£100k and above earners - tell me your money worries

[SortMyHouse]

Hi

Inspired by another thread!

I would like to hear from people who earn over £100k, where do you live, what do you do / sector? What qualifications do you have?

Then the reality of how far that salary goes.
What are your costs?
What are your money worries?

Thanks

Not everyone has to survive this life, some of us want to live it too.

Love this phrase @SortMyHouse. Thanks for saying it.

Jeez op, not sure why you got the hassle you did from some previous posters. Clearly have chips on their shoulders, for some reason. Mumsnet is mostly a website of women supporting other women. It’s not rocket science to understand that of the many many posters, people will have vastly differing life experiences. It’s not goady, crass or tone deaf to start a thread asking for posters in similar circumstances to you to share their experiences, even though that thread won’t be relevant to a lot of other posters. Nobody says it’s goady when someone asked for help meal-planning for a large family just because some posters live alone and are cooking for one. Similarly it’s not goady to post in style and beauty about an expensive wedding dress when some posters buy only from charity shops. Nor is it crass to start a thread about your wonderful DH when many others are starting threads about their abusive ones. It’s just different life experiences and different circumstances. If a thread isn’t relevant to you, just recognise that and move on by instead of accusing the op of being goady/crass etc.

Btw I think this thread is absolutely fine @SortMyHouse @ChannelTheCalmaLlama. No idea why posters have such vitriol in them and take their precious time in typing it out, instead of just thinking ‘not my cup of tea’ and clicking out. You certainly don’t deserve a pile-on.

I’m not sure how I feel about this thread. It is interesting to hear about the lifestyles and expenses of others. However, if I can afford basic needs, I wouldn’t say I had ‘money problems’. I get that everyone has different considerations or restrictions on how they spend their finances, and it might be frustrating to not be able to live the high end lifestyle that you dream of, but I also think that it is important to recognise privilege and be grateful if you are more fortunate than the average.

We live in a capitalist society that encourages spending and I like new shiny things as much as anyone else. But if you have a high income, how you cut your cloth is up to you. Money buys opportunities and you can choose to live well within your means, or you can choose to stretch yourself to the limit and create challenges for yourself.

I’m not in London, so maybe don’t qualify to answer (we live in a different city with prices considerably higher than average, yet definitely not to London levels), but here I go anyway.

DH and I have had a combined take home of nearly £200k the last five years. I’m a teacher and he works in tech, so heavily weighted to him. A large chunk of what he takes home is bonus pay so we don’t count it until it physically hits our bank. This income might not last forever, so we save carefully and don’t stretch ourselves. We don’t have any money worries. We have a beautiful home and no children through choice. We share one, 6 year old, hatchback car which we own outright and don’t feel like upgrading. We have several hobbies each and we have all of the top of the range gear we need (bikes, tech, musical instruments and outdoor clothing), we don’t replace it for the sake of it. I like clothes and fashion, but try to buy clothes that will last and try to avoid fast fashion. I spend John Lewis prices, rather than Harvey Nicks. We prefer holidays in Europe and try not to fly often or take long haul flights; we haven’t left the country since pre-pandemic. We do donate money (and I spend time volunteering) to charities we deem important. Our biggest indulgence is probably food. I have had times of financial hardship in the past and I feel very fortunate to be able to put whatever I like in the trolley. We eat out often. We are very strict on not wasting food though and I plan carefully to ensure I use up whatever random ingredients I buy.

We obviously would spend more if we chose to have children, but we could afford nursery/food/clothes, etc quite comfortably for several children. We might consider a bigger house and car but that would be a choice rather than a real need.

We are not free of problems (I have lost three very important family members to illness in the last 6 weeks), but we are fortunate to be able to say that we have zero money worries.

Rich people never feel rich. They always know someone richer.
Contentment is elusive.

DH earns £125,000 and I earn about £12,000(I’m a TA).

We live in Norfolk and DH works for an Insurance Company based in London.

Our mortgage is relatively low (£650) as we bought our house which is a 4 bedroom (new build so not massive) 16 years ago.

We are definitely not rolling in money. Got 2 boys (16 and 11) and they go to state school. Got 2 cars but just normal cars, nothing fancy.
Our big expense before Covid was travel as DH worked abroad for 5 years so we used to have lots of holidays. He then lost his job just before covid so had to come home and start all over again.

It really is hard surviving with kids
We have a substantial income but most of it is housing and childcare and nursery / school fees
We buy clothes at the supermarket and sometimes John Lewis
We don’t give the children expensive gifts / electronics / fancy clothes

We need a car each but neither are flashy

We have nevery been to an expensive holiday like skiing or Caribbean or Disney
We can’t afford those things

We do save considerably
Our stress is that jibs are very high pressure . Lots of people here on the big 4 … our expereince is that at the top levels personal life is affected disproportionately by health ( a number of strokes / cancers ) and even mental health . Divorces and affairs… it may feel like being a bright young person who works hard to fulfil themselves and improve their life choices has to pay a terrible toll … it’s not fair

We hope our children are less burdened by the poverty we had growing up … but this also makes us worry that they will be complacent / irresponsible

Is there any way to win some happiness ?

I read your comment on nursery - community needs

I would say choose somewherrr you have access to like minded people
Maybe nursery won’t have to be community specific … but being in a diverse group is also a healthy thing . Use a language specific playgroup instead. So they have their French friends once a week and Punjabi pals another weekday …

This will keep language alive and real , connections with communities and festivities and religion

Good luck

We pip in under the household rule. But I think our financial picture is a bit different to the rest of you. I earn just under 50k pt, DH more like 70k ft. Both public services. We live in London suburbs. 3 kids, youngest in pre school.

We are honestly doing completely fine, and that will get better once the youngest is in school. It has been tougher in the past, as we started having kids on lower salaries than this, although that was a while ago. My first mat leave was an exercise in really watching the pennies, although I had a reasonable employer package. I also understood money a lot less then, and made myself poorer than I needed to through my choices.

We have both our employers pensions plus private pensions so we will be able to actually retire before state retirement age - we both plan to at least partially retire at 60. This is very conscious as there is an age gap of 8 years so I need to go early if we want active retirement together. But this is also tax efficient.

No kids in private school though, or any ambition towards this. State school around here is just fine. Only one car, because we only need one, and whenever we consider a second it just doesn't seem worth it. We save monthly towards replacing the car. And university fees. And the kids have ISAs and teeny tiny pensions.

Holidays have been just UK for a couple of years, but also I've had health problems which, alongside the pandemic, have made it impossible to plan for anything abroad.

Hoping to move to a bigger property later this year. And after that uncertainty is passed, get back to a trip abroad. Having had my health scare, it's definitely a case of balancing present and future. We are in a fortunate position to do both comfortably. And though neither of us are financial professionals, understanding and implementing good personal finance has been revolutionary for us - for the confidence to spend as well as how to save/invest efficiently.

Main worries would be health ones, as, no matter how good your package, illness is shit. And makes you poorer. Another worry would be any hope of career progression for me on a part time basis. I'm not currently worrying about divorce but yes that or sudden death would both change the financial picture considerably.

But honestly, life is good. It has taken a few years to get here. But the expensive childcare years are nearly over, and I will save to mitigate the uni years so we shouldn't feel like this again. It's been hard graft but we have laid the solid bones of a good financial future. We are extremely fortunate.

@MissConductUS

Lots of accountants on this thread. One bit of good news is that my son is graduating this spring with an accounting degree and he already has a job offer from PWC for $67k per year. He did an internship with them last spring. And yes, we are really proud of him.

That could be a combination of the fact the job pays well but mainly for me is that I always saved my money when getting any pay rise, or added to pension. I invested. I didn't upgrade the only flat I bought (now paid off). I spend probably not much more at nearly 50 than I did in my 20s. (I am happy to splash out on nice stuff if I want it but also happy with cheaper stuff) Look out for bargains when we travel or buy something new (I like the research etc)

So the overall personality type also helps.

Don't suppose any of you lovely and clever!! Lot would tell me how you got into these jobs? What degrees you did etc? I've googled but they give you 455 million different ways to do it! I would just like to better myself and earn more

Thank you for starting this thread OP, I love to hear about all things financial. Money Matters is the topic I check out most.

Accountant most likely career path is any degree then apply for a big 4/6 firm or top 20 and they pay for the aca training for 3 years.

There are options to do other exams routes and learn on the job doing aca or cima but they tend to not go as far in their career. Still do well though.

And sone degree apprenticeships (pwc flying start).

@SortMyHouse

No worries , just thought you were getting stick for no reason ! it should be perfectly easy to see how a higher income can be decimated by someone’s outgoings depending on their situation / where they live

@Limegreentangerine

Don't suppose any of you lovely and clever!! Lot would tell me how you got into these jobs? What degrees you did etc? I've googled but they give you 455 million different ways to do it! I would just like to better myself and earn more

There was a thread of here about this exact thing a few weeks ago... have a look using search - It was quite interesting!

I also like this thread OP! It's interesting interesting to see other peoples responses as I have childcare costs of £25k post tax looming and am a bit at how other londoners afford it... and I sometimes wonder if we are doing something wrong/missing a trick as we are pretty sensible and prioritise saving / spending in specific areas important to us but are in no way "rich" despite making £200k per annum

I hesitated about involving myself in this pretty tasteless discussion, but I couldn’t close the tab without reminding all of the “well in London a salary of £100k is pretty much the breadline” types that the average salary of someone in London in 2021 is just under £40,000. So by default you are already earning way, way in excess of the average (which is just that: hundreds of thousands of people raise families on far less than that).

Remember how privileged and fortunate you are to be in your financial position, and that many of the “difficult choices” you make are only available to you because of that privilege and good fortune.

I know I’ll get a mauling for this post, but before I’m accused of envy, I’m a Londoner on an income of £60k and consider myself extremely well off - I don’t want for anything. I certainly am rich compared to my neighbours in a very deprived part of the capital. Look around you sometimes.

@Ypsilanti

I hesitated about involving myself in this pretty tasteless discussion, but I couldn’t close the tab without reminding all of the “well in London a salary of £100k is pretty much the breadline” types that the average salary of someone in London in 2021 is just under £40,000. So by default you are already earning way, way in excess of the average (which is just that: hundreds of thousands of people raise families on far less than that).

Remember how privileged and fortunate you are to be in your financial position, and that many of the “difficult choices” you make are only available to you because of that privilege and good fortune.

I know I’ll get a mauling for this post, but before I’m accused of envy, I’m a Londoner on an income of £60k and consider myself extremely well off - I don’t want for anything. I certainly am rich compared to my neighbours in a very deprived part of the capital. Look around you sometimes.

No one here has said they are on the breadline (not that I saw anyway) and I def feel privileged but I think the point made further up the thread is fair. Being a high earners doesn’t mean you don’t have challenges… dismissing them entirely isn’t helpful. And the fact remains there are always people better and worse off, it’s all relative.

I also think how wealthy you feel is relative and depends what you are doing with your life.
I felt much better off and had way more disposable income 5 years ago on 60kcthan I do now on £100k+ As I am pregnant living in a family home (which comes with associated massive mortgage and bills)…🤷🏻‍♀️

If I had my “old life” and was on 100k I would be VERY comfortable and it'd be all 5* holidays, fancy clothes and restaurants, weekly beauty treatments and glossy hair

@ChannelTheCalmaLlama

I'm sorry I upset you on the other thread, *@SortMyHouse*. 😔

I didn't mean to upset anybody.

I earn what you're saying and I am really struggling not to go into debt just for basics. My husband left when my children were small babies. I have to do everything. I am also disabled (but no financial support from Government yet - I applied last summer and have heard nothing). I earn well but it's so relentlessly exhausting and just providing for them and looking after them. We don't do anything extravagant but by the time the tax and mortgage are paid, childcare, bills, food and commuting there is very little left. I am so worried about rising prices and taxes, I have nothing left to give. But you've seen what reception speaking about that brings.

Do not apologise, this is just another boast thread, some people are tone deaf on here including posters on here who think they have problems because they only earn 100K, and can't afford to live In London!

Women know your place!

Why is it boastful to say you have a high salary. Or tasteless. In A thread about that topic?

(I find it weirder when women post about their husbands income as though it's them that achieved it)

This is an anonymous forum, it's not something most people discuss in public and probably never would with someone on the breadline.

This thread confirms my belief that the more money you have, the more you spend. Also, some people don’t understand how to budget and live within their means. There are many, many families living in London and the South East who aren’t low income but their income means they’re not entitled to much help and still have perfectly nice lives. I am one of those families - social worker, teacher, 3 children and a dog. Neither of us earn big bucks or are in management positions but we aren’t low earners. We live on the very border of a London borough. In a 2-3 mile radius, houses range from big 5 bedroom £2m houses down to 3 bedroom flats at £200,000. You make your choices based on your circumstances. We chose to buy a house of a certain size, could have got a bigger house and fretted about the mortgage. We could also have got a smaller property, so we don’t complain about it because having money gives you choices. I’m not a high earner but I recognise our privilege. If you cannot afford a “London mortgage”, downsize…? Plenty of lovely homes for reasonable prices. I totally understand there are a few jobs where you have to be in a certain area but there are always options.

The health issues raised on this thread are valid. Being unwell and/or disabled is life changing. However, there are low income people with health issues too. Mine is declining at a scary rate and I know I may not be able to work much longer. I’m extremely lucky to have the privilege of a good job with a pension that means I could be retired earlier on health grounds. If I was given the option between having my disease and being on a wage of £20k vs having my disease and being on a wave of £100k, it’s a no brainier. Money doesn’t make life better or easier but it gives more options.

We are on around £100k each. Both state educated but have PhDs and work in related fields. We don't really have money worries but we also don't want for much. We only have one 9 year old car we use occassionally (we try to cycle), we have an average semi in an ok area, we could move but don't see the reason, it needs new flooring and decor but we do these things ourselves as it feels frivolous to get people in so it'll wait for a few years. DC both go to state schools, I suppose we could send to private but we are not interested in the competitive parenting we've noticed and ideologically not hugely keen on it. We do spend about £10k a year on holidays but haven't been for 3 years. We are pretty frugal, we don't buy expensive food, don't drink, smoke, o don't have any beauty things (no nails, waxing, only get hair cut every 6 months). I guess we just don't really want for much. I'm anticipating having to spend a lot on my DP as they age though.

We earn about £150k between us and live in Yorkshire in an area with reasonable housing costs,plus we bought our house 20 years ago based purely on one salary so low mortgage. Unfortunately I had a bit of an issue with debt a few years ago and that combined with me being a sahp for around 8 years means we aren’t really where we would like to be financially.
We did have 2 dc at Private school but only 1 now and we put that into savings.
We are pretty comfortable now with no debts apart from the small mortgage and we own a property abroad as well and have savings in cash plus ISAs, a bit more in Pensions would be nice though.
I think Retirement is the main concern for us really. The plan is to sell this house in 10 years which will give us a good lump sum and we will move to the property abroad then decided if we want to live there long term or use it for income. We also have involvement with a couple of businesses that could end up giving us lump sums if they are ultimately sold but we want a good standard of living in Retirement with no money worries and I don’t think we can say we will definitely have that yet.

We've a combined of nearly £200k plus bonuses. DH is head of engineering in an IT team though in reality is much more than that, and I'm a project manager in the same team. I'm part time- currently 32 hours but going down to 28 soon.

We're currently looking to move to London, DH is setting up a new IT department there and I've just landed a job as a project manager in another company. We'll be on over £200k when we move. Looking at Chiswick ourselves, we've a budget of around £1.5m which should get us somewhere nice. We're intending on private school for both kids (currently are where we live) but if we find something out of budget near a good state school then that'll increase the budget. I've no concerns about our income and having a good London lifestyle.

We don't have any money worries and I know how incredibly lucky we are for that. I grew up with a single parent and money was v tight always so I really try not to take it for granted and we give to charity.

Our main 'worry' is saving for retirement so that we can maintain a good lifestyle and give our children a helping hand. DH's mother died of dementia so we also want to ensure we can pay for really good care in the event either or both us needs care in our later years.

We don't have money worries as with a household income of £150k and a mortgage of only £18k we have a good lifestyle.

But family and friends will hear me say that we can't afford certain things and are often surprised.

We set limits in that we don't ever want to borrow on loans or credit cards and we always like to have an emergency fund saved in case of unexpected costs.

Our main living room is well overdue for renovation - we have kept it basically maintained since we moved in 14 years ago but it will cost £15k - £20k to do it properly ( it's a big room and needs completely stripping back to brick and windows replaced to fix the various problems )

We just can't justify that right now as the pandemic has meant that we spent £4k of our savings on private surgery for my daughter as the NHS had to postpone it indefinitely. Then another £4k on dental treatment for her because the NHS postponed her orthodontic work for at least 3 years.

Then we transferred her to private school because of mental health issues ( made worse by the lockdowns) so that's eaten further into the savings we had and is now limiting the amount we can save as we set aside the termly fees.

The energy bills worry me at the moment too - our house is large and the kids seem to have no respect for how much it costs to keep the lights, heating and hot water running! I'm frequently moaning at them for not taking enough care to help reduce our electricity and gas usage.

We are not planning holidays this year as we don't want to commit to any further spending while things are so uncertain. We may book a last minute deal if we can find one.

We know how very fortunate we are to have been able to buy our way of the problems caused by the pandemic and to still have a good standard of living but I am a worrier by nature.

I grew up quite poor and that feeling of needing to be careful with money and always worrying about what is around the corner has never left me.