"High earners"

[JoanThursday1972]

I see this a lot on here. Exactly what makes someone a high earner? Over a specific figure? A high earner in Hartlepool will not be the same as one in the City of London. How high is high?

For us savings have to be a priority as the risk that I will end up a full time carer is very high in the next 10-20 years and our income will drop to nothing. So we are prioritising savings while the sun is shining and overpaying the mortgage like mad. So no it’s not hyperbole. It’s a reality sadly.

@RudsyFarmer

You dont see the privilege and luxury in being able to do that?

There’s a bit of a disconnect I think between what people think a high salary should get you and what it actually gets you. And then people with the high income start feeling like victims because they think people are assuming they’re rich and they don’t “feel”
rich.

I grew up single parent family, mum worked in a shop. DH earns about 350k a year. If you’d told me and my mum that one day that our household income was going to be 370k we’d have assumed I’d be living in a mansion made of gold and be driven around in a glass carriage drawn by 4 white stallions. Reality is of course I’m living in a lovely but normal house and have a lovely, comfortable but absolutely in no way remarkable life in terms of “wealth”. I spend whatever I want at Waitrose and buy a lot of smelly candles etc and never ever have to worry about money (which is the biggest luxury you can have tbh) but we are a “normal” family. It’s just managing that disconnect in your mind that high income just means slightly nicer things rather than getting the PJ to the Tuscan house at weekends.

Yes @Withnailandeye , I do see what you mean that it does what it says on the tin. I guess my issue is with the fact that ‘high earners’ has become synonymous with wealthy. It feels a bit cloak and dagger, that the puppet masters are shouting ‘Look over there!’ And pointing at another sector of society.

Earners = workers.

Who are the ‘non working’ wealthy?

Fuck it I’ll happily be an immodest poster.

over the last 3.5 years I have doubled my salary, including bonus I now earn just over £100,000. My husband earns around £50k.

We live in London with a large but not prohibitively so mortgage which is about 28% of our take home.

We don’t have children yet but I’ve worked to ensure that we can comfortably afford nursery. I’m also old now so who knows if children will arrive.

We do everything we want - drinks, eating out, holidays.

I still watch our spending and we also save 1/3 of our salaries a month but that’s just sensible money management.

I hate all this oh I earn £150000 but can only afford a caravan holiday once a decade and live off hand me down toast for dinner. Everyone I know who earns reasonably has a comfortable live and that’s a good thing!

equally I’d never claim to work any harder than my nurse sister in law.

High earners aren't necessarily wealthy but it's disingenuous for a high earner to claim that they're not a high earner because they don't have disposable income. They're still a high earner, whether or not they have savings, fancy cars, flashy holidays etc.

I don't think anyone thinks these "high earners" have drivers and send their kids to Eton. But if you have 35 grand more income after tax to spend than the average joe, then it's no wonder they see you as a high earner. It's irrelevant you spend half of that on a mortgage and the rest on other voluntary bills. Also, savings is disposable income.

I know I am a high earner. I am on around £50,000. This is more than most working people in the UK earn.

I find it deeply offensive that some people earning far more than me can't recognise their privileged position.

@Bobshhh

Yes, I was waiting for the but I work hard!!

So what. So do nurses, carers and tons of other people on way less

It seems like its only higher earners who think they should be able to afford more than they can.

Most other people generally know the value of money

Agree with this. It makes a difference to disposable income. It also makes a difference per household, so a couple where each earns 45k will have more disposable income than where one person earns £90k, although wraparound care, travel costs, contingency time may eat some of that difference if one/both have inflexible working situations not allowing for school pick ups etc.

Do I see over paying the mortgage and putting money into savings a luxury? I probably would if we were planning on buying a second home with it or funding private school. But as I know the likelihood is it will fund some disability adaptions and being able to get old without relying on benefits, then no. It’s just seems like prudence.

You're still a high earner though, even if you need to save frantically for the future with those earnings.

The amount of people who say they’re not high earners because they live in London always gets me. Just because you have a lot of high outgoings doesn’t mean you’re not a high earner. You have those expensive outgoings (big mortgage, school fees, nanny etc) precisely because you are a high earner.

This.

To be able to do things like over pay a mortgage (even get a mortgage!), Have savings, a car, childcare, a cleaner, kids in clubs etc is an extremely privileged place to be

Agree. I'm willing to agree that if you live in a city like London, it might make sense to say that what is high earning is different because the average income in London is probably higher than in other parts of the country so a salary of £50 might be significantly above average in the rest of the country but not in London. But if you're on a significantly higher salary than the average, then yes, you're a high earner.

The problem is that in London if you're earning £90k in a "good" job, you're probably surrounded by people earning £150k so it doesn't seem like a lot even though it is still more than the average in London. But it shouldn't be hard to see that compared to most people, you are STILL a high earner.

This is what we are talking about.

"we have an income of 370k but we're not rich, honest, we just have nice candles, that's all!"

just stop it. You are incredibly privileged.

I'd say six figures

I know that may not stretch far in today's world with child care, mortgages etc but it's got to make life a whole lot fkin easier

Oh absolutely. I’m super privileged and I know it and feel very lucky and grateful. That wasn’t what I was saying at all.

Ten years ago I would have said 30k+ is a high earner. Now I’d say 40k+ Over 50k is massive and as far as I know I don’t know anyone earning that much.

No. If you were not a high earner you'd likely not be able to live in London. Just because you have high outgoings or live in an expensive area does not mean you are not a high earner.

I’m sorry but this is ridiculous. Why are you claiming that with a joint income of nearly £400,000 you have unremarkable life and that your only extravagance is nice candles and Waitrose?

Our household income is £200k but I wouldn’t consider us high earners, we actually live in a 1 bed flat in Sunderland and share a 2002 Nissan micra which we limit to using twice a week since Aldi is only a 25 minute walk away. I don’t understand how people manage to have two cars or ever go on holiday, MUST all be on credit cards or gifts from family.

Meanwhile in the real world 🙄🙄🙄

That's loaded. Especially in Sunderland.

50k ish here. I consider myself a high earner, even though I live in the SE and have high outgoings. Those things are MY CHOICE (nobody forced me to buy a house with big mortgage and I’m massively lucky to have my little 2 bed) and it doesn’t change my take home pay.

Previous posters have it spot on; you adjust your lifestyle in line with you income and then can’t remember/don’t want to live as you did previously. I grew up poor. I don’t have much disposable income now because I chose to live and commute somewhere expensive but I’ve got options if a big bill comes my way. Most people don’t. I get to eat out a couple times a month and go food shopping without counting up to the penny. That’s a luxury, honestly.