... to think that most MNers live in a bubble?

[frgr]

Seriously, the amount of times I read on here about "oh we earn 70k a year but we're really struggle to provide for little Jacob's polo lessons this year" (or some other such shite).

In real life, the average income of my family and friends is probably circa the national average. I know for a fact that my BIL is on around £6/hr and works 42 hours a week, I know that my best friend's total family income is about 22k because she was talking about mortgages a month ago... I'm talking about hard working people who go out come rain or shine and do their day's work, to provide for their families.... and then I log on here and find out MNers are posting trivial shit about being unable to afford XYZ and feeling hard done by on their incomes of "only" 3x the national average.

I don't know if I've become more sensitive to this crap since starting re-posting on here last year (after a break of about 3 years), but it seems to me that certain members of MN are totally and utterly oblivious as to what the average family is having to endure during this recession.

It's fucking unbelievable, it really is.

In your opinion, why are so many MNers out of touch with reality? Does this site cater to a different class than me? Are avg MNers just generally deluded - do I even belong here any more, with our 21k combined income, worrying about where the next school trip fee is coming from despite the fact that both of us work?

Christ.

We speak a small amount to 8y DD about earnings, money, finances. Large amounts of money are not very real to 8yos though. She knows that we have a happy life. She knows soeme people are less fortunate. She knows some people are rich. She knows things we/she wants or need for home, or holidays, etc. have to be paid for. She knows DH earns a lot more than me, but also that I could earn more, but have chosen not too so that I can be there more for her, do stuff for DH, make our home work life balance better for us all.

Or, if he's particularly mathematically gifted and wanting (relatively) big bucks (though it does require a PhD) - Quantitive Analyst for an investment bank. It can also be very interesting.

ha ha- was going to add what Niecie said.

If you want to do hard sums then being an accountant may be a disappointment. The maths is not that advanced.

Actuary is a good idea because insurance is going to undergo huge growth in the next 10-20 yrs as a lot of people in the world who currently dont have insurance get some.

Actuary works out risk of something happening - e.g for life insurance etc etc
Matchs can be used to predict stuff better or say how huge datbases / search engines work - these would be far more interesting than accountancy which is not that creative (unless you work for some of the US firms

Would like DS2 to work at Pixar doing something - art work, music or the computer / maths stuff - all would be OK if we could visit him at work.

Niecie - what do you need then? What are the "secret" attributes you need to do your job (s, everybody?)

See, again, I think this is part of the problem. I bet loads of us thought a) you need to be good at maths to be an accountant, and b)if you are good at maths being an accountant is one of the best things to aim for.

I was kind of joking when I said that mn was good for career advice - but, honestly, how do you find out about this stuff otherwise?

Riven- no. An accountancy degree does not make you an accountant in the UK. In fact, the Big 4 accounting firms prefer grads with non-relevant degrees (although this KPMG thing is a departure from that).

It's similar to being a solicitor, in that having a law degree does not qualify you to practice law.

If he really likes maths, he should do maths at Uni IMO as that leaves the options open.

Once you graduate you can either do a training contract with an accounting firm and become a Chartered Accountant, or you can take on a finance role within industry and become a management accountant. There are benefits to both. Chartered is slightly better regarded as if you are chartered, you are qualified to work in industry, but if you're a management accountant there are restrictions (you cant be an audit partner, for example).

SDD at

But sucks teeth at Pixar...it's getting as risky as performing, that arena.

I know what you mean OP.

I do sometimes feel very aware of what I am when here on MN - a SAHM northerner!!!

LeQueen - I was partly thinking about DH when I wrote that. He dropped out of university to become an accountant (in his own words he was a real rebel). He is very bright but did the wrong course because he was particularly good at it and his teachers said he should(languages) but ended up hating it.

He should be plodding along in middle management by rights as it is very difficult to get a higher level accountancy job without a degree, but he used his talents, took a risk and started his own business. We have had 4 yrs of living on very little but it is beginning to pay off and he stands to earn much more than he could working for somebody else.

Not sure where the luck comes in other than getting his first training contract despite being a drop out and maybe being born into a family who encouraged him to study hard and have a strong work ethic. Oh and marrying me who let him take the chance and didn't make him plump for the safe option.

Saw the programme the other week - just a fab place to work - would even pay them to work there! Google is supposed to be very cool too.

Why would anyone want to study accountancy at uni?

I can see that accountancy could make for a good career. But to study it? At university?

University should be for studying fun stuff - be that maths or biochemistry or sociology or engineering. Surely nobody finds accountancy fun ?

Should point out that I dont resent them though.....everyone has problems....suggesting that earning a lot of money means you dont have problems is unfair.

My BIL earns a HUGE salary as a self employed computer programmer BUT he has to work away all week to earn the money to pay for the house he and my dsis bought at the height of the market and he HATES his job.

Yes, they have money, but they spend no time together and the kids never see their dad.

Anyway, we are all in it together, arent we?

Yeah - it is great - but as soon as you say "I'd pay to work there" the door is opened up for abusive practices.

Places like Pixar and Weta can be brilliant to work for. Have had friends who did so and were very happy. But also friends who felt like cogs...and I have friends in other companies in the same industry who've just been treated unbelievably badly.

'Not sure where the luck comes in
not getting run over by a bus and losing use of legs, or contracting a MH disorder.

Not to sound twee- niecie you know that as much as me LOL.

Only joking - seemed so far removed from most US companies I have worked for / been in (not just US either). Don't know what its really like and that's an intersting pointg as many people don't really know what a job is like to do. People think they know what a teacher does as we've been through schhol but most would have no clue about many other careers.

We'll have to see about DS2 as he does have very good musical talents as well as maths / science so helping him make an informed decision wil be difficult - ideally should go to the job they want to do but realise it may not pay as well but with luck could make it very big.

I'd go with the sentiment that everyone lives in a bubble in so far as they are most concerned with their own problems.

Suggesting that people earning 70k are beyond real life problems is showing that you also live in a bubble.

Suggesting that people earning 270k are beyond some life problems is a more true statement, perhaps.

LeQueen - I think that being a SAHM to that profile of man requires a woman to have multiple, broad-based skills, though none at a particularly specialist level. Being a breadwinner requires a much smaller skills-base at a much higher level. The combination makes for a good complementary couple/parents.

But it is tough going on women who are coerced into the future breadwinner profile from a very young age when that is not what they wanted...

No the accountants who do best at the training are those with a science degree, I was told. Don't ask me why.

I would go as far as to say that an accountancy degree is a bit
Mickey Mouse because you still have to do the training and very few are practical enough to do a job in RL. I can see the attraction of the KPMG package though, if they pay you to do accountancy degrees but what if you get into the job and hate it. What use is an accountancy degree then? You are better off doing something more academic imo.

Accountancy uses pretty basic maths, a bit of stats. The value comes in understanding what the numbers means for a business. Profit or loss is only all your income less all your expenses after all.

Law is a bit different because if you don't do a law degree you still have to learn the theory before doing the practical bit and training to be a solicitor or a barrister which means you spend an extra year at law school.

Neither accountancy or law degrees are sufficiently practical for you to be able to do the job when you graduate but whilst law is an academic subject in its own right accountancy isn't.

Melezka that's very true

DH's industry contracts to Broadway and The West End but theya re expected to take on contracts there at a % of 'real work' becuase of the kudos- £500 for a few month's work, no expenses.

No chance if you are anything other than young, single and hopefully have a few £ to cover the rent.

Kind of what I was saying about resilience - no-one I know who worked at those companies had even heard of CGI when they were growing up or indeed starting on their career paths.

I saw a thread on here recently along the lines of 'anyone struggling to access the Boden site from their ipad?'

I did think FFS! Living in Bubbletown or what?!

Yes Peachy - and what worries me is that there seems to be this unspoken fiction that that is some kind of "doing your time" and that rewards will come later. Whereas anyone I know in the West End never really moved up a scale on anything much. There are too many people desperate for the "kudos".