"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?

DC on >£100k reckons >£250k is high(ish).

Other DC on <£40k naturally have a different view.

As a pensioner on <£14k, so do I.

So context doesn’t matter? Because the average income globally is less than £1,000. Does that mean everyone on more than £2k is a high earner?

a big mortgage doesn’t always equate to a big house - it might be the minimum required to securely house your family at a reasonable (and affordable) commuting distance to work.

@Labraradabrador

Yes.

Globally most people in the UK are higher earners

Do I detect a whiff of sarcasm there, @YYaWeeFurryBastard?
On threads on here, I always read someone as a high earner as a salary of over £100k.

To an extent it matters, but not to the extent some of the high earners on here make out.

If you earn 400k and have to live in a super expensive place to do that job you have choices. You could move to a shithole and get a minimum wage job. You could give yourself a ridiculous commute for example.

The income buys you that choice. Being a high earner buys you that choice.

If you’re a low earner already living in the shithole you have nowhere left to drop.

My point is that you are still a high earner whether you have high outgoings or not. Also, that just because you personally are surrounded by people who earn MORe doesn't mean that you aren't a high earner.

And lots of people live in London without being high earners. This is exactly my point. Too often people on £80k in London think they're barely getting by oblivious to the many many people earning much less and living in much less nice places but still in London. DNephew earns about 24k. He lives in London. In a huge houseshare with a very basic standard of living, but he lives in London. Believe it or not, London is filled with people earning very little.

Exactly. It’d be like David Beckham saying he’s not rich because people like Elon Musk have so much more.

It's always funny how on one thread some say "Luckily we're in very fortunate position, because both DH and I are high earners" and then in other thread there are numerous posts trying to prove that those salaries in reality aren't that much. In fact, they need to fund lower earners and their cheeky universal credit claims etc. so there's not much left for themselves and high earners can barely afford living, drive old bangers and last time they left the country was in 1995😂

People saying they earn £200k but don't feel like high earners are missing the point. The question wasn't about how much disposable income you have - It's about earnings!
My DH is a high earner (in my opinion) but we don't have much left at the end of each month because of very high mortgage payments and other outgoings. But still his salary is in the top 5% so I can see he's a high earner. The fact that we often feel skint is irrelevant!

I think it's reasonable for context to be relevant but it needs to be real context. eg, if you live in London, to be considered a high earner you have to earn more than what a high earner would be in Cornwall. But high earner would still be someone who is earning significantly higher than the average, even if it's not a "high" amount compared to some people.

When I lived in London I eared around £85k. I certainly did not feel rich but nonetheless, I earned significantly more than the average person in London so was a high earner.

I would love to know what she spends her money on then! 😁 Unless it is massive historical debt which they are paying off a lot per month, then I could understand. Other than that……

Do rich people genuinely not know they're rich or is this just one of those things that only happens on mumsnet?
All this "oh but my mortgage is huge a little Hugos nursery fees run over £1k a month" yes, your life style is expensive - because you're loaded!

I think a lot depends on who people are surrounded by.

if they are surrounded by people who earn and spend equally I think they’re far less likely to realise it.

I’ve noticed that a lot since lockdowns and the cost of living kicked in.

My salary is £53k and I consider myself to be a high earner. However I am a single parent so am responsible for everything although I do get some.maintenance.

When I've paid all my bills and allocated all the money to my various pots for sinking funds (car insurance, home insurance, football subs, various annual subscriptions) and living (groceries, fuel, haircuts etc) I have about £250 for treats/savings. That's always needed for something it seems though.

I consider myself to be comfortable as I can afford my mortgage and bills, plus a holiday. But I rarely buy clothes and drive a banger because I can't do everything I want and have to choose.

Relative to where you live

With a household income of over £160k, DH and I know we are high earners and we aren’t so fucking obtuse to pretend otherwise just because our lifestyle and outgoings are high too.

Threads like this give me the rage.

For me it would be done on household income, I am a high earner looking at most peoples definition here, husband is a below average earner, so household wise we're probably bang in the middle, but no child benefit etc (not that I'm complaining about that, but two people earning just under me would get it with a higher household income).
Definitely relative on location too. Luckily the north is so much cheaper 😄

Combined household income of about £75k here, 18 month old at a childminder 4 days a week, two dogs, we don't really budget and shop at Lidl. I manage to save about £500 a month. We live in South West England...

I'd call £60k+ salary for one person a high earner.

Our life is comfortable I'd say, if I were to spend time budgeting I think we'd do better but at the moment we're doing OK. If we had a combined income of £100k we'd be doing extremely well for ourselves!

I don’t think it really means that much as so much will be dependent on outgoings.

I am an above-average earner and my DP a low earner. Our combined income is about £71k which I think is respectable but not particularly “high”.

Our take home is about £4200 a month after tax, NI, pensions, student loan etc. We live a very comfortable life where we don’t have to worry too much about day to day spends, can afford regular treats, a holiday a year and some home improvements. We recently found out we have to spend £3k on a new heating system and it’s not a drama, we can afford it.

However, we have no cars on finance, no kids at the moment and our mortgage is a small £548/month so we can live a nice life AND save about £1000 a month.

This question needs reframing as “high/low disposable income”

So many people are forgetting that the phrase is ‘High EARNER’ so what your outgoings are irrelevant. It’s is about what goes in.

Anyone over £100k is a higher earner in my mind.

I'm a low earner by all accounts (I earn £24k). My disposable income after bills is around £1500. Doesn't make me a high earner, just means that my outgoings are low. Same way high earners don't stop being high earners just because their outgoings are high.

@Talkingtomyhouseplants I don't think you can reframe the question to that.

"I earn £1m a month but I've got my yacht insurance to pay, a stables to run, Farquois has his polo practice and I have to fuel my private jet to get to meetings in Monaco once a week so disposable income is only £1k at the end of it!"

So not Rishi Sunak who pays 22% of his income in tax?

I often wonder if its just privilege. People don't realise how well off they are because they haven't had to struggle. Their bank balance is good, cupboards are full, can go on a day out with the kids and book a summer holiday etc. They just maybe don't realise that isn't everyone's version of getting by.

This!

The problem is we all make assumptions on other people's financial situations because we don't know what's going on.
So if someone says a 'high earner' we all think a well-off person, but if could be someone forking out thousands every month on debt and a gambling problem.

I would say a high earner is someone in the higher tax bracket, but that doesn't mean a wealthy person. You're wealthy if your high value assets are owned IMO.