and one agreed to help with that for the duration of school in exchange for some web design. We couldn’t afford breakfast or lunch growing up, but I worked damn hard to access opportunities myself. I then got scholarships to undergrad and PhD outside of the UK (first in our family to go to university), while working full time and publishing papers. I’m 29 now, and I am proud of where I came from.

Private school doesn’t necessarily mean you came from money. I had to hustle to make it through.

if you tell yourself it’s all about silver spoons and luck then you’re not likely to leave the starting blocks are you?

Thats a massive distortion of my.truth on here!!???

"How many of the people who are saying they got to where they are through sheer hard work went to a Private school? Just curious"

I didn't go to a private school. Mine was through sheer hard work. Was born on a council estate up north.

Council estate girl here too...

Ok my private school comment has clearly triggered a lot of people. I just run into a lot of Tories who with a straight face go on about how hard they’ve worked for everything they’ve had in life whilst having the plummiest accents you could hear. Yes I’m sure you’ve worked hard but at least acknowledge 50% of your success it due to you having access to an education 93% of kids don’t have.

I didn’t claim to get to where I am by sheer hard work. But for the record I grew up in a Northern mining town in the Thatcher era. I went to state school. For several years I was eligible for free school meals. I was the first person in my family to go to university. So I don’t think privilege has played any part in my arriving at my current position.

So you’ve chosen to respond with more generalizations about political leaning and accent? Interestingly, these biases would prevent someone from accessing/doing well in my career path.

No not privately educated. Lived in poverty as a child and didn’t like it very much.

So you’ve chosen to respond with more generalizations about political leaning and accent? Interestingly, these biases would prevent someone from accessing/doing well in my career path

You can’t be this fucking naive surely have you looked at the statistics of those in top jobs who went to Private school? Last time I checked in Law, Government and Medicine it’s over 80% that went to Private schooling. (With Law and Government being the worst). I’m talking about the top jobs. So you have SEVEN PERCENT of the population making up over 80%.

We live in an completely unequal society where it’s much easier for some than others. Then you have people from those backgrounds in peoples faces saying ridiculous things like “I got here through hard WORK, why don’t you WORK HARDER” not wanting to acknowledge their privilege. It’s like saying to a poor black person in Chicago “why aren’t you doing well, look at Oprah” yes there are odd occurrences but STATISTICALLY if you actually look at the numbers it’s much less likely.

I’m not talking about myself ffs I earn £30k per year working PART TIME. I’m doing just fine. If I cared about money I’d go full time.

@CherryPavlova I like how that poster keeps moving the goal posts whenever s/he doesn’t get the answers they anticipated. 😂

I like how that poster keeps moving the goal posts whenever s/he doesn’t get the answers they anticipated. 😂

😂😂😂😂😂 so funny

What goal posts have I changed exactly? What am I saying that’s controversial?

I’m sorry if I’ve hit a nerve but why don’t you actually look at the statistics for what I’m saying.

the big 'I am' earner, pop out two kids and then farm them out to the expensive nanny (only spending time with them at weekends spending vast amounts of money on them to make up for never seeing them)

Do you feel the same about those high earning husbands (who didn't even bother to pop kids out)?

Yes we all know about inequality and reducing social mobility - which is why it’s so important that people from outside the Eton, Oxbridge, Guards, City route celebrate their achievement and not dismiss it as luck. We need youngsters to know working hard at school, good results and building your skill set will improve your life: Its vital we don’t tell the very poorest of youngsters it’s OK to not get good exam results.

I entirely agree with Cherry. Working hard, perhaps more importantly working smart. Understanding and refining your skills, and executing them for the greatest return. This thread is full of people who’ve done well for themselves from backgrounds that weren’t privileged. You’ve also been shown that the 7% you’re so angry about isn’t all rich kids. I’m proud that so many people on here serve as great examples that socioeconomic mobility is possible.

I just run into a lot of Tories

Don’t judge others by the company you keep.

I can't say it more clearly. It seems to be deliberately obtuse saying that anyone is suggesting that dc dont work hard, or that qualifications are meaningless, etc.

Noone is saying this. You are choosing to deliberately misinterpret.

The stats quoted are shockibg though.

Also made it very clear this wasnt to challenge anyones competency, just that it's clearly not the formula.

Noone here needs to be defensive, as they're not being attacked.

These are not targetted comments. They are another perspective and highlight differences, thats absolutely not due to some formula to guarantee, as claimed.

No private school for me, council estate upbringing

Some people seem unable to grasp the fact that whilst hard work does indeed pay off, some jobs, which require high levels of intelligence, qualifications and hard work do not pay as well as others despite the fact that their contribution to a healthy society is often much greater than those jobs with better remuneration.

Coming back to chip in. State educated. Picking up on someone’s questions earlier...

Do you have very good A level results? Yes. ABBC
Do you have a first or 2:1 from good university in sought after subject? Yes. First from Russell group, but not linked to my current role or sector.
What did you do in your holidays from sixth form? Work, always worked. From gcse always worked in holidays.
What extracurricular achievements do you have? In school / Guides & scouts, represented my county at international camp.
What were your achievements in your first job and what additional accredited qualifications did you obtain?
Did you just do one job? If so, how did you broaden your skills and cv? No, started linked to my study subject, then switched to business via graduate scheme entry
Have you sought promotion frequently? No..but done lots of different things.
Have you persisted until you get promotion?
Have you continued to gain additional qualifications as you move up the ladder? Yes, professional qualifications - prince 2, managing successful programmes, most of an mba plus loads of in house stuff and leadership development
Particularly if your A levels and degree aren’t at top of game).
Have you put in the hours and can you show ongoing leadership, innovation and sustained achievement? Yes
Have you been willing to move for promotion or broader experience? Yes

I went to a state school (a failing school as it happens) and was one of only 15 people in my year of 240 kids that went on to do a levels
Despite getting straight As at GCSES and A levels I couldn’t go to uni as my mum walked out when I was 18 leaving my dad with 4 kids to look after, my youngest sister having just had a baby, so I had to go into the workplace to help pay my way and had to be around to help in the house
So I then trained and took exams for 6 years to become an accountant, then did an 3 year MBA, and since then did a 2nd professional qualification equal to a 2nd masters which took another 3 years (partway through I had twin babies). I have never had a day of unemployment since I was 18 years old, and I made a loss for the first year or so after returning from Mat leave.

So yeah my high earnings are all down to pure luck..

Did someone ask for women high earners to somehow justify themselves, no.

Its just not the reality that exists, and not sure why pp are feeling insecure or defensive about this.

@TwigTheWonderKid
Some people seem unable to grasp the fact that whilst hard work does indeed pay off, some jobs, which require high levels of intelligence, qualifications and hard work do not pay as well as others despite the fact that their contribution to a healthy society is often much greater than those jobs with better remuneration.

Yes, we (at least I) actually do understand all of that. It’s a pretty obvious point and an unfortunate fact of life. What I’m saying and maybe others are saying is that if you want to make more money, one of the key ways of doing that is choose careers that pay more, in addition to the hard work and luck. I feel for teachers but there is no way in heck I would ever be one. I don’t want to deal 30 - 200 children every single day and their parents for low wages. You literally couldn’t pay me enough to do it. Not even for 1 million a year.